This week eBay Seller Dave DiBartolomeo of SelectTech shares his holiday returns best practices; Omar Elitreby from BULQ announces their partnership with eBay to bring wholesale lots of inventory to eBay sellers; Alexis Gallivan has news of a new program called eBay Seller School; and Liz Austin updates us with the latest on Up & Coming grants. Griff and Brian answer a question about sending invoices.
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Episode 118 Links
Holiday Carrier Shipping Deadlines
Seasonal Playbook
eBay News Text Alerts
eBay Seller School
Sourcing Inventory with BULQ
David DiBartolomeo’s eBay Store (Selecttech)
Up and Running Grants
Hosts:
Griff, Brian Burke
Guests:
Dave DiBartolomeo (eBay Seller - selecttech), Omar Elitreby (BULQ) Alexis Gallivan (eBay Staff), Liz Austin (eBay Staff)
Transcript:
Holiday Carrier Shipping Deadlines
Seasonal Playbook
eBay News Text Alerts
eBay Seller School
Sourcing Inventory with BULQ
David DiBartolomeo’s eBay Store (Selecttech)
Up and Running Grants
Recurring Links:
Hosts:
Griff, Brian Burke
Guests:
Dave DiBartolomeo (eBay Seller - selecttech), Omar Elitreby (BULQ) Alexis Gallivan (eBay Staff), Liz Austin (eBay Staff)
This week on the eBay For Business Podcast:
"Sellers School could be a fantastic training resource for some of our bigger sellers out there who have teams of people handling different aspects of their eBay businesses. They could refer their employees to Sellers School, to learn what they need to learn, you know, to fulfill those different functions instead of having to spend all that time, training them directly."
"If you look at our lots, they're all going to be manifested. So you'll know exactly what's coming in them. We also offer a 98% manifest guarantee. So you can have assurance that what you order is what you're going to receive. "
"You would think that it's going to increase the rate of returns. And what I found after the first few years of incorporating this is that I don't see a higher rate of returns. I just see a higher rate of assurance to the buyer."
" We have launched a new program to help brick and mortars grow their businesses online. So we're now giving back to our small business sellers that are powering America by awarding more than $500,000 in grant packages and education resources to help businesses stay up and running online and secure their future viability."
I'm Brian Burke.
I'm Griff and this is the eBay For Business Podcast, your weekly source for the information and inspiration you need to start, run and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode 118. Welcome back to the podcast, Brian.
Thanks, Griff. It's great to be back again.
Still working on your Jaguar?
No, I did. I did get the oil leak fixed.
Oh, good.
After spending most of Sunday on it, but all good.
Yeah, we read about that on the Facebook. I think.
Yeah. I posted a picture with it up on jacks, you know, while I was working on it, but I accomplished something. So I felt good.
That's an awful, pretty money pit you've got there. It's a pretty shade of money green.
Well, and you know, it's not mine. It's I just get to play with it.
I thought it was yours.
Well, technically it's Nancy's.
Oh, I see. Community property, right?
But... How was your week?
My week was fine. I spent it at home like I did the week before that. And the week before that, and the week before that and the week and week and week and week and week before those.
An exciting thing this week was on Tuesday. I dialed in for the Zoom call for the San Jose Meetup, Nancy set it up. And normally this meetup, we have the Marine Corps Toys For Tots come and it's not, we, I shouldn't say it's not eBay. It's always been organized by Alan Gilson and Nancy and all of them, but can't do that in person this time around. But it was great connecting with the San Jose folks and a lot of questions about Managed Payments and Holiday and such, but it was a really good Meetup. And then they did best practices around shipping for the Holiday.
Yeah. I'm loving, Managed Payments. I get my payouts there in my bank account. I just watch that bank account grow. It's fabulous. I love it.
I like the fact that I can just go into Seller Hub and it's there. You don't have to go to PayPal. I don't have to have another log-in.
Another login, it's so hard.
It makes it convenient. And I think the team's done a really good job with the reporting and information that they provide folks through Managed Payment.
I agree.
Excited to see what 2021 brings with that team.
A lot.
Yeah. A lot. So what do we have going on this week?
Well, it's a full roster this week. Cause we have Alexis Gallivan here to talk about the new eBay Seller School Program. Our good friend, Liz Austin is back to announce an update to the up and running Grant Program. And we're going to learn about a new partnership between eBay and the wholesale sourcing company that I think some of our listeners are familiar with. It's called B U L Q and now they're integrated into eBay. So you can source your wholesale inventory directly on eBay as well.
