Anyone Ever Buy and/or Sell on Tradesy?

[GemsBerry]

I don't think they're pulling funds back out of people's bank accounts after they have been paid--I don't think they'd actually have the capability to do that. Instead, if you have funds pending from newer sales, they are clawing back the money out of those pending amounts. Still bad obviously, and why I don't want new sales on there they can use as fodder for clawing back funds.

oh so they do. starting from 2014, from the beginning of this thread. there were cases when someone "suspected" Chanel was fake after half a year and Tradesy reversed the payment. they have it in the TOU how they "don't tolerate fakes" and can do whatever in this case. The question is if the bag claimed to be fake is the one that seller sent?
I had the situation when buyer returned the bag for innocent reason, Tradesy misauthenticated it and took my personal funds BEFORE deposit hit my account (yes, you will have overdraft). I authenticated it with independent service and won BBB case.

They are changing policies weekly, without giving notice to sellers (that'a a legal obligation). Their legal is a joke.

 

[whateve]

I’ve heard they pull money from PP accounts as well. I think what you should do is transfer your funds from PP to your bank account, and then delete the cards in your PP account. At least that’s what I did. Maybe then they will have harder time pulling money out of your account, because there is no money there.

If I still have a bank account linked to my paypal account, they can take the funds out of there. I can't delete my bank account from PP because I need it there in order to sell on ebay without limits.

 

[sanamarina]

If I still have a bank account linked to my paypal account, they can take the funds out of there. I can't delete my bank account from PP because I need it there in order to sell on ebay without limits.

From what I've heard PP allows you to close your current account and open a new one with a different email address. But it's better to confirm it with PP.

 

[jmc3007]

So just spoke to their manager, and in two words he explained “That their policy has wiggle room for them to do whatever they want, meaning that they can return an item for any reason, even if it’s not mentioned in their policy.” Also, from what I understood they won’t be excepting most of the returns, unless they can make money on relisting the item in their closet.
Basically, they are backlocked with the returns.
When I asked why wouldn’t they eliminate the whole return policy as Poshmark or TRR, he said they not gonna do that. When a buyer returns an item, they ship it back to the seller, but Tradesy gets to keep the money from a buyer, and a buyer gets Tradesy credit.
So it all makes sense what he said. But personally, I’m not interested in dealing with returns. It’s very stressful, my money will be tied up for weeks, then it will take a month for Tradesy to return the item, then reselling it. And imagine if the item is damaged or returned again after you resell it. It’s just a vicious cycle. I don’t think they realize it’s gonna hurt their company in a long run. I’m definitely closing my account with them. Will try a different selling platform. I mean eventually most people will transition from Tradesy to another selling platform, unless they change the way they run their business.

I had always thought that their return policy wasn't sustainable in the long run, and this was about 3 years ago. as far as I'm aware, just about every secondary platform on the market doesn't do returns either - items go back to the sellers one away or another. it's been mentioned that eBay does auto-ruling for buyers once a case is escalated. Tradesy has been absorbing returns as a revenue losing business which are operationally expensive in terms of staffing labor, warehouse storage etc. it's no different than say, Lyft and Uber which have to pay to attract drivers and subsidize passengers to gain market share. Amazon was doing that for years until v recently. in 2019, Tradesy management and investors are taking a different approach to the returns that may or may not work out in the near or long term. it was great while it lasted, and now there's a new reality until some new startup comes along and tries to reinvent the wheel.

Tradesy is positioning themselves for a higher end segment of the resale market hence the $150 minimum listing requirement. it was never realistic how they could be expected to make money from low value items, absorb shipping return costs, and then try resell quickly (30 days according to feedback) with a markup. real estate costs alone of being in Santa Monica precludes any low margin labor intensive endeavors. TRR for example went for cheap industrial warehouse space in Secaucus NJ, so does Rent The Runway. you get the picture.

It's not that their new policy is gonna hurt the company in the long run, they'd already been hurt from the getgo while the buyers and sellers were ones benefiting so something's gotta give, and it'd seem the pendulum has swung to the other side. similarly Vestiaire has wisened up to their expensive margins, which worked for a while because they were the only game in town, Europe primarily, but recently, they cut their commissions and shipping on average by 10%. I've been a member of eBay since 2000, Tradesy since 2015, and like life, the resale market ebbs and flows. Believe it or not, taking returns is a bitter medicine for everyone, but having live humans to process them is still far better than getting scammed with an empty box or completely different item like with eBay. I'm just putting some thoughts into perspective.

