eBay

justin_collection · ‎03-02-2018

Here's a thought experiment on how you could evaluate free returns. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't do free returns - this is a way to evaluate for yourself.

Just for time let's use nice easy numbers. Let's say your final value fees are 10%. With top rated plus you get a 10% discount on your fees. 10% of 10 is 1 so you are saving 1% of the sale price of your item for each item you sell.

This means for every 100 items you sell, you will save enough money to pay for one return.

If you only had a 1% return rate, your discount would pay for all of your returns.

You don't need to cover your entire return rate though. You only need to cover the *increase* in returns from before the free return policy to after the free return policy.

Now some returns you are going to get regardless of what policy you offer. And some returns you are only going to get if you offer free returns. If you have a 1.5% return rate before free returns and it jumps to 2.5% with free returns, you had a 1 point increase. Your discount covers that cost. If however it jumped from 1.5% to 4% you are not covering your increased returns.

However, there is now the factor of increased sales. It is possible (but not confirmed) that you could increase sales if you offer free returns. I don't know if it will help as much now, but if many people drop out of top rated plus leaving only a few with that badge to choose from, it could help. Even if your Top Rated Plus doesn't cover your returns, you may still be in the green if you make more profit due to increased sales.

What are your thoughts?

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Other things to consider - if you charge for shipping, you don't get a top rated plus discount of the shipping portion. This means you'd need more sales to cover an item's return.

If you have a wide range in item's price, you could be hurt when 99 items that aren't returned are inexpensive and the one time you sell an expensive, bulky item across the country it needs to be returned for free.

If you sell in a category with much lower final value fees than 10%, then your discount will not equal approximately 1% of the item sale price. For instance, for store sellers the FVF for musical instruments is only 3.5%

jnybuysell · ‎03-03-2018

Man, I meant once I have opened, inspectected, and accepted item. This is my return window and not after this time.

dhanson58 · ‎03-03-2018

I think overall. it's not just a matter of how much it is going to hurt your profits, it is also a matter of whether it is worth it to you anymore. I do not believe anybody expects to see an increase of their profits due to this policy. We all expect a reduction in profit, and depending on your merchandise, an increase in returns. Returns can be costly. An item returned after X-mas can be resold only at a reduced price. Seasonal items are subject to the same problem. Returns take time. They require more time to monitor the return process, time to inspect, relist, refund. There is potential for others costs such as insurance, increased chance for breakage or lost packages during the return AND scamming on the return such as the "empty box". Overall I am not sure that the reduction in profit combined with the increased time spent with a no-fault buyer return policy will make it worth my time. Sellers were already getting squeezed badly before. Many complain about what they see as their hourly rate is for all the time they spend selling on eBay. Free "sock-it-to the seller" returns will make profits too little for all the time I spend selling on eBay.

justin_collection · ‎03-04-2018

I mentioned this in my original post. At the bottom in the "other things to consider" section I said "If you have a wide range in item's price, you could be hurt when 99 items that aren't returned are inexpensive and the one time you sell an expensive, bulky item across the country it needs to be returned for free."

jpcustomsonline · ‎03-04-2018

@tunicaslotwrote:
When using a selling ID to post - sellers should be on their best behavior as you have no idea who may be interested in your items and who would be turned off by your attitude of behavior. Many went to posting IDs as their accounts were compromised because others disagreed with them.

Since many buyers also read the selling board - and most buyers are wonderful people - it's best not to alienate them.

I really don't care if I alienate the type of buyers that would be alienated by this. If a buyer is the type of person to not bother to read a description, look at photos or even pay attention to the title AND not even bother to contact me to ask about something they CLEARLY have zero technical knowledge about, I don't WANT that buyer. Especially with this new nonsense of no restocking fees. Even more so, now that that is a thing, which I just learned about. 9% of my sales are returned, and every single one of them could have easily been resolved by a buyer literally just looking at the picture. That's a pretty high number. And those are the people I'm talking about. And I'm getting sick and tired of them opening up SNAD cases, because they are ignorant. I've wasted so many hours of my life having to explain to them how they are wrong, and then having to speak to ebay reps, that EASILY see the buyer was being ignorant. I'm sure you'll just say " oh it's probably your fault. 9% is too high of a number to blame on buyers". Well go right ahead. My industry is a very technical one, and novices are buying things that almost always require an expert to fix for them anyways.

And always remember, while you talk about not wanting to do business with me because of my attitude, I've had multiple people message me to warn me not to talk to you. Think about that one for a little. But hey, I guess I don't like to be told what to do.

tellmemama · ‎03-04-2018

@myboardidwrote:
We are not the big A or the W, but we all compete against them. The buyer has to decide where they are going to buy their widget, and there are many who will choose one of those other sites because the eBay seller of the same widget doesn't offer the same options to return it.

No seller of vintage or used is competing with either since they both sell neither.

Joe

tunicaslot · ‎03-04-2018

You have every right to run things the way you feel is best for you - best to you - but then we can't complain if we run into problems we may have been able to avoid.

As far as others saying not to talk to me - it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm have enough friends here and am only trying to help others.

banana*shoe*boutique · ‎03-04-2018

@tunicaslotwrote:
I do sell clothes and even tho my return rate is only about 1.3% for all returns - I don't think I'm going to risk it. I did get a promo from Ebay wherein they would cover any returns out of their pocket for 30 days - but I'm on the fence about even trying it for that long.

