Opinions on TRS+ Badge Requirements - Pros and Cons?

[great_idaho_goods]

Hey all,

I am debating on whether I should make the move to incorporate free return shipping and keep the TRS+ badge on all of my listings. I am wondering from people who are on both sides of the isle why they came to the conclusion they did. 

For people who have made the move to free 30 day return shipping, have you seen an increase, decrease, or no affect on total net profit? Also, the consensus is pretty negative about offering free returns; do you who offer free returns see any of their concerns play out, legitimizing their fears, or do you see the concerns people have and see a different result play out in your business?

For people who do not offer 30 free shipping, have you noticed a drop in views, traffic or sales since June 1st, 2018? I know it is early, but I am trying to get some hard imperical evidence to determine how I should move my business forward and gauge the best choice of action.

Please, do not use this as a platform to say how much eBay sucks and how much better it was 10 years ago. I am trying to get as many black and white answers with statistics (if possible) so that I, and anyone who is wondering this same thing can make a good, honest, educated decision. Thank you.

[thatsallfolks]

I don't sell enough volume to generate usable stats, but what do your own stats tell you? How many remorese returns have you had in the past 12 months, and what do you estimate the total shipping cost was for those buyers? And how much do you save with the 10% FVF discount?

It's unlikely that offering free returns will reduce your # of returns, so if you're already at break-even or worse, the choice seems obvious.

[orangehound]

I have a mix of listings, some with free-returns and some without.

• I see no difference in sales volume between listings with free-returns and those without free-returns.  (If you are interested in increasing sales, then promoted listings has a big impact on sales if and only if the item has high competition).
• My returns jumped 0.5% to 4.6% in women's clothing, and there was no difference in the other area I offered free returns (kitchen and dining).
• Thus far, the 10% bonus that comes with TRS+ has all been eaten up with the cost of returns.  All returns have been USPS First Class ...  I would have lost money if I were shipping Priority Mail.
• I am currently offering free returns on a lot of items during the first two weeks of June simply because eBay said that they would cover the return shipping cost of items purchased through 6/15.

My math tells me that I will make money with TRS+ and free returns as long as my items are selling for over about $80 and I can keep the free returns under 4-5%.

[great_idaho_goods]

I have had only 6 total returns/refunds in almost 300 transactions, so a 2% chance of a return/refund being requested. My fear is similar to the consensus which is that if I offer free returns, will I see an increase in returns and if I do, will I see enough increase in sales to offset the cost of the returns. 

If I kept the 2% chance of a return/refund, it would be a no brainer - make the switch to free returns because the 10% off FVF will offset that rare occation. I am just wondering if someone has made the switch and saw an increase in returns (like from the 2% chance to a 5% chance) while also seeing either an increase, decrease, or no effect in their sales numbers.

[dustydaffodils]

I've read through the answers to date and tend to agree that it's a decision each seller has to make individually.  As for any data, I believe it's way too early to tell.  Most who only buy on eBay rather than sell or both sell and buy may not even realize that a change has occured. 

For us, we sell a lot of larger and fragile items in the antiques and collectibles categories.  We made our decision already because we just can't afford to ship very old and often one of a kind items so that someone can decide whether or not they want it.  We provide lots of pictures and try to describe honestly and mention any flaws we see.  Giving free return shipping (which would also then include free initial shipping) is just way too cost prohibitive for our items.

[johnnyveee]

I have not had a big issue with returns for the 18 years that I have sold on ebay. I also have around a 1% late shipment rate, but I am not opting into the guaranteed delivery program either. 

Unfortunately these programs will only induce fraud which has been an extremely small issue anyway for me because I am usually able to vet that out quickly. Any minor discepancies with what we have sold is quickly dealt with by providing a partial refund.

That said, because our business is off almost 70% from last year since October of last year I am not opting into any of these new programs. My listings are so buried in the listings, but that is because ebay changed so many things this year. For the last 5 years during the busiest months we were running over 1k in fees every month. So far this year my busiest month our fees were around 250.00.  When they put the penalties in for late shipment I lost my TRS + for over a year as we worked our way back and found most of the penalties to be false, but ebay would not reverse anything that was more than 3 months old, and you had to call to get 3 at a tyime removed. It was worth it for 20 %, but then they reduced the discount. They continue to find a way to cut the discount further exposing the very people that got ebay where they are today. 

