The Better Business Bureau is asking people to use caution during the upcoming holiday season as some of the websites and social media ads may not be what they claim to be.
BBB Vice President of Community of Relations, Troy Baker has told FOX 17 on Friday, that, “I will tell you that the vast majority of these websites that you have never heard of that are popping up and selling a bunch of stuff on social media are probably drop shipping sites.”
Usually when you buy something online the product is in a warehouse and the item you want gets shipped immediately. But with drop shipping that is not the case.
Baker explained, “The drop shipper is really just a middleman helping facilitate the purchase, and there is nothing wrong with that, except we have seen a lot of these websites cause issues with consumers because they are not acting in an ethical and honest way.”
According to Baker, the problem arises when you would like to make a return on the product. He says, “These are people, usually just one person, in their house starting a website. So, if you get flooded with emails from hundreds of customers, or phone calls from people that want more information or need to care for things and you don’t have a system in place to deal with customer service, you got a problem.”
Additionally, lower prices almost always mean lower quality while there is a time constraint to worry about. “They lie about the value of the product. They will say it’s a $150 item on sale for $75. You think you’re getting a great deal, but when a $5 item from overseas shows up, you’re going to feel cheated,” he said. “A lot of times, they don’t disclose the shipping times, so while many of us are used to two-day or one-day shipping, it’s coming from overseas and you might get it in a couple of weeks or, in some cases, a couple of months— or not at all.”
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