@tunicaslot

I got that promo and I'm trying it since it is eBay's dime. I've only had it a few days and had 1 return so far. Now I wonder how the label refunds go...ie will I have to police that?

I have a 9% return rate on shoes (priority shipping 2-5lbs) so there's no way I can offer to do this on my own dime.

banana*shoe*boutique · ‎03-04-2018

@lancelotmewrote:
Your buyer will come up with an excuse to make you pay for return shipping,so why bother to dwell on this subject.

Some buyers are still honest. I had 37 returns over the last 3 months. Of those, 3 tried SNAD and two of those abused the policy and eBay agreed so they had me refund minus shipping. The last one is still outstanding, but unfortunately is being dishonest and I may not be able to prove it. But that's like 1 every few months. I recently had 2 returns from Australia where the buyers paid return shipping at over $40 plus whatever they paid in original shipping. Neither of those shoes were even worth that much!

tunicaslot · ‎03-04-2018

@banana*shoe*boutiquewrote:
@tunicaslotwrote:
I do sell clothes and even tho my return rate is only about 1.3% for all returns - I don't think I'm going to risk it. I did get a promo from Ebay wherein they would cover any returns out of their pocket for 30 days - but I'm on the fence about even trying it for that long.
@tunicaslot
I got that promo and I'm trying it since it is eBay's dime. I've only had it a few days and had 1 return so far. Now I wonder how the label refunds go...ie will I have to police that?
I have a 9% return rate on shoes (priority shipping 2-5lbs) so there's no way I can offer to do this on my own dime.

banana - just keep track of the labels you are charged for and make sure that Ebay does credit you within the 60 day timeframe they say they will. Being how so many get taken with the sell your phone get a $30 coupon and assorted promos - I just was afraid I'd end up spending more time on the phone trying to recoup my return labels Ebay promised to pay.

Now have you seen your sales increase?

banana*shoe*boutique · ‎03-04-2018

@tunicaslotwrote:
@banana*shoe*boutiquewrote:
@tunicaslotwrote:
I do sell clothes and even tho my return rate is only about 1.3% for all returns - I don't think I'm going to risk it. I did get a promo from Ebay wherein they would cover any returns out of their pocket for 30 days - but I'm on the fence about even trying it for that long.
@tunicaslot
I got that promo and I'm trying it since it is eBay's dime. I've only had it a few days and had 1 return so far. Now I wonder how the label refunds go...ie will I have to police that?
I have a 9% return rate on shoes (priority shipping 2-5lbs) so there's no way I can offer to do this on my own dime.
banana - just keep track of the labels you are charged for and make sure that Ebay does credit you within the 60 day timeframe they say they will. Being how so many get taken with the sell your phone get a $30 coupon and assorted promos - I just was afraid I'd end up spending more time on the phone trying to recoup my return labels Ebay promised to pay.

Now have you seen your sales increase?

My sales have increased but they did before that. People are just in a sandal-buying mood. It's vacation time and not a lot of sandal choices in the colder parts of the country yet. I can't say the free returns have helped yet. I don't love the idea of keeping track of how many labels I bought and making sure I get my $ back. I may give up on this. And, even with free returns, about 1 in 7 shoe boxes come pack damaged (which lowers the value) or missing/detroyed branded tissue, missing hang tags etc

Returns are just not great in my industry....and I do understand that shoes fit differently even when they are the same size and brand so I will never take away the option but when *I* buy shoes online, I have already tried them on somewhere and know they will fit.

rainbowcolorz · ‎03-04-2018

Wellllllllll .... eBay is not my "business". I sell here because I enjoy it. eBay is the very first place on the Internet I have ever listed items to sell to so many people across the country and I have made some very wonderful acquaintances/eBay friends.

I just changed my 20 remaining unsold items that I have no bids on to Free Returns.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will remain just as it has been since 2011; no returns.

tunicaslot · ‎03-05-2018

Returns are just not great in my industry....and I do understand that shoes fit differently even when they are the same size and brand so I will never take away the option but when *I* buy shoes online, I have already tried them on somewhere and know they will fit.

I love your attitude and the fact you accept that there are going to be returns no matter what you do. The last thing any of us wants is to accept a return - it's a hassle to relist it, you lose potential buyers while it's in transit ect... but that's the way it is especially when using a 3rd party venue and many just don't want to see that.

jpcustomsonline · ‎03-06-2018

@rainbowcolorzwrote:
Wellllllllll .... eBay is not my "business". I sell here because I enjoy it. eBay is the very first place on the Internet I have ever listed items to sell to so many people across the country and I have made some very wonderful acquaintances/eBay friends.

I just changed my 20 remaining unsold items that I have no bids on to Free Returns.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will remain just as it has been since 2011; no returns.

You're on a post, literally about free returns for your BUSINESS. So it's clearly not for you. You don't sell enough, to encounter returns, and you're probably not even in the market that received a lot of returns. One way or another, it's not going to affect you. When you start selling 100's of items, and ALREADY have a high return rate due to buyer incompetance, you'll think twice about free returns.