Customer Returns

[amamon-8948]

I think I just need an outlet to express how I feel. Reason being, eBay does not allow us to have these feelings/express them as a seller. I go above and beyond for customers - to ensure quality, offer good deals, fast shipping, freebies, etc. etc.... I'm not sure if there's something in the air or I need to take a look in the mirror - lately I have had the most ridiculous people.

1) Tried to cancel a purchase an hour after placing it/I had already shipped it. Surprise, surprise. The item arrives with a tiny hole..... I offer a partial refund (50%!) to stitch it, declines. So, I accept the return....because what other option do I have? That's a serious question.

2) Claims item is 'not as described' and uploads a picture of, i'm still not even sure. It was a brand new comfy pullover. They zoomed in, in the photo so much, that I'm not even sure what the implication was. Same customer had about 20 questions prior to purchasing regarding measurements..... which i promptly answered and went way out of my way for. What can I do? Accept the return!

It's **bleep**. Also, I DO NOT ACCEPT RETURNS, and that is clearly stated. I also use eBay's "promoted listings" option, so I'm being forced to not only accept these false claims to avoid my ratings going straight to shoot, but i'm actually - essentially paying for people TO buy my clothes. Since, I still get stuck with the promoted listing fee + shipping x2. 

Did I mention that all 'return requests' are also from sales i made through accepting ridiculously low offers? Part of me always feels bad, and thinks i'm doing someone a favor by accepting their low offer. I still treat the customer/item purchased as though it were the most expensive one I had listed. Is it ironic that these are the people that keep trying to return things?

Any advice would be much appreciated, because i'm on the brink of completely halting all retail sales. I list on two other platforms and have 5 star ratings for everything, and very happy customers. Now eBay allows 'no returns allowed' as an option, yet anything can be classified as 'item as not described.' I have never heard of a positive experience (in the seller's favor) where a human being got involved and made a reasonable determination either.

UGH, sorry i'm so frustrated and upset and unsure of what to do!

[frodobagginskennedy]

There really is nothing yu can do to avoid not as Described situations.  you can offer a partial, which you do, or accept the return for full refund.

It SUCKS I know.   Try having a return for a 40 pound dish set.  Then you really get messed up!!

[metaltech1]

I understand your frustration.

Unfortunately, eBay is becoming more "buyer" focused.

You will most likely get "Offer a full refund and issue a return label so at least you get your item back." type of replies.

Doesn't mean you'll get your item back.

Doesn't mean you may not get negative feedback.

Doesn't mean you won't get scammed.

Sellers are given less support than before.  I hope the trend reverses, but I have little faith it will.

Good luck though.

[varebelrose]

Just some random suggestions...

Get rid of "no returns" so your buyers do not have to lie on remorse returns.

Block those buyers who ask 20 questions as per your second example, they are almost always going to be problem buyers. Exact measurements should always be part of a listing to begin with.

Do not accept ridiculously low offers. Folks who make them are going to haggle after the sale as well as before.....

YMMV, best of luck to you.

[ckimodog]

Take a breathe and don't let this get the best of you.  Things on ebay have changed a lot over they years.  No returns, does not mean no refunds. It's ebay's money back guarantee that is slapped across our sites daily.  They back it up 100% and a buyer doesn't need a reason to return anything.  You have a lovely shop, you did a really great job with you pictures and over all presentation.  One return is not the end of the world.  You have great feedback so there are more positives on your side than negatives.  My suggestion is to start allowing returns and pay for the return.  That way if the buyer is bluffing, you're covered.  It's just a better route to go and in the end, it will save you a lot of headaches.  Chin up and keep doing what you're doing, because you're doing great.  All the best. 

[espresso_warehouse]

eBay encourages bad buyer behavior. Most buyers, like most people are great.

But the bad ones aren't punished here since they generate eBay badly needed revenue. So the bad ones stick around and do what they do over and over again.

Block anyone who gives you a hard time before a sale. They are generally pretexting and getting ready to exploit the already weak seller protections by getting you to say something they can use against you.

