mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
The metrics will show you:
- How often you receive return requests for "items not as described."
Greetings. I am a long time seller of t-shirts and coffee cups. In 2012, based on negative consequences of the DSR system back then, and having tried everything in the book, I finally came to the conclusion that walking away was the only logical answer. I did. Publically. The problems then were the same as today, it centered around dissatified customers. I still sold on ebay (didn't close my store) but I went close to year without lifting one single finger to grow my eBay business, instead I worked passionately on an exit plan. BUT... in mid 2013 Ebay introduced "managed returns"... Intrigued, I believed that that just might be the fix I was looking for. I opted in and noticed a remarkable difference. Buyers were still lying to get a free return so I decided if this was all over the cost of a return I'd work that into my selling equasion... so on 1/1/14 I came back to ebay with all my heart and went with a free return model. It worked wonders! Better than I could even imagine. I haven't looked back.
However, buyers are still giving fraudulent reasons for wanting the return. things like "missing parts" (on hats, mugs and t-shirts) and all kinds of other dumb reasons. I have never cared. I have never reported them. If they want a return they get it! Period. My biggest probelm was in the realm of coffee mugs. I didn't want to bring to the market the same things everyone else was doing and I found a supplier back in 2012 for a great quality plastic coffee mug. While my local hallmark store was selling it no one on eBay was... so I jumped in! About 5% of my buyers bought by looking at the picture only and expected a ceramic coffee mug regardless of the description. I worked with Laura Chambers and her team and applied all their ideas with no results. A certain segment of people were shopping picture only, not even reading the title, let alone the description and then complaining and returning the mugs as "SNAD". I've handled this just by rolling my eyes and giving out the returns. Finally on 1/1/2018 i made the decision to attempt to fix this by offering choice listings and bringing in ceramic mugs to handle the 5% who can't read. Now they have to select which one they want. So far, I've had no returns this year, but I'm not entirely through this process yet.
My concern that I want your team to strongly consider is rather or not you're putting too much "faith" in the word of the buyer and the responsibilty of the seller to overcome niave buying. My guess is that you now want us to report every buyer who gives a reason for a return that is clearly fraudualent. But I'm uneasy with that because I wanted eBay to move away from a "buyer verses seller, fight to death" world. Devin Wenig had hooked me up with Dieter Newlin back in 2014 and we had indepth discussions about this very thing. I'm thinking the closer we can get to a world where "right and wrong" doesn't matter as much as just taking care of the customer does the better off eBay will be. Now, I know we can't all get there, there are MANY models that can't embrace a "free return" world, but for those of us that can... shouldn't just taking care of our customers be the main thing? This is especially true in clothing. There is no greater way to overcome the touch and feel weakness of online shopping than standing behind our items with a free return that is mediated by eBay and guaranteed to them. Words and pictures can't over come this... trust me I've tried since 2003. We just can't always fix stupid, and we're always going to face a segment of the population that is educated on the 5th grade level scale or under and they just aren't all Harvard graduates with highest IQ's. My concern is that internal eBay is surrounded by smart people that don't reflect the real world, LOL. Rather than pitting buyer against seller, placing enimity between buyer and seller, can't we just move as close as we each can to a "free return" model and then stand behind those who offer it, knowing that if our returns are out of whack, the free market system will take us under if we don't climb on top of it ourselves? Then simply limiting returns of those who abuse the priveledge if necassary... without getting sellers involved.
To be clear, I'm not outright condemning this move, but I'm just concerned that it's, IMO, a step in the wrong direction especially for those embracing the free return model. I get returns all the time because a medium shirt doesn't fit and therefore is SNAD. I get them on hats that are "missing parts and pieces" ???? Really ????. I've gotten them on my own unique shirt sold exclusively on eBay because it "is not like the Irish shirt I bought at the mall last month" ??? Figure that one out! In the end does it matter? No... the customer want's a return and they don't even have to ask me for that... it's pre-approved and guaranteed to them by eBay! (AWESOME BTW!) A Free return is the least I can offer them on a purchase that they can't touch and feel before buying and can't try on and look at themselves in the mirror before paying. Let's make that the WINNING HAND! Because really, IT IS!
I don't mean this in a critcal manner... just ponder it internally and maybe hire a few high school drop outs to hang around you so you can learn how a sub-set of people think that will provide you smart people with quality entertainment and help you rethink some of this. 🙂 Or... go to your nearest walmart and watch people enter it through the exit doors all day long! Back in my day we didn't have motion detectors... we had mats you stepped on and the doors were one way doors with ENTER and EXIT... and if I had a dollar for each idiot I saw hit the glass in the 80's I'd be almost as rich as Mr. Wenig. LOL... Is the reason for the free return really that important???? I think not. it's more entertaining than educational. Think about it.
Danny
@whatmorefabric wrote:My SIL was booted off of Amazon. She loves to return items for SNAD and than gets a refund and keeps the item. She brags about the amount of free stuff she got off of Amazon. Her newest acquisition is a coffee table from Wayfair that had a little itty bitty 1/8 th of an inch scratch on the inside of a leg.
SHe can justify all of her returns. A loose thread, slightly off color, sleeves too long.
I am sure that Ebay is not going to put any type of safe guards for us.
Are we going to be up against the Chinese sellers in this metric, most of who ship in order to get pass the 30 day return ? Sellers who reserve Ebay for the less than desirable stuff because they know that Amazon boots them off?
At the risk of sounding silly, what is "SIL"? And what are you referring to. I never addressed any specific poster about any specific returns. Nor did I say anything about Amazon. I'm confused, sorry.
Would you please give me more details as I'm sure you are trying to make a good point, I'm just lost in what story you are trying to share with me.
Oh dang, I knew that SIL was sister in law. But from what you wrote, I thought you were referring to a particular poster on this thread. MY BAD !!!
Yes, many of us experience buyers like this and there is no protection from them at all on Ebay. ZERO!