The other person who's going to be joining us is eBay seller. Dave DiBartolomeo to talk about his Holiday return strategy and best practices.
All that in store. But first we have a bit of eBay news, Brian.
We have a few news items to talk about this week. First, the carrier deadlines updates for holiday delivery are now published in the Seasonal Playbook page. We'll put a link to that page in the transcript.
Right and eBay just announced a new text alert feature that will enable you as a seller to receive eBay updates. The moment they're announced. Sellers, I guess it's for anyone buyers too. The short text alerts will help you start using new eBay tools and features and take advantage of new promotional opportunities right away. Immediately in real time! Now to receive eBay text alerts, you text join, that's the word, Join to 20633 on your mobile phone and confirm your subscription. You can opt out at any time. And that's the news for this week. Now let's get this podcast started.
Alexis Gallivan manages our Small Business Marketing And Engagement Initiatives here at eBay. And she's back with us today to talk about a brand new seller education program. Alexis, welcome back to the podcast.
Thanks Griff. So glad to be back.
I've heard that your team has recently launched a new online learning platform of sorts for our site?
That's right. Yeah. We're super excited. It's called eBay Seller School.
What is eBay Seller School?
Essentially, eBay Seller School is our new e-learning platform. It offers sellers at all levels. So no matter where you are in your eBay journey, it's an appropriate resource for you. And we serve these sellers by providing information and the guidance that they need to really start, grow and succeed on eBay. There's a massive jungle of eBay learning e-sources out there on all sorts of channels. And sometimes it's hard to know where to go for the answers that you need. And it can be hard, especially when you're new, even know what questions to ask.
In fact, I've heard from many sellers that there's a lot of conflicting information online about how to sell on eBay. And they're confused about what is accurate information.
We've been hearing that as well. And so the idea with Seller School is that we've kind of removed all of that guesswork all of that confusion and offer kind of a single destination, a single source of truth. If you will, for sellers looking to expand their eBay knowledge, try new tools, optimize their businesses, and just going to better understand overall how to position themselves for success on the platform.
It sounds like a personalized, online learning experience.
It really is. Yeah. And to achieve this, we have taken a long, long time to work very closely with teams across the business. And also with some of our really seasoned sellers who know the platform inside and out, and we've worked together with these different groups to identify kind of what kind of learning content is needed for what kinds of sellers. And we wanted to really make sure that that content is current because, you know, especially when you're getting started, things can be confusing. So we want to really deliver the information in a very clear, deliberate way and making sure it's relevant to small business sellers. And of course, comprehensive, there's a lot to learn and we want to make sure that we give them that full spectrum of knowledge to really help them succeed. We took all of that input and developed all that content into over 50 kind of quick digestible courses that sellers can complete in just a few minutes at a time covering a really broad range of topics starting with, you know, the listing essentials and items specifics all the way into really kind of advanced seller hub reporting tools and Terapeak data analysis and all that good stuff.
How does Seller School differ from Seller Center?
Essentially the Seller Center is an outstanding learning resource for our sellers when they have a question or an idea of what they want to learn about, it's super easy just to head right to Seller Center, you know, type that into the search bar and find the information they need within seconds. So it's super efficient and reliable in that way.
I always go to Seller Center cause I'm always learning something I didn't know before.
Yeah, it's an incredible reserve of information and you can really get lost in there, you know, for lots and lots of sellers and many different kinds of inquiries. The Seller Center is absolutely sufficient, but for other sellers, especially new sellers, they might be looking for a deeper, more guided learning experience. And that's really where Seller School comes in. So the analogy that I generally like to use is, you know, think of Seller Center as a library where a Seller School is more like an immersive interactive classroom.
Kind of like a Zoom meeting?
I hope not. I guess. Don't get me wrong. I love Zoom meetings. I'm glad to have that technology to stay connected with everybody. But for one thing you don't have to worry about your bedhead or your dog barking in the background. At Seller School you can work at your own pace at your own time. And the courses themselves are super dynamic in that you can engage with the content as you progress through the lessons. And when you join Seller School, actually your home page, the homepage of your experience is your personalized dashboard. It gives you kind of a real time view of your learning progress. And as you move through the lessons and courses, you can earn badges as you complete certain courses and even earn certificates as you complete full learning paths. And you can also kind of track your learning progress among your peers, because there's a leaderboard you can see kind of where you stack up in terms of how quickly you're moving through the material. So it's really a fun and engaging experience.