 

[MyAwesomeFinds]

On the $150 listing issue, instead of paying return costs for the buyer to send to Tradesy and then for Tradesy to return to the seller, why don’t they just make under $150 items final sale like they have previously done for items under $50. Another real head scratcher that makes you question the IQs of the people running the show over there.

 

[whateve]

On the $150 listing issue, instead of paying return costs for the buyer to send to Tradesy and then for Tradesy to return to the seller, why don’t they just make under $150 items final sale like they have previously done for items under $50. Another real head scratcher that makes you question the IQs of the people running the show over there.

There is a 'loophole' of sorts now with the under $50 items. I can list an item for $49.99, and use Tradesy's shipping label. I only pay $7.50 commission in that case, and the buyer can return because the total she pays is over $50.

 

[GemsBerry]

So just spoke to their manager, and in two words he explained “That their policy has wiggle room for them to do whatever they want, meaning that they can return an item for any reason, even if it’s not mentioned in their policy.” Also, from what I understood they won’t be excepting most of the returns, unless they can make money on relisting the item in their closet.
Basically, they are backlocked with the returns.
When I asked why wouldn’t they eliminate the whole return policy as Poshmark or TRR, he said they not gonna do that. When a buyer returns an item, they ship it back to the seller, but Tradesy gets to keep the money from a buyer, and a buyer gets Tradesy credit.
So it all makes sense what he said. But personally, I’m not interested in dealing with returns. It’s very stressful, my money will be tied up for weeks, then it will take a month for Tradesy to return the item, then reselling it. And imagine if the item is damaged or returned again after you resell it. It’s just a vicious cycle. I don’t think they realize it’s gonna hurt their company in a long run. I’m definitely closing my account with them. Will try a different selling platform. I mean eventually most people will transition from Tradesy to another selling platform, unless they change the way they run their business.

I had always thought that their return policy wasn't sustainable in the long run, and this was about 3 years ago. as far as I'm aware, just about every secondary platform on the market doesn't do returns either - items go back to the sellers one away or another. it's been mentioned that eBay does auto-ruling for buyers once a case is escalated. Tradesy has been absorbing returns as a revenue losing business which are operationally expensive in terms of staffing labor, warehouse storage etc. it's no different than say, Lyft and Uber which have to pay to attract drivers and subsidize passengers to gain market share. Amazon was doing that for years until v recently. in 2019, Tradesy management and investors are taking a different approach to the returns that may or may not work out in the near or long term. it was great while it lasted, and now there's a new reality until some new startup comes along and tries to reinvent the wheel.

Tradesy is positioning themselves for a higher end segment of the resale market hence the $150 minimum listing requirement. it was never realistic how they could be expected to make money from low value items, absorb shipping return costs, and then try resell quickly (30 days according to feedback) with a markup. real estate costs alone of being in Santa Monica precludes any low margin labor intensive endeavors. TRR for example went for cheap industrial warehouse space in Secaucus NJ, so does Rent The Runway. you get the picture.

It's not that their new policy is gonna hurt the company in the long run, they'd already been hurt from the getgo while the buyers and sellers were ones benefiting so something's gotta give, and it'd seem the pendulum has swung to the other side. similarly Vestiaire has wisened up to their expensive margins, which worked for a while because they were the only game in town, Europe primarily, but recently, they cut their commissions and shipping on average by 10%. I've been a member of eBay since 2000, Tradesy since 2015, and like life, the resale market ebbs and flows. Believe it or not, taking returns is a bitter medicine for everyone, but having live humans to process them is still far better than getting scammed with an empty box or completely different item like with eBay. I'm just putting some thoughts into perspective.

Thank you for sharing. and most of returns come from pro sellers, who pay low commission. but honest small sellers have to suffer. not to mention that Tradesy allows pro sellers from China, though it's against policies. and it's all over tPF, especially in LV forum, how items are not as described from there.

 

[whateve]

I wonder what is the longest Tradesy has waited before returning an item to a seller. There is a return of mine for sale by Tradesy that I was paid for 82 days ago. The sale took place in December. Do I have to worry this might come back to me someday?

