Drop shipping from RAM

[jens coins]

I seen this on the RAM page and think it is about time they do something about all the presale items people have up on ebay.


https://eshop.ramint.gov.au/latest-news-with-desc.aspx?NewsID=216


Unauthorised drop shipping
21 Sep 2016  
Recently a number of third-party groups have been participating in unauthorised drop shipping, meaning that groups are on-selling Royal Australian Mint products without stocking the items. This has resulted in confusion and misleading practices for our valued customers. Any orders suspected of drop-shipping will be terminated immediately and the purchase price refunded.

Please note, this practice is not authorised by the Royal Australian Mint and we will be unable to return or exchange products purchased via a third party company undertaking drop-shipping.

Royal Australian Mint products can be purchased directly via our retail channels or sourced from an authorised Coin Dealer. We list our authorised Coin Dealers here: https://www.ramint.gov.au/australian-dealers

[trout]

All RAM has to do IF they are serious is to look through the eBay listings for pre sales and match that against their dealers list.
Anyone NOT on the list that is pre selling needs to be "Flagged" and action can be taken when they order :ok:
With the people that are associated with Cotton and Co (Who is a RAM dealer) who have been doing this "Drop Shopping" there may be a problem .

[robbiegal]

tricky
would be interesting to see how they could possibly police it
maybe just raising awareness for customers will in itself be the policing


wonder if this means 'pre-order'  ?

never heard the term drop shipping before

found this
Startrack

Want to cut out the middleman and set up a streamlined online store? Drop shipping may be the way to go. It's a form of fulfilment where you don't actually keep any products in stock, and instead organise for products to go straight from the manufacturer or wholesaler to the customer.

Amazon is the world's most recognised drop shipper. At StarTrack, customers who routinely drop ship their orders include Wayfair, Ozsale and Catch of the Day. Then, there are thousands upon thousands of eBay stores that rely on drop shipping to get products from overseas manufacturers to consumers.

It's a great option if your online business is in its initial growth phase and lacks the capital to invest in inventory and/or warehouse space. It works for established businesses, too. Particularly if you sell larger items and the cost of shipping to a consolidation warehouse is prohibitive, or your manufacturer has holding locations close to your end customers.

How drop shipping works
Essentially, it's a five-step process:

1. Customer places order on retail website

2. Order is sent to wholesaler along with payment information

3. Wholesaler packages up the order and ships it to the customer, with the retailer's contact details and branding on the delivery docket

4. Customer receives the order

5. If needed, the retailer handles further enquiries or returns

This standard definition of drop shipping is a different model to store-to-door shipping (where the retailer dispatches products direct from a bricks and mortar store to a consumer) and zone skipping (where products are lodged in the state of delivery either from an Australian warehouse or an overseas source).

If you use the drop shipping model, you're still in charge of creating and maintaining an eCommerce website – and everything that comes with it, including marketing, sales and customer service. The big difference is that you don't stock any inventory, and thus don't worry about logistics and freight.

Advantages of drop shipping
 
Set up shop without much capital.
With drop shipping, you can bypass set-up costs like buying inventory and leasing warehouse space. That said, you'll still need enough start-up capital to create a winning website; and you'll need the t
https://www.startrack.com.au/articles/drop-shipping-what-is-it-and-should-you-use-it

[trout]

Maybe RAM could have the listings removed from eBay in the first place :angel:

[LooseChange]

RAM should just open their own ebay store. A lot of real world retailers have an ebay presence.

[trout]

RAM should just open their own ebay store. A lot of real world retailers have an ebay presence.

RAM can't keep up with demand as it is and they would be competing with their Dealer customers as well. :ok:

[JeffH]

competing with their Dealer customers as well

That doesn't seem to worry other private companies and we have been strongly assure the RAM is a private company (albeit with only one shareholder at present).

