eBay no longer facilitating return labels

[everydayleo]

Just got off the phone with eBay, thought maybe I misunderstood but was assured multiple times I didn’t. I offer free returns and have a store with a couple thousand items. A return generated yesterday but it did not generate a return label, instead it asked us to provide a return label. Assuming it was a glitch I called eBay and inquired about it and was informed in no uncertain terms that with the “new update” they will no longer be offering return labels and all return labels will need to be purchased separately and uploaded. Maybe this is old info and everyone knew this was happening but I was frustrated. That is not only a major inconvenience but also going to be more expensive, time consuming, and time sensitive. Running a large store with many returns a week it is an unnecessary hassle. I have always offered free returns because of top rated plus and the 10% discount of final value fees but with the new increased cost and time it doesn’t seem worth it. I am not saying I’m leaving eBay over it but I definitely won’t be offering free returns anymore, which sucks because I really feel it’s an important element to giving the customer the best experience possible but eBay is forcing my hand unfortunately. The agent said this was a soft rollout but assured me over time eBay is completely phasing out offering labels for buyers. Does anyone else have any thoughts or info on this? Have I just been out of the loop and everyone knew about this? 

[crazystuff4sale]

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@everydayleo wrote:

Just got off the phone with eBay, thought maybe I misunderstood but was assured multiple times I didn’t. I offer free returns and have a store with a couple thousand items. A return generated yesterday but it did not generate a return label, instead it asked us to provide a return label. Assuming it was a glitch I called eBay and inquired about it and was informed in no uncertain terms that with the “new update” they will no longer be offering return labels and all return labels will need to be purchased separately and uploaded. Maybe this is old info and everyone knew this was happening but I was frustrated. That is not only a major inconvenience but also going to be more expensive, time consuming, and time sensitive. Running a large store with many returns a week it is an unnecessary hassle. I have always offered free returns because of top rated plus and the 10% discount of final value fees but with the new increased cost and time it doesn’t seem worth it. I am not saying I’m leaving eBay over it but I definitely won’t be offering free returns anymore, which sucks because I really feel it’s an important element to giving the customer the best experience possible but eBay is forcing my hand unfortunately. The agent said this was a soft rollout but assured me over time eBay is completely phasing out offering labels for buyers. Does anyone else have any thoughts or info on this? Have I just been out of the loop and everyone knew about this? 

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elizabeth@ebay Is there any truth to this?

[baydistributionllc]

I should have someone send me something to look at, decide I don’t want, and then send back. Those shipping services were rendered to me at my request but they should be paid for by someone else.

Thats entitled and disgusting and it always will be.

Your requested service. Service rendered. That goes on YOUR bill not mine.

If you cannot be certain you need or want something being shipped to you then you need to just go buy it at the store where nobody has to foot the bill of sending it back and forth across the country.

Free shipping is a gimmick. It really isn’t free. It actually cost more. Its dumb but its what the market demanded so Ill give it to them. Free returns on the other had is actually free. There are no free lunches and Im not going to let ebay mind _ me into handing out free stuff. When ebay themselves pay for those services then we can talk until then I offer NOTHING for free. Thats charity, not business.

Everyday I drop off UPS at the UPS and there is a line of people returning stuff. Its so disgusting.

I don’t return anything that isn’t defective. Returning something that isn’t defective is dishonest.

[1tuna]

I get about 20 returns a year or maybe 1-2 a month. I have 30 days free returns

the only time that it does not go thru automatically is when the request is over the 30 day limit

any return thats over the 30 day limit  you can say no to it

thats why a label is not issued on a return request when its past the MBG time of 30 days

the csr you spoke to is just wrong

there is no soft rollout of any new change. the return policies have not been updated for a while

@everydayleo 

[baydistributionllc]

The first time I have been forced to provide the return label was when it was an international shipment. Normally they just cover GSP returns but for whatever reason they didn’t want to cover this one. Maybe I didn’t call BFE CS enough times. I had to come up with a return label for a return from Canada.

One thing that gets my goat is having things I shipped UPS returned Priority Mail. If I tried to ship it Priority it would be to big. Not sure how they aren’t getting huge adjustments on those labels. I shipped a food warmer, got a false INAD on it. The box was to big for Priority to begin with but the jerk sent it back in a box FOUR TIMES larger than the box it was shipped in. I need to go back and see what I was charged for that. I cannot believe the post office didn’t refuse it.

I have had the post office refuse to take a package from a buyer with the ebay provided label resulting in ebay forcing me to provide a different label.

I don’t think they are forcing us to provide return labels on everything. I wish they would instead of giving Priority labels for UPS items. I don’t think your correct but I hope you are. I don’t mind to provide the return labels. It doesn’t take long.

I think OP is just in a situation where the system cannot generate a label for some reason of which there are a few.

