How to handle Very High “Item not as described” rating

[worldwide_ship]

Hello ebay community,

For the first time I have a very high return rating for "cell phone" category. I sell high priced phones ($800-$1500) and the extra 5% fee is costing me an extra $50-$100 each phone that I only profit around $20-$30. I'm losing big money on every sell. I calculated this is going to cost me $10,000 to $15,000 in extra fees this month! How should I handle this? Should I stop selling the phones until it goes back down? It's a highly competetive market so if I raise prices I won't sell any.  Any advice?

[redlinear]

In the past, I'd tell YOU to do something differently (better) in order to stop the returns.
HOWEVER, I'm experiencing more than normal returns on two ID's.
And have talked to several other sellers that have called and asked me "What's up with all the returns lately?"
One of them is closing down due to returns getting out of hand.  And I'd re-hire this seller in a heartbeat if he wanted to come back and work for me (he's one of those people that doesn't miss a thing when listing items. Extremely good and accurate).
    My returns have little to do with the item, or me.
I think A-LOT of what is happening is "offers and promoted items", because I see it when I buy items.
   Somebody runs a search, adds a few of the items to their watch list, finally thinks they found "the deal", and buy it.  And item gets shipped.
 Over the next few days, they receive offers from other sellers for less $$.   As soon as the item arrives, they file a Return and claim Not as Described in order to circumvent return shipping costs. (and save face...IE: your fault, not mine).

eBay has taken for sure done transactions and thrown other things (items and prices) at them from every direction, after the fact.
It's a wonder any sale sticks any more.
   

[sextons-sweet-deals]

three things stick out.

1. I don't see any active listings.?

2. you state:  I calculated this is going to cost me $10,000 to $15,000 in extra fees this month!

3. you also stated:  I only profit around $20-$30. I'm losing big money on every sell.

The math and sales model does not add up. 

[worldwide_ship]

The math and sales model does not add up. 

I just calculated it as the average cost of the fees for the day. Today it has already cost me $200 in extra fees. By the end of today it could be around $400-$500. $400 x 30 is $12,000 in extra fees for the month.

[soh.maryl]

This is so simple that I'm sure you have thought about it:  You have to figure out the reason that so many buyers are claiming NAD.

[worldwide_ship]

This is so simple that I'm sure you have thought about it:  You have to figure out the reason that so many buyers are claiming NAD.

I've been going through all the returns. Most of them are out of my control...

I don't like the camera

The item arrived cracked

The phone is locked (I recieved it back, tested it with my simcard, and it was unlocked!

Volume isn't loud enough

Etc

Yes some of the returns are my mistake like me missing a scratch. I just don't understand how "compared to my peers" I'm having way more of these issues than any other phone seller. Now I'm just venting 

[fab_finds4u]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

three things stick out.

1. I don't see any active listings.

Have you ever heard of having  multiple ID's?  

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[inhawaii]

How to handle Very High “Item not as described” rating

That's a easy one.

Describe your items better.

[monster-deals]

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@worldwide_ship wrote:

Should I stop selling the phones 

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Yes

[iamalwaysright]

If you over analyze it I’m sure you’ll find some ways that you can control and limit some of these returns. Phone arrived cracked for example can be resolved on your side if you choose to. You can always package the item better to the point of even “overkill” to ensure this reason doesn’t get used for a return again.

I agree and I don’t like the way we leave it to ebay to determine our “peers”. For instance all of my listings are multi variation and I get a good number of my SNADs from buyers not knowing how to correctly choose something like “black/large” and file SNADs when I send them the black medium they ordered. Yet my peers don’t necessarily run MV listings thus having a SNAD advantage on me.

Perhaps ebay changed your pool of peers, could that be possible?

[iamalwaysright]

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@broto_64 wrote:

But with defects quite the opposite is true, the less you sell the lower your defect rate will be, it truly is a simple numbers game. So to increase profit and decrease defects (and remain or get back to TRS+) the simple solution is to raise prices by a good 10%.

A 10% increase in prices will decrease sales, increase profits, and allow the old defects to slide off the chart over time as fewer new defects come to take their place. As well, a decrease in sales frees up time that a business owner can spend reviewing and polishing up their methods.

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I’m sorry to ask, but how does lowering your sales volume lower your SNAD defect rate? Isn't it rated proportionally? Simply lowering your volume and doing nothing else will not change your defect percentage at all. The only way I see this to be true is if you lower your volume to zero.

[pls-consignments]

Interesting. Too many questions to ask, so I'll just say that it could be one, or the combination of two things...

1) You are using AI to write your descriptions

or,

2) You, and other used cellphone sellers are being impacted by the current cell company wars that are competing for new business by giving brand new phones away...Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, etc.

FREE iPhone 15's FOR EVERYONE!! 

[fab_finds4u]

Don't think about raising prices when you should be thinking about slashing prices to get some fast sales.

Let buyers know it's a today only or week-end only sale so they'll  be motivated to buy now while it's  on sale.

The object should be getting away from below standard which causes a penalty. The only way to get away from being penalized is to sell as many or more items with no defects or returns. You need to lower your return rate.

I'm afraid raising prices 5% would not be helpful.

[asset_liquidators]

I am not trying to sound mean but honestly, if you are selling items at $800-$1500 and only making $20-$30 off each sale then that is a really bad investment especially in a high fraud category such as cell phones.

One scammer claiming "not as described" and returning a rock or some other useless object instead of your actual item (phone) could potentially take you up to 75 future transactions just to recover that $1500.

[worldwide_ship]

One scammer claiming "not as described" and returning a rock or some other useless object instead of your actual item (phone) could potentially take you up to 75 future transactions just to recover that $1500.

You're absolutely correct. Fraud has been the bain of my existence. I've been limitied on every venue I sell on due to "box of rocks" fraud returns. I've been audited, asked to supply tax returns, government documentaion, supplier information. In 2015 I even had the Dept of Justice send me a letter saying I shipped to a known terrorist! I'm just honest, file all my police reports, go to the post office and get documentaion, use survaillance footage/weight discrepenices, and I'm able to get my money back one way or another. Again, I've been doing this 15 years and it's not easy!

[farmalljr]

At the end of the day, it does not matter how eBay calculates your returns against your "peers". It's probably a bunk formula anyway. The deal is, you will be below standard for 30+ days. Why on this green earth, would you sell for a loss? You like throwing away money? Are your a charity or a business? 

I ask that because no business I know of, especially a small business, can run at a loss very long.  12-15K in the hole in a month is a lot of money. And there is no guarantee in a month you will be back to at least above standard. So why would you continue to sell something with extremely low margins and now zero profit at all? Eating through what you have saved just to "hope" to get in a better place, when everyone is having problems with returns, is a fool's errand. 

Little sellers are never going to crush the big sellers. They have the bank to sell at a loss to get rid of you. When you are selling on a few percent margins, it's your sign the category is not for small sellers. You have no room and no bank to survive the ebbs and flows.