After 25 years, by EOY I predict I'll be done with eBay

[covetmodern]

Sorry to vent, but I think I'm pretty much done with selling on eBay, at least for my business.  My goal is to close it down by the end of the year. 

Over the years eBay has stepped on the heads of good sellers by raising their fees, imposing over friendly buyer policies that hurt sellers, allowing scams to perpetuate,  outsourcing customer service, doing nothing about listings I have reported as fraudulent... the list goes on.

This most recent transaction and refund request was the last straw for me.  I guess I missed the memo on the fact that eBay now issues a full refund, including the shipping costs for even buyers remorse return requests.  About a year ago, I moved away from free shipping because we'd lose too much on return requests.  I guess I don't understand what the difference between free shipping (adding the shipping cost to an item price) vs. charging for shipping.  I guess it's just a smoke and mirrors marketing ploy.

So, here's what happened - 

Buyer purchased item on July 9th.  They received item on July 14th.  Request return on July 20th.  Waited 17 days to send it back, and of course it arrives while I'm out of town for 3 days and eBay requires I inspect and issue refund within 2. 

I call eBay to let them know I cannot inspect the item until I return.  They issue a 5 day hold on the return request.  On the 4th day, I pick up the item at our return PO Box, inspect it (it's fine) and go to issue a return.  I can't because eBay has this 5 day hold on it.  The following morning, I get an email from eBay stating they issued a refund on my behalf.  I'm told they charged me the final value fees since they issued the refund.  This makes no sense because I was still within the 5 day hold and I couldn't issue the refund when I tried.  In all of this, I also find out I'm charged the $10.55 we charge for shipping - so now, I'm out $21.51 on an $80 item.  

I call them and they give me a long runaround, tell me what's up and nothing they can do about it.  I'm really having a hard time accepting that someone can buy an item, return it because they have buyers remorse and I have to incur this kind of loss.  

Before anyone thinks this is a knee jerk reaction, I have been selling for 25 years and have watched sales decline over the years so much that it is not profitable.  It would be easy to blame the products, but we sell a lot our products on other sites with far fewer issues.  I cannot fathom taking a risk for more expensive shipping items - I used to sell vintage furniture that shipping costs were $300-1000.  That would be an incredible loss.  With all of these policies, the overly complex listing process with an ocean of subcategories, attributes, item specifics, etc. makes this a nightmare to navigate any longer.   I used to manage a business here, now I am treated like an eBay employee who is charged to work for them, while also not getting any of the benefits of working for them.  

[memorymarielane]

I'm in the same boat... well, sort of 🙂 I've been on ebay since 2018 and I am literally selling off the remainder of my inventory. There is no point in going out to source (which is becoming a time waste in my area as well) when the profit margins are so low. I've been keeping track of my sales the past year and it is dismal. Good luck with your new venture and best of luck to us all; the world is certainly changing economically.

[yuzuha]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

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I would not buy anything from a site with a 5-day return window.  

Received a power supply I needed today. I tested it this evening. There are times when I can't even get to testing purchases for a couple of weeks due to other demands.

30 days to start a return is the norm on most every major online venue.

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My B&M job allows for 60 days. Most returns are made within a week of purchase, but people like having that security just in case they can't check the item right away.

[sakic92710]

Definitely cannot be worth it when we are trying to get a profit but have to lose out on a large chunk immediately.  Even trying to sell at 50% profit, you lose almost half of that.

[chapeau-noir]

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@covetmodern wrote:

Yeah, I've had to really dig in and research to justify Adwords.  Fortunately, it only applies to when someone actually makes a purchase related to a google search, not a click.   On the flip side, I used to complain about google searches not showing eBay items.  The reality is that Google charges a fortune for those searches.  I've had to adjust the cost of items because of that and to be honest, it has worked out better for us... for now.  I've kept a close eye on it though.  I ran a cost analysis on all of our items and found it really only affects one item we sell and its about 10% of those sales. 

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Well, they have two programs.  My beef was being forced to pay 12% for a program I did not need or want, based on a not very good search (and Google is continually changing parameters for their Google Ads) if I grossed over 10K/year, which was very easy to do without their meddling assistance.  I would prefer it to be a choice.

[rugerskick]

I think its prompted many sellers to diversify across multiple platforms.  I would say if you uave any items that both sell very well here while causing minimal problems, taper down to the items that do best here.  Others find certain types of items do better on other sites, for any number of reasons.  Shift those to the places they can do better.  The days of a "one online site only" seller appear to be over.

[chapeau-noir]

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@rugerskick wrote:

I think its prompted many sellers to diversify across multiple platforms.  I would say if you uave any items that both sell very well here while causing minimal problems, taper down to the items that do best here.  Others find certain types of items do better on other sites, for any number of reasons.  Shift those to the places they can do better.  The days of a "one online site only" seller appear to be over.

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Something which is natural and normal in the evolution of ecommerce.

[moondogblues]

You have some really cool stuff, in fact I couldn't resist that poster...it's mine now.  And you are just over the hill from me.  Hi from Astoria.  (Waving)  It's hot here too...almost 80 right now at almost midnight.  Stay cool.

[chapeau-noir]

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@moondogblues wrote:

You have some really cool stuff, in fact I couldn't resist that poster...it's mine now.  And you are just over the hill from me.  Hi from Astoria.  (Waving)  It's hot here too...almost 80 right now at almost midnight.  Stay cool.

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::waves at @moondogblues:: Glad to see you posting! I was in Albany, OR for a running/biking event and it hit 104, and yes, was almost 80 at midnight.  It was in the upper 80s in the a.m. when I was running - I'm a typical mossy green Pac NW person, used to 48 deg and drizzle. Man, I was suffering. By 3:00 PM I was out hunting for inventory locally and even with all the car windows open I was boiling. The DH cut his century bike event short at 70 miles due to the heat.

Really liking those Flensted mobiles the OP has!

[laststopgeneralstore]

By the end of this year I will be up about 10% year over year.

[covetmodern]

So, you sold $100 last year and now $110?  🤣🤣🤣

[covetmodern]

Just to prove my point - an eBay rep sent me an affidavit to complete and submit regarding the return. There were 3 options that would report the buyer - item was damaged, item was not returned, item was altered. Obviously, none of those applied to this situation. 

I downloaded the affidavit, added my own option and explained my case, requesting eBay refund me $30.06 - which was the final value fees and shipping. I included the name of the eBay rep who suggested I file it.  Minutes later I get a response from eBay approving me for my request, but it wasn’t for what I asked for.  It was the full amount of the item plus shipping. 

it was clear this was never read.  They just rubber stamped the affidavit and issued the refund.  No indication if they reversed the charge to the buyer or not.  This poor customer service and communication… 🙄

[ckimodog]

@covetmodern 

Wishing you all the best with future opportunities.  Sorry for your situation.   You take care. 

[coolections]

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@covetmodern wrote:

I get a response from eBay approving me for my request, but it wasn’t for what I asked for.  It was the full amount of the item plus shipping. No indication if they reversed the charge to the buyer or not.  

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You received what is called a curtesy refund. They will do that to many who just keep calling and complaining until they get what they want.

[sumsum70]

If you see shills walking down the street

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[chapeau-noir]

Though I understand the OP's situation, I'm not seeing anything here that isn't pretty much bog standard return criteria on any platform I've sold on (I've sold on about 7 or 😎 - it's frustrating when people take so long to return, but a company is not going to adjust its return flow just for me because I'm on vacation.  So I wish OP all the best in future, but that future may hold some disappointment insofar as various platform policies go.