SPRING SELLER UPDATE has arrived

[b86fiero]

I just read the important news over on 

ecommercebytes

Many changes - new store tiers - stricter return policies - lots more.

Your thoughts??

[*eponymous*]

Out of 3000+ transactions in the past 12 months,  4 remorse return requests were opened and only 1 of those actually bothered to send it back.    

One return out of 3000+ transactions should tell you that free returns will work for you, but you somehow came to the opposite conslusion...?

[hioctane62]

Thinking further on variations... I was searching for a phone case yesterday, and ran across a few listings with way more than the 12 pictures WE can upload, one had 41 pictures, all in the little ebay gallery. Does anyone know how this is done?

[shoptalkid]

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@*eponymous*wrote:

Out of 3000+ transactions in the past 12 months,  4 remorse return requests were opened and only 1 of those actually bothered to send it back.    

One return out of 3000+ transactions should tell you that free returns will work for you, but you somehow came to the opposite conslusion...?

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Items ship free to begin with.  Offering free returns would make buyers more likely to return items after using them (they would still look new even if they did use them) or if they find it cheaper somewhere else.   In those cases, I'd be out shipping cost both ways! No way.

[lintbrush*]

So I put this on the Seller Update board too, but I'm wondering if I offer free returns, would I still be given the option to withhold original shipping as I rarely do Free Shipping anyway?

If so, won't all the sellers who offer Free Shipping (which eBay states that buyers love) go to a shipping charge?

Granted, I've often refunded the original shipping (especially for First Class) as I appreciate the buyer's honesty, but I simply can't afford to give away $7-$10 (round trip shipping) for a $10-$15 item.  That extra loss of $3.50-$5.00 grossly outweighs TRSP benefits - especially when so many will be giving up their badges too.

For the sake of round numbers, let's say I only sell $1,000 a month.   My TRSP savings are only $9.15 per month.  One return and that's gone.  

Does having the badge bring me more sales?  Quite possibly.  Would free returns encourage more returns though?  My return rate this past year was only 0.34%  (1 out of 300 sales)

[lintbrush*]

And I got a reply already...

Hi lintbrush,

 If you offer free returns, you will have the option to withhold the original shipping costs if the item is being returned for a remorse reason.  If the item is returned for being 'not as described,' the option to withhold original shipping costs will not be available - as it is today.

Thanks,

 Mikka

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Simplified-Returns/If-we-offer-free-returns-will-we-still-be-able-to-n...

So it looks like I can offer free returns on some of my items if I decide if keeping the TRSP badge is worth it.  I just won't send them with Free Shipping anymore.

I wonder how many others will drop Free Shipping.

[*eponymous*]

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@shoptalkidwrote:

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@*eponymous*wrote:

Out of 3000+ transactions in the past 12 months,  4 remorse return requests were opened and only 1 of those actually bothered to send it back.    

One return out of 3000+ transactions should tell you that free returns will work for you, but you somehow came to the opposite conslusion...?

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Items ship free to begin with.  Offering free returns would make buyers more likely to return items after using them (they would still look new even if they did use them) or if they find it cheaper somewhere else.   In those cases, I'd be out shipping cost both ways! No way.

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That's already the way it is when buyers claim SNAD.

Nothing has changed, especially for sellers who thought they could strong-arm "restocking fees" from buyers on remorse returns but only ended up with more SNADs than they would have had!

[tealt]

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@dhbookdswrote:

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@hioctane62wrote:

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@b86fierowrote:

Reply from a blue on the Spring Update discussion board states that all sellers will be able to add vintage, ooak, handcrafted to the eBay catalog.

Say what????????????????

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Wow!!! This is going to be a real mess with all the variations of so many vintage and OOAK items. Even new items have tons of variations.

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That's at some point in time.............way after they are thru with the rest of the stuff.......look in 2019 or so.............

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2019?   I'm thinking more along the lines of "not in my life time". 🙂

[hioctane62]

Just saw this posted by an ebay staff member over on the spring update board:  

To follow-up, we're offering a 30 day period where ETFs are waived, May 1st-31st. During this time you can cancel or downgrade without an early termination fee.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-Stores/Yearly-subscription/m-p/28172789#M20

[cleaningoutmyclosets17]

I will be dropping my tsr as soon as this takes affect. I have  been contemplating dropping it anyways so this just makes my desission easier.  My life will be so much easier with a 2 day handling time. 

I truly believe ebay wants the Tsr discount to go away without actually taking it. 

They lost a lot of people when they raised the late shipping rate to 95% and dropped the discount to 10%. The rest of us will drop it now that ebay expects us to offer free returns. 

