The benefits of free return shipping ?
Edited to make my question more clear.
I am considering after several bogus IND returns to change all items under 1 pound to free returns.
Miniatures already have free return shipping. I have no problem returns in this category.
Ornaments and larger items, buyer pays return shipping. This is where I am receiving bogus condition claims.
37 comments
broto_64
·5 months agoThe term you are looking for is INAD - Item Not As Described.
tarotfindsandmore
·5 months agoFree returns are definitely worth it for me. I paid for exactly one label in the past twelve months, but saved over a thousand bucks in final value fees. I don't particularly care about the TRS+ badge but I do care about my bottom line so I'm happy to make this small (minuscule for me) concession.
I do think people are less likely to try submitting false INADs if they know they can return items for free. Most don't realize that you, as the seller, can deduct the shipping fee from their refund if it's a remorse return.
trip98
OP5 months agoThanks @gurlcat . I know when I will receive a discount and what is required to do so. And I know about the 50%.
The policy area I was referring to is below. Does this apply to any TRS seller listing or do you have to offer free returns,etc?
Return shipping label credit for false “item not as described” claims
If a buyer falsely claims an item was “not as described,” we’ll protect you on eligible transactions. We’ll reimburse your return shipping label cost up to $6 per return. You’ll receive the return shipping label credit on your monthly invoice and we’ll automatically remove any defects and open cases in service metrics.
gurlcat
·5 months agoOH SNAP I have never even heard of this! But $6 credit sure wouldn't be much against some return labels ($20 ... $30 ...etc). Also I can't imagine how you could get it. Seems like you would have to report the buyer for abusing returns, but even then how could you prove to whatever employee reviews it that the item really was as described? Like say the claim was 'bad smell'. Or even damage for that matter -how could you prove that it DIDN'T happen during shipping to the buyer?
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·5 months agoWhere would one go to look up if they've gotten one. I know all about the policy but don't think in all of the times I've reported or fought fraud returns I have ever gotten one, even after requesting them. I could be wrong but if someone knows how exactly to check I'd be happy to.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@bgt_masters_of_tiki_d I reckon it would be like any other credit in your Payments, but labeled 'Return shipping label credit' or something like that.
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·5 months agoI looked everywhere and cannot seem to find it. If they hand them out like they're supposed to I should have a few of them. I searched for all of last year.
trip98
OP5 months agoYes, I have a lot questions about this policy. When do you report-after receiving the item back before refunding? What kinda "proof" is accepted? The $6.00 shipping refund is okay, I am more interested in we’ll automatically remove any defects and open cases in service metrics. @christwork mentioned earlier in this thread, a successful defect removal and shipping refund.
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoIt’s part of the eBay Abusive Buyer protection policy. It’s been around since the Seller Update in 2019. Credits show up in your Payments section when you search under the order number I believe. eBay will never tell you if your report was accepted as valid “abusive” or not in terms of eligibility for protection.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@iamalwaysright 60 days to refund 6 dollars??! 🤣 That long enough and low enough they probably just expect you to forget about it. I would.
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoAs have I.
baantiques
·5 months agoNone whatsoever for you.
Buyers will love it, because they can treat you like Walmart and you get to pay.
Ebay lets you subtract from the refund without being an above top rated seller now so that's good but a 20% holdback is a sad consolation when they've returned an item that's unsellable. I block buyers that do that but there are so many it probably doesn't matter.
Ebay forced free returns on me and returns have gone up 400% in the last month.
trip98
OP5 months agoThank all for your input.
From what I gather, free returns is a winner when it comes to FVF savings from the 10% fee discount, but difficult it is to tell if it lessens INAD claims.
Do you qualify for Top Rated Seller Protections from INADs, when you meet the top seller general requirements? If so I missed the boat on my two earlier ones. Or do you have to also offer 30 day free return ship and one or less shipping day?
gurlcat
·5 months agoIt looks like you're confusing seller protection and fee discount. In fact I'm not even sure what you mean by "protections from INAD's". Nobody is protected from getting INAD returns, but protection from having to refund 100% comes from EITHER:
*Being a TRS and offering 30 day returns on the item -whether free or buyer pays.