I will continue to post items on ebay and I will also ramp up our efforts to make more of our repeat customers buy from us direct.

[mstcwrld7]

    We have been giving free 30 days returns for over 2 months-- on most of our items --  and we see practically no change in returns. 

     However,  the shipping cost for those items is usually about 3% of the cost of the item.  So it is not very significant one way or the other, who pays for the returns.    Buyers are probably only slightly influenced by that free return policy. 

    If we sold items averaging e.g. $50. and the typical shipping cost was $10.,  we would not offer free returns on those.    If your shipping costs are a signficant percentage of the item cost,  it would be risky for you to offer free returns.  You could lose too much money.

      Also if it is difficult for you to ship within 24 hours of each sale it would be dificult for you to keep up with the TRS one day shipping requirement.  

      You can arrange a USPS pickup at your place of business but you have to give them enough advance notice,  and you might not be abelt to give them enough advance notice if you sell something  after you've gone to bed and you wake up the next morning and find you have to ship the item imemdiately.    You can't contact the PO in the morning nd ask them to pick up an item that day, if it won't fit into your mailbox.  Then you have to make a special trip to the PO, in a hurry.  I don't know about UPS and FedEx, I guess if they come to your place of business evary day anyway you will have no problem like this.

     We are TRS and we just got a larger mailbox...

[equid0x]

10% off FVF will not offset 2% of returns with shipping paid both ways. Not even close. 

[equid0x]

For my category...

- No significant increase in returns going from 14 days to 30 days(I did this last year). I think it did offer a slight bump in sales, but not much. 

- 100%+ increase in returns after offering free returns. No real change in the customer interactions, just a lot more buyers who suddenly find "something wrong" with what they bought. For my category, price increases cannot offset this, because the category is competitive. I no longer offer free returns. 

- Large increase in sales once I started offering free shipping. Not sure how much, because at the time, I wasn't tracking this, but it did feel significant. 

I also used to turn twice as many sales with my old listing template, but eBay disallows this now due to restrictions on active content, external links, etc. 

2% of total sales for returns seems in-line with what I have seen in the past before offering free returns. 

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

Ironically it seems as if they have raised the bar too high.  In the past I have complied with many of the requirements necessary to get the FVF discount.  The problem is they have added so many more requirements that it has become unfeasible for me to comply.  The result is I won't offer free returns and lose my FVF discount.  Since I will lose the discount it doesn't necessarily seem worthwhile to comply with the other requirements. 

[suenacml7]

I don't sell enough items to be able to tell at this point.  I feel that ebay encourages people to return items when they wouldn't have with the inticements that are everywhere.  I have put 30 on some items I still can offer 14 because I am not a power seller and have been wrestling with the idea of the new take the top slot on the store fronts for cheap now but if you cancel early there is a penalty and if you go past the deadline to cancel it is 299. mo.  Holy Mackerel.  What is a girl to do?  or a guy?

[suenacml7]

I frequently fall in this category with you on china and other items which are heavy and collectible.  jewelry is easier to allow free shipping.  Handbags can go either way.  I have been allowing 14 day returns and don't really have a higher return rate that I can tell, 30 days is a long time to carry a bag and then return it.,.... the longer someone has it the less likely they are to return it.  I do not allow free returns on my china.

[suenacml7]

I am in this category right along with you.  my sales are down so much that I can't afford to offer free returns.  It is hard enough to do 30 days.  I don't have my power seller any more lost my discounts and promotional assistance so why go through all they want?  I am probably going back to no returns and letting the chips fall where they may. 

[knipp4la]

I quit worrying about maintaining TRS+ . There are times when I cannot offer same or 1 day service. I refuse to offer free returns. I generally offer no returns to avoid the hassel. I think doing so helps discourage the nuisance returns. The final fee discount will not compensate for money lost.

[ohlookabutterfly]

Offering Free 30 day returns has not impacted our return rate whatsoever.  We changed our business policies to reflect 30 days free returns about 6 months ago.  I rarely come to the eBay boards, basically because of what your last paragraph stated.   I did pop over to your store, and it appears you run in conjunction with a brick & mortar store...Pehaps...  The fears of the "consensus" (especially in this forum) I would absolutely take with a grain of salt.  I could go on, but I would certainly encourage you to offer free returns.  Additionally, along with other theory crafters, there is data to support that it places search ranking somewhat higher.  I will leave it at that.  Good luck, hope you have a great summer selling season!