mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Really eBay? I've had 3 items returned in the last 6 months out of 150 orders. All three were broken during shipping despite being in the original protective box, wrapped in multiple layers of bubble wrap.
"My buyers are reporting concerns about damaged and/or defective items". Seriously? They were all refunded and all indicated they were satified with the result. Who reported what? Oh that's right, you can't tell me that.
Seriously, go after the *buyers* that claim SNAD and try to keep the item and get their money back. Go after the sellers that routinely ship junk instead of the product offered. For those of us that do our best to offer high quality, fair prices and excellent customer service, get the "h" "e" double hockey stick out of our way and let us sell. When we sell YOU (eBay) makes money. Quit telling us how to service our customers (unless there REALLY is a problem).
As you may gather, receiving this email kinda ticked me off..... 
It is just a normal response / notification from Ebay. Don't let it get under your skin. It has nothing to do with your account health unless you aren't resolving this issues while it is in the Request stage and the buyers have to escalate the problem to Ebay for resolution. That can and will cause you issues.
IMHO if you have a 2% damage rate on a specific product, I'd seriously be looking at how I package that item. I trust that what you say is correct, however it is clear that something isn't working right for you with this high of a damage rate on a specific product.
@ittybitnot wrote:Who reported what? Oh that's right, you can't tell me that.
Likely it is a bot keeping track of SNAD complaints. eBay said they would never use the "return" metric against a seller....LOL here it is, boys and girls......just hope it is not retroactive for a year or so.
That is an over-reaction to a simple notification. In case the seller hasn't noticed the high return rate, Ebay is simply bringing it to the seller's attention in case they have an way to curb the issues. There are MANY sellers that never look at their Dashboards or rarely do. They have stated so on many threads. For those sellers they may overlook that something is creeping into a problem area and this is Ebay's way of bringing it to the seller's attention.
The OP DOES HAVE a Higher than Average return rate on the item and they know what is causing the problem. Now all they need to do is improve packaging to hopefully avoid any further issues.
Ebay has NOT started counting Request for returns against seller. If it gets escalated to a Claim and Ebay rules against the seller, then as is usual for Ebay, it counts in the Seller Stats.
@dtexley3 wrote:Over a longer period the damage rate is more like 1%. And 3 items out of 150 shipments (close to 225 total items) is NOT a high rate, especially when shipping porcelain from one coast to the other.
One of the recent items I'm fairly certain the buyer damaged getting it out of the package, a post was snapped off with the slope of the break indicating a pulling motion. I don't argue I just "return for refund".
The second was a Lemax item which are always pucky shoot when shipping as they have little doodads glued in place with really poor quality glue. I check them as carefully as possible but the little figures inside the "house"? Not much I can do if they pop loose, all the bubble wrap in the world won't help.
Just grips me that we have Asian sellers with dozens if not hundreds of SNADs but they come after the small seller with low volume and say "Naughty!!!!". Good Golly! (another shot at the stupid bots).
I didn't divide the amount of Returns via any timeperiod, but by the number of transactions you stated. 3 divided by 150 = 2%
I'm NOT defending Ebay, I'm just stating what I think the reason for the email is. The GREAT thing is you are not and under the current rules can not be sanctioned for the rate.
You don't have to defend yourself to me or anyone else. I only stated if it were ME, I would revisit how I'm packaging the items. You on the other had have every right to do as you see fit.
You have no way of knowing how may returns any other seller has much less what that rate might be with an Asian seller. That info is not made public, so unless you have you have access to their account or accounts, you are just guessing or giving your observation. That does not make it a fact. It is your opinion. So you are getting upset by the " dozens if not hundreds of SNADs" without knowing if what you are saying is correct for any given seller.
Believe me, I get upset by the Asian sellers too. I have to compete with them in some of my craft supplies. It is no fun.
NO ONE is "com[ing] after the small seller". Ebay is NOT coming after you. You got a notification of a stat they notices was too high in their opinion. You are NOT being sanctioned and it does NOT affect your selling status in any way. I get it, you don't like the notification, I wouldn't either. So ignore it. It is not and does not cause you a problem at this point.
@duchess-at-speakeasy wrote:Bubble wrap is good for preventing scratches and fingerprints, but not much good for maintaining the structure of a box and its contents. I suggest buffering with 2 to 4 inches of packing chips on all sides and in between items. Also make certain all voids within the product itself are filled and that any moving parts are locked in place. Double-boxing is also a good idea for fragile items or those whose weight might cause a box to collapse.
~~C~~
That all sounds VERY expensive. 
@d-k_treasures wrote:You got a notification of a stat they notices was too high in their opinion. You are NOT being sanctioned and it does NOT affect your selling status in any way.
Yet.
And no guarantee
ifwhen they do andifwhen it's retroactive, then what?
Great, if you feel that you need to worry about the What IF'S in life, then that is your right, personally I have better things to do. The FACT is as I stated before it does NOT currently affect OP.
