High Rate of Not As Described

[buddyboyusa]

Just received the dreaded eBay message "You have high not as described rates",  14 out of 542 for the period between April 2022 & March 2023. My high rate percentage is 2.58%. Here are my two questions "Is it possible I receive "not as describes" from some buyers because I do not accept returns. If I change my policy and accept returns what would be an average return rate on sales of 550 items. Any info. or advice would be helpful. Love this eBay forum.

[onlinecentral]

These are my numbers from some prior year.
4,000 Units sold in
2,500 Packages with
24 Honest returns where the buyer paid the return shipping and
10 Dishonest or incompetence returns where I paid the return shipping
I was able to relist and resell 32 or 33 of the 34 total returns.
One or two unsellable returns out of 2,500 packages total.

[inhawaii]

Accepting returns MAY reduce the number of false INADs

Accepting returns MAY also increase the number of return shipping labels you have to pay for.

There is no way of knowing for sure.

You have to figure out what you think works best for you.

[zamo-zuan]

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@buddyboyusa wrote:

Just received the dreaded eBay message "You have high not as described rates",  14 out of 542 for the period between April 2022 & March 2023. My high rate percentage is 2.58%. Here are my two questions "Is it possible I receive "not as describes" from some buyers because I do not accept returns. If I change my policy and accept returns what would be an average return rate on sales of 550 items. Any info. or advice would be helpful. Love this eBay forum.

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Buyers can only claim not as described, even if no returns, and that would force the return. 

Also, these dings on your service metrics are determined by how the buyers OPENED the case. Even if the case was closed in your favor, you still get the service metric ding. It's very foolish and frustrating that it functions this way - because there's not much you could do about how buyers open a case. If you're sending out the item they ordered, how could you possibly lower the rates? But that's how the system works...

We have to do free returns because so many customers make mistakes and then lie in our category as it's difficult to find the right fitment of auto parts for the right engine (eBay's tool doesn't factor transmissions, etc)

It's hard to say what the average rate would be because that highly depends on category. But the rate should drop, although you may have more returns in total.

With that said, "high" doesn't really matter. It's "very high" that comes with a penalty.

[buddyboyusa]

WOW! Thank you for taking the time and effort to forward me that information. Much appreciated.

[coolections]

The buyers gave you the info you need. Some say you never shipped and cancelled. Some say you sold broken item which you should have mentioned in the description, and some say you sent the wrong items. It seems you need to pay way closer attention to detail. Maybe slow down on the amount of listings and think more quality than quantity. Too many listings can be way overbearing.

[fern*wood]

I can only speak of my experience with returns.  The majority of mine use remorse reasons to return.  I feel that some of those might have returned using a less than honest not as described reason had I not offered a return policy.  My not as described returns  are minimal.

[showmecurrency4u]

the problem with ebay is they want you to accept returns. i do accept returns, in the last 10 years i only had  1 return that was should have been returned. we should be able block  buyers who have above  a certain number.  if ebay dont do that we should not be charged excessive fees because i have paid the return postage. 

[lakefor94]

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@fern*wood wrote:

I can only speak of my experience with returns.  The majority of mine use remorse reasons to return.  I feel that some of those might have returned using a  less than honest not as described reason had I not offered a return policy.  My not as described returns  are minimal.

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Same here. I have not been seeing a lot of INAD's.

I use Free Returns so the buyer does not have to use a INAD reason to obtain a prepaid return label.

I also tightened up my listings by giving away the junk to a flea market person rather than listing it. Anything questionable is given away or recycled. 

Can't afford to give eBay another 6%.

[buddyboyusa]

I did not know that. Thanks for letting me know that only "very high" comes with a penalty. 

[kensgiftshop]

Better descriptions might cut down on INADs

[buyselljack2016]

Can not tell you what the return rate would be.

After many, many years I changed from "no returns" to "returns accepted - buyer pays shipping".

What I can tell you is that my return rate jumped up (it was very, very low), but the thing is, for me, that increased return rate was in the form of "buyer remorse returns" which not only resulted in "buyer paying return shipping", but also allowed for the refund being for the item price only, with original buyer paid shipping deducted.

[chapeau-noir]

I sell mostly clothing and my return rate is just under 3% - I have no hassle 30-day returns - my buyers are honest.  Being no-returns was a real pain in the dupa so I started taking returns some years back.

ETA: For shoes and clothing, just repeating the title as the description isn't helpful.  People need to know condition, material, etc.  Since shoe fit online is tough I provide a couple of quick measurements - insole (toe to heel), width of ball of foot (outside) and if it has a heel, heel height.  Takes a minute to do and I think it helps.

[fashunu4eeuh]

I have offered free returns since long before eBay began pushing for it. I did it specifically to prevent a buyer ever needing to open a case against my account. Since my return rate was so low anyway, it wasn't as great a risk for my business. Using the “cookie jar” insurance method, a few cents from every sale goes into a fund to cover any expenses in regards to free returns.

I did not see an appreciable jump in returns when i switched to free ones. I average about one return a year over the past 12 years as a small seller. I am careful to include as much info as possible in my listings so my buyers never get surprised by condition or unmentioned details. I avoid high scam categories, and do not sell anything that is flawed, broken, or untested because that adds to the risk of selling here. Some buyers just do not read the listing.

So far, i’ve been lucky. These practices have stood me in good stead, and knock on wood, have never had a case opened by a buyer.

[chapeau-noir]

I like to make things easy, too, but free returns on clothing opens that door that I do not wish to open. 😞

Keep fixing my posts because I'm in a State lol.