eBay

dinpavent0 · ‎09-01-2018

I am curious, I actually posted before similar to this, asking what sellers thought of it and if they offered free returns. I want to know how many buyers actually search by free returns and is it important to the buyer to purchase from a seller with free returns? I am considering it again since I could use the discount. Business has picked up quite a bit and my ebay fees are outrageous. The 10% wasn't a big deal to me before but I could sure use it now since my sales are so much higher that before when I thought about doing this. Just looking for input from some buyers on this topic. Any feedback at all greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

equid0x · ‎09-02-2018

@debvor wrote:
Common business practice? Walmart the king of return policy stores only has a 30 day policy. Ebay want buyers to extend that out to 60 days and 90 days. People that deal in vintage and antique items normally have a No Returns Accepted policy because the items are unique or one of a kind. In my opinion if you're buying something that is vintage or antique you should ask all the questions you can that concern you before buying after that it is only buyers remorse. Almost all the returns I have had were because the buyer couldn't bother to ask a simple question that would have solved everything and the rest were items that were damaged in shipping that the person wanted to return but in insurance claim was filed instead. If you have a warehouse full of the same item by all means have a return policy if that floats your boat.

Yeah 60 or 90 days is absurd. You generally know quite well if something doesn't work in the first week you bought it. If it was new, it will have a manufacturer warranty anyways.

There are numerous second-hand stores in my city and none of them except for one chain offers any return policy at all and that return policy is only on used electronics and that is only for 7 days. Literally NOTHING else in any of these stores can be returned.

Used items should IMHO probably all be no-returns unless SNAD and for the "S" I mean _significant_. One can argue that this is an option but its really not with the MBG.

The real kicker is also that none of these stores provide any descriptions at all and as far as I can tell, don't test anything. They just slap a price on it and stick it on the floor. Electrical outlets provided if you want to plug it in. Some of these are not donation based organizations, either. Half the time I have to tell them what the item is because they have no idea!

equid0x · ‎09-02-2018

@dinpavent0 wrote:
I don't buy from china seller either. It really **bleep** me off when I click US only and it says california and its really coming from china. I don't understand how they get around the rule. Ebay says you have to have your correct place listed where you ship from, and many say California and its coming from China. That urks me beyond belief. I got scammed that way once before first time i ever purchased on ebay. Then i get email that it would take almost two months to get to me, then I get another email from ebay that the person is no longer a registered with ebay, they took them off. Pretty much assuming they scammed others. Needless to say i never got item and had to call ebay to get my money back. I didn't order again off ebay until christmas time, which was six months later. I ordered a few gifts for my kids and that went well. I primarily only sell on ebay myself. I think I have maybe 10 purchases total from ebay. Mostly because Of the false advertising, im referring to china sellers. That is sooooo annoying!!!!

What they are doing is they hold warehousing and employee housing on international airport property. That way, they can legitimately say they are an importer and warehousing in state XYZ, when they are not really holding any inventory there. Only, shipping it in from China and slapping the US label on and sending it out.

equid0x · ‎09-02-2018

@dinpavent0 wrote:
Just curious, and yes sales are up but doesn't hurt to increase them more if I can. I always see posts about how return policy is terrible for sellers, which I agree on some of those posts just because there are those who take advantage of it. I just wanted to see a different perspective thats all. If it increase sales more I would be thrilled. Like i stated before I barely have had returns at all. I make sure I describe my items and especially on used or vintage items, if they is any defects I want to make sure I am clear about it and pictures show condition as well. Not worried about getting tons of returns since I don't currently get them now. Its very seldom I have an issue and then It is usually handled with out a return being opened at all. I am just honest with buyers about my items as I would want sellers to be with me if I am interested in buying an item. No sense in leaving stuff out so buyer is dissatisfied and returns. On certain items if they is significant damage and someone buys item, i have even messaged the person to make sure they read description and know problems before I even ship it. I just double check because I know some people dont really read , especially if purchasing off the app on their phone. Not as easy to see all details I think.

I have never offered 60 day returns, but based on the track history of attempts beyond 30 days, the number would increase, but be pretty minimal. Say - a fraction of a percent. However, the dollar value of those transactions could be anywhere.

To give some examples:

- Attempt to return a set of magic markers after 7 weeks - $10

- Attempt to return a choke control cable after 19 weeks - $24

- Attempt to return a graphing calculator after 6 weeks - $70

- Attempt to return a set of AC gauges after 16 weeks(ooh and then the subsequent chargeback!) - $45

- Attempt to return a cordless telephone after 6 weeks. (oh yes, with threat of chargeback!) - $25

So, thats $174 and we didn't pay the return shipping or chargeback fees yet. So, the losses are real, but not huge.

