eBay support confirms "service metrics" = any return for any reason.
I have a high return rate now eBay has a blatant 5% cash grab fee added to all my sales in that category (eBay motors).
I downloaded the report.
1. Buyer confused me with another seller and closed the return - counting against me.
2. An item that was not even listed in eBay motors - somehow in the report and counting against me.
3. Several returns where the buyer never shipped the item back - counting against me.
4. A return where the buyer admitted to breaking the part, never sent it back - counting against me.
eBay told me the only thing I can do is report the buyers, but you can only do that on sales within 90 days, this goes back a full year.
Support tells me this whole thing is now being handled by a team that cannot be contacted, even by eBay's own reps and "follow up can take up to 2 months".
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!
I am not happy. So if a buyer opens a return and I fully refund them, I have to pay eBay's 5% "screw you" tax?
slippinjimmy
·4 months agoService metrics have always been that way since eBay started using them, any return, any reason, regardless of outcome. You need to have a very high rate of returns compared to your peers to get slapped with the extra fees.
I get the impression you have never looked at your seller metrics since you seem to have ones that are almost a year old that you were not aware of.
onefootflipper
·4 months agoHave you considered just getting out of auto parts entirely? I see that every part you sell is new, so it isn't like you have a business based on access to some salvage yard or something. Why not just sell something else if the auto parts are driving you crazy?
kibble-net
·4 months agoYep, it's called Personal Responsibility.
You have been posting a lot complaining about ebay and buyers - why not focus on the things you CAN control?
Several solid suggestions have been made to you about how you can reduce your return rate in another thread you posted earlier - I highly recommend following the advice you were given.
quadcitypickers
OP4 months agoI'm sorry but your answer comes across as rude. Personal responsibility has nothing to do when a buyer open a return and confuses me with another seller.
I know how to keep my return rate low. But again - buyers are simply guessing if a part fits or not. How is that something I can control?
babyers88
·4 months agowell this is just a suggestion, but I see none of your auto parts (at least none I saw) have any compatibility chart information. Yes adding that information takes time but it drastically reduces returns for didn't fit, etc.
christworks
·4 months agoI do not want to speak for @kibble-net , but to me the reason why personal responsibility comes into play here is because you need to take the initiative to review your service metrics, understand how they work, and know the impact they can have on your account. Right now you’re operating reactively, and as you’ve seen, that’s a tough way to run a business.
What’s done is done—you can’t undo it. What you can do is move forward more proactively. Make sure your listings clearly give buyers everything they need to make an informed decision. After an order is placed, follow up with a message to confirm what they’re buying the part for. See if those steps bring your return rate down.
If they do, great. If not—and it’s still driving you crazy—then it may not be worth it, and you should consider switching to a different category.
I sell car parts occasionally, but it’s not something I’d want to build my business around. A lot of buyers don’t actually know which part they need or how to install it, and that creates problems you can’t always control.