eBay

buzzapparel · ‎01-16-2019

EBay has finally done it. They have literally pushed all the free returns to the top of the searches no matter how bad the price is no matter how undesirable the item is no matter whether it’s new or not. This is a race to

thd bottom. Take a look at the searches now, they are littered with free shipping free return items you don’t want. Why give the buyer a good value when you can give him free returns? This sets a horrible precedent in clothing as it’s impossible to do free returns on many clothing items due to their weight and size, due to not have commercial level shipping discounts. eBay wants sellers to offer returns policies that exceed manufacturers and most online retailers selling the same items.

buytodayshipnextday · ‎01-16-2019

Here's the PROBLEM. When ebay began it was an online garage sale/antique store with USED items by the tonnage. Today, the larger sellers offer new items. ebay does not account for the volume of used. I sell mostly used, I cannot offer free returns on. i.e. used audio tape, or a 50 year old receiver or used electronic parts. it is only a matter of time until the core of sellers are offering new or gently used & in your case clothing returns even used will be mandated FREE RETURNS because a buyer has so many options to return it...wrong size, doesn't fit... that's all it takes & it's back in your lap

mycarolinavintage · ‎01-16-2019

@buzzapparel wrote:
EBay has finally done it. They have literally pushed all the free returns to the top of the searches no matter how bad the price is no matter how undesirable the item is no matter whether it’s new or not. This is a race to
thd bottom. Take a look at the searches now, they are littered with free shipping free return items you don’t want. Why give the buyer a good value when you can give him free returns? This sets a horrible precedent in clothing as it’s impossible to do free returns on many clothing items due to their weight and size, due to not have commercial level shipping discounts. eBay wants sellers to offer returns policies that exceed manufacturers and most online retailers selling the same items.

Sounds a bit frustrating if you are a seller not offering these options. However, I am not finding that to be the case at all. I literally just searched for a half dozen completely different items (started with Ralph Lauren pillow cases and ended with camera strap with other varied items in between) and the results were mixed. Some listings at the top showed Free Shipping and some had shipping charges. And I don't know why.

Today I will not judge.

18704d · ‎01-17-2019

All my listings are free shipping with free returns.

Most importantly, I only list items that I can still make money on,

if those free returns are occasionally used.

That goes for used items too.

fwiw

Lynn

Lynn

You love me for everything you hate me for

.

buzzapparel · ‎01-17-2019

What’s funny is the searches today seem to be back to the old staggered method, but for a period of time yesterday all the searches in clothing were bent towards the free shipping free returns sellers. It appears eBay is doing some testing. But at any rate I hope I didn’t catch wind of what’s to come.

luckythewinner · ‎01-17-2019

@buzzapparel wrote:
EBay has finally done it. They have literally pushed all the free returns to the top of the searches no matter how bad the price is no matter how undesirable the item is no matter whether it’s new or not.

No they haven't.

I just searched for "Beatles" under "Vinyl Records" using "Best Match", and the very first listing in the results has neither Free Shipping nor Free Returns, and is placed above others that do.

castlemagicmemories · ‎01-17-2019

Since it has been reported that search is not showing this, perhaps they alternate, or they were doing a test? Just a thought.

buzzapparel · ‎01-17-2019

Yes they did, I can’t speak for all categories but there was a period of time yesterday when clothing searches were forcing the free shipping free returns to the top of the search, obviously they were doing this under a different search algorithm. Like I said, it’s a different story today, but there’s always anecdotal reports of alterations in the search algorithms. They don’t always take or last. My guess is that it was some sort of test. But it scared the heck out of me.

luckythewinner · ‎01-17-2019

@buzzapparel wrote:
Yes they did, I can’t speak for all categories but there was a period of time yesterday when clothing searches were forcing the free shipping free returns to the top of the search, obviously they were doing this under a different search algorithm. Like I said, it’s a different story today, but there’s always anecdotal reports of alterations in the search algorithms. They don’t always take or last. My guess is that it was some sort of test. But it scared the heck out of me.

I can only go by the information you choose to provide.

In your original post, you said nothing about this being temporary, or a test, or only on some categories, or no longer in effect today.

You simply said that eBay had "done it" with no caveats whatsoever.

3714508518 · ‎01-17-2019

@luckythewinner wrote:
@buzzapparel wrote:
Yes they did, I can’t speak for all categories but there was a period of time yesterday when clothing searches were forcing the free shipping free returns to the top of the search, obviously they were doing this under a different search algorithm. Like I said, it’s a different story today, but there’s always anecdotal reports of alterations in the search algorithms. They don’t always take or last. My guess is that it was some sort of test. But it scared the heck out of me.
I can only go by the information you choose to provide.

In your original post, you said nothing about this being temporary, or a test, or only on some categories, or no longer in effect today.

You simply said that eBay had "done it" with no caveats whatsoever.

The OP did say it was a temporary thing before you ever posted

allstar-comics · ‎01-17-2019

may explain why some of my items didnt come up last night but magically are back in the search today I ran a search for duran duran poster last night and it showed 308 listings and only 1 of the 14 I had listed showed. Today it showed 905 and all 14 of mine showed up

gamersbaystore · ‎01-17-2019

That's the downside to doing business on someone elses platform. If you really want to control your e-commerce destiny, then you need to go the route of setting up a website and making use of platforms like shopify. While there's a lot of things I can't stand that ebay does, they do provide the platform, simplicity of making a sale, and the audience to conduct business without all the hassles of finding your own buyers.

On the other hand, I find this free 30 days return policy to be troublesome. Its as if ebay is pushing buyers to make purchases with the intent to send them back. The last thing we need is people buying games and movies only to play and watch them, just to send them back when they're done.

I'm willing to play along with policies for now. But if things get out of hand, I will change back to 14 day returns and no more free returns.

coolections · ‎01-17-2019

@buzzapparel wrote:
Yes they did, I can’t speak for all categories but there was a period of time yesterday when clothing searches were forcing the free shipping free returns to the top of the search.

@buzzapparel

I wanted to verify your statement as it is stated as fact. I did a search for Mens polo shirt. The first page of 50 items showed results of:

7 shirts listed: buyers pays shipping cost, no free shipping and no returns

20 shirts listed: free shipping only, no free returns

23 shirts listed: free shipping and free returns

I would assume if you checked all 3,000,000 shirts most sellers offer free shipping and the second most sellers offer both free shipping and free returns. The results are most likely in line percentage wise with what sellers offer and not how Ebay puts one in front of the other.

thegivinglibrary · ‎01-17-2019

Try selling a book. Free return & 30 day returns! so you are now a check out library. Buyer buys it then reads it, claims it was damaged in shipping or you sent some junk to them and you have to refund and send a shipping return lable. Unless the book is woroth 20 dollars or more NONE ARE it is not worth it. .

dhbookds · ‎01-17-2019

@thegivinglibrary wrote:
Try selling a book. Free return & 30 day returns! so you are now a check out library. Buyer buys it then reads it, claims it was damaged in shipping or you sent some junk to them and you have to refund and send a shipping return lable. Unless the book is woroth 20 dollars or more NONE ARE it is not worth it. .

In the 14 yrs I've been here.......I don't remember book sellers complaining about returns.........