Ebay Drop Off Stores, er… Drop off.

I’m not suprised to see a major correction in this business.

I’ve never used one of these stores. I don’t get it myself - I buy a few supplies at Sams club and throw the boxes in my trunk for drop off at UPS store. I keep my money. I know I’m not their customer, and this blog is always my opinion.

It goes like this. People who don’t want to deal with boxing and shipping stuff for their eBay auctions were going to drive across town (right past the UPS Store and the Post Office,) drop them off, and pay another percentage of the sale to a store to list their item.

Okay, to sell on eBay you need to be able to:

• fill out a web form that describes your item.
• use a digital camera to photograph something, and a tool like Picassa to grab it.
• pack up a box.
• stick tape and a sticker on a box (with your ship stickers on it)
• Drop off the box at the UPS Store or DHL Counter.

Some of the major complaints of these centers are:

• Unfair on shipping supplies (300-500% mark-up)
• 25-30%+ commissions (Selling an item for $75 sometimes nets you $45)
• Aggressive Upselling Tricks for worthless and confusing add-ons.
• Store-favoring tactics if the item didn’t sell.

The franchisees are loudly complaining of their pain.

• Lack of corporate support (franchisees always expect more than they get)
• Software problems.
• Franchise Start up of $70-100k (that’s a lot of knick-knacks to sell.)
• Ebay fees are going up all the time, and rules are getting stricter.
• There are no real volume advantages on ebay (except perhaps for feedback.)
• Lots of time spent fighting negative feedback, often from rival franchises.
• Franchises are faced with big problems in their models …model? hmmm.
• More regulations are surely coming as these stores become the “new pawn shop.”
• Scrutiny of each store as a potential fencing-point for stolen property.
• If you have an hour or so, you can read more here.

If you read some of the posts on these links, you’ll come away thinking the $100k for a eBay Drop-off franchise would be vastly better spent elsewhere (oh yeah, don’t forget about the monthly royalties.) I do realize that there are millions of people out there who want to sell items and don’t want to muck with eBay.

But isn’t it logical to assume there are going to be fewer of these people all the time, as broadband and computer/internet penetration grows, and as everyone has a digital camera in the drawer. This generation of folks is not going to want to plunk down $30 of every $100 on somebody with a tape gun.

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One Response to “Ebay Drop Off Stores, er… Drop off.”

1. Jan
   29
   2008
   At 12:39 pm Todd Lancaster Says:

   You have brought up some good points. I opened one of these stores and have been in business for 2 years. I agree with all the points you have brought up but think you have over looked some as well. People come to me for severkla reasons. #1 they dont want to do the listing or dont have the time, but want to sell there things. #2 They dont have the knowldege or materials to create a listing…why buy all the things necesary when you only want to sell a few items? you would end up spending more than what you sold the things for. Todd

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