Nessel promotes awareness of drop-shipping scams in new video
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MICHIGAN, USA (WNEM) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel presented a video for the “20 Days of Scams.”
The holiday consumer protection series is designed to warn consumers about drop-shipping and potential scams.
Drop-shipping is when an entity or individual sets up a website to sell products the seller does not actually have. When an order is placed, the seller sends it to a third-party who ships the product directly to the buyer for money. Consumers are paying more than what the product costs for someone else to order the product from a third-party, Nessel’s office said.
Drop-shipping is not an illegal act, but there is a lot of room for abuse to buyers and sellers.
“It’s important for Michiganders to be extra careful when shopping online,” Nessel said. “In one’s eagerness to purchase a gift or other necessities this holiday season, consumers run the risk of falling into a scheme that will cost more money than it should. Drop-shippers may attempt to lure in customers with flashy websites and products that appear to be on sale, but consumers must be cautious that the websites they are visiting are legitimately run operations.”
Many drop-shippers are trained to trick customers about where the product is coming from. They use stolen photos to think the seller has the product in a physical location from brick-and-mortar stores, Nessel’s office siad.
Another risk seen in some cases of drop-shipping is the product online won’t be the product the consumer receives. Sometimes the buyer never receives the product at all.
To avoid falling victim to a drop-shipping scam, research the product and the seller, compare prices for the same or similar products from other sellers and do an online image search of the product the seller has posted to see where the product is coming from, how much it really costs, and who else is selling the product.
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