 

[jmc3007]

I wonder what is the longest Tradesy has waited before returning an item to a seller. There is a return of mine for sale by Tradesy that I was paid for 82 days ago. The sale took place in December. Do I have to worry this might come back to me someday?

PP has 180 days return window, it depends what your buyer used or how sophisticated she is with the reselling process, and irrespective of platform, be it eBay, Tradesy, VC etc

 

[jmc3007]

Thank you for sharing. and most of returns come from pro sellers, who pay low commission. but honest small sellers have to suffer. not to mention that Tradesy allows pro sellers from China, though it's against policies. and it's all over tPF, especially in LV forum, how items are not as described from there.

Wouldn’t surprise me to see Tradesy implementing a buyback program with their own pricing terms, overseas sellers can either accept pre-determined prices or face returns from Santa Monica HQ where sellers would be responsible for shipping charges and any duties/custom fees associated with their home countries. That’ll weed out a lot of unscrupulous sellers who don’t use their own pics or aren’t detailed enough with descriptions, and Tradesy can buyback and set their own prices for where they think/know the items would sell after having inspected said items. Isn’t this what Fashionphile, Rebag have been doing? It’s a page from the sharing economy book.

My guess is domestic sellers wouldn’t go for this, they’d prefer to accept returns and try to relist at their own prices, or not. 5 years ago when TRR picked up 3 closet clean outs of my designer stuff, the SA told me 60-70% of their consignors were pros (boutiques, dept stores etc), wouldn’t be surprised if that ratio that’s much higher today or similar at Tradesy. Businesses cannot rely exclusively on weekend sellers, they need steady consistent supply to fuel their biz, hence consignors from China, Dubai and wherever else they can reach. Even VC has expanded to Asia nowadays, and Global Rakuten is now running TV ads.

 

[whateve]

PP has 180 days return window, it depends what your buyer used or how sophisticated she is with the reselling process, and irrespective of platform, be it eBay, Tradesy, VC etc

Yes, I know PP has a 180 day return window. The money came from Tradesy, not my buyer. I don't know how the Tradesy payouts are categorized on paypal, since they aren't sales (I don't pay any fees to paypal.) Most likely, someone at Tradesy could be aware of the 180 day return window. I don't know if I could dispute it with paypal since it wasn't technically a sale through paypal.

 

[jmc3007]

Yes, I know PP has a 180 day return window. The money came from Tradesy, not my buyer. I don't know how the Tradesy payouts are categorized on paypal, since they aren't sales (I don't pay any fees to paypal.) Most likely, someone at Tradesy could be aware of the 180 day return window. I don't know if I could dispute it with paypal since it wasn't technically a sale through paypal.

It’s not about you but what the buyer does. If she uses PP to clawback her payment, there’ll be a domino reaction from her to PP to Tradesy and eventually you.

 

[whateve]

It’s not about you but what the buyer does. If she uses PP to clawback her payment, there’ll be a domino reaction from her to PP to Tradesy and eventually you.

That isn't what I was referring to. The buyer already got site credit, I assume, way back in January. If she was unhappy with site credit at the time of the return, she would have claimed it wasn't as described, and it would have already been returned to me. What I was referring to is Tradesy's new policy to return items to the seller if they determine the price it was sold for was above market price (basically if they have trouble selling it themselves, it gives them a loophole to get out of it.) If they claim that with my item, I'd ask why they priced it 30% above the price I sold it for.

 

[sanamarina]

A question regarding Poshmark and sales tax...
I just sold an item on Poshmark and Poshmark charged me a sales tax.
But why do they collect a tax from the seller? I'm in CA and the law clearly states that if it's an out of state sale, then you don't have to pay a sales tax. Just doesn't make sense, why does Poshmark charge the seller?

 

[MyAwesomeFinds]

A question regarding Poshmark and sales tax...
I just sold an item on Poshmark and Poshmark charged me a sales tax.
But why do they collect a tax from the seller? I'm in CA and the law clearly states that if it's an out of state sale, then you don't have to pay a sales tax. Just doesn't make sense, why does Poshmark charge the seller?

Poshmark collects the tax on your behalf from the buyer and states that underneath the sales listing. You’re not being charged for it. Double check your sales history.