What's the logic behind hiding TRS status from buyers when not offering free return shipping?

[craigsfinds]

Ebay decided to "incentivize" (some would say extort) top rated sellers to provide free return shipping for any reason by eliminating their TRS discount if they don't comply. I don't agree with this strategy but at least I can see the logic behind it. However, I fail to see the logic in making it harder for buyers to find the "most reputable sellers" (a.k.a. Top Rated Sellers) by not prominently displaying the top rated badge or something similar, simply because the seller chooses not to offer free returns for any reason.

"Free returns" is already prominently displayed so it would be easy for buyers to distinguish TRS's who offer free return shipping from those who don't. 

Put another way, what would be the down side of promoting ALL TRS's? 

[craigsfinds]

20% (1 in 5) sounds about right. That's usually what I see when I'm looking for an item. 1 in 5 is a TRS. 

This does not support the notion that becoming a TRS is "easy" as someone else claimed. 

Still waiting for someone to respond to my question. What would be the down side of promoting ALL TRS's and letting buyers select between TRS offering free returns for any reason and TRS who don't? 

[slippinjimmy]

To be TRS

- Ship within your handling time

- Sell quality items

- Describe accurately

- Sell 100 items annually

As a buyer TRS status has ZERO impact on who I buy from and I have never found any correlation between TRS and the actual service provided.

I have multiple selling id's, some are TRS and some are not, the only difference is that some don't meet the 100 sales requirement because I use them infrequently.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@upgradedendmills wrote:

A survey would be helpful on this and many other topics.  For me, it is not worth anything to try for TRS status simply because I don't want to either print labels or upload tracking on every sale.  I have no clue as to rather or not this costs me sales, but am convinced it lessens aggravation. Another personal decision.

     Recently read a post from a seller stating that they would never buy any item that was pictured on a plain white background. They post frequently and I have all the respect in the world for the good information they give when I read their posts.  I have also read posts stating someone wouldn't consider purchasing from a seller unless they were TRS and posts stating they would not purchase from any seller that was TRS status.

     Even with the new information about white backgrounds, I did not immediately go in and change any of my listings that have that.  You will never be able to have your listings appeal to 100% of the market on eBay no matter how you do it or what your status is. Do the best you can and move on.

     Sometimes when buying, I prefer sellers with 98% feedback and a couple of negatives. They have more of an incentive to do things right than a seller with 50K feedback and 99.9999999% positive.

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It's most likely it's the sellers with pics on white backgrounds who are getting sent the nastygrams about them dropshipping.

[upgradedendmills]

My listings don't lend themselves to drop shipping and I don't do it. I really don't have a problem with others who do, but don't understand how a white background could lead to that conclusion. 

[my_boston_baked_beans]

I capsulized and summed up where I felt you had not spelled out, and took it one step further to state *my* important to feedback consideration upon purchase. Sorry, you felt offended by my input..

[ittybitnot]

Still waiting for someone to respond to my question. What would be the down side of promoting ALL TRS's and letting buyers select between TRS offering free returns for any reason and TRS who don't? 

There would be no "downside" to allowing buyers to know if that would be helpful to ebay.  Actually it might actually provide a better buyer experience...  As suggested, eBay elects NOT to display your dogbadge to the public as an incentive (for those that actually care) to go with the "free returns" scheme and whatever other requirement they dream up.  

So if you see the badge, it means "free returns for any reason"....found one cheaper?  No problem.  Tired of it, or decide you don't really need it?  No problem.  

There are sellers with the "badge" that rack up 50 times more negs in a week than I had in 20 years as a seller. As a buyer, I can't recall even looking to see if a seller had a badge, much less making a purchasing decision on the fact it was missing. 

Just an incentive to get you to do what they want.  Sort of like that gold star you got next to your name in kindergarten. 

[my_boston_baked_beans]

Ittybitnot said"Just an incentive to get you to do what they want.  Sort of like that gold star you got next to your name in kindergarten."

I love that as that expresses what I tried to say that fell apart. We are business owners responsible individuals: hence does eBay really need to *Be Mother us*? eBay robs and mistreats their loyal customers with their dictatorial rules.

It is all about the fact eBay is failing in the market place, and a desperate move to thread water..

[mr_lincoln]

@craigsfinds   Good thread and question ... here's my take on it.  The old TRS Plus badge was like the First Place Ribbon at the County Fair ... VERY recognizable and noticeable (I liked it btw).  Once the new version came out requiring the latest Free Returns hoop for Sellers to jump through to maintain their TRS Plus status Home Office did two things ...

1.  They separated the "Seller information" from the Badge area

2. They changed the TRS Badge from the easily recognizable County Fair style to the blue generic "looks like a Hospital Road sign" version.  So that badge area even without the TRS Plus badge would seem similar to an area with it.

I believe they are trying to make ALL sellers look the same to confuse Buyers ... I wonder how many new or low volume Buyers even notice the difference between listings that have and don't have the TRS Plus blue blip.

