automatic returns items over $10 on ebay automotive

[buytodayshipnextday]

did i hear this correctly?

any new or like new item sold for $10.00 or more  in ebays automotive "parts & accessories category" & only  that category will be mid July have a free return guarantee policy. the seller cannot fight it. it must be 10 or more dollars. it must be new/like new. buyer doesn't want it. you eat shipping or let them keep it for free & if it's just a $10.00 item & you shipped it FREE are you going to pay for return shipping?

If this is true it will force sellers to offer 9.99 or lesser priced items just to avoid the automatic return.

[soh.maryl]

Not sure I understand, but, have to confess, this happens a lot lately.

Buyer makes a purchase, pays, receives the item.  Buyer opens an item not as described case with eBay.

Correct, no point in fighting an NAD case, seller sends buyer return label if he wants it back

Seller refunds when item is received back.  The actual condition of the item doesn't matter one way or the other.  Nor does the category because the MBG applies in nearly every category. 

But you've been here since 2001, so you know this.

Are you saying there's been some kind of change? 

It seems I must be misinterpreting your statement.  

[siamjane8]

@buytodayshipnextday @soh.maryl     Yes... there is a change in policy coming mid July.  Sellers will no longer be able to control their return policy for auto part and accessories. If it is listed as "new" or "new -other",  Sellers are forced offer FREE 30 day returns instead of no returns or buyer pays return shipping.

     To offset this penalty on sellers- ebay is offering to cover 50% of the return shipping label if you buy it through ebay shipping.   However this ONLY applies to one return reason- "Changed my mind"- so sellers will be forced to  offer 30 day returns and pay return shipping labels now.      

   For some reason ebay hopes this policy will encourage more people to buy on ebay.......... and yet the rest of us all already know it will do nothing other than encourage more frivolous returns at the expense of the sellers.

    Sellers are all already discussing various ways to circumvent this penalty.    Poster above may have stumbled on a good idea- sell all new items at $9.99 with shipping price reflecting the difference- Ex.- a $300 items listed for $9.99 with $299.01 shipping.   

     Unfortunately it looks shady to the buyer and makes ebay look bad but hey- these are the direct consequences of bad ebay policies- sellers trying to stay afloat and not lose money- causing more damage to the platform.   

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

    Sellers are all already discussing various ways to circumvent this penalty.    Poster above may have stumbled on a good idea- sell all new items at $9.99 with shipping price reflecting the difference- Ex.- a $300 items listed for $9.99 with $299.01 shipping.   

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This work around is not going to fly. Ebay has wide experience in counter-acting this sort of shipping manipulation, and will react strongly to punish those who practice it.

Old-timers can still remember the items which were sold for a penny when there was no FVF on shipping. 

Sellers whose business model cannot adapt to this new policy should leave voluntarily before they are banned for life. Many will b**ch and moan but will adapt.

[soh.maryl]

Thank you very much for your explanation.   

[ittybitnot]

 Ebay has wide experience in counter-acting this sort of shipping manipulation, and will react strongly to punish those who practice it.

Old-timers can still remember the items which were sold for a penny when there was no FVF on shipping. 

@tobaccocardyahoo  

I am one of those "old-times" who was around for this.  eBay proclaimed it a policy violation to sell, for example, and item for $1.00 with $50 shipping.  They didn't react strongly at all.  They simply continued to IGNORE those that did this, and IGNORED those sellers who were reported by others for same for two years or more. 

The 'strong' reaction was to monetize the situation and make the fvf's on both the item price and shipping to save from sanctioning members who continued to list in violation.  Then it wasn't a violation at all.  

That was even before fees  on taxes and shipping costs were added.  

 If eBay has strong consequences already in place, I hope they didn't purchase their usual CHEAP AI bots to enforce this.   

