Reality Check: Free Returns

[iart]

We signed up for the Free Returns at the end of May. We figured it would increase our sales or, at least, keep them at the same level.

But in the last week, since ebay wanted us to sign up, our sales have plummeted by over half. And we have more listings now than ever before. Going into summer is usually slow but this is a drastic cut.

Anyone else who opted into the free returns seeing this?

[moms**art**window**]

yep,not one change has been anything that has't hurt sales

watchers visible to the buyers throttled

Promo bar now at bottom of page

Promos displaying tiny pictures

store category glitch (3 months)

Store impressions not showing in anylitics

and

last but not least

The ultimatum,offer free return shipping (paintings by the way)

or lose the prefered seller discount and status.

I can't tell what has hurt sales the most to be able to tell if is worth it

My instict & common sense says i don't want buyers interested in free returns as a major consideration at point of sale.

But thanks eBay for giving me a choice thanks so much!!!

A choice imagine that wow!!!

[moms**art**window**]

Marketing Returns, huh? i know when i go shopping at a brick & mortar they don't have RETURNS or big signs every place or the cashier reminding me when they hand me the reciept "by the way you have 30 days to return this" it's insanity to think it is helpful to market returns.

To many Kooks in the Kitchen Kooking up Kooky Policies.

If they cut back on this "Marketing" department they could save a bunch and it would help us sellers do much much better.

[moms**art**window**]

Encouraging!! no change translates to UP. Uncertainties in any market create a down turn in value,demand and buyer pool.

If you have 5 gamblers at a table starting out with 500 and the house takes a 100 away an hour no matter how well you play in 5 hours nobody has any money.

from looking at other sellers i've been keeping up with in my market (art), buyer pool has decreased on eBay in art by 50% in the last 4 months value by more than 50%.

This last change will make it harder for buyers to determine an experianced seller

Don't see to many opting in to free returns on framed paintings.

Wish it wasn't artificially created by management wish it was a natural accurance.

The down turn is so sharp that i'm not bothering with price changes,just trying to get some bearings explore expand options.

[tunicaslot]

You should always use multiple venues. Right now i garage sale season - I've bought some lovely pieces for $1 - $5. No need to shop online.

[retrose1]

I just see free returns as ebay's way of removing the last shred of responsibility of a buyer making the transaction.  They can now purchase anything without bothering to check the listing and not be out a penny for a mistake that is entirely their fault.

Buyers now don't have to bother to read the listing, check out the sellers history, or even bother to look at the sellers terms.......they are all meaningless now.  Proud of your feedback - doesn't matter, perfect DSRs - no point,  buyers not only don't need them, with free returns they don't have to look at them to see if the seller is one they will buy from.

Most experienced buyers on ebay know about the return policy that ebay has when the seller is at fault, so even before ebay implemented a free returns program, there were free returns when there was cause. 

Now, since buyers don't have to be responsible for any loss while they window shop or 'rent' merchandise on approval - do you really want a buyer who is ONLY buying BECAUSE a seller has free returns? 

I would rather a buyer buy because the want/need my listed item and are impressed that  I ship fast, my merchandise is as described and others said so, not because a buyer wants to try on a dress 2 sizes too small for them and then send it back when it doesn't fit.

[thesewingdoll]

After Much contemplation? I pulled out of FREE RETURNS. I am not going to take the loss for someone who just wants to look over what I have to sell only to return it with no expense out of pocket and me EATING the expense. I can not afford it. The 10% I was earning for being a top rated seller does not outweigh the aggrevation and the loss that is a potential with FREE RETURNS.   I have 100% positive feedback, have been on Ebay for YEARS and consider this move Punitive after all my butt busting to remain a Top rated seller. Means nothing now. Small sellers lose once again....

[gracieallen01]

I wonder if the 'Refurbished' classification on some listings was in preperation of the coming of the free returns?

Things previously sold - thus no longer new - but still unused (maybe), and having been returned, are now relisted - just like new (refurbished).

Nah, I suppose not - however,  .... . 

[victorias_gifts_n_treasures]

"Buyers who don't really need or use returns may just feel they are overpaying because they are covering a return that may not be needed, so they pass these listings by?"

I completely agree. To offer free returs, it's obvious that sellers have to either raise their shipping prices or prices on the items to make up for the returns that they will get. That might be why my sales this month are doing pretty good since I lost my top rated plus badge. Since I'm not doing the free returns at this time. I can keep my prices more reasonable. I notice some of my competition has started the free  returns and so their prices went up to cover those. So it kind of gives me a benefit by not offereing them. Not to mention every time Ebay says to do something that'll help us in search they are always wrong. Whether you do free shipping, free returns, have good feedback, etc. Never seems to matter. I always notice that the sellers that stay at the top of the search results are the ones that are selling lots and lots of that item. It doesn't matter if they have a 100% feedback or a 96% feedback. If they are selling well on that item, that is what ranks them above everyone else. That's the only thing that I ever notice that keeps the sellers on top.

[electro1chem2]

Free Returns = Free Money.  Its way too soon to tell if free returns lead to increased sales.  But when all the dust settles, we should be thinking if free returns will lead to increased profits.  With  a year or so of sales history you might be able to plot the profit change, taking into account the number of increased sales against the losses of increased returns (assuming anything increases).  Sure, the buyers have a little more peace of mind and might buy a few more things, but this increased peace of mind will also likely lead to more impulse spending which will certainly lead to more buyers remorse as well as just making a return for very minor considerations that they would not have bothered with otherwise. 