[trout]

Not going to happen Jeff.
The Dealers are a Major part of their distribution network and RAM goes to some lengths to appease them eg sole distribution privileges for RAM rolls of coins.
I don't think that they would want to jeopardise this relationship by openly competing with them on eBay anytime soon :ok:
Anyway the dealers are a far more efficient option to buy RAM products from and they are usually at the same price as well.

[robbiegal]

i am not familiar with drop shipping
and I can't quite get my head around how ebay sellers are doing this

[trout]

i am not familiar with drop shipping
and I can't quite get my head around how ebay sellers are doing this

Easy.
The sellers put up a listing for pre orders and when the item becomes available on the RAM Shop site they order the amount of coins pre ordered then post them to the buyers when they get the stock from RAM.
The don't actually have this stock "In Hand" and neither do they have a guarantee of supply from RAM.
Of course the prices asked are inflated because the "Pre Order" gives the buyer the false impression that their coins are "Guaranteed" to be supplied, Which in reality they are NOT :ok:
 
The authorised RAM dealers that offer a pre order DO have a guarantee of supply from RAM, The "Drop Sellers" don't :dodgy:

[robbiegal]

in the startrack express website it describes drop shipping as a situation where the seller does not even handle the product - the sellers arranges shipping direct from the warehouse

hence my confusion i.e.  the RAM/ ebay and 'pre-order'

[trout]

I am pretty sure that this has come about because of the rampant abuse by various eBay identities with the recent Olympic $2 coin issues, Including many instances of Pre Sale listings by Non Authorised RAM re sellers.
There were also multiple instances of unauthorised pre order listings with the 3 coin HM Birthday set as well.
As far as I can tell this "Drop Selling" of RAM products is a relatively New Phenomenon on eBay and it looks like RAM is pretty "Pissed" with it and are trying to nip it in the bud :ok:

[SULLA]

DROP SHIPPING

Buy the product from a third party and the manufacturer sends to you direct.

Simple - has been going on for yeaes!

[Fulvio]

This is actually all a bit deceptive and confusing. Probably deliberately so.

Drop-shipping is an awesome development, only really made possible by computers and the internet. It saves time, money, risk and is much more environmentally friendly.

And it requires collaborative participation in the supply chain. Which is not a problem, since it benefits everyone.

There may be a slight increase in workload at the manufacturer's end, but this is likely offset by the gains, and perhaps a minor margin adjustment. And when you consider that with most manufacturing being in China, which can ship a package for 1/20th of what it costs us to ship, well, who wouldn't be in favour?

You can be certain that the RAM is not in any way involved in drop-shipping. Their anal attitudes towards the baggies and their insane postage charges are clear testament of how little regard they have for either the customer or efficiency.

Rather, they're talking about pre-orders here, and threatening to cancel any orders from people they suspect are engaged in it. Which is a crazy attitude, since pre-orders give an indication of demand, and result in less unsold inventory to clear, and increased profitability. Maybe they don't have any marketing or economics people on their staff?

Oh, and you COULD do drop-shipping, in a small way, simply by giving a different shipping address. It wouldn't scale, and would cause problems, not to mention being easy to counteract if it got out of hand, but its no different to sending someone a gift, really.

Anyway, to me its all a bit ho-hum. I'm sufficiently 'over' the RAM and their antics not to really care anymore, if I ever did.

[trout]

Drop-shipping is an awesome development, only really made possible by computers and the internet. It saves time, money, risk and is much more environmentally friendly.

This may be so for normal household or industrial items that are mass produced and will and can be continually manufactured to meet the demand.

To do the same with the RAM products that have a "Limited" capacity to be manufactured to meet an increased demand and also have limitations on how many items it is allowed to produce is a recipe for disaster.
The uncontrolled Pre selling of RAM products has the capacity to sell more product than is actually produced and eventually there will be some customers that have paid "Up Front" that will be disappointed to say the very least :ok:

This "Shortfall" will not only reflect badly on the pre sale seller, There will also be a perception that RAM has failed in it's obligations as well and its reputation will be damaged in the process.