And who doesn't like badges certificates and competing against your peers?
Exactly. It's not just the millennials, right? Who like that pat on the back, but you know, another key difference in Seller School is the learning formats. So there are some sellers out there who want to dive deep and get a full soup to nuts, so to speak kind of education. So for those sellers, we have what's called learning paths, which are kind of curriculum and they're curated collections of courses organized by expertise level, starting at kind of the very fundamental level, then progressing through intermediate and advanced. And these learning paths really brings sellers through an end to end learning journey. This reminds me of our long ago, sunsetted eBay University Program, where a group of us would travel around the country giving one or two day seminars and we divided it into basic and advanced and it was How To Sell Pn eBay.
I wasn’t around then but I've certainly heard a lot about that. A lot of the sellers that I work with and gathering their input for Seller School have kind of likened this experience to that. And they really kind of look back very fondly on those memories so it seems like it was a fantastic program.
Yeah, it was. But it was a lot of work, a lot of flying every other weekend for some of us. And we were always limited to how many sellers and potential sellers we could reach in direct seminar education.
Absolutely and you know, Seller School is an attempt at a solution for that with that kind of limited reach. Through the platform, we can reach a virtually unlimited number of sellers there's room for everybody. eBay Seller School has a larger collection of learning modules. So for sellers who might have a clearer sense of what they need, they can choose between the individual courses and other resources available to them. And then if they want, they can dive deeper with one of the learning paths down the road. If they're interested in more comprehensive training in one particular topic.
Who is Seller School for, by the way, is it just for new sellers getting started out on eBay or is it for a whole range of sellers?
So Seller School is for everybody. We have over 50 courses that cover a super broad range of topics and expertise levels, starting with mastering those listing and shipping fundamentals and leading all the way into really more advanced tactics and tools for scaling your eBay business. Like my mom used to say, there's truly a lid for every pot on Seller School. No matter where you are, what you're hoping to learn, we've got something really quality for you. I just want to mention one other thing, one of the sellers that we've been working with to develop the content pointed something out that we actually hadn't thought of. In that Seller School could be a fantastic training resource for some of our bigger sellers out there who have teams of people handling different aspects of the eBay businesses. They could refer their employees to sell their school, to learn what they need to learn, you know, to fulfill those different functions instead of having to spend all that time, training them directly.
Yeah. I mean, who has time to train if you're busy running the business? By the way, have we already launched eBay Seller School?
We have, yeah. We did kind of a friends and family kind of thing just to kind of make sure everything was working okay. And the people are having a good experience. We launched it first, just last month in October, in fact, primarily kind of focusing on new sellers. So folks who either had just registered or had been on the platform for about six months or less, we said, Hey, we've got this awesome new learning resource for you. We think it could really help. And so we invited them in to experience the platform. And just in this past week, we actually opened up the doors further and invited our more experienced sellers onto the platform too. One particularly interesting data point that we came across. We're seeing experience sellers engage in that fundamental content that I mentioned earlier, almost at the same levels as the new sellers, which was surprising because you think they would just go straight to the end of the line and do the really complicated stuff. But I was really encouraged to see that. And I think it's really smart of them to do that because eBay, like I said, changes a lot and sometimes we all get set in our ways and we start doing things, you know, in the same way over and over again. And you got to stay current, you got to keep things fresh. You got to make sure that you are staying up to date on the new tools, the new recommendations, the new policies. And so having a little refresher of the basics is a really, really smart idea for our more advanced sellers.
Can you give us a sneak preview of some of the modules and courses.
In that fundamentals path? We're really focusing on the listing essentials best practices for managing shipping and returns, introduction to Seller Hub, that kind of thing. We also give a good shout out to the eBay community because we want to make sure that as sellers kind of progressed through Seller School, especially our new sellers, that they understand that the learning and the connection doesn't have to stop there. There's an incredibly big and vibrant community of eBay sellers out there. That's just waiting for them to join and take part. And then in the intermediate and advanced learning paths we expand into of course, more complex topics like marketing strategies and promotions, streamlining, and optimizing your selling workflows, seller performance standards which are so critical. Selling globally, expanding your inventory, scaling operations and lots, lots more.
Okay. Now the big question, is it free?
