Handling time for top rated plus sellers

[mikhirs]

Good morning.  We've been thinking about changing to top rated plus on our listings.  Have been top rated for  more than 3 years.  We've always shipped by the next business day or sometimes the same day.

I've noticed on this board that some people swear by it, while others don't seem to care for it.

My questions are:  how are the hours determined to be within the time period of top rated plus shipping?

And:  What does ebay do when someone wants to return an item from a top rated plus listing?  Do they still allow you buy a shipping label at the least expensive rate?  Or do they force an expensive label on you?  Presently we have it set to let us authorize the return and send a label to the buyer that we choose ourselves.

Right at this time, we've taken time away til the first of 2025 because we noticed that shipping started bogging down badly around the 10th of December.

Any advice about this would be much appreciated, thanks and Merry Christmas!

[brightlightbookseller]

I'm a little confused by your questions:

1: "how are the hours determined to be within the time period of top rated plus shipping?"  What do you mean by this?  Do you mean for same-day shipping, if you enable that (not required)?  You set that yourself in your Shipping Preferences.

2: "What does ebay do when someone wants to return an item from a top rated plus listing? Do they still allow you buy a shipping label at the least expensive rate? Or do they force an expensive label on you? Presently we have it set to let us authorize the return and send a label to the buyer that we choose ourselves." Top Rated Plus has nothing to do with how your returns work, only who pays for them and the timeframe you allow returns in.  It won't affect your process.

[youn2240]

I have used top rated + before but at that time my post office was at the end of my street they have now closed that location so I have to spend 30-40 minutes getting to and from the post office. If I was listing enough to guarantee that my time was worth the trip every single day I would go back to plus but I don't want deal with he hassle of having to take one 5 dollar package in 24 hours. so it all comes down to is it worthwhile to do so. I don't think buyers care about the tag and the savings aren't really worth it until you're selling a good amount. It's taking a responsibility on to guarantee one day shipping that in some instances is definitely beneficial but for casual sellers I don't think it's a great idea and probably will harm you account if you can't meet your obligation you signed up for. 

[brightlightbookseller]

I forgot to include this part in my previous response, but to your question of whether it's worth it:

The 10% savings on Final Value Fees alone more than makes it worthwhile for us, but we have no problem with the requirements of a 1 day handling time and free returns. If you are struggling to get things out on time (not saying you are, just pointing out a possible scenario) it might not make sense, but if you can comfortably meet the requirements, any losses due to returns will probably be more than offset by the reduction in fees, assuming you sell a decent dollar amount in items.

[mr_lincoln · Accepted solution]

Hi @mikhirs 

The Top Rated Plus 10% discount on your Final Value Fees applies if you are Top Rated, offer Same or 1 Day Handling and 30 day FREE returns.  It will not apply to any sales sold via the Local pick up option.   I am not aware of choices for selecting specific return shipping labels but my understanding is that eBay has negotiated a special rate with USPS for return labels.  If your return rate is low regardless of the return label cost this should not be an issue and is a tax deduction anyway.

You can see how many of your listings the TRS Plus applies on your Seller Dashboard.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@mikhirs wrote: ....  We've always shipped by the next business day or sometimes the same day....

My questions are:  how are the hours determined to be within the time period of top rated plus shipping? ...

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Handling time for TR-Plus is the same as for anybody else: If you offer 1-day handling then your package must get a scan by midnight on the next business day. Sounds like you're already doing that.

You can choose to have some listings eligible for TR-Plus and others not. For instance, if you'd rather not pay for returns on heavy items or clothing.

[casprrr]

I have been a top-rated seller since the time I was eligible, but have no real interest in top rated plus. While I try to ship everything immediately after payment, there are times that I might not be able to. Leaving a three day shipping time allows me to have mini vacations of one or two nights without constantly setting up time away.  Entirely up to you, however.

[kickin.assets]

@mikhirs 

To address your return question, I believe you want to know what the return label will cost you? 

Any returns you accept, will cost you whatever you paid for it. So if your buyer paid $8 and it cost you $7.78, you will be charged $7.78. If buyer paid $8 and you paid $10, you will be charged $10. Return shipping cost is only taken from you once item shows its on its way back or most times the day of or after you have received said item back.

Don't believe it matters if you are TRS or TRS+, all return labels work this way from what I've experienced. If I'm wrong, someone will come along and correct me. 😉

Best of Luck & Happy Sales!

Kiks

[brightlightbookseller]

Return shipping labels are not always the same class of mail as the original shipment, or even the same carrier, but usually in that latter case you get a choice in my experience.  For instance, we ship Media Mail, but there's no Media Mail option for returns.  We sometimes generate a label off-eBay and send it through the return case if it's a dramatic savings, which would mostly be for big sets or something like that.  I can't remember the last time I did, though.

[kickin.assets]

@brightlightbookseller 

Ahh, yes ... hadn't thought about that. Good information! 😁

My experience has been mostly clothing so no special packaging or labels and the returns I have experienced have pretty much came back the same way as sent, whereas I'm only charged whatever my actual cost for the label was. I've never had to generate a different label yet as the savings between say eBay and Pirateship are almost identical for what I sell.

Always good to have a different perspective on this! Thank you!!

[mr_lincoln]

@kickin.assets , @brightlightbookseller 

I had some direct interaction with eBay staff a while ago about the cost of return shipping labels.  At the time they explained that eBay had negotiated a special return rate with USPS.  This was prior the USPS rolling out the Ground Advantage shipping method which combined First Class packages and Parcel Select packages and added $ 100 built-in insurance coverage.

My return rate has been low so I have never bothered checking the original payment on the transaction for shipping to the customer (what they paid and what I paid) and then comparing that with the return label out of pocket cost. 

[b86fiero]

Top Rated Plus here.

FWIT: I have one day shipping on all of my listings. In my shipping preferences I have my purchase / shipping cut off time as 6:00 AM Pacific time. I am in Ohio (Eastern time) and that cut off time allows me more than adequate time to package and ship all purchases within one day. Many of my sales end up getting shipped same day.

[fern*wood]

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@b86fiero wrote:

Top Rated Plus here.

FWIT: I have one day shipping on all of my listings. In my shipping preferences I have my purchase / shipping cut off time as 6:00 AM Pacific time. I am in Ohio (Eastern time) and that cut off time allows me more than adequate time to package and ship all purchases within one day. Many of my sales end up getting shipped same day.

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The cut off time setting only applies to same day shipping. 

[tarotfindsandmore]

Returns can be re-listed so, ultimately, they don't matter.  Your fees get refunded and eBay re-lists the item for free. Of the three returns I've had this year, two sold within a week of being returned.  Both went for more than they originally sold for.

The big perk, as others have pointed out, is the discount on fees. If you're paying hundreds or thousands a year on fees, 10% is a very nice little chunk of change.

[buyselljack2016]

I don't mess with it because I may be hard pressed to meet that one day. East coast, so with west coast time being the mark a 2:59 AM my time would have to be sent that day.

Even more so, because I have no desire to give "free return" shipping for remorse, I do not play the "plus" game.

All my returns for a while now have been remorse. Did not do the math, but the 10% carrot has not swayed me to attempt "plus".