Pros and cons of TRS+

[kabilab]

I am currently a TRS and once I also received the Power Seller designation, I began to consider the TRS+ option. As I ship the same or next day and I recently instituted "free shipping," the advantages of a reduced FVF and an ability to set a slightly higher price for my stock, are certainly plus factors. I have spoken, though, with two TRS+ sellers, and each voiced that far greater returns have cancelled out the advantages each received. Both gave a definite thumbs down on the TRS+ rating.

Please share any advice and thank you for your consideration.

[farmalljr]

I would stay away from the + part. Returns can eat your profits away. I also steer away from free shipping and returns. While some say this may boost sales, it's also generally not recoverable. If you have a return because someone just changed their mind, you get to eat the shipping expense. Not a big deal on one return a month, but what if it's five, or ten, or twenty? Even at the bottom of the first class scale, doesn't take many to add up. 

Everyone has a different business model, but most times the "+" isn't worth it. In the end not everyone will walk away with higher profits (because higher sales means little, profits do). Plenty of people I have talked to have been burned by the "+".

[monster-deals]

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@kabilab wrote:

I am currently a TRS and once I also received the Power Seller designation, I began to consider the TRS+ option. As I ship the same or next day and I recently instituted "free shipping," the advantages of a reduced FVF and an ability to set a slightly higher price for my stock, are certainly plus factors. I have spoken, though, with two TRS+ sellers, and each voiced that far greater returns have cancelled out the advantages each received. Both gave a definite thumbs down on the TRS+ rating.

Please share any advice and thank you for your consideration.

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We took a savage, savage multiple hundred dollar beating with free shipping and free returns.

[divwido]

I will never ship for free to have a designated badge.  I don't sell for fun, I sell to make money.  Free Shipping would cancel out the money so then why bother to sell?

Maybe if I was selling nuts and bolts, usb drives or something equally small....

[valueaddedresource]

@kabilab  - eBay did kind of a sneaky trick to some sellers on this one in my opinion.

It's hidden, but if you click the + sign next to "See the full list of circumstances where the discount benefit applies" on this page you'll find that some categories have different return requirements to be eligible for the TRS+ discount.

Keep in mind it is for the discount only, and if you go this route you will not get some of the other TRS+ benefits like the badge showing on your listings.  If you sell in any of these categories, you may still find the benefit of the badge to be worth the cost of free returns - that's a call you'll have to make for your specific business.   But many sellers don't seem to be aware that in some situations they can still get the discount without free returns.

[nobody*s_perfect]

There is no seller rating called TRS-Plus.

There is a rating called TR-Plus which is applied to listings that are set up by a TRS and which have 1-day or same-day handling, and which offer 30-day free returns.  It does not require free shipping.

The TR-Plus badge is applied on a listing-by-listing basis.  You can choose to offer this on some of your listings rather than all of them. For instance, you might want to offer free returns only on lightweight items, or in categories that are not prone to buyer's remorse.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/seller-levels-performance-standards/seller-levels-performance-stan...

[nobody*s_perfect]

It's true that you can get the FVF credit without offering free returns in some categories, but if you want the TR-Plus badge to show on a listing, it have to offer free 30-day returns.  

All of the OP's listings are in the DVDs and Movies categories, which is on that list of exceptions. So he can get the FVF credit but not the TR-Plus badge, by offering 1-day handling and buyer pays return shipping.

[luckythewinner]

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@kabilab wrote:

I am currently a TRS and once I also received the Power Seller designation, I began to consider the TRS+ option. As I ship the same or next day and I recently instituted "free shipping," the advantages of a reduced FVF and an ability to set a slightly higher price for my stock, are certainly plus factors. I have spoken, though, with two TRS+ sellers, and each voiced that far greater returns have cancelled out the advantages each received. Both gave a definite thumbs down on the TRS+ rating.

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In addition to being TRS, there are just two requirements for TRS+

• Same or 1 day shipping
• 30 day free returns with a money back option

I would not expect that offering same or one-day handling would affect your return rate. And the fact that you offer free shipping has nothing to do with TRS+.

So IMHO your question boils down to whether any gains you get from "30 day free returns with a money back option" will be overcome by an increase in your return rate.

I suspect you will get many different perspectives on that. But in the end, only you will know how it affects your business.

[m60driver]

When I look at your listings I see nothing related to TRS.  Most of your listings are lower priced items and so TRS savings will not add up to much each  month.  You have good feedback and that is far more important to buyers who would even bother to notice a TRS rating.  I gave up TRS because I save so much more money by shipping small items in envelopes with stamps than any TRS savings.  And lastly, you need to remove that $250 listing as it is far to high above your average sale to tolerate a scam buyer on that particular item.

[nobody*s_perfect]

But the OP's items can't be mailed as letters; they are going to be mailed as packages. The TR-Plus badge on a listing saves just a few pennies of FVF per listing, but also might give him an edge in selling items in a very crowded category.

[dbfolks166mt]

In reality only one of these has any value or benefit to the buyer and that is the same or 1 day shipping. The 30 day free returns and money back guarantee they already have for those buyers that are acquainted with the MBG and INAD return requests. IMHO the 30 day free returns just make you a bigger target for buyers who do not know how to milk the MBG and for buyers who want to physically check something out before they actually make a final decision, aka the remorse returners. 

[powell-memorabilia]

All very much depends on what you sell and the likelihood of a return.  To complicate matters, you won't really know how much your sales are lifted by TRS+, nor will you know how many more returns you have b/c of offering free returns.  Me, I'm at a 1% return rate, and I offer those free returns, remorse or otherwise.  If I was selling something like clothing, no way I'd do it, but that is just my quick take on it.  

[powell-memorabilia]

I, too, sell to make money, even if I'm just part time.  Although a single return is horrible for profitability on that one transaction, what if a seller's sales are increased by 20% by offering free returns?  You really have to see a high return rate to cancel out the benefits of an significant sales lift.