Yes. Great question. 100% free. Today. Tomorrow. Always. No fine print, no obligations, no fees. Just come on in and get started.
How can we sign up?
Super easy and quick, just head to eBay.com/smallbusiness. When you go to that site, you'll find kind of the different links to join Seller School and maybe even connect with a few other resources that we offer our business sellers. And it's critical to mention that there's actually no deadline. There's no dates people have to worry about. The advanced course that we're offering our more experienced sellers and the Seller School experience in general is fully self guided. So you don't need to worry about rushing to meet some deadline.
As a reminder, we'll put the URL for Seller School in the transcript for episode 118, Alexis, what does 2021 have in store for Seller School?
We're working really closely with teams across the business and continuing to gather input from our sellers to create more content and make sure that we're keeping the platform fresh and updated and relevant and impactful, all that good stuff. Ultimately, we are investing in this platform and we're committed to creating a learning experience that absolutely delivers what our sellers need from eBay to succeed in the marketplace. So again, I really encourage everyone to come and take a look, pick up some new tips and tricks and certainly check back often to keep learning and growing.
Well, Alexis, I want to thank you. It's always a pleasure.
So happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Alexis Gallivan manages our Small Business Marketing and Engagement Initiatives. You can learn more about eBay Seller School at eBay.com/smallbusiness. And again, we'll include that link in the transcript for this episode. Number 118.
Although the company that our next guest represents has been around for quite a while now, lately, they've been working on a special partnership with eBay to create a tool for eBay sellers. If you're looking for an inventory source of products to sell on eBay, then they might have the solution for you. Omar Elitreby is the General Manager for BULQ, B U L Q. Welcome Omar.
Hey Griff. Thanks for having me.
It's our pleasure. Tell us a little bit about the company and how it works.
BULQ is a platform that connects returned inventory from the largest retailers and brands to resellers who then sell it online or offline or through whatever channels suit them best.
You can order products directly from BULQ How does the ordering work?
We process the inventory through our warehouses throughout the country. Those items get aggregated into lots. They'll get put into cases. Then those cases get closed and they get listed on BULQ where resellers could go through a very easy to use and user-friendly experience to purchase those lots from us. Then we'll ship those lots directly to the reseller who will then receive them, process them, list them, and then sell them.
Unlike other sourcing inventory companies that in the past, or currently sell lots of products in a single lot for sellers to buy. There was something I remember that really sets BULQ apart, which I found very impressive, which is it's not a surprise box. There's an actual manifest for every box of inventory.
Yeah. That's one of our key differentiators. When we first started, we actually realized that the process for resellers to purchase this type of returned inventory historically, was very antiquated. You wouldn't know exactly what you were getting. You would get something and you would have lots of surprises. And it just was a really bad experience. We kind of realized that there could be a much better way, and really there's a big opportunity to modernize the experience and the process for resellers. If you look at our lots, they're all going to be manifested. So you'll know exactly what's coming in them. We also offer a 98% manifest guarantee. So you can have assurance that what you order is what you're going to receive.
Yeah. And that's just not like other sites. What is this new BULQ experience on eBay and how is it going to be different?
What we're doing is we're bringing BULQ inventory and the BULQ customer experience to eBay's platform. So we'll be offering BULQ lots on eBay, offering the same things that resellers have become accustomed to from BULQ in terms of easy to ship cases, manifest guarantee, full transparency. But what we're actually adding in terms of this partnership with eBay is a re listing tool. Someone's going to buy a case BULQ when they received that case still actually be able to create draft listings using manifested data. Those draft listings will be automatically populated on the eBay platform for those resellers.
You mean all of the data in the listing will then be in a listing itself.
They'll be getting a lot of data. They won't be getting all of the data. So they'll have to take a photo, they'll have to put in the condition and they'll have to put in a price as well. Just to make sure that the customer experience for their customers is actually a great one as well.
This will be a definite reduction in data entry.
Yes, I mean, they're going to be getting a fair amount of data and it's definitely going to save them a lot of time. We've done some user research and some user testing. And a lot of the feedback has been very, very positive. And one of my first jobs probably about 15 years ago, was actually creating eBay listings for items that, you know, I would just go pull off of a shelf. And, you know, I remember how time consuming that used to be for me. And I realized how time consuming it is for resellers as well. Being able to provide that data to resellers, to make things easier for them is something that we're really excited about.
