WILL LOSE TOP RATED IN JUNE (REFUSE TO OFFER FREE RETURNS)

[lovett-1000]

Look like I will be loosing my Top Rated. As E Bay to start June will require sellers to pay return mailing on all thier listings to keep Top Rated. This is not worth it. As mostbuyers are fair. But thier is to many scamers also. I mostlikely will leave E Bay because of this. I am not taking chances on bricks coming back to me in the mail. And I pay for them. And a buyer getting a full refun for mailing it to me. This is one of the stupidest moves E bay ever made.  Because if I do stay loose my Top rated bencause I refuse to pay mail back on items I know mail is good. So if I do stay so will my one day mailing times. So in the long run for sure E Bay will lose many seller. The buyer paying the return mailing is about the only thing that keeps most of them honest. So will be a lot of cheeting buyers looking for the Top Rated Badges to scam out of thier items.  E bay is so wrong a honest and loyal seller dose not stand a chance with new rules coming down on them. To incourage scamers to thier sellers. 

[waterbed_bigfoot]

Us too we started it already.  We are looking at our items one at a time and deciding which ones to do no returns on.  So far we decided on items we drop ship directly from the manufacturer and Free Flow Waterbed Mattresses.  We may do more.  We are keeping some items on the Top Rated Plus for now but in June we decided we will raise all our prices to cover the ones that will return just because.  I'm not sure how this will work out yet.  But some items just aren't worth it to offer the free return shipping so those items we will keep as is 30 day return buyer pays shipping and as I understand it no restocking fee.  By raising the smaller items all by 1.00 it will cover the 50.00 we get each month in discounts.  Not sure how we will cover the no restocking fee yet.  One option is to offer the free returns and we can charge up to 50% back which is probably what we will do.  Meanwhile since we quit Amazon I think we will beef up our own website and hope we get more sales on there so we can leave eBay completely in the long run.

[vintagecraze50]

If someone does not want something after they buy it they are going to do EVERYTHING they can to get a return approved AND get their shipping payed.  People are focusing WAY too much on return, return return. Most people KEEP what they buy. They just want to know they can return it if they do not like it, and that they will not be out shipping back charges. THAT's the majority of buyers. Everybody keeps focusing on the scammers. Do good buyers exist on here or what? Think about it.

[vintagecraze50]

All businesses whether online or B&M are competing for business with all kinds of bells and whistles to get peoples business. Saturated products, to the max. It's a huge marketing blah blah that everyone has to deal with and compete with. you either do all these bells and whistles or you dont and then sit back and watch what happens to YOUR individual business. If the plan for the bells and whistles does not work for you after testing it, then you modify the plan. I cannot say that free return shipping will work for all businesses. It may work for some and not for others.

[ymeagainlord]

After reading that page, I still fail to see where free returns gives me "greater control to manage your business".

Before eBay started interfering in every single aspect of a transaction I could ALREADY choose to reimburse a buyer for return shipping if it was my fault and I was also able to offer a partial refund if I had made an error.

I also fail to see how being able to ONLY refund 50% for sending off a NWT item of ANY type and getting back something scungy, without tags or damaged by the buyer is actually doing a hell of a lot for the seller.

[ymeagainlord]

Too bad they didn't include toys in that list of 14 day returns. New toys destroyed by kids and then returned to get all their money back has to be one of the biggest ripoffs here (apart from the iphones etc).

And no, that hasn't happened to me, but I have friends who've suffered the loss.

[usedgoodsforsale2021]

This discussion brings to mind the story of the Storekeeper law. It exposes the flaw in giving rights to buyers only. Buyers have obligations to not steal or waste a storekeepers time and resources.

[woodstock52]

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO      TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU-- AND NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT MANY OTHER SELLERS AS WELL !!!!!!!!