-OR-
*Being Above Standard seller offering 30 days FREE (only) returns on the item.
For a listing to qualify for the 10% TRS fee discount, it must
Offer 30 days FREE returns
-AND-
Offer 1-day handling time (incidentally you'd get the discount even if something goes sideways and you had to ship a day late, but if the item also gets delivered late you'd have a defect, not to mention a potentially ticked off buyer).
Take this item for example (which I LOVE by the way!).
Since you are TRS and the listing has 30 days Buyer Pays returns, if the buyer returned it all scuffed up, you could withhold up to 50% of the refund for the loss in value. But you won't get your 10% fee discount when it sells, because it doesn't have free returns, and it has 2-day handling time.
christworks
·5 months agoYou've already selected a "Best Answer," which I wholeheartedly disagree with.
I'm going to give you my opinion, but based on my data.
I offer 30-day free returns. From November 1 to December 24, I offer 60-day free returns. All items have free returns except for items sold as "for parts/not working," which may be a couple dozen listings out of 1400 listings.
In 2025, I spent $36.21 on return labels. My eBay Final value fees for 2025 totaled $2,841.49. That number is with my 10% final value fee discount that I get on listings that have free returns. $3,157.21 would have been the total of my final value fee, if I did not offer free returns and get the 10% discount. That is nearly $316 in savings before taking out the $36.21. Once you do that, we end up at about $280. I don't know about you, but I'm glad I did not give eBay another $280. Full disclosure, about $300 of my total sales for the year were for listings that did not have free returns (for parts/not working items). So there was no 10% discount on that $300. Even considering that, I came out way ahead.
So far for 2026, I'm running at about $11 ahead on my return label cost. I'm breaking even right now. I had 5 remorse returns in Feburary, which is very, very unusual. I normally expect a return or two following Christmas sales, but I got none this year. I had to all the back to last October to find a return before this series of 5.
This does not even get into the benefit of being placed better in search. I agree with @gurlcat that you will attract a better buyer pool.
I will tell you, for some people, depending on what they sell, no returns makes sense. I do not understand the logic of having buyer paid returns. I don't see the benefit of that. For me and my business and with what I sell, there is no benefit of having no returns except on those parts items. I do not have a major issue with people filing false INAD. One of the five in February was a false INAD. The buyer admitted it, so I reported them and used my TRS ability to deduct 50% of their refund. The joke was on them. Before that I have to go back to a year ago when a bad buyer (who was also a seller) bought ink cartrdiges from me and used them fill up his "opened" ink cartriges he was selling. I reported him, reduced his refund, and eBay actaully came back and made me whole the rest of the way.
The only way you are going to know what works for you is to simply try it. If your problem is in the ornaments category, set those up for free 30 day returns. You may not get good data to test until July when that early group of people starts thinking about the holidays. I've never had an ornament returned. Make sure you are describing things well and showing photos of any damage, crazing, etc.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@christworks How could I forget the part about missing out on those FVF discounts?!
I've never done the labels-vs.-discount savings comparison before, so I just did the math and although mine's not as impressive as yours it's still very clearly worth having free returns.
In the past 12 months:
Return label costs (6 returns): $31.55
TRS discount: $101.23
But get this -3 of the 6 returns were INAD's, which I would have had regardless of the listings' return policies, so really one should only count the remorse returns as the "burdensome" cost of having free returns. And even some of those might have been INAD's if the buyers felt like lying to get a free label.
jonathanbrightlight
·5 months ago@gurlcat I did a similar analysis on our sales last year, and while we're a larger seller than probably many on these boards (but by no means the largest), it's still pretty impressive.
Over about a year, we saved $7,403.20 in fees, and lost $869.13 in value on returns (if we got the item back in the same condition, I only counted the original and return shipping labels as a loss, since we almost always are able to resell items quickly if they had sold before). That's pretty impressive.