Are there other things that are going to set this apart as an experience?
Yeah, so I mean, you can expect the same things that the reseller community has become accustomed to from BULQ. So like I mentioned, a 98% manifest guarantee. We ship items in cases which can be shipped with ups, ground or ground shipping. They're not going to have to order a pallet. Flat rate, fixed pricing, flat rate shipping. We don't do auctions, which is also something that's very common in this industry. And, you know, generally speaking is a tough experience for resellers as well.
What can the seller expect when they've ordered something through the eBay store, from BULQ.
They'll order a case and they'll have it delivered. And when they go to their order details page on the eBay platform, they'll see a button that will basically say, create your listing draft. So they'll click that button, it'll go through the process and then they will see draft listings in that section, in their Seller Hub.
If you had to give a top line piece of advice for eBay sellers who are going to be buying from the BULQ eBay store for the first time, what would that be?
Piece of advice is really make sure that you do your research when you're making your purchases. We provide a lot of data in manifests in the listing. So you know what you're going to receive and you'll know what the items are, do your research, and just kind of figure out how much you think you'll be able to sell items for and what the right price point is for you to make a purchase. Understand the channels and kind of your capabilities as a reseller so that you can be in position to maximum your profit.
Yeah, that's great advice. And of course, if you're a seller and you're looking to research, we always recommend that you start your researching at Terapeak, which the tab is right there on the research tab in Seller Hub. Omar, I want to thank you so much for talking to us today. This is really exciting.
Thank you for having me, Griff.
Omar Elitreby is the General Manager for B U L Q. We'll put the link for the BULQ store in the episode, transcript.
Most sellers have their Holiday inventory ready to start selling. In fact, it's probably been selling already. They have their supplies for shipping. They've made all of the adjustments necessary to make sure they can handle a bigger workflow when it comes to increase sales. But what a lot of sellers don't think about is how they can adapt their return policies to meet the specific unique challenges of a season of buying, which is all about giving. And sometimes gift recipients want to return their items to help us understand how he handles this particular aspect of selling is Dave DiBartolomeo. Dave welcome back.
Thank you, Griff. It's great for the invite. I appreciate it.
When I put the outreach out for a seller who could talk about returns, you eagerly raised your hand. So thus you're here.
I'm accustomed to doing it. I've been selling on eBay now for eight years, professionally under Selecttech. And it's taken a few years to get a good return process down to see what works, what doesn't work. And I'm looking forward to sharing that today.
Based on your experience from past Holiday shopping seasons on eBay, what do you anticipate in the way of returns at this time of the year, or directly after, going into January?
I think that this year will be unique compared to previous years, we have more active user accounts. More buyers will be looking to shop online for all their gift needs and coming to eBay. And it'll be a new experience for them. With that said, we'd like to have very liberal policies in place to make it as easy for the buyer to make the correct decision that they need. And they have the assurance after the Holidays that, you know, if this wasn't the right product, the right gift for the giftee, that there is a return policy in place.
If you have an eBay buyer who purchases something and then gifts it, and the gift recipient wants to return it, how does that normally work?
What'll typically happen is the buyer will get the gift back from the giftee and start a return. And it's no issue. We just take free 60 day returns back. So the process will go through the buyer's account and the return will go through the buyer's account and the refund will go.
How do you communicate to potential buyers what your return policy is so that they feel more confident in purchasing from you as opposed to a competitor?
We have it up front in our shipping return policies. It's there, it's transparent. It's on the listing page itself. It will state a 60 day free return policy. So the buyer can see it at point of purchase. And when they receive the product on the invoice, we'd like to customize that a bit and you can go into your business policies, into your account settings and customize your invoice. You can put on there all of your return policies, whatever it is, 60 day, 30 day, how somebody does it, whether free returns and let the buyer know on the invoice itself. Hey, look, there is a return policy here and they'll know what to do if that were to come about.
What about the return shipping costs?
Return shipping costs on our end and the way we run our business, it is free return shipping. So regardless of the return reason, the buyer does have that assurance that the shipping label will be provided. They can just put it on the package, hand it to the mail carrier and come back.
Utilize eBay's return flow for getting the label to the buyer?
That is correct. So the buyer will put in a return request. Some request reasons are automatically approved. Some return requests I'd like to have a little dialogue. If there's something maybe we can do to exchange out the product model, size, color, whatever, whatever the issue may be. I try to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to start a return and maybe still hold that sale. I like to have a little bit of dialogue.