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@lintbrush*wrote:

So I put this on the Seller Update board too, but I'm wondering if I offer free returns, would I still be given the option to withhold original shipping as I rarely do Free Shipping anyway?

If so, won't all the sellers who offer Free Shipping (which eBay states that buyers love) go to a shipping charge?

Granted, I've often refunded the original shipping (especially for First Class) as I appreciate the buyer's honesty, but I simply can't afford to give away $7-$10 (round trip shipping) for a $10-$15 item.  That extra loss of $3.50-$5.00 grossly outweighs TRSP benefits - especially when so many will be giving up their badges too.

For the sake of round numbers, let's say I only sell $1,000 a month.   My TRSP savings are only $9.15 per month.  One return and that's gone.  

Does having the badge bring me more sales?  Quite possibly.  Would free returns encourage more returns though?  My return rate this past year was only 0.34%  (1 out of 300 sales)

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Hi Linty 🙂

I switched to 60 day free returns on the Store account mid last year sometime ...

My returns have not increased, at all.

I have an 0.26% return rate (1 of 387).

[sharingtheland]

WHOA !!  REALLY ??  (CK is a blue)

@creativecrisis wrote:

The spring update states that sellers can issue a partial refund if a buyer returns an item that's not in the same condition as shipped. How exactly will this work? Do I as a seller have complete discretion to give a partial return, or can the buyer raise a dispute and ask eBay to "step in"? If eBay gets involved, what is the process? What information will eBay consider in making a decision?

A specific understanding of how eBay intends to protect sellers is an important factor in deciding whether to adopt the recommended free 30-day return policy.

Hi creativecrisis,

If you offer free returns, and a buyer returns an item that's not in the same condition as when you shipped it, you as the seller decide the appropriate amount to refund and then your job is done.

We want to make sure you’re protected, so if a buyer asks us to "step in" we will resolve the issue directly with the buyer and you won't have to worry about any buyer protection cases.  In some cases, we may give the buyer the rest of their refund and in other cases we may deny their request, but it will never affect your seller standards and we’ll monitor buyers who ask us to step in closely to ensure they’re not taking advantage of the program.  Also, if the buyer is unhappy with the outcome and leaves negative or neutral feedback, we’ll automatically remove it from your reputation.

Thanks,

CK

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How/why/when did this thread get moved to Seller Hub?  

[lintbrush*]

@penguins_dont_fly

Thanks for letting me know.  I know our buyers are not likely to return the majority of our items as they are needs more than wants/desires, but I'm just mad about this so far.  Like free returns makes me a better seller.  I'm already awesome.

I've barely touched on the rest of the update yet. 

It's a lot to read and digest.

[missjen831]

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@shoptalkidwrote:

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@*eponymous*wrote:

Out of 3000+ transactions in the past 12 months,  4 remorse return requests were opened and only 1 of those actually bothered to send it back.    

One return out of 3000+ transactions should tell you that free returns will work for you, but you somehow came to the opposite conslusion...?

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Items ship free to begin with.  Offering free returns would make buyers more likely to return items after using them (they would still look new even if they did use them) or if they find it cheaper somewhere else.   In those cases, I'd be out shipping cost both ways! No way.

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My thoughts exactly. Free shipping & returns may encourage buyers who buy things just to try them on. I know plenty of women who only shop from retailers who offer free shipping/free returns and they habitually order multiple sizes & return everything that doesn’t fit at the retailers expense. The MBG doesn’t encourage these type of buyers or appeal to them. But free shipping & free returns will. 

[castlemagicmemories]

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@b86fierowrote:

Reply from a blue on the Spring Update discussion board states that all sellers will be able to add vintage, ooak, handcrafted to the eBay catalog.

Say what????????????????

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Why would you use catalog for used, vintage or OOAK for the catalog?  If anyone else used the picture, it would be a SNAD in the making.  Does the catalog drive visibility in some way that I am not aware of?  I have read of issues with using the catalog where sellers have used the new picture for there used item with disasterous results~or used it when the model or version did not exactly coincide with that they wanted to sell~again, with disasterous results.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@oceanviewengineer2015wrote:

Well, I have always been TRS and it is VERY questionable how much visibility I have on any given day.

That carrot is gonna have to be A LOT more certain because from my vantage point it could be another stick.

Free returns? LOL, I recently had a return. The buyer shipped me the completely WRONG ITEM. Not to scam me but because she was returning MULTIPLE items to different sellers and got the labels mixed up. 

Oh, yeah, by all means, offer people like that free returns on your dime. 

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MULTIPLE returns?  Oh, my!  Hope you used your special list here.