Personally, I would run the shortest return policy I could get away with. Aside from these anomalies, there are a suspicious number of returns on day 29 now and previously on day 13, when the 14 day policy was allowed. I haven't done an analysis on the difference between 14 and 30, but it has definitely gone up.

I haven't noted any siginifcant increase in sales with longer return policies. I did notice a large increase in sales with free returns, but those sales did not offset the losses from fraudulent returns.

moms**art**window** · ‎09-03-2018

when i buy 0 consideration,i buy because i am confident the item being sold is as described or close enough.

luckythewinner · ‎09-03-2018

How important is it to buyer to buy from someone that has free returns?

Looking for one answer that applies to all buyers is not going be very illuminating.

There are millions of buyers here, with millions of opinions.

For instance, I sort by total price and do not pay attention to free shipping.

But I am sure there are other buyers who are absolutely obsessed with it.

goodluckselling · ‎09-03-2018

Here are a few articles that might be helpful

Why Your eCommerce Return Policy is More Important than Ever - Click Here

The Ticking Time Bomb Of E-commerce Returns - Click Here

How to handle returns when selling on many online marketplaces - Click Here

Good Luck Selling!

emerald40 · ‎09-03-2018

@dinpavent0 wrote:
I am curious, I actually posted before similar to this, asking what sellers thought of it and if they offered free returns. I want to know how many buyers actually search by free returns and is it important to the buyer to purchase from a seller with free returns? I am considering it again since I could use the discount. Business has picked up quite a bit and my ebay fees are outrageous. The 10% wasn't a big deal to me before but I could sure use it now since my sales are so much higher that before when I thought about doing this. Just looking for input from some buyers on this topic. Any feedback at all greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

________________________________________

I return very little, but I know nothing is free. If you are only going to add it into your price, then for me no since I return very little. I would rather pay less for items, and then pay to return for the very few items that need to be.

dinpavent0 · ‎09-03-2018

Thanks so much!! I will check these limks out.

dinpavent0 · ‎09-03-2018

I honestly don't really feel the need to increase prices if I offer free returns. I don't get many ever and I would prob only offer free returns on my low cost shipping items and see how it goes.

emerald40 · ‎09-04-2018

@bigchief2472000 wrote:
If there's not enough detailed pictures of an item or a thorough enough description, I just hit the back button instead of buying it.

___________________________________________

In vintage you can lose some of the best deals that way.

emerald40 · ‎09-04-2018

@jason_incognito wrote:
anyone who is considering returning the item even before they buy it is not someone I want to sell to......

_________________________________

I disagree. I return very little. But I would not purchase without knowing I have that option if there is a problem.

webwanna · ‎09-04-2018

I'm sure somebody else has already pointed this out, but: You posted this to the Selling Board. Re-post it to the Bidding & Buying board for buyers input.

Just do the calculation:

Return rate X projected number sales X proportion of your returns that were being paid by buyers before X avg. cost of return shipping= Your additional cost for offering FREE Returns. If that is lower than the potential 10% discount then you should offer FREE Returns.

For example:

2% return rate X 300 sales/yr= 6 returns

6 returns and 50% of them are paid for by buyer usually= 3 (return you have to pay for that you wouldn't have had to before)

3 returns X $5 average shipping cost= $15 you have to pay to cover "FREE Returns"

Potential savings/yr is about: 300 items* $20/item(Average Selling Price)*10% FVF*10% discount= $60

So in this example the seller saves about $60-$15= $45 by offering FREE Returns.

You don't have to offer FREE RETURNS on everything. Anything that is costly to return ship you can still leave it as No Returns or Buyer Pays to Return, but it looks like a lot of your items are inexpensive to ship. You just won't get the discount on any items that you don't offer free returns for. Hope it helps.

ted_200 · ‎09-04-2018

I haven't noted any siginifcant increase in sales with longer return policies. I did notice a large increase in sales with free returns, but those sales did not offset the losses from fraudulent returns.

The $64 question no one will ever know the answer to: Did those increased sales come because buyers were attracted to the "Free Returns" policy, or did they come because eBay showed preference to the "Free Returns" listing and showed it to more buyers?

Is it pleasing eBay buyers, or is it pleasing eBay bots and buyers mostly don't care?

The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves.