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Evening STW.
Reaching out for some ideas on this question, as its given me 2 obvious thoughts -
1 - It is wrong, and we should do something about it..
2 - We should be doing the same sort of thing..
Long story short, we sometimes (once every 1/2 months) purchase our products through a sealed tender bid system. Its a fairly competitive market, and the products can range from small stock, up to industrial buildings.
We have noticed lately a direct competitor of ours is listing these products for sale in various ways (eBay for one example). Before the auctions have finished, and all tender bids have been placed.
Obviously this is a way to see interest at certain prices, and work out the ideal offer price to profit ratio.
Now, for certain products it could be just a coincidence, and they are selling items they already stock..
However for other items, there is no way they can hold stock of an identical item.
What would you guys do in this situation?
It feels strange to try and sell something without owning it first.. Especially through direct to customer routes such as eBay..
What do you think??
Cheers
J
Bid for all his stock on eBay, at inflated prices, then pull out of the sale when he wins the auctuon
Do everything you can to outbid them on everything they've already sold. That way they'll need to either piss off customers (win for you) or buy for an inflated price from you (win for you) 🙂
Sounds morally dubious if not in direct contravention of some trade standards and/or applicable rules for the outlet (e.g. Ebay). You could go at them one by one through the routes they sell, such as eBay, but I doubt it'll end well!
Probably best thing is hope their practices result in enough customer issues for you to win in the long run.
The thing with eBay is its a fairly faceless market place - your competitor isn't really going to damage their reputation if they let a buyer down because the thing they were bidding on vanishes. Anyone bidding on ebay does so half expecting to lose so the auction being pulled because the seller has 'listed it elsewhere' (or never had it to sell) isn't any different from bidding and losing.
Obviously this is a way to see interest at certain prices, and work out the ideal offer price to profit ratio.
Just watch their auctions - the information is as useful to you as it is for them.
Pretty sure the Competition and Markets Authority won't be pleased to hear about this. Possibly get in touch with them?
Nor the seller!
Drop them an email asking why you should bid when you can just buy from eBay for a fraction of the price!
Sounds to me like they are innovating and considering new channels. You don't know they don't hold stock, only speculating.
I'd concentrate my efforts on my business and try to compete rather than try to stop them doing something you don't like.
Oh and zero points for using 'reaching out' 👿
If its not illegal then you just need to get more competitive.
Surely, if you are correct you now hold all the cards, you have all the info that your competitor does and you can use that in your bidding. You could even bid on their ebay items to mess them up if you are feeling ruthless
Isn't it just drop shipping?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Copy it.