[everydayleo]

Thank you for replying. It felt like the agent was wrong, there was a language barrier to begin with, however, I called back after I made this post and was told the exact same thing. This item was not an old return, it was sold this week and didn’t fit and return was requested. Both agents put me on hold and needed to “ask the right department” but both came back and said the same thing, “there is a new update and they are slowly rolling out no longer facilitating return labels and that sellers who offer free returns in the future will be responsible to provide their own labels”. I asked where I could see info on the new update because I didn’t see anything about it in any of the seasonal updates this year and the second agent told me it hasn’t been made public. Again with the second agent there was a bit of a language issue but it was clear enough. He said not to expect it with every return for a couple months until the system is in place but that my return was basically picked at random. I said ok that was pretty much it. I don’t know, was hoping someone else had info. It’s not so much about the label cost, pirate ship is comparable to eBays usps rates, it’s about the inconvenience and extra time involved, which is money, and significant money at high volume for a service eBay has been facilitating since I’ve been selling and every other major platform facilitates that I’m aware of. 

[valueaddedresource · Accepted solution]

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@everydayleo wrote:

Thank you for replying. It felt like the agent was wrong, there was a language barrier to begin with, however, I called back after I made this post and was told the exact same thing. This item was not an old return, it was sold this week and didn’t fit and return was requested. Both agents put me on hold and needed to “ask the right department” but both came back and said the same thing, “there is a new update and they are slowly rolling out no longer facilitating return labels and that sellers who offer free returns in the future will be responsible to provide their own labels”. I asked where I could see info on the new update because I didn’t see anything about it in any of the seasonal updates this year and the second agent told me it hasn’t been made public. Again with the second agent there was a bit of a language issue but it was clear enough. He said not to expect it with every return for a couple months until the system is in place but that my return was basically picked at random. I said ok that was pretty much it. I don’t know, was hoping someone else had info. It’s not so much about the label cost, pirate ship is comparable to eBays usps rates, it’s about the inconvenience and extra time involved, which is money, and significant money at high volume for a service eBay has been facilitating since I’ve been selling and every other major platform facilitates that I’m aware of. 

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@everydayleo thanks for letting us know what you were told by CS reps! Hoping it turns out to be wrong, but appreciate you sharing the info any way.

It’s not so much about the label cost, pirate ship is comparable to eBays usps rates

That's actually the biggest reason I can think of for eBay not to end this service - if shipping labels have to be purchased off eBay, eBay cannot make any money off of them.

Like any large volume shipper, eBay can and does negotiate significantly discounted rates with all the carriers and while they may pass some of the savings on to users, they certainly don't have to. Of course those contracts are private, so we have no way of knowing what eBay is really paying for shipping rates or if/how much of a profit center it may be for them.

But even if they aren't making much (or any) money directly on return labels, those labels are counted in their overall volume, which is what gives them leverage to negotiate rates. If their shipping volume is lower because less labels are being purchased from them, the carriers may not give the same discounts when the contract comes up for negotiation again.

For those reasons, let alone customer convenience and satisfaction, I think it would be a really dumb move for eBay to stop providing this service, but it wouldn't be the first time eBay did something I thought was a bad decision. 😂

[1tuna]

I just looked at your listings. I see you also have 30 days free returns. the same as me

ebay likes it when you are in this program and so do the buyers

I cant see why ebay would put in an impediment to a return system that works just fine

ebay invented this system and it works like a clock, I never have to approve anything or do anything, it just happens.

sellers having to issue a return label is a step backwards in my opinion

the programs before 30 day free return used to be called the EZ return program

that is when I joined up. I no longer wanted to have to engage ebay or the seller over a return

sellers were encouraged to join the program

I personally dont think its going to change despite what a CSR has been saying

what has changed is the fact that any seller who uses managed payments has to abide by the auto accept policy. that policy is a couple years old already and all it means is that ebay can over ride you return policy and just approve any or all returns

@everydayleo 

[elizabeth@ebay]

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@everydayleo wrote:

Just got off the phone with eBay, thought maybe I misunderstood but was assured multiple times I didn’t. I offer free returns and have a store with a couple thousand items. A return generated yesterday but it did not generate a return label, instead it asked us to provide a return label. Assuming it was a glitch I called eBay and inquired about it and was informed in no uncertain terms that with the “new update” they will no longer be offering return labels and all return labels will need to be purchased separately and uploaded. Maybe this is old info and everyone knew this was happening but I was frustrated. That is not only a major inconvenience but also going to be more expensive, time consuming, and time sensitive. Running a large store with many returns a week it is an unnecessary hassle. I have always offered free returns because of top rated plus and the 10% discount of final value fees but with the new increased cost and time it doesn’t seem worth it. I am not saying I’m leaving eBay over it but I definitely won’t be offering free returns anymore, which sucks because I really feel it’s an important element to giving the customer the best experience possible but eBay is forcing my hand unfortunately. The agent said this was a soft rollout but assured me over time eBay is completely phasing out offering labels for buyers. Does anyone else have any thoughts or info on this? Have I just been out of the loop and everyone knew about this? 

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Hi @everydayleo & @crazystuff4sale. We've received clarification directly from our shipping team who stated

"There have been no changes to eBay return shipping labels, and no plans to make changes. If the package meets the size requirements set by the return carrier, you can purchase a return shipping label through the return request and send it to your buyer. They can then print the label and use it to send the item back to you. Here’s the Help Hub article for reference."

We hope this helps.