Effects of not offering GD & Free returns

[ymeagainlord]

For the first time in a LONG time only 1 sale yesterday.

Possible fallout from no longer being TRS+ and refusing to offer Free returns or just coincidence?

Only time will tell.

[tunicaslot]

I opted into GD this week as (knock on wood) I haven't had any problems and definitely need anything to boost my visibility as sales are down almost 50% from last month. Your items supposed reindex within 24 hrs after taking your store off vacation - but I went through this last year and it took me months to get back up to consistent sales.

I've been watching a few vloggers and am going to try Free Returns on a couple of items and see what happens. Will they get more views / sales - who knows - but I still have medical bills to pay and need sales.

[reallyhardtofind]

Views are way down.  For example I'd run auctions on a certain clock and I'd always get around 1000 views in 10 days and now I only get around 400 max. There is definitely some thing wrong with ebay right now.

[mudshark61369]

@ymeagainlord,

eBay would like to compete with Amazon, but since ebay does not sell anything, the only way they feel they can do that, is to try and force sellers to become mini Amazons.  They keep forgetting, that when they make it too hard for the lower volume sellers to make sales on the site, they quit, and they often take their buying dollars with them.  Do they have any toes left to shoot off?

[hillbillymedia]

I`m in the same boat. I`m assuming it`s due to my refusal to do free returns and GD as well. I`ve always done everything ebays wanted to maintain top status and provide my customers with my best but feel these recent changes will not only raise buyer expectation to a breaking point but also it will ultimately raise sellers fees which, in turn, will result in higher prices across the site. I don`t think I`ll be giving into these new changes.

I honestly don`t think ebay has thought this out well but they are masters at padding their bottom line. If I don`t sell....I don`t buy. Also...If I don`t sell....this all becomes a huge chore for me as it has for quite some time. The only difference now is, I`m doing the chore with nothing to show for it but a store fee at the end of the month. I don`t see where that`s going to fly for anyone needing an extra buck.

[vintagecraze50]

VISIBILITY is king here. Do whatever you can to be seen.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@ymeagainlord wrote:

For the first time in a LONG time only 1 sale yesterday.

Possible fallout from no longer being TRS+ and refusing to offer Free returns or just coincidence?

Only time will tell.

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Hard to say since we don't know what would have happened if we had TRS+

But, I think buyers still don't use best match. Who does? How would it benefit a buyer? I don't think there's anything in best match that benefits anyone. 

So that leaves buyers still sorting by lowest price, newly listed, and ending first. 

Which leads me right back to where I have always been--trying to find and list unique items, and if the item is too common, offering the best pictures, lowest price, etc. to knock out the competition and sell mine first. 

Last two days were slow sale days for me too. I just try to plug along and not overthink it. Unique or desirable stuff will always sell....TRS+ not required. 

[reallyhardtofind]

This was a hidden money grab on ebays part. Very clever way of doing it knowing that certain sellers could never do free returns on larger items just because someone decided they didn't want it etc. Well done ebay raising the fee's but putting it on the sellers. 

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@reallyhardtofind wrote:

This was a hidden money grab on ebays part. Very clever way of doing it knowing that certain sellers could never do free returns on larger items just because someone decided they didn't want it etc. Well done ebay raising the fee's but putting it on the sellers. 

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I'll just raise prices accordingly to cover for that TRS+ loss. Who really will lose? Buyers will pay more.

Yesterday I was searching for an item I want and had some of them saved in my watch list. It is clothing, vintage, used. What did I see? All the sellers have raised their prices, whether they offer free returns or not. Kid you not! 

[kathieskorner]

I have never offered free returns and opted out of GD on the two accounts ebay opted me in - I'm doing very well on one of those accounts in June - nothing on this one.   However,  June is typically my slowest month of the year for sales for three of my four accounts so I'm not inclined to blame ebay policy changes this early in the game. 

[keziak]

My sales are low despite having more listings and I can't tell why. Is it due to not being in GD and offering free returns? Or the markdown manager sales ending?  For a while I got some halfway decent sales when running a promotion. I am starting up with that again today. 

[lewisburggold]

There are many effects of not offering free returns.  The main one of course is low sales.  Most sellers can not afford it.  The ones that can are still basicly making the item worthless with the extra money tied up in it.  At this point were blocking anyone who files a return.  Not saying its right but we cant afford to play that game either its just to expensive to pay to have someone look at a item decide they dont want it and have to pay to get it back home.  Best regards

[ymeagainlord]

Tbh, I rarely HAVE any returns, but I just can't wrap my head around a company that on the one hand encourages returns while on the other penalising sellers for their return rates. Especially when said company does everything to shove "return this item" in the buyer's face.

[ebbyisme]

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@ymeagainlord wrote:

For the first time in a LONG time only 1 sale yesterday.

Possible fallout from no longer being TRS+ and refusing to offer Free returns or just coincidence?

Only time will tell.

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Maybe.... maybe  not...... A lot changed on June 1st.... I am trying all those things (free returns, guaranteed delivery, etc) and my sales are off this month. It is possible it could be any one of the many things they changed, maybe even something we aren't aware of.... they never divulge what goes into search placement/visibility so the formula may have been tweaked in numerous ways that affects sellers, some more than others.

[ymeagainlord]

Or is COULD be just the Summer Slump, but with all these changes how the h-ll are we supposed to know?