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoAs far as I know, the “less than full refund” deduction is intended only for items that are received back not in the same condition that it was shipped out in. Was there something wrong with the item you got back that allowed you to deduct 50% of the buyers refund? I ask because I’ve experienced this many times before with buyers filing INAD instead of remorse when I had free returns regarding the original shipping charge the buyer paid. For instance, I’d get an INAD return and the buyer comment just says “it doesn’t fit me.” By default, remorse returns have that shipping as non-refundable and for INAD it is refundable.
Years ago, I asked eBay (both concierge and I believe the blues in these boards) if I’m able to deduct the original shipping from false INAD returns made by buyers abusing the returns system. The answer I got was [paraphrased] “No, refund deductions are solely intended for items received in a different condition. It is not for correcting false INADs no matter how obvious and clear. If the item returned is fine and the buyer abused the return system to hang onto their original shipping, we ask that you still refund them in full.” Basically they were saying that I was SOL and I should still make my lying-buttocks buyers whole with full refunds. Is this still the case and the consensus? Or did I get duped by eBay all these years?
inhawaii
·5 months agoSo many sellers say that if you don't offer free returns that buyers will make false INAD returns.
I don't offer free returns and I DO NOT experience that.
trip98
OP5 months agoThanks @gurlcat . Yes, I do 14 days on seasonal stuff when in season, so I can get the item back in time sell again in season. Ornament sales really slow down by the end of March. Time to change it back to 30 days.
On minis I have 30 day free returns, for the small FVF discount.
My return rate over one percent now, but mostly concerned about my not as described metrics.
gurlcat
·5 months ago@trip98 I see you've already picked a Best Answer and my opinion on the matter is not a common one so I don't expect to get a lot of thumbs up, LOL. But here are the facts:
Some buyers will lie to get a free return label, especially if they think the shipping is high.
Some buyers not only lie but purposely damage items to claim they arrived that way.
INAD's hurt your service metrics, while remorse returns do not. If you enable free remorse returns, you'll get fewer bogus INAD's that cost the same $ to pay for the label, but cost you nothing in your account status.
Here's a (related) thing I noticed. -A lot of your items have 14-day Buyer Pays returns. Even if you don't want to switch to Free, you should at least change those to 30 days, because otherwise as a TRS you are just throwing away your ability to withhold up to 50% off of refunds for items returned in lesser condition. To get that, non-TRS sellers have to offer 30 days Free returns, whereas TRS can have 30 days Buyer Pays. But 14 days gives you no protection.
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·5 months agoPeople that lie to avoid paying shipping costs on a return aren't likely to stop unless you also offer free shipping.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoHow are those things connected?
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·5 months agoHere are the scenarios if I were a bad buyer returning an item because of remorse.
Purchase $50 item with free shipping, 30 day buyer pays returns. (I don't want to pay return shipping, INAD)
Purchase $30 item with $20 shipping, 30 day buyer pays returns. (I don't want to be out my initial shipping charge of $20 AND pay return shipping. INAD).
Purchase $30 item with $20 shipping, 30 day free returns. (I don't want to be out the $20 for initial shipping cost, INAD)
Purchase $50 item, free shipping, free returns. (I don't have to pay shipping charge to me or to return it so I'll file for a remorse reason) However, some buyers still might file INAD just because they can.
For ebay to enforce charging sellers an additional 5% in fees based on the amount of INADs regardless of why they were filed, if they were correctly filed, even if they were cancelled by the buyer or never shipped back seems pretty predatory. I'm not a big time seller but I do okay and that would run me likely in the $6,000-$7000 range in extra fees. Almost all of my INADs are bull spit. Either dishonest buyers or buyers that are naive and don't understand how to diagnose an issue or install a part correctly. Sometimes I get INADs when a package gets roughed up in the mail and the item is damaged in transit.
powell-collectibles
·5 months ago💯
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoSome don’t even stop there. They’ll still file a not as described on free returns for fear of being penalized elsewhere that they may not have yet considered.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoIf you are referring to NAD (not as described cases), it doesn't matter what kind of returns you offer, if/when a buyer opens an item NOT AS DESCRIBED case, you will be sending a prepaid return label and will be refunding in full upon receipt of the returned item. That's explained in eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers.
onefootflipper
·5 months agoI think you are getting Item Not as Described returns because your customers often don't understand that you are selling things the size of a penny.
