Ebay policies Screw Sellers More & More, Just when i think it couldn’t get worse...

[calistas_closet33]

I had a buyer submit return request for an item being defective however it really didn’t fit and she admitted it didn’t fit in the correspondence in return case. I have a no return policy. Ebay sided with buyer and I eat the costs. So in essence everyone will be offering free returns whether they opt in or not.  Listening to the a-backwards reasoning is almost as bad as having to pay shipping both ways for buyers remorse when I have a no return policy.  

I have been scaling back and took a position back in my original profession.

Just wanted to warn the small sellers that cannot afford to absorb costs due to ebay by default forcing free returns.

My short term solution is removing free shipping and increasing prices across the board as I am phasing out to reduce my financial risk..  This site disgusts me, I cannot wait until I am finished. I thought it was bad..but didn’t think it was hopeless until today. 

[green-night]

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@calistas_closet33 wrote:
mercari is good, no returns allowed, but if a lot of inventory it’s difficult to list quickly. I sell in there a small amount, keeping under the IRS 20k threshold to make it worthwhile

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Sorry to butt in, but I'm just curious what "keeping under the IRS 20k threshold to make it worthwhile" means.............

[calistas_closet33]

I have a tattle tale following me, so he’s ruining it for real sellers. I am sorry. He keeps reporting my posts, so I’m censored

[atlantafamilyjewelers]

Our store recently had an issue with the same policy:

If buyers now select "Does not work or defective" as their reason for the return, the amount of proof offered to the contrary is now void, according to eBays new policy of their user agreement, and a "default" response of returning the item is initiated. Additionally, this affects seller level, which affects listing visibility, which affects sales figures.

That is what was explained to me by one of the customer service managers over the phone after such a case was ruled against my store. He told me that Amazon is the number one seller of online goods and that part of why they are successful is because they offer a 60 day, no hassle return policy on items purchased from them. It was then implied that eBay is trying to compete with Amazon by gearing their policies in favor of returns. In my opinion this violates the liberties of sellers, and is probably not a violation of eBay policies, but still seems like injustice, and a store like my own can no longer securely adhere to a reasonable no-returns policy because of this loophole.

This new policy potentially enables buyers to commit fraud and could be seen as a failure of eBay to uphold their fiduciary responsibility to both the buyer and the seller equally. Speaking with a lawyer, he said this sounds like a potentially legitimate class action lawsuit. Such a lawsuit would take exorbitant time and financial resources, making it prohibitive for an average person like myself, but it seems to be something eBay is getting away with that needs to change.

[calistas_closet33]

If you find a law firm, count me in!

[calistas_closet33]

I just looked at your store, nice inventory and a lot of risk. I am concerned for me, and I do not sell as high dollar amounts per item as you. Do you have a brick & mortar store too? You may want to create your own ecommerce site.  I thought about it, but this venture was on a whim for me, I didn’t expect to get so involved and I miss my other work, so other than dumping inventory, I’m okay. But it may be something to think about. And grassroots marketing / word of mouth with incentive works rather well. You could use both methods until your own site was receiving enough traffic and sales. Email marketing is great, relatively easy to do without html knowledge and inexpensive too. Just some thoughts because it sucks that selling here is now a risk, it’s loud and clear that sellers are just pawns. I think going to Amazon would even be better. I think the inability for customers to try haggle is worth it 😂

[calistas_closet33]

I just looked at your store, nice inventory and a lot of risk. I am concerned for me, and I do not sell as high dollar amounts per item as you. Do you have a brick & mortar store too? You may want to create your own ecommerce site.  I thought about it, but this venture was on a whim for me, I didn’t expect to get so involved and I miss my other work, so other than dumping inventory, I’m okay. But it may be something to think about. And grassroots marketing / word of mouth with incentive works rather well. You could use both methods until your own site was receiving enough traffic and sales. Email marketing is great, relatively easy to do without html knowledge and inexpensive too. Just some thoughts because it sucks that selling here is now a risk, it’s loud and clear that sellers are just pawns. I think going to Amazon would even be better. I think the inability for customers to try haggle is worth it 😉

[green-night]

 I think going to Amazon would even be better. 

Think again.   

[calistas_closet33]

I think Amazon has a bit better profile of buyers. And more traffic. So if I’m going to accept returns, might as go where the traffic is good. And I shop Amazon all the time, ebay rarely. Amazon cash back incentives with credit card and credit card point integration is a plus and drives business. why stay with the wannabe when one can be with the “it” platform ebay desperately wants to compete with?

[green-night]

I think Amazon has a bit better profile of buyers.

Not sure what you mean by this?   

On Amazon you have absolutely no idea who your buyers are in terms of their buying history. 

[calistas_closet33]

I do not know real history here either nor does it matter. Sellers cannot leave negative feedback and get defect for canceling sales. So it’s useless

[green-night]

I do not know real history here either nor does it matter. 

Sure you do. 

I sell on both sites.  On eBay there is much more transpency.  Sellers can look at a buyer FB left for others (often time before a sale occurs) and decide if they want to sell to the buyer or block them.  You don't have that luxury on Amazon.  You can't block buyers, you can't check their FB history.  Amazon's seller performance standards are no piece of cake, their fees are higher and it is incredibly difficult to list in many categories without authorization (which often times costs a small fortune).  And good luck listing in many categories without a UPC code.  It is much harder to sell on Amazon IMO. 

[calistas_closet33]

I already sell there, thanks for the heads up though. I don’t list a ton, but in January when I saw the direction ebay was going I started selling in multiple sites. I haven’t had a lot of time to spend on listing due to unforeseen health issue, but fortunately better now and can work at night listing on multiple sites. I haven’t quit yet, I’ll do that when I run out of merchandise, but the sooner the better.

I had a buyer slash a shirt, joined, no history, ruined shirt, my problem. Ebay is fine with it, I cannot prove anything on my end, so history means nothing until after one gets taken for...and the list is not extensive, but enough to give me a big pause 

[calistas_closet33]

And I have placed 88 orders on Amazon in the past 6 months, returned 2 orders. One defective phone charger, then I ordered orthopaedic seat cushions for my car but they were huge and I am not, I paid $6 to ship back the cushions and never removed the plastic wrapper off them, I saw the size and knew it was a miss. So if my buying history is indicative of buyers on Amazon, 2 out of 88, 1 remorse 1 defective, that I can live with. So it’s worth listing more to test the waters 

[green-night]

Buying on Amazon is easy.  Selling not so much.  It isn't that the buyers are necessarily any different but the venue itself makes it very difficult to be able to list.  

Here is an example:  I sell the brand Under Armour on eBay.  A lot of it.   I can't sell it on Amazon for the following reasons:  to sell UA on Amazon you need to be authorized to sell it (in other words permission form UA) and an invoice proving you purchased from UA.  If you don't purchase direct or from an authorized distributor, you can't sell it on Amazon.  ADDITIONALLY, even if you do qualify to sell that one particular brand, you need to pay Amazon a one time fee of $1300 just to be able to sell that brand on their site. 

[calistas_closet33]

I don’t have that problem with my merchandise fortunately. Good to know though thx. There are numerous brands that fall into that category, someone had told me on ebay they were prohibited from any stock photography for that reason. I sell more bath and body products on Amazon, it’s easy, low risk of return.