[drusalina]

So now I am confused....  Will the TRS Badge still show if I don't offer free returns?  I don't care about the few cents I will lose.  

eBay will probably not give us top position in search if you don't  offer free return shipping, which would hurt the sellers and also have eBay lose More money.    I always have "buyer pay for return shipping"  I think that deters the people who buy and return all the time.  

I'm a good seller and tying the hands of good sellers is just wrong.   

How do they expect us to be good sellers, when they play games with the sellers.  If sellers can't trust eBay, why would anyone else trust them!

[drusalina]

There is so much theft now that offering free returns will only promote more.  A friend who works in a retail clothing store tells me stories that are hard to believe.  People steal so much clothing in those retail stores it is impossible to catch them.  And they go back and steal more.  I won't tell you how they do it, because I don't want to give anyone ideas.  

So offering Free Returns is only going to promote more theft.  I won't do it ever. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@drusalina wrote:

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....  Will the TRS Badge still show if I don't offer free returns? ...

No, the TR-Plus badge will no longer show on listings that don't offer free 30-day returns.

[drusalina]

If they take away my TRS badge then I might not do 30 day returns anymore either.  What is the point if they are not going to show the badge.  

[ymeagainlord]

They're also taking away 14 day returns except in certain categories. Don't think Clothing is one of them.

[turquoisetulips]

As a buyer - I've said before - I hate returning things - easier to throw it away, give it away or sell it myself - but do occasionally contact the seller if the item is damaged or defective. If Free Returns becomes the policy here - than why wouldn't I use it and return an item just because I didn't like it or I ordered the wrong size and get my money back. Why bother going to the trouble of listing it myself in the hopes it sells? tunicalot - unquote ----------------

I purchased a ring  recently  and it arrived very quickly . I was pretty happy with it until it fell apart just from a few days of normal wear . It was only 20 dollars  but 20 to me is 20 dollars . So back it goes , pieces and all . I don't like returning things either   but this time calls for it . I'm sad though . I really liked the ring but I don't trust the seller as far as quality now . 😞  tulips 

[time4david5d28]

I'm not so much concerned about getting a Top Rated Plus badge as I am concerned about not offering free return shipping.    Of course someone can claim defective and get free returns anyway, but in case of my items . . . they can be heavy or take up a large box.  Both of these things, heavy or requiring a large box makes shipping across country expensive.  A short example:

I have a Pyrite Rock for sale that weighs about 1.5 pounds.    It does not qualify for First Class Postage.   So I offer a variety of shipping methods:   Priority Mail, Medium Size Box, Fed Ex Ground, USPS Ground, etc.    A Medium Size Box is about $12!   Do I offer free shipping on the item?   I decide to list the item with free shipping.   My cost on originally obtaining the Pyrite Rock is $8.   What do I list the item at?  $20 to not break even because of cost of selling on EBay?    Maybe $24 to break even?   Maybe $28 to make a dollar or two?

The point here is that I can't offer 'free returns' on an item that costs $12 to ship by Medium Size Box.  For instance a quick USPS calculation of send a ROCK from California (my location) to Long Island, NY is $12.72 USPS Retail Ground.    So if I list (which i have) a Pyrite Rock for $21 but offer free return shipping . . .. and the buyer wants to return because the rock doesn't shine enough (or what ever), I now have to refund the $21 plus spend $12.72 or lose 25.48 (2x shipping) on an item that cost me $8.

The other opion of course is to refund the $21 and let the buyer keep the rock.  I would only lose the original shipping cost.  Much better . . . however I don't like giving away my stuff for free.  I might as well have a garage sale at my house and get the same buck I would have made on EBay if all went right.

This is one reason why shortly I probably won't be a seller on EBay after the end of the year.    I can't sell items that cost a lot to send out.  That accounts for most of my items.    The risk versus reward isn't there for me.

[bauble-babes]

Here's how I look at returns that I have to pay for: It's a write off on my taxes that ultimately helps me to pay less to the IRS. I document/copy these returns and give to my accountant. If you don't file taxes on your sales, then the point is moot.