Also, I don't understand why you are charging $8, $10 and even $15 shipping on items that are basically weightless. Some of your things could actually ship standard envelope if you stuck them in a category it was turned on in. This exceptionally high shipping cost on 4 ounces packages could not be making your customers happy either.
Normally I tell people to NEVER, EVER use free shipping. But in your case, I suggest bundling that shipping cost into the item price and doing free shipping.
I would never suggest anyone outside of high margin algorithm dependent, assembly line used clothing operation do free return shipping. It is the incorrect choice for almost everyone else.
trip98
OP5 months agoI have never received IND for any of my miniatures that are a size of a penny. Most of my miniatures are very fragile require a 4x4 x4 box. My minis already have free returns. It is my Christmas ornaments that have received not as described. The shipping for ornaments runs in $8-$12 and they weigh anywhere from 8oz to 1.5 pounds. And many of my items require extra insurance.
trip98
OP5 months ago@onefootflipper wrote:
I think you are getting Item Not as Described returns because your customers often don't understand that you are selling things the size of a penny.
Maybe two mini returns in 15 yrs. Dollhouse Miniatures have very big collector base. They know what they are buying - 1:12 scale from me. Only once did I have buyer years ago thought he was buying a life size carpet. Yes, it was $500 but it was mini. Caught his mistake when he questioned the shipping cost of around $4.00. Minis can be very expensive.
onefootflipper
·5 months agoI ship 4x4x4 box on a daily basis. I charge 6.29 on that stuff, basically a break even after fees. But you have that stuff at $8, $10 and even 15. Actually my small box of choice is 5x3x3, but same basic idea,
You should never, ever be buying extra insurance, that is money lit on fire. I sell full time, thousands of shipments a year. I put in maybe ONE insurance claim a year.
I have to ask, are you buying your shipping labels at the counter at the post office or something?
When I talked about standard envelope I was specifically calling out those tiny painted slabs that showed up when I searched you cheapest price first. Those would absolutely slip in a trading card sleeve with a couple old baseball card jammed in for 73 cents, not 8 dollars.
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoWhoa I never knew dollhouse stuff can fetch such high prices. Your listings remind me of those videos I see online of people cooking tiny miniature food and full on dishes and meals. Fun to watch.
kensgiftshop
·5 months agoDon't see anything that would qualify for ESE.
albertabrightalberta
·5 months ago@stainlessenginecovers
I believe IND is @trip98 's way of referring to "Item not as described."
@trip98
Several years ago, after a buyer damaged an item in order to return it, I changed from "no returns" to "30 days, buyer pays return shipping."
I haven't seen any increase in claims. I find having the buyer pay for return shipping is a good compromise (for me).
iamalwaysright
·5 months agoI agree. I’ve had free returns for many many years ever since eBay gave a seller perk for it (I can’t remember when). Anyway, I recently switched everything to 30 day, buyer pays return postage. I did this about 2-3 months ago because I found that I still received a good amount of false not as described returns despite my free returns policy. I also received a lot of lame remorse returns too.
So now it’s about 3 months later and my return rate percentage has dropped from like just under 2% down to 0.7%. Sure I’ll get a false not as described here and there, but I still got those back when I had free returns. All in all it was a good change for me.
caldreamer
·5 months agoGreat for the customer, not for you. Customer can still use reason "not as described" when they return item. Also, you run the risk of becoming a "lending library" where customers will "try out your items" and return them damaged.
stainlessenginecovers
·5 months agoNo idea what an IND is (there's NAD, INR etc "not as described' 'not received')
Anyway, there is VERY Little, if any, benefit to do 'free' returns.
Best to do '30 day, buyer pays' and then you can decide on a case by case basis.