And... we can no longer use restocking fees to slow down the impulse shoppers who then want to pay for their next tank of gas by returning your item. The real trick is to sell things that buyers really want, cannot get elsewhere, and would never wish to return.
That said, I have had only a few returns in many many years, but it really bugs me that ebay in all its wisdom has decided that we need to provide benefits never seen anywhere else that actually ENCOURAGE returns.
My take is they don't want to give the TRS discounts anymore (ha-Ha, now that it's been practically deminished to the point of meaninglessness). At the old 20% discount plus private comms board, it made sense to jump through a few hoops to be TRS. Nowadays why bother, so you can offer 30 day FREE returns? Bye bye profit, bye bye business.
Ebay has whittled away my profitability bit by bit for many years. I'm just glad I don't sell many "commodity" items... The new system forces ever lower prices by automatically putting the cheapest at the top. Sellers drop the price 10¢ to be the lowest and the next guy does the same, and on and on until the prices are so low nobody makes any money.
Another writer noted that we are not owners of our stores, just tools of ebay, and for commodity sellers that is completely true.
