Is everyone going to raise their prices?

[bigdeals.etc]

I know this is wishful thinking, but can we expect all sellers to raise prices to compensate for eBay removing the restocking fee option for all returns and the TRS requirement of free returns?

[slati_2013]

I have never used the restocking fee option and have always paid for returns. My problem with advertising free 30 days returns is, it is an invitation to turn us sellers into renters for unscrupulous buyers. There is a reason why LL Beans put an end to returns. There are others options but choosing those I guess will cost us our TRS. I am adopting a wait-and-see approach to all this. 

[*eponymous*]

L.L. Bean did not put an end to returns.

Lots of sellers have always paid for returns and accepted for any reason.  They don't have issues with doing that.  Only some posters have issues with the changes.

[richard1rst]

According to eBay’s seller dashboard I have a return rate of about 0.5%. In other words, one return out of about 200 sales. And not all of them are buyer’s remorse. I have never made a claim of infallibility - I leave that to the Pope. I have, rarely I am happy to say, bur nonetheless made an occasional error in shipping. That return would not have allowed a re-stocking fee, nor the buyer’s cost to return. So the actual remorse figure is something less than the 0.5%.

That being the case I do not consider the new requirements to be a problem.

Likewise, when we went from 14 to 30 days returns I did not see any measurable difference in the returns.

Maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe it’s just my product mix.

But no changes here.

[richards*rock*collection]

yes I will raise prices but best offer still seems like a good way to screen buyer feedback left for others. That being said, I will not allow returns on used vinyl, no one has ever won a case against me with used vinyl, although a few have tried and failed. But I'm not bragging.

[bigdeals.etc]

Yea I don't have a problem with the 30 day as I've had that for so many years now. But your logic I think will still hold true for my situation if I put free returns because sooooo many of my returns are buyers remorse... essentially I will be a free 30 day rental store. The only thing holding people back from the remorse return is paying for return shipping and the restocking fee.

@richard1rst Yea it might be your product line versus mine. I do all clothing, primarily women's clothing. And my return rate is sitting around 1.3% which many consider pretty low for a clothing seller. I'd hate to think what my rate will jump up to if I make returns free. I can forget about selling seasonal/special occasion clothing (Christmas, Halloween costumes, etc). Wear once for the day they need it then return it after. Then there's the buyer's who just buy a bunch of the same shirt, all different colors and sizes with intention just to keep one of them and return everything else. Had that happen to me before... at least they had to pay for restocking then.

I'm definitely going to have to raise prices to cover for this. I'll bet eBay didn't ask their buyer focus groups about being okay with higher prices in order to have free returns. They probably just asked them "Would you prefer free returns or not?"

[sharand11]

It can be decided when other sellers increases their prices. Otherwise, selling quantity would have an impact:(

[tunicaslot]

Totally agree - there are some categories that definitely would experience a higher remorse return rate doing free returns. I know a kids clothing seller that tried it to increase their visibility and sales. Sales didn't increase very much - but in just the 5 weeks - they had more returns than they had the whole year.

So clothing would be bad with the exception of things like ball caps which I see some sell. Another niche that may be affected is tools and I know we've seen threads before of people purchasing tools for progects - doing the project and then returning the tool which the buyer probably would never use again - so they "rented" one from an Ebay seller.

Unless people specify what they sell when giving their experiences with the free returns - no one can make a decision on whether or not this will be good for the products they handle.

[jklfindings]

After doing a little math, and looking at my return rate for the past 6 months, I have decided offering free returns will cost me an extra $7 a month on average.  I won't be raising prices for that amount, and I've never used restocking fees anyhow.

[slati_2013]

"L.L. Bean did not put an end to returns."

Yes, I know that. I of course meant to say they changed their return policy. When it was too generous, it was abused. Free 30 days paid returned will also be abused. The difference now is eBay will probably on every listing that offers it have it there in bold, pretty much tempting some buyers to abuse it. 

[shoptalkid]

---

@richard1rstwrote:

According to eBay’s seller dashboard I have a return rate of about 0.5%. In other words, one return out of about 200 sales. And not all of them are buyer’s remorse. I have never made a claim of infallibility - I leave that to the Pope. I have, rarely I am happy to say, bur nonetheless made an occasional error in shipping. That return would not have allowed a re-stocking fee, nor the buyer’s cost to return. So the actual remorse figure is something less than the 0.5%.

That being the case I do not consider the new requirements to be a problem.

Likewise, when we went from 14 to 30 days returns I did not see any measurable difference in the returns.

Maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe it’s just my product mix.

But no changes here.

---

 My return rate is currently 0.00% out of 2800 transactions.   I could do "no returns" or "30 day buyer pays return shipping" , but if keeping a return policy gives me better visibility, then that's what I'll do.    It may also help avoid any potential negs if a buyer gets so upset because they couldn't return the item.   

[unicornwoman]

The 30 day return and no restocking fee is a bigger deal for the smaller sellers.  That is what I am.  One notable return was for an item that was a higher value item and one that I can no longer sell as "new".  I was also out the Priority Mail fee for sending it out.   Somehow, ebay didn't let me do the return the way the auction was listed, so the full amount was refunded.  The hit of the postage plus the cost of the item was a major, major impact on my business.  I don't make that much in a year and one bad sale like that and I don't recover. 

If you have 1000's of sales a year, a few returns don't matter.  But when I do maybe less than 100 for the entire year with ebay, one is a big hit. 

And, for a small seller with little income, waiting 30 days to know if the money is "theirs" or not is really a difficulty. 

I don't feel that eBay considered the impact of this on the small seller that is trying to grow their business.   They claim to be offering new stepping stones up to the ranks with the new store subscriptions for smaller sellers, but this 30 day thing is a killer.

[luckythewinner]

---

@bigdeals.etcwrote:

I know this is wishful thinking, but can we expect all sellers to raise prices to compensate for eBay removing the restocking fee option for all returns and the TRS requirement of free returns?

---

IMHO he only sellers who might consider raising prices to compensate for the loss of restocking fees would be those who currently have a restocking fee.

Since I know for a fact that is not all sellers, my guess would be "no".

[lhans]

L.L.Bean has done away with the implied lifetime guarentee where customers could bring anything back at any time for a refund or exchange no questions asked and no receipt required.  That was a smart move on their part.  I worked for them for a while and the things people brought back amazed me.  One lady cleaned out her mothers closet when she passed away.  Everything was 10 years old or older.  Some items still had tags on them.  She returned everything.  Another person returned a winter coat that was over 25 years old.  When asked for a reason for the return.  They no longer liked the style.  Best yet was a genteman who returned a kayak.  He used it for 3 and 1/2 years.  The bottom was gouged and scraped and overall the kayak was well used.  He returned it saying it did not function the way he thought it would.  I think you would know this after your first trip or two.  Now L.L.Bean will require a receipt for a return and their product going forward will be given a 1 year guarentee against defects.  You can no longer buy a wardrobe of clothes one time and be clothed for life.  You also can not buy boots or shoes and be set or life never having to buy another pair.  Guarentee covers defects.  Not normal wear and tear.

[lewisburggold]

We have not raised our prices and probably wont.   We all have to stay competitive some how.   Best regards