There are legitimate questions though from time to time. Some buyers who message first are genuine and the absolute best ones. So use your intuition and if you feel annoyed by a quarrelsome message don't even bother rationalizing just block the buyer and move on.

[amamon-8948]

Awwe, what a kind message! Brought me to tears! I didn't realize how much I needed that! It can be so hard not to take these things personally, and get the best of you. I feel like the standard is either 'no feedback' or 'negative' and it starts to wear on you! You're absolutely right...at the end of the day, without the buyer's - there is no revenue....so that's who eBay will probably always cater to. I do hope things get better. Thank you for your kind words.

[chapeau-noir]

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@varebelrose wrote:

Just some random suggestions...

Get rid of "no returns" so your buyers do not have to lie on remorse returns.

Block those buyers who ask 20 questions as per your second example, they are almost always going to be problem buyers. Exact measurements should always be part of a listing to begin with.

Do not accept ridiculously low offers. Folks who make them are going to haggle after the sale as well as before.....

YMMV, best of luck to you.

---

This ^^^  on every point.  I suspect the no-returns policy with selling clothing online is inviting some of these problems - it's an unrealistic policy unless one is selling deeply discounted clearance items for a couple of bucks (at that point I would rather just donate unless it's a box lot or something). 

Also I would not ship within an hour - I've been tempted to pack something up quickly "as long as I'm going to the post office", but the window of buyer cancellation is one-hour (on Poshmark it's three-hours, so this is nothing new for eBay) - it has tripped me up before, too!

Just keep going and tighten up some of your CS/policies - there's quite a learning curve selling online!

[dbfolks166mt]

I think I just need an outlet to express how I feel. Reason being, eBay does not allow us to have these feelings/express them as a seller. I go above and beyond for customers - to ensure quality, offer good deals, fast shipping, freebies, etc. etc.... I'm not sure if there's something in the air or I need to take a look in the mirror - lately I have had the most ridiculous people. As a seller that is about all you can do. Every seller at some point gets problem cases although they do seem to be increasing lately. 

1) Tried to cancel a purchase an hour after placing it/I had already shipped it. Surprise, surprise. The item arrives with a tiny hole..... I offer a partial refund (50%!) to stitch it, declines. So, I accept the return....because what other option do I have? That's a serious question. I generally don't ship things quite that fast. I do ship within the 1 day metric once the buyer pays but it give the buyer a little time to think. I believe that because of the economy that a lot of buyers are working a number of postings for the same ite to see how they can get the lowest price and then canceling the others. There have been multiple posts on this forum that buyers canceled because they found it cheaper elsewhere and eBay actually helps them do that through buyer notifications. 

     You don't have a lot of options on returns other than to let the buyer keep the item and still refund their money. It may be a viable option depending on the cost of the return shipping. 

2) Claims item is 'not as described' and uploads a picture of, i'm still not even sure. It was a brand new comfy pullover. They zoomed in, in the photo so much, that I'm not even sure what the implication was. Same customer had about 20 questions prior to purchasing regarding measurements..... which i promptly answered and went way out of my way for. What can I do? Accept the return! That is about all you can do other than what I described above. 

It's **bleep**. Also, I DO NOT ACCEPT RETURNS, and that is clearly stated. I also use eBay's "promoted listings" option, so I'm being forced to not only accept these false claims to avoid my ratings going straight to shoot, but i'm actually - essentially paying for people TO buy my clothes. Since, I still get stuck with the promoted listing fee + shipping x2.  Always remember no returns does not mean no refunds. The only time that has any implication is the even of a remorse return by a buyer and most buyers have figured out that they will have to pay the return shipping in those cases and simply file a NAD instead. 

     As for promoted listings I have never used that and never will. I fail to see the value in it and neither eBay or anyone else can show the benefit of it. Anyone can claim they sold more because of PL but they cannot determine what they would have sold without the PL. 

