EIS Returns

[robbie31415]

intlshipping@ebay 

Thank you for taking care of returns with the EIS Program, and making it clear you guys are taking care of things.

However, you seem to have gone very far where you don't show any information at all in regards to the return.

Information why it's being returned is important. Are they claiming damage during shipping ? Do they just not like the item? Are they claiming it's defective.

Knowing specific reasons help better address potential issues with inventory.

[1786davycrockett]

@robbie31415 

Once an item has been confirmed received by the eBay International Shipping (EIS) hub, it becomes the sole responsibility of eBay.  

There may be multiple reasons why a buyer might open a case against EIS; but those are problems for EIS -- and not the original seller.

From what has been shared on other threads regarding EIS cases, many items have been the subjects of "item not received" cases, while some "not as described" cases have been reported involving breakage and items switched at the EIS hub -- both of which are the responsibility of EIS, since EIS repackages items for shipment by other international shipping services.

These headaches belong to EIS -- not the seller.  

So "don't worry -- be happy."

[robbie31415]

I'm not talking about responsibility though.

I just think they should let the seller know what the buyer put on the return instead of hiding all the information.

[1786davycrockett]

@robbie31415 

"I just think they should let the seller know what the buyer put on the return instead of hiding all the information."

I don't think that eBay is attempting to "hide" any information from sellers.

But it may simply be eBay's decision that eBay feels that it is no longer of any concern to the seller, after the item is confirmed received by EIS.

Or perhaps the attitude of eBay is  -- to put it rudely -- "none of your business."

Literally.

[12345jamesstamps]

I think the less you know...the better for eBay.

Getting refunded...is a win.

It's just like customer service...and you have been here around the block a few times...

[robbie31415]

It is my business.

How do I monitor quality issues with my items and manufactures without knowing the reason for return.

I get it you don't care about it since you aren't refunding. I do, as I might need to make adjustments to my listing or consider pull a product from being active.

This is helpful information and if there is issues with my product I want to know.

[lakefor94]

Roger that, I see your point. I have pulled product listings from eBay before when I had multi-quantity listings and it was obvious that more returns could abound due to a quality issue with the product.

[1786davycrockett]

@robbie31415 

"I get it you don't care about it since you aren't refunding."

Wrong -- I do offer refunds, and have refunded several times (not many) over the past 13 years on eBay.

If there were problems with the items that you were shipping to EIS, there is a good likelihood that eBay would have sent them back to you -- as eBay has done with several items that have been reported by other sellers on other threads.

Although some of these items were apparently prohibited items, which could not be shipped overseas -- and they were confiscated by eBay -- without a clawback from the seller.

Some items were received by EIS, and reported as "broken during shipment" -- and (at least in the few cases reported on these boards) the seller was not penalized by eBay for poor shipping practices if the carrier was definitely found at fault -- and the seller was able to keep the payment.

Two of the items which I had shipped using EIS apparently were "lost in transit" after being shipped out by EIS.  I received emails from eBay regarding the buyers' INR cases; but eBay informed me that there would be no clawback -- that EIS was refunding the buyers.

A few EIS buyers have complained about receiving items which were entirely different from what they had ordered, and opened up NAD cases against eBay -- which sounds more like re-packaging errors by EIS employees, rather than an initial screw-up by a seller.

And some NAD cases which might be handled by EIS are probably being investigated far more strenuously than similar NAD cases that might be filed against common, run-of-the-mill eBay sellers here in the USA -- I suspect that eBay is not bowing over backwards so vigorously to settle NAD cases in the buyers' favor, when it's eBay's own employees doing the primary pre-shipment investigations and re-packaging.

The bottom line is simple:  If you are 100% confident that there is nothing wrong with any of your shipments being sent to EIS, then take a load off your shoulders -- and stop worrying.

[misslily9]

The EIS policy specifically states that returned items will not be returned to sellers. eBay would have to voluntarily eat the cost of return shipping for an international sale just to get the item back to the seller. 