What are some of the examples of the type of dialogues that you have with buyers that can help result in them keeping the item instead of returning?
Yeah, that's a good question. So a lot of the listings that we have are multi variation listings. So model sizes, colors, and it's a frequent problem. Just where a buyer may not know to giftee what model they have, what color they may want. They're taking a guess, but the return policy will let the buyer know, Hey, look, if you purchase red, but they want white. Instead we can work something out, provide a label, ship it back and have an exchange, ship out the product and retain the sale.
Yeah, of course. When we talked earlier, you mentioned something about templates.
It's a big part of setting up your policies. You can do it with shipping, you can do it with returns. You can go into your business policies and set up your return template. You can set up a policy for 14 days. You can set up a policy for 30 days. You can set up a policy for 60 days and whether or not you want to offer free return shipping under what reasons or buyer pays shipping, you can set up different templates and apply it to different listings based on what the product is and the likelihood of return.
We've had this question on a previous show. It's good to point it out here that if you're a seller like yourself, that's willing to offer a replacement as opposed to just a refund of money that you have to set that up beforehand. If you haven’t add that as an option for a buyer, then you can't add it post sales. So you would set up a policy for those situations as well with replacement. I'm assuming as an option.
Yeah, that's correct. You do have to click and select that exchanges are a possibility. If you don't click that, then it'll be a no exchange full refund policy.
One of the questions I've already had David and I know people think I should know everything and I don't. So I'm going to rely on you because you've got more experience with this. If I provided the option for an exchange for a buyer in a return flow, and they haven't selected that option upfront, can they change that option before the return is finalized?
That's a good question. I haven't had that situation occur. So I also don't know everything.
Well, listeners, you heard it here. I'm glad that you came to our podcast to learn that we don't know the answer.
I guess if that were the situation. What I would think is that as I could provide a buyer information such, you know, we'll give you the full return. You can go back into that listing page and place a new order under the model variation needed.
Yeah. That's another option for the buyer then. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. If you were giving advice and I know this is a rather sensitive issue for a lot of sellers, not our listeners, our listeners are very savvy business people, but for those listeners, they may be a little afraid of the idea of returns and the concept of actually making it easier for a buyer to return. They would feel like, well, that's just going to result in more returns. What would you say to that seller?
Right. That's such a good way to look at it when you haven't tried it, you would think that it's going to increase the rate of returns. And what I found after the first few years of incorporating this is that I don't see a higher rate of returns. I just see a higher rate of assurance to the buyer. So they can go on our listing and say, Hey, look, Christmas is the 25th. I'm purchasing this on the 20th of November. That's out of 30 days, will I still have protection if my giftee doesn't like, you know, the gift? And the answer is yes. So we can go 60 days out into January and provide that insurance. And the buyer can see it at point of purchase.
Oh, you haven't seen your return rates increase as your policies have become more customer-focused?
Yeah. You would think that that would be the case, but I don't see a higher rate. It's it's matter of the buyer purchasing the correct product on our end because we do electronic accessories. So it could be hit or miss with gifting. And we don't see a higher return rate.
You know, you can check your return rate in Seller Hub. I don't sell electronics when I sell, what is the return rate? Like an average for those categories?
My categories and the electronic accessories category. What I have is a 2% return rate, which is really good for that category. I would think that maybe more higher volume sellers will see a higher return rate or whether it's relative. I'm not sure, but our return rate on the majority of our listings are at 2%. For someone like yourself, you sell new electronics in package, right?
So we do a lot of brand products, our own branded products Aztech brand. And we sell this globally. It's, it's a known brand. It's a brand that buyers seek out. And when they shop on eBay they see the Az tech brand, and they know that they can trust the source.
When you get a package back and it's opened, how do you handle that?
Right? So on the return policy and on the invoice itself, there is the return policy that all items must be received back as the condition they were received to. So that includes packaging condition of the product. It's not dirty, it's clean, it's not used. And there's an option with returns where you can take a restock fee. So if it's simply just not packaging, It could be 10% just to replace the cost of the packaging, the cost, and the time it takes, if the product is used and have no value, the buyer will still get back 50%. And what we'll do is we'll upload photos just to provide proof of what it is we're getting back as well as what the product should like new condition. That way eBay, if they need to step in, or if the buyer wants to question it themselves, they can at least visually see what was returned back. Do you a lot of that, if you had to say maybe as a percentage of all your transactions, how often does that happen?