Did I mention that all 'return requests' are also from sales i made through accepting ridiculously low offers? Part of me always feels bad, and thinks i'm doing someone a favor by accepting their low offer. I still treat the customer/item purchased as though it were the most expensive one I had listed. Is it ironic that these are the people that keep trying to return things? I quit using OBO on my listings long ago. I simply don't have time to deal with all the crazy lowball offers. There  is probably a correlation between the low ball offers and the probability of return requests but I have no data to back that up. 

Any advice would be much appreciated, because i'm on the brink of completely halting all retail sales. I list on two other platforms and have 5 star ratings for everything, and very happy customers. Now eBay allows 'no returns allowed' as an option, yet anything can be classified as 'item as not described.' I have never heard of a positive experience (in the seller's favor) where a human being got involved and made a reasonable determination either. The seller is NEVER going to win on a return request either they accept it or eBay will step in and refund the buyer and allow them to keep the item. There have been occasions when the seller won a dispute when the returned item was not what was originally sent but those cases are few and far between. 

UGH, sorry i'm so frustrated and upset and unsure of what to do! There are a lot of things making the current market place chaotic: COVID, Inflation, Political mess and the list just keeps on going. On occasion I take a couple weeks off to let my brain recover. Food for thought. 

[amamon-8948]

Thank you all - it's very reassuring just to know you are not alone going through these things - and feeling validated/ that you aren't totally losing your mind. Although, I think I may be on the brim. So change my page to 'accept returns'? I can do that...since I do if anyone requests one anyway! lol

[onlinecentral]

1.0% of my sales are honest returns. The buyer pays for the return shipping.
0.4% of my sales are dishonest returns. The buyer lies and I pay the return shipping.

I take a loss on 1.4% of the outgoing postage.
I take another 0.4% loss on the return postage.

I can relist and sell the returned merchandise to another buyer, almost always. Even with a now open package item, I get some revenue.

[aprilmoviebuf2000]

Your INAD return sounds completely like a remorse fit return, since as you say the buyer asked multiple questions regarding fit.  Did they say anything in the text box on the return regarding that?  Because if so, I would report them for abuse of returns.  Not much you can do otherwise.  

I'm not going to advise revising your no returns policy, because I always feel that is totally up to the seller and each seller has their own reasons for doing things.  But you will get INAD returns that are actually remorse, because buyers know that they can.  

But I will say, you may want to think about putting basic measurements in your listing descriptions.  It's more work I know...we sell clothing on our other store and I actually want to phase it out simply because I hate all the measurements involved.   On a side note, I got a chuckle out of your statement, "eBay does not allow us to have these feelings...".  If only we could say what we really feel to these buyers, right?  But we can't because it's business.  You can always vent here though.  

[soh.maryl]

There is no such thing as "Do not accept returns" on eBay.

All the buyer needs to do is open an item not as described case and the seller will be required to send him a prepaid return label and refund in full when he gets the item back.

ALL SELLERS AS WELL AS ALL SELLERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO READ THE MBG, PREFERABLY BEFORE THEY BEGIN SELLING ON EBAY.  The above information is fully outlined there.  

[donsdetour]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

There is no such thing as "Do not accept returns" on eBay.

All the buyer needs to do is open an item not as described case and the seller will be required to send him a prepaid return label and refund in full when he gets the item back.

ALL SELLERS AS WELL AS ALL SELLERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO READ THE MBG, PREFERABLY BEFORE THEY BEGIN SELLING ON EBAY.  The above information is fully outlined there.  

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Ah but you can refund em with out a return...... if one desires to do so...

[evry1nositswindy]

eBay encourages bad buyer behavior. 

This quote ^^ from an earlier post says a lot.  I had a GSP that showed delivered and yet eBay refunded the buyer.  They did remove the negative FB that buyer left so that is something.  Guarantee that buyer will do that again with another seller since it worked. 

I had a buyer open a case that I charged them twice, which we all know is impossible since sellers don't charge anyone!  He got a refund too.

I read a thread that eBay allowed a INR case to be opened the day after it was shipped!   

Buyers behaving badly, enabled by eBay, but sellers pay.