Long term member with a noobie-ish question about returns.

[theofficefan4life]

I've been buying and selling for a number of years now. I sell mostly low dollar items and the handful of bad apple buyers who have claimed SNAD I deemed not worth the hassle of them return the item and thus refunded them and promptly added them to my blocked bidders list.

But there are a few high value items I want to list where there is always the chance of a buyer return request.

Is it better to list those items with "no returns allowed" (even though I am fully aware that anyone can get away with a SNAD regardless? Or are there more advantages to pre-emptively setting those high value items to have the 30-day returns allowed (requiring buyer to pay return shipping)?

Also, I am probably one of the last few who does not print pre-paid shipping labels. I have zero interest in doing that. I prefer to keep my eBay selling as a hobby and not a business. I still hand-write shipping to addresses and wait in line at the local post office to mail my packages in person. So if and when the inevitable return request happens on an expensive item, how does it work when a buyer wants to print a shipping label to send the item back to me? Do I need to list in my ad the exact dimensions of the box I'm shipping and the exact weight so if they do initiate a return then the returns algorithm will go into my ad and see the dimensions and weight of my package to determine how much the buyer will pay to return the package? Any help is appreciated!

[tunicaslot]

---

@jennzet-0 wrote:

If it were me I would accept returns.  No returns is not going to stop a determined buyer from returning something.  They will just lie and maybe damage your item before returning it.

As far as returning an item, buyers like the convenience of getting a return label, printing it, putting it back on the box and shipping it back.  Also if it is SNAD you are responsible to pay for return shipping, so how would you get that money to them so they can pay for postage to send it back?

---

jenn - moo just explained that in the thread before yours. Ebay will calculate the return label from the dimensions and weight added in the shipping box.

[ga-8370]

While you may know and enter at eBay the dimensions and weight of the package you're standing in line to mail, you cannot predict the dimensions and weight of the package that may have to be returned.

So the eBay return label only limits the return package to 108 inches and 70 pounds, and USPS charges eBay the same price for each label whether the return package weighs 1 ounce or 70 pounds per the volume return agreement with eBay.

It is then eBay turns about and invoices you for the return label the same price you claim to have charged for mailing the original package: eBay does not consider any dimensions or weight for the eBay return label.

Instead, if you upload a shipping label for your buyer to return the package, now the dimensions and weight are necessary, and hopefully, known.

[buzzapparel]

When I didn’t accept returns my profits were much higher. If you are going to get SNAD it will happen anyway at least no returns makes most buyers think twice before committing. Having said that, if you plan on selling large volumes in an open market then you should accept returns, but in your case you are really better off not. My two cents...

[albertabrightalberta]

---

@glgenterprise wrote:

---

@theofficefan4life wrote:

ETA - if you don't want to offer free returns, you need to select "buyer pays" under the returns option. You'd still be responsible for the return shipping on a SNAD return.

---

I don't understand why eBay allows a seller to select "buyer" to pay return shipping, when I am getting responses like the above that the seller still has to pay the cost of return shipping. 

So then do I understand correctly, that if I sell an item with 30-day returns allowed, and a buyer wants to return, I pay the return shipping cost NO MATTER WHAT? So if it costs $50 to ship something, I'll owe another $50 for the buyer to ship it back???

---

There are several scenarios when it comes to returns and who pays for for the return shipping.

1. Seller DOES NOT accept returns. In this scenario buyer is still protected by SNAD. There is no way to stop these types of returns and the seller will always pay for the return shipping.

2. Seller DOES accept returns for any reason. Seller chooses "Buyer Pays", but that is ONLY good for buyer remorse i.e. they get it and it is exactly as described, but they buyer just decides they don't want it. If the buyer claims SNAD, seller still pays for the return.

3. Seller DOES accept returns for any reasons. Seller chooses "Seller Pays". In this case the seller pays for the return shipping regardless of why they are returning the purchase.

Bottom line is that you've got to have a really honest buyer to not get dinged for shipping in both directions.  eBay's response to this ongoing issue is "that's the cost of doing business and everyone gets occasional bad buyers and losses"

---

There's a 4th option that wasn't mentioned, one that I've used on occasion. I don't have a return policy although I've never refused a return request when the buyer is honest and reasonable. 

4. Seller DOES NOT accept returns. But honest buyer emails to say she doesn't like the item, the color isn't what expected, the size doesn't fit.....whatever. In this type of remorse case, the seller has the option of accepting the return or not. Buyer pays return shipping and if the shipping cost is charged separately (i.e., not "free shipping), the seller can issue the refund for just the purchase price of the item. So the seller isn't out shipping (either way) and the buyer is happy that he/she wasn't forced to keep something they didn't want. 

[bearswatching]

Off topic I know but my fave author is John Sandford! I just can’t part with them as I fully intend to go back and re-read every one. I just discovered Daniel Silva. BTW, for anyone who was a fan of Vince Flynn, check out Ben Coes. You can almost hear Flynn’s voice!

[ga-8370]

---

@albertabrightalberta wrote:

Buyer pays return shipping and if the shipping cost is charged separately (i.e., not "free shipping), the seller can issue the refund for just the purchase price of the item. So the seller isn't out shipping (either way) and the buyer is happy that he/she wasn't forced to keep something they didn't want. 

---

Do you get your FVF credited (or a partial FVF credit) for this partial refund of item price but not original shipping?

[albertabrightalberta]

@ga-8370

I believe I did but I can't be sure. It was quite a while ago. The items I've accepted weren't really expensive so even if it cost me 10%, it wasn't huge.

[glgenterprise]

---

@ga-8370 wrote:

---

@albertabrightalberta wrote:

Buyer pays return shipping and if the shipping cost is charged separately (i.e., not "free shipping), the seller can issue the refund for just the purchase price of the item. So the seller isn't out shipping (either way) and the buyer is happy that he/she wasn't forced to keep something they didn't want. 

---

Do you get your FVF credited (or a partial FVF credit) for this partial refund of item price but not original shipping?

---

As far as I remember - not automatically, but if you call in AND get a halfway intelligent rep (harder and harder to do these days) you can get a partial FVF credit.

[dinpavent0]

Even if you hand write your labels and mail, when there is an SNAD case, you don't have to worry about getting money to them to pay for postage to send back. They can print the label and it comes out of your paypal or whatever you have set up for payment regardless if you buy online postage or not.