Some products looked like they were heavily used, it looks like they went to the end of the return policy and said, Hey, I'll return it now. So that does happen. You know, within this 2% return rate, there is a smaller percentage of that, that, you know, it will come back, it looks like heavily used and really of no value. So that's a write off. We can just, you know, document it, Hey, this product came back in this condition and write off that cost with our accounting. So, I mean, there's still a way to recoup value. We can give the buyer a 50% back it's fair game. At that point, we don't sell high value products. So, I mean, if we have a $2,000 item, I don't know how a seller would handle that. Our items are typically $30 and under, so it's not that much of a gain in between.
What word of advice would you give to a seller who saying, Hey, I don't think this is going to work for me. How do you sell them on a practice like a, a 60 day return policy with seller paying for return shipping?
Great question. And what you can do is you can select through a bulk editing, just try a few different listings, evaluate how that works for you. If it does work for you, you can increase it across the board, or you can say, Hey, this just didn't work out, but I gave it a try and I have my answer. Just test it.
Correct.
Well Dave, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your selling day. It's not always easy to find time, so we really appreciate you sharing your expertise about return policies for the holidays and beyond. Would it be okay for us to ask you to come back on in January and tell us how it went?
I'd love coming back on? Yeah, I'll be here. I'll be available in January. Let's talk.
Okay. It's a deal.
2021!
And again, you sell under the user ID, Selecttech. So I will put the link to Dave DiBartolomeo store so you can check it out in the transcript for episode 118. Dave. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much. Griff, look forward to talking to you in January.
Dave DiBartolomeo is a seller who's been on eBay for several years. We were talking about return policies. Again, I'll put the link to his eBay store in the transcript.
Small businesses are the backbone of eBay and joining me to talk about a new program to help recognize small business achievements on eBay is Senior Manager of Seller Marketing and Engagement. Liz Austin, welcome back Liz.
Hello Griff.
We know that 2020 has been a really tough year for small businesses all around. And we also know that e-commerce is booming this year in particular now, as buyers are shopping for the Holidays. This week, we launched something very exciting for eBay sellers.
Absolutely. We are so excited to announce the up and running grants. So ahead of Thanksgiving and small business Saturday two events, which we know very well. We’re evolving the up and running program, which we have spoken to our podcast listeners about before. We have launched a new program to help brick and mortars grow their businesses online. We're now giving back to our small business sellers that are powering America by awarding more than $500,000 in grant packages and education resources to help businesses stay up and running online and secure their future viability.
Wow, 500,000. That's a great way to recognize the contributions that eBay small businesses make every day to the economy. That said running a business of any size, it's not always a walk in the park.
It's clearer today than ever before that small businesses must adapt to meet both the challenges and the opportunities of today's fast changing and increasingly digital economy. Developing a strong e-commerce presence is a vital part of this education and evolution.
So Liz, how does this program work?
Well in partnership with Hello Alice, who is a not-for-profit organization, who we have met through the eBay Foundation, we are inviting eBay business sellers to complete an online application, to submit details of their business and how the grant could actually help them stay up and running online and fund their online growth plans into 2021. It's part of our DNA to empower and create economic opportunity. And we're so excited to be able to build on our commitment, to support small businesses.
What could sellers get as part of the grants program?
So 50 eBay business sellers will receive a $10,000 grant package composed of $8,000 cash and $2,000 worth of eBay credits, which will be tailored to each business. And then in addition to the funding, grantees will also enjoy premium access to Seller School, which was spoken about. Our new e-learning platform and direct training and coaching from existing seller experts and growth advisors.
How can sellers apply?
So eBay business sellers can apply via ebay.helloalice.com.
And we always put the URLs in the transcript and we'll repeat them at the end of the interview as well.
Applications are open now, and then they close on December 11th and the applicants will be asked to share details of their small business and how they plan to use the grant to accelerate that growth into 2021.
How will eBay choose the grantees?
Again, the up and running grants are open to existing and active eBay business sellers and new eBay business sellers who have joined the platform prior to October 31, 2020. Anyone that came on because of the pandemic to stay up and running. We're inviting them to apply for the grant as well. And then we'll be judging the entries based on their needs for the funds, as well as their plans for the funds to help boost their online presence.
When will we announce the grantees?