[misslily9]

As a seller, it is absolutely my business what happens to the item I sold. A “return“ means the item is returned to me and I refund the buyer. In the case of this program, eBay is absolutely hiding information from the seller – and eBay assumes responsibility for the item, Which means once it leaves my hands and goes into the mail, it becomes eBay’s property in several scenarios: If the item does not arrive, is damaged in shipping, the seller decides to return it for whatever reason (which I will never know, and despite specifically listing this item as returns not accepted unless the item is not as described per eBay policy), and possibly several other scenarios. 
I never agreed to allow eBay to take possession of an item I sold to a buyer, and eBay never informed me about this program or policy before automatically opting me into it. I don’t ever sell items outside of North America; I don’t know what kind of customs or shipping fees the buyer might be responsible for; if an item is ever returned for any reason, I want the item back because it belongs to me. If the buyer does not want it, eBay somehow owns it according to this policy. Eve clearly does not want me to be aware of the fact that it is taking ownership of an item without my knowledge. That goes beyond a transaction between a seller and a buyer – I never agreed to allow eBay to assume ownership of any of my items. It is clearly in their best interest to do so, for reasons which they do not disclose, which means they’re hiding additional information from me. The fact that they are able to assume ownership of something that belongs to me until it becomes the buyer’s property, without disclosing this at all, is dubious — that’s reason enough for eBay to be hiding information.  Information is hidden for a reason. When information is hidden by a corporation, it’s because it’s in the corporation’s best interests to withhold it — not in mine. 

[misslily9]

Exactly: The less you know, the better for eBay. This isn’t rocket science. The total lack of transparency is a problem. It’s also indicative of a dubious practice and policies they probably know I would not agree to as a seller. The same goes for pre-selection, meaning I did not opt into this – eBay chose to opt me in. When defaults are pre-selected for any user, it’s in the corporations best interest and not mine. When information is hidden from users, same thing. I have to click through three pages just to see the itemized fees that eBay takes out of my earnings. They don’t bury this information for no reason. I don’t know that an item has been sold to an international buyer, or through a promoted listing, until after I accept an offer. eBay knows that might affect whether I accept or reject the offer. eBay gets a bigger percentage of the sale by keeping me in the dark.

[misslily9]

Again, I completely agree with this and I feel exactly the same way. It is absolutely our business as sellers. We are selling our property to buyers, at which point it becomes their property. Should they want to return the item, it’s called a return because the item gets returned, meaning it becomes my property again in exchange for refunding the buyer. Calling it a “return” is trick wording — I am the seller, but the item does not get returned to me. It gets returned to eBay. But I can’t even know that for sure –eBay is vague about this aspect of the policy. “Item may be liquidated” — maybe the buyer just gets to keep the item. Maybe eBay scraps it or ships it directly to some facility where it’s resold or liquidated in some other way. Who knows. All I know for sure is that eBay doesn’t want me to know. 

[misslily9]

I don’t know why you have such a stake in refuting any issues sellers have with this policy, but here’s another issue. I always include a gift and a handwritten card with every item I sell.
I will not do that with EIS sales because there’s no possible way I can know what will happen to them. Should an item be lost, damaged, or returned, the gifts and cards become eBay’s property too.

This affects both me and my buyers: I have many repeat customers who return to do business with me again because of the extra thought and care I put into packaging and shipping my items.

Much of my feedback, all of which is positive, and which spans 20 years, specifically cites these things as reasons for being such happy customers. This sets up an expectation that I can’t fulfill due to eBay’s policy regarding the EIS program. It should not be my responsibility to actively opt out of a program I never wanted to be a part of.

I don’t care how other sellers might feel about this program or how wonderful they might think it is. I don’t like it, it has multiple consequences that I would never have chosen to opt into, and the fact that eBay automatically opted me in tells me everything I need to know.

If a marketplace like eBay does not give you agency and control over how you choose to do business, forces you to opt out of something you would not have otherwise opted into, and doesn’t clearly explain either the program they’ve put you into or how to get out of it, they’re profiting at your expense by using deceptive design practices. The same is true if they obstruct or make it harder to actively control your user choices in anyway.  Obstruction includes making you click through extra pages, preventing you from changing important settings like this on a mobile device (forcing you to use a desktop computer, assuming you own one) or adding any extraneous obstacles or steps to the process.

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.