[chapeau-noir]

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@upgradedendmills wrote:

A survey would be helpful on this and many other topics.  For me, it is not worth anything to try for TRS status simply because I don't want to either print labels or upload tracking on every sale.  I have no clue as to rather or not this costs me sales, but am convinced it lessens aggravation. Another personal decision.

     Recently read a post from a seller stating that they would never buy any item that was pictured on a plain white background. They post frequently and I have all the respect in the world for the good information they give when I read their posts.  I have also read posts stating someone wouldn't consider purchasing from a seller unless they were TRS and posts stating they would not purchase from any seller that was TRS status.

     Even with the new information about white backgrounds, I did not immediately go in and change any of my listings that have that.  You will never be able to have your listings appeal to 100% of the market on eBay no matter how you do it or what your status is. Do the best you can and move on.

     Sometimes when buying, I prefer sellers with 98% feedback and a couple of negatives. They have more of an incentive to do things right than a seller with 50K feedback and 99.9999999% positive.

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Well, you can't really go by what one or another single person says as that's opinion versus overall market. I also knew someone who said they would never purchase from someone who uses tissue paper, and another who decided that anyone with 100% FB had 'obviously' bought or bullied their way into it.  I use a white background and no one would ever mistake me for a drop shipper, and am TRS not TRS Plus and it seems to be OK - 10% discount on FVFs is like 1% discount per item, which isn't really enough to pay me to take free returns when I sell mostly used items - I take 30 day returns, no hassle, no fuss.

eBay is displaying the badge as a 'reward' to those who offer free returns and 1-day shipping.  It's OK with me - I know those are hoops I'm not going to jump through (I'm only part-time) but some are willing to do so and they may as well get a bit of a perk for it.  As a buyer I never look at badges, I'm afraid - I'll check FB, maybe.

[gamersbaystore]

They hide mine too and I do offer free 30 day returns. Problem is, you also have to offer 1 day handling, which I wont do because of the all the defects and threats of being put below standard.

[nc-daydreamer]

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@pburn wrote:
Tagging--

As a buyer (only), I'm not the least bit interested in whether a seller has TRS status. I'm guessing most buyers not only don't know what it means, but also don't even care.

That's just a guess, though. It would be interesting to see some kind of survey on whether buyers are influenced by a seller's TRS status.

As far as shipping goes, I sort all my search results by lowest price + shipping. If the "free shipping" is the least expensive, that influences my purchase selection. If the item cost + shipping is lowest, that's fine, too. (Of course, there are factors other than cost that I take into consideration.)

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I'll start this poll - as a buyer, I don't care about it. In fact if I have a choice between an item a TRS has and one that is not wearing the badge, I go for the one not having it more often than not.

I have found that some TRS (not all) have stopped  caring - they "made it" to that point so the way they compose ads is sloppy and uninformative, the CS from them is usually unworthy, the products are usually drop-shipped, they don't respond to questions... and the list goes on.

Even if I pay more, I find the one without the badge tries harder and is more reliable, at least that has been my experience. I don't want my badge showing... 

[pburn]

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@nc-daydreamer wrote:

I'll start this poll - as a buyer, I don't care about it.

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That would be my poll response as well. Different reasons, maybe, but bottom line is I don't care about it either.

[slippinjimmy]

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@nc-daydreamer wrote:

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@pburn wrote:
Tagging--

As a buyer (only), I'm not the least bit interested in whether a seller has TRS status. I'm guessing most buyers not only don't know what it means, but also don't even care.

That's just a guess, though. It would be interesting to see some kind of survey on whether buyers are influenced by a seller's TRS status.

As far as shipping goes, I sort all my search results by lowest price + shipping. If the "free shipping" is the least expensive, that influences my purchase selection. If the item cost + shipping is lowest, that's fine, too. (Of course, there are factors other than cost that I take into consideration.)

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I'll start this poll - as a buyer, I don't care about it. In fact if I have a choice between an item a TRS has and one that is not wearing the badge, I go for the one not having it more often than not.

I have found that some TRS (not all) have stopped  caring - they "made it" to that point so the way they compose ads is sloppy and uninformative, the CS from them is usually unworthy, the products are usually drop-shipped, they don't respond to questions... and the list goes on.

Even if I pay more, I find the one without the badge tries harder and is more reliable, at least that has been my experience. I don't want my badge showing... 

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It only takes 100 sales (2 per week) worth a total of $1000 to AUTOMATICALLY be given the TRS designation, hardly much of a way to discern much about a seller other than they are not likely to be strictly a casual seller. 

[pburn]

That's another reason I don't care about it.

[nc-daydreamer]

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

They hide mine too and I do offer free 30 day returns. Problem is, you also have to offer 1 day handling, which I wont do because of the all the defects and threats of being put below standard.

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That and the MP thing. I see no reason to ship until the money is in my hands, or at least confirmed as pending, unless I must to please a buyer's special request.  Now if eBay will announce the same day money that we enjoy using PP, I'll go back to fast & free, but until then, I may take an extra day because I am not a department store with my own credit card to offer buyers - I don't require to know their FICO before shipping... just payment.  Most sellers give the buyer a respectful 48 hours to pay, I think sellers are entitled to the same respect.