We want to do this properly. We want to read through all of the applications. So we're going to take the time to judge the entries and then we'll notify the grantees on or around the first week of February.
Before we go remind us of the landing page again.
Sure you don't want to say it?
I love your accent. I want to hear you say it.
I just don't want anyone to get it wrong. Okay. ebay.helloalice.com and then be sure to apply before December 11th.
So there is a deadline you want to get your grant application in before December 11th and who knows? You may be one of the grantees that we announced in February. Liz, thanks so much for stopping by. It's always a pleasure.
Thanks Griff, for having me.
Liz Austin is the Senior Manager for Seller Marketing and Engagement here on eBay. And we'll put the link eBay.helloalice.com. And again, we'll put that in the transcript for episode 118.
It's time for you have questions.
We've got answers.
Well, actually we have time for only one question this week.
And one answer.
Yes. One answer. Well, it's maybe an answer. Anyway. eBay seller Jennifer wrote to podcast@ebay.com with the following. Hello. I was wondering why we cannot send an invoice through the eBay App. I can send my customer a reminder, but why can I not invoice them? Especially in situations where I need to adjust shipping or combined shipping, like you can on the website. Is this something they can add in the future? Thank you, Jennifer. From Crestview Market.
Thanks Jennifer. Thanks for that question. I can't say exactly why that feature is not available in the eBay mobile app. I cannot say if it will be included in the future either, but if you are limited to using your phone, that is, you're not near a desktop or a laptop, and you want to send an invoice immediately. You can always open the browser on your phone. And in this case, I believe it is an iPhone. So Safari.
And if you're using an Android phone, it would be something like Chrome.
Yeah. And in either case open the web browser and go to www.ebay.com, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and select classic. It's like the classic view. This should open the full eBay site on your phone from which you can send the buyer an invoice.
Because you're looking at the full eBay site on a small screen, Jennifer of your iPhone, there is some amount of scrolling and zooming in and out, you know, pinching in and out. And some of the pages won't look exactly like they do on a desk or a laptop, but it should work. You should be able to find the feature, go to your sold listings and send an invoice.
Griff. I'm always a little amazed that some sellers, they're still using what we would probably consider a very old send invoice feature.
Yeah. You know, me too, I could see where they were a necessity 10, 15 years ago, but it's such a clunky way of doing business online. I can't think of any site where a buyer has to wait for a seller to send them an invoice before they can purchase. Now I know most sellers who still use the feature are like Jennifer, and they use it to provide either a combined shipping for those listings where they're charging for shipping or even item discounts for multiple purchases. But there are better ways to do this today. Quicker, faster, get paid fast and you can ship out fast.
Right. And a great starting place is to use Promotions Manager.
Yes. That's what I was going to say. This one, that's one great tool with Promotion Manager. You can provide combined shipping and purchase discounts across many listings.
You know, Griff. We should really go into this topic in more depth in the future.
Oh, that's a great idea, Brian. We'll definitely do that, but thanks Jennifer, for your question in the meantime, use your browser on your phone and we'll send this off to the mobile team to see if they'll include it, but I can't promise that's going to happen. I think the team is looking at these kinds of features as old legacy features. Well for now though Brian, tell them how they can submit a question to us at You've Got Questions.
It's easy Griff. You can call us on 888-723-4630. And we love voice calls. Or if you're not a call on the phone person, you can always email us at podcast@ebay.com that's podcast@ebay.com.
There you go, phone number is 888-723-4630. The email address is podcast@ebay.com. Well, I think we're almost done except now it's time for your weekly daily podcast to do list.
And first I'll say check the announcement board for up-to-date seller news, but I will also say you can subscribe to it too. So we'll push the information too, so subscribe as well.
Not only check but subscribe to that. Number two on the list, put your Holiday return strategy tests into place now just like Dave DiBartolomeo said.
And third, check out the transcript for this and all episodes for follow up on what you've heard and to see the links we referenced during the episode.
Now on our next episode, which will be episode 119. We'll meet the founder and owner of one of the largest, if not the largest trading card businesses in the world, Rob Verus of Burbank Trading Cards.
And we'd like to, again, thank our guests this week, Alexis Gallivan, Omar Elitreby from BULQ, Liz, Austin, and eBay seller Dave DiBartolomeo.
For eBay For Business Podcast is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.
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The eBay for Business podcast is published every Tuesday morning and is presented by eBay, Libsyn and Podcast411.
