Out of Stock

There's a bit of tension among sellers regarding out of stock.

For most sellers, the only way they encounter out of stock is by some actual error. The error might be:

1. When it comes time to ship, the item can't be found.
2. The item is discovered, by seller, to be significantly not as described. As in broken.
3. Seller realizes after close of auction that she lacks the legal right to ship the item.

Now while we would not like to encourage such errors, surely they're not the kind of thing which deserves severe punishment.

Consider the more common reasons a seller does not ship:
1. Seller offered the item for sale in a different venue, and sold it out from under the ebay buyer.
2. Seller was unhappy with the final value, and reports the item as lost or damaged.
3. Seller's drop shipper reported the item out of stock.

The problem is, we cannot know which sellers are which without keeping score.

As an ebay seller, I do not want to share that title with sellers who are "doing" that final category. Observe, sellers in that category are no doubt playing some kind of mind game, imagining that "doing my best" is what is required, as compared to "avoiding things which are causing a bad buyer experience". Sg51 strongly believes that sellers who are playing that game should be given undesirable feedback, so that they will be motivated to make necessary changes.

A seller who is in that zone can do the right thing by:

1. During the final 12 hours of an auction, decline alternative sales. Before that, an alternative sale can result in the cancellation of the auction.

2. Set either first bid or reserve to yield an acceptable amount when that is important.

3. Evaluate any dropshipper for reliability, and do business only with those who are reliable.