eBay

gurlcat · ‎12-03-2021

I get so few returns that I don't have to think about it very often, but I've had notifications of TWO in the past 24 hours, so yippie! But they also prompt me to ask about something I've always wondered, because they are a good example of it. The first one is basically just telling me a return has been started, and its' status is 'waiting for the buyer to ship item.' I would say the majority of my returns are like that, and it's fine with me because I don't have to fuss with them saying their printer isn't working or anything else that is not my problem. But some portion are not like that; they require me to respond to the 'request' to return, with 4 responses I can choose from (see pic), and a deadline to do so. What I can't figure out is why this is sometimes the case. The most obvious thing I can think of would be the buyer's reason for returning, but I have free shipping, technically no reason needed to return, since I am committed not to refuse for any reason. Still the buyer still has to pick a reason from the pull-down menu.
But here's where these 2 current ones make it extra baffling. The first one, the automatically approved one that gave the buyer a label, was a 'Just didn't like it' reason, and the second one, prompting me to respond, was an 'Arrived Damaged'. That strikes me as backwards even if I could pick and choose which reasons I think are 'good enough,' because AD is essentially the same as an INAD/SNAD, thus overriding even a 'no returns' policy. So why isn't THAT one automatically approved?
From there my only guess would be that prompting a response gives the seller an opportunity to settle with the buyer in some satisfactory way, rather than pay for a shipping label to get a broken (maybe unsellable) item back. But what's wrong with that theory is, I could do the same thing with the 'didn't like it' one, just refund them the money and let them keep the item, as long as I did it before they got the package shipped (the seller is not charged for an Ebay return label unless/until it gets an Acceptance scan).
So what actually causes this difference in return case rights/responsibilities, for the seller?

gurlcat · ‎12-30-2021

@iamalwaysright wrote:
It's kind of random for me too. I get a lot of returns and have automatic free returns. But some of them aren't automatically accepted and I don't know why. At first I thought it was because those returns are past the 30 day MBG window. But I get some SNADs and even some remorse returns that require me to act and accept.

Totally weird. I think the automated returns is just a bit broken. I asked ebay about this a long time ago and they gave me a lame reason that didn't make sense.

THANK YOU. Random is absolutely the word. I think the two examples I gave made it appear as if it depends on the buyer's return reason, but you're right, it's definitely not that, or at least not consistently.

gurlcat · ‎12-30-2021

You're right about that, and it's one of many reasons I have free returns on all my items. Otherwise a remorse buyer with no ethics will just destroy something to claim it arrived that way (been there).