I wounder how well thought out the concept was.  When you consider that not all sellers have specific lines of reasonable to ship merchandise you begin  to see the large losses that are possible.  There are many sellers that sell heavy items, items that cost over $25 each to ship and more.  These sellers are not few and will be unable to keep their TRS status.  Soon, the only TRS sellers will be those selling new items that weigh little and ship easily.  Ebay's one-upsmanship on Amazon has always been the inclusion of sellers in the used market that sell surplus merchandise  and sets.  These don't sell properly on Amazon, due to the limited listing and picture formats. Try giving a shipping refund on an 80 pound surplus collectable oscilloscope mailed through UPS or FedEX, or a complete set of James Patterson's Cross Series (weighs over 20lbs). Trust me, I've sold both and know I've always had hundreds of sellers competing against me in each area.  We're not talking about a couple of sellers, but thousands across many areas, especially the large and diverse industrial areas.  The point is, this policy is not even aplicable to all sellers, so its biased and unfairly skewed towards only a small number of sellers that can risk the losses because their merchandise is more consistant and has low weight.

Barry

[agshop1984]

Your comment only re-affirms even more my opinion about it.

I have been a Top Rated Seller for a while, love what I do and like you have 100% positive feedback. I was told I could loose my status because I don't offer free returns.

Spoke to a customer service person (in the Philipines), she tried to convince me that it is a win win situation and that they had asked "public opinion" before coming up with the new policy. I am a buyer as well and have never been asked my opinion. I actually presented to her the example of a listing in numbers and proved to her that with free shipping and free return I would loose at least $12 she said I wouldn't loose anything because I could re-list it. Sure, what should I do raise the price? doesn't sound like a win win to me!.  It's too bad that she has to be the punching bag of seller's frustrations while the person(s) that came up with the policies that don't make sense get to "hear" nothing. 

I agree with you, I also said I consider it punitive to sellers, the 10% discount is definitely not worth the aggrevation.

[agshop1984]

Exactly - Well said!

[stacy_pme]

thesewingdoll, that's how I feel about this too.  I am fairly new selling to ebay, and I worked hard to get a top rated seller badge.  And I have only had 2 returns in 1 year.  But as soon as I switched over to the "free returns" I had a return waiting for me today, which shouldn't even be returned!   14K gold earrings, and the buyer "changed their mind".  I can't afford it either.

This plan is great for the HUGE sellers that are drop shippers and the like that do a lot of sells per day, and make money hand over fist.

But for the small sellers like me, that don't sell that much, we are going to be penalized, and it's just not right.  I think that ebay needs to rethink this, and offer something different for the smaller sellers.  We can't afford to pay all this money out for people to "change their minds" all the time.

[electro1chem2]

I totally agree.  I  haven't had a large number of returns in the 16yr I've been selling, but they are very problematic, so I like them to be ligitamite.  I do ok on sales, usually the harder I work the more I sell, but my profit level is down and I'll be going back to a couple of catagories used items that are heavy in the pursuit of reasonable profit.  There's no way I want to refund shipping on items that typically cost $15 to $50, unless the refund is legitimate.  I remember selling heavy electronic test equipment about 12 yr ago and after posting an exhaustive description for an item, describing exactly what worked and stating that nothing else was known or tested, a buyer purchased an oscilloscope that had a $35 shipping charge without emailing me any questions.  Sure enough he claimed he bought it only for one specific obscure function (something not even used anymore) and that it didn't work!  Naturally I lost $35.00 for return shipping that Ebay made me pay even then.  I resold this after describing the specific thing he wanted working as nonworking and the other buyer did'nt care at all (as I mentioned that function was obselete and nobody used it that way anymore).  Of course the buyer should have asked about the function he wanted and I could have tested that before selling it.  Point is, new policy would make this very commonplace as buyers would have no obligations except returning for free, giving them a free in-person show and tell and mayby they see a similar item selling for less right after they purchase yours and just send yours back to save a couple of bucks!  Whatever, its all been done before, it just makes it very easy now, too easy.  Speaking of my earlier issure, how in Heaven's nane can someone selling book sets, industrial stuff, etc possible give free returns and thake the hit?  Ebay has made no provisisons for used and heavy merchandise to be exempt from this rule, so I guess after years of busting my tail to wait in long post office lines for tracking receipt will I be able to keep my TRS+ rating, well last week they kicked me off since i'm not doing these free returns.

Barry

Barry

[electro1chem2]

I agree.  I buy at lest as much as i sell, usually more and was never contacted!  Its ok, they booted me last week from my TRS+ I've held for years.  I guess I should consider going back to droping my packages at the PO instead of waiting in the lines for tracking scans.  When they screw-up and skip the scans (The Postmaster has told all the postmasters under him to tell their clerks to skip it when its buisy) at least I won't get hert.  While I'm at it , I might just as well raise my handling time back to 3 days from 1, guess it doesn't mean much if you don't offer free returns!  Theres no way, I'm going back to two product lines that are heavy with shipping from 15-50 dollars.  NO way I'm refunding someone cause they saw the item at a better price after I shipped mine out, or one of the bookcovers. in the set, is slightly faded and their going to get a set from someone else to make it perfect. ETC,ETC.

Barry

[classic-diecast-models]

Very well put!!