[stainlessenginecovers]

'Free Returns' does NOT mean the item had to 'ship out for free'; nor does it mean the seller has to refund the original shipping cost; 

In other words: the seller will ONLY have to refund the original purchase price of the item and NOT refund the original shipping; with this 'type' of return. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

@ittybitnot 

Some sellers walked the plank, but the problem was larger than they expected and the FVF was made to apply to shipping. That was cheaper to implement and more profitable. And more consistent with the Laissez faire and  frugal attitude which was ingrained in Ebay.

Ebay is much more likely to act when sellers are stealing from Ebay, and they acted.

[siamjane8]

@stainlessenginecovers 

'Free Returns' does NOT mean the item had to 'ship out for free'; nor does it mean the seller has to refund the original shipping cost; 

In other words: the seller will ONLY have to refund the original purchase price of the item and NOT refund the original shipping; with this 'type' of return. 

Have you experienced this firsthand or are you just assuming?- ebay is not clear on this as of yet and we have seen alterations to the returns page layout that suggests otherwise- so far lately the returns page flow has been missing the section to either deduct or include the original shipping cost in the returns. at first it was "greyed out" a month ago and now it is just missing------its highly unlikely that ebay will NOT allow a seller to refund original shipping costs if the situation warrants it so it is more consistent with ebay to just eliminate the option to NOT refund original shipping and streamline the process making every return fully free

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

Have you experienced this firsthand or are you just assuming?- ebay is not clear on this as of yet and we have seen alterations to the returns page layout that suggests otherwise- so far lately the returns page flow has been missing the section to either deduct or include the original shipping cost in the returns. at first it was "greyed out" a month ago and now it is just missing------its highly unlikely that ebay will NOT allow a seller to refund original shipping costs if the situation warrants it so it is more consistent with ebay to just eliminate the option to NOT refund original shipping and streamline the process making every return fully free

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No, but I'm sure someone that does 'free returns' will chime in, as none of that is changing. Regarding 'grayed out'; depends on the 'reason' a buyer chooses. For 'remorse' reasons, it's NOT grayed out. Also TRS up to 50% applies to all 'remorse' reasons as well. 

[vetteparts]

Yah, I agree.  Ebay is making an already abusive system more abusive to the seller.

[redlinear]

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@buytodayshipnextday wrote:

did i hear this correctly?

any new or like new item sold for $10.00 or more  in ebays automotive "parts & accessories category" & only  that category will be mid July have a free return guarantee policy. the seller cannot fight it. it must be 10 or more dollars. it must be new/like new. buyer doesn't want it. you eat shipping or let them keep it for free & if it's just a $10.00 item & you shipped it FREE are you going to pay for return shipping?

If this is true it will force sellers to offer 9.99 or lesser priced items just to avoid the automatic return.

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No, sellers will list new items as used.  And just state NEW in the description.
Sellers are actually doing that now and eBay finds no problem with it when reported

[aeparts1]

eBay's big competition in auto parts is Rock Auto.

Rock doesn't do free returns, even if Rock & their part book make a mistake. Lots of Rock buyers complain about this,  Rock doesn't listen.

eBay see this as a weakness in Rock, & figures they are going to exploit it with their new returns policy for auto parts sellers. And increase eBay's market share in auto parts sales.

I will continue to buy my parts from Rock, they are simply superior to eBay for auto parts.

[redlinear]

Best I can tell, what this means:  Doesn't matter how the item is initially shipped, nor what the shipping costs.
If somebody wants to return the item, the seller pays half the return cost, eBay pays half.
   I've shipped items FedEx for $60 in the past (USPS was outrageous, so I shipped FedEx).
   The return came back USPS for $12 
It "appears" eBay has some Return Deal with USPS for cheap cheap rates.

[aeparts1]

One workaround is to put your auto parts in the wrong category.

For instance, I believe wheels are not covered under the new policy. So, list your new parts under the wheel category.  Not sure if that would effect the parts book, but that is a mess anyways.

I've been using maybe 5 categories to sell a wide variety of used auto parts for 20+ years. It never seems to affect my sales. People shop by part # or car make, not category.