How can you afford to pay return shipping?
I'd like to start offering Free Returns on my listings as an added benefit and assurance. However, my margins are pretty small and return shipping cost on any single item would offset the profit made on a relist. What's your experience with Free Return shipping? Does it happen a lot to you?
17 comments
toysaver
·1 year agoOnce I get the item back and relisted I add the return shipping amount to the new price. This method hasn't failed me yet.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@dylandog1987
I've been offering paid returns for a very long time and have had only one -- from a person who bought an item that she thought was the same color as the similar items that she had at home. The color was off, and she wanted to return the item.
But here's what you need to consider:
Because of the power of reverse psychology, you will almost certainly make more sales with free returns than you otherwise would have.
Thus, you will have made more money than you otherwise would have.
As a result, you will be better positioned financially to afford to pay for the very episodic return that you do get.
iart
·1 year agoWe rarely get returns. We offer free returns on all but our heaviest sales.
Give good descriptions and show good photos and you should be okay.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoKind of depends on how many returns you get now.
If you get 1 or 2 a year, it wouldn't be bad.
1 or 2 a month could add up.
dirk12955
·1 year agoIt depends on what you're selling. I sell stamps and get zero returns.
I'm guessing clothing sellers and some other categories can't make that claim.
The cookie jar thing is good. Virtual cookie jar I've always called it.
If you make a profit on everything including the shipping, You can absorb
an occasional return without suffering too much of a loss.
If your margins are that close that you worry about the cost of a return, You have other
issues to be concerned about. It might be more cost effective to refund the money
and let the buyer keep the item, Or let them toss it.
If you're getting enough returns to REALLY be concerned, Well that's
an entirely different subject.
golfingaddict
·1 year agoCost vs Value
You can't think of it as a free return on every item. Nor can you look at one item and determine that it would be too costly.
Just figure out how many returns you get and what those returns would cost you.
Then figure out how much that is per item sold.
(you can pick any time frame or you can pick 3-4 random months to use.)
If you think of it as an overall cost, spread out over all your sales, rather than a per item cost, you can determine if it is worth it to you.
For example, if you get 2 returns a month and sell 200 items a month. 2 returns would cost you about $10 per month.
But really it is a cost of about $.50 per item sold.
Do you think that it would increase your sales over $10 per month? If so, it may be worth it to use free returns.
dylandog1987
OP1 year agoYeah, maybe I'll just do it for a month and see if sales uptick!
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoThe retail industry average is reported to be 1%.
Most eBay sellers report a Return rate lower than that.
You are allowed to refuse the Return - which means you are abandoning the product BUT you will still be refunding.
It seems to be the general opinion that accepting Returns for Refund makes Claims less likely, since unhappy customers tend to think the No Returns seller will not be cooperative.
Then there is Cookie Jar Insurance.
Which means adding a few pennies or dimes to the asking price for all your items ($4.99 instead of $4.95) as a sort of insurance policy against problem transactions.
Those virtual pennies go in a virtual Cookie Jar.
When a customer reports a problem (INR or NAD) you refund from the Cookie Jar.
As a bonus, this not only covers questionable situations where the customer is fussy (the red sweater was cherry instead of scarlet) but also where you messed up (you sent a blue sweater instead of a red one).
We can have a No Returns policy.
We cannot have a No Refunds policy.
dylandog1987
OP1 year agoThe "No Refunds" is a completely separate topic but I like your stance on accepting Returns will make claims less likely.
dolcetreasures
·1 year agoWhat 1%? This is not even in the realm of reality.
https://www.richpanel.com/blog/ecommerce-return-rates
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoeCommerce return rates are between 20 and 30%.
mam98031
·1 year agoJust for a little more clarity on what a No Return policy really means as well as the other policies.
The return policies options are as follows.
With option number 1, No Returns the seller can completely deny taking a return for a Buyer's Remorse Return Request. Or if they want to, they can accept the return and have the buyer pay the return shipping. If the seller so chooses, they can withhold the original shipping if it was separately stated on the listing [not free shipping] when it is time to refund the buyer.
On options 2 & 3 the buyer is responsible for the return shipping on a Buyer's Remorse Return. Plus, if the seller so chooses, they can withhold the original shipping if it was separately stated on the listing [not free shipping] when it is time to refund the buyer. As of October 1st 2019, sellers that are TRS have some additional protections as well as they can issue partial refunds if they use options 4 or 5 as their return policy.
On options 4 & 5 above, they are also known as Free Returns. If a seller that has either of those policies, they will pay the return shipping even on a buyer's remorse return. A seller can withhold the original shipping value from the refund if the shipping was separately stated in the listing [not free shipping]. Also, Seller’s offering options 4 or 5 have the ability to do partial refunds in certain cases if the item arrives back damaged, missing something or in a condition less than what it was sent to the buyer in, see the policy for more details, the link is below. In the cases where a deduction in the refund is taken due to damage or other authorized reasons for a partial refund, Ebay will protect the seller from negative or neutral feedback.
ALL OPTIONS [1, 2, 3, 4 and 5] are required to process SNAD claims without exception. Even if they are improperly filed and should have been a Buyer’s Remorse claim.
All return policies by sellers must meet or exceed what is stated in the Money Back Guarantee Policy!
14 day return policies are allowed in certain categories: Jewelry & Watches, Collectibles & Art, Cameras & Photo and Medical, Mobility & Disability Equipment.
For those with Free Return and/or TRS members with 30 day return policies, there are some added protection benefits, one of which is the ability to do a discounted refund under certain conditions.
dirk12955
·1 year agoI offer "Free shipping" and my average sale is about $10.00
That said, I never get returns. Maybe twice in 25 years.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoSame here. I offer Free Shipping (in my selling account) for anything under 1 pound in weight. I cannot remember the last return I had.
(This is my buying account.)
dylandog1987
OP1 year agoThe under 1 pound thing is definitely an interesting angle to consider!
meme6253
·1 year agoWith an average sale at $10 & free shipping, Your profit can't be very much at all, It's really good you don't get many returns.
dirk12955
·1 year agoThat's an issue on these boards to judge how another seller operates. I don't have any clue as to what you sell or how
you gather inventory and how much profit you earn and don't much care and wouldn't presume
to suggest that your business model is faulty.
It's easy to suggest I'm not making a profit without having the slightest clue as to how
my business works. You have no inkling of the $$ I take out of my ebay business per month.
$10.00 is an average. Maybe the next sale is $5.00 and the one after that is $50.00 You don't know.
You also have no idea if a good month for me is 400 sales or 800
Only the actual seller doing the actual work has any idea at all whether his efforts
are profitable or not. Everybody else can take a WAG.