I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN WITH FREE RETURNS FORCED ON US AND TAKING AWAY TOP RATED DISCOUNTS

[bonus-deal]

I posted this months ago, that they would force us ebay sellers to do free returns!  this is wrong.  No other marketplace does this, and ebay is trying to claim that all marketplaces do this.  Also do NOT LET THEM TELL YOU AT EBAY, That it will increase your sales!  THIS IS 1000% FALSE AND JUST FOR THEM TO PUSH THIS.  They tie you up and force you to do something. 

Ebay is the worst company now.  I can bet 10000%  that ebay stocks will drop drastically.  Does ebay not know of the Fraud that just happened with Walmart and Amazon.  These people are doing $2 million in returns fraud, and now ebay is going to facilitate this for these fraud people.

Get this, ebay 3 months ago, tried to state free returns will increase your sales 300%.  THIS IS 1000% FALSE ADVERTISMENT.  DO NOT LISTEN TO EBAY REPS.  YOUR RETURNS WILL GO THRU THE ROOF, AND CUSTOMERS WILL STILL SELECT DEFECTIVE, THEN STILL CAUSING MORE WORK FOR SELLERS TO SORT THRU THESE STUPID FRAUD RETURNS!

I told ebay 3 months ago, i can see what there doing.  They lied to me.  I told them i see that you took away 10% top rated discount, and they stated because they are going to help sellers with returns and such and make it better, but that was 100% lie.  They are trying to remove the Discount completely!

I can bet 10000%  that by end of year, there will be no more Top Rated discounts.  No more Top rated badge.  And watch how all the fraud guys on amazon and walmart come to ebay and fraud the ssystem.  and then watch sellers dissappear AGAIN! and then ebay stocks will definitly fall drastically.  Only reason why ebay is still up and running is because they are the place to shop for generic items.  Ebay doesn't get it yet, but what there doing is forcing all the good sellers to move away from ebay, and all that's left is the generic **bleep** sellers, who screw everyone, and all the negative **bleep** that comes from them, falls on us good sellers.  I have to say ebay your a piece of work for lying to me on the phone, for trying to lie 3 months previously when i called you out on forcing 30 day free returns!  

EBAY - SOON, YOU'LL BE NOTHING.  your stock shares is going to drop by half.  I can guarantee you that. 

[dreamalittledream]

@orangehound Thank you for the puzzle! Good way to get the brain functioning in the morning!

[everything-collectable]

yes your are right about the incentives but they also contract these some of these options a perks we pay for in our stores like starting a premium store in contract cant get out of with 1500 fixed price OR auction then changing mid contract to giveing you 1000 fixed price and 500 auction making you have to sell certain items at auction such as clothing and limited stuff so right there illegle null of contract but whast ever or telling you they will give you 20% off your final value fees if you offer 30 returns and 1 dya shipping then you change all your items to that and they one month later take down to 10% back stabbing i pay for a service and ebay also alters my traffic to my store ive read about how they do it also illegle some would say just get off ebay but like i said all the time of listing this stuff in my store ans money wasted if i have to pay for the store anyways even if i cancel im stuck keeping it just not to have a totla loss and cant do nothing about it oh well

[johnnyveee]

Even with an outstanding track record or the highest Customer service and very limited returns I opted not to participate in the Guaranteed Delivery, or offer Free Returns to keep my TRS+ status. Even with sales down close to 70% for the year I am not going to continue to see a dwindling revenue stream that constantly badgers me to lower the prices further. 

The last time I checked USPS is not lowering the price of shipping, that we pay for. E - Bay just raised listing fees and are adjusting final value fees, up. Yet E-Bay keeps asking us to lower prices.

Last year our fees were running about 1k per month, 22-25% of the sales price. This year our fees are 20% of that, but are now 40% of our revenue. 

Ultimately, I have been a seller/buyer on E-Bay for close to 20 years. With my listings buried so deep in our catagory I will settle with wholesaling out more items to our bulk buyers because we will make as much money without the time commitment or the costs. I will still buy and sell on ebay because I do enjoy it. Accepting the lower sales and lesser revenue from this one small part of our business is not that big of a deal. Fortunately we have other revenue streams that are growing to fill in the gap. We will also be more aggressive in growing our direct contacts from the customers that we have developed through E-Bay. Hopefully this trend changes direction and it becomes a bigger part of our business again.

[orangehound]

@everything-collectable

I'm having difficulty understanding the run-on sentence, but if I understand what you are writing ....

1. When eBay changed the stores in the Spring Seller Update, they gave all current store owners a time period in which they could end their store subscription or change their store without penalty.  If you did not change your store subscription, then you agreed to the updated store costs and terms of service.
2. eBay's terms of service specifically note that they have the right to determine/regulate the visibility of your listings.

[nc-daydreamer]

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@plumbingspecials wrote:
I agree with Laura. The badge is hard-earned and should not be taken away from us if we are still TRS. The discount is one thing, because that's something they are giving to us as a pat on the back. But that BADGE? I bust my behind every freaking day for that thing. It's very unfair, not just to sellers either. How will buyers easily recognize reputable sellers if they don't see that badge? Everyone knows most people do not click any more than they have to to read descriptions or vet sellers. They look for that badge, and people who are honest, hard-working people on eBay are not getting that recognition, and it is wrong.

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I respectfully have to disagree. 

I don't feel that one has to display that badge to have integrity, be hardworking or be considered reputable.  I have found many with that badge who were dishonest with me, or dropshippers, or have undesirable practices and policies. But that does not mean that every seller with a badge is faulty.

A badge does not make one seller better than another.  You think that customers look for this?  Some might, but it does not matter to me as it does not affect my buying decision one way or another - as I never look for it.  And price is not always a factor either - I'll pay a bit more for an ad that shows effort as opposed to a few generic words.

And if I wanted to buy from a big-box retailer - I'd go directly to their website - I will not buy from them using this platform.

What is wrong is implying or/and accusing those of us who don't display badges of being lazy crooks who are unworthy of a good reputation.  We work hard too.

[chuckboyce]

I adjusted by changing the shipping and handling charges.  So if you don't return you help the next to return.  This actually punishes the Good Buyer.  Again its not about the Seller or the Buyers its about Ebay.

[equid0x]

I don't have an eBay store, but have been selling on here for a while now and have an account going back to 2001.

I did a test run on free returns and my return rate easily doubled, maybe even a little more - I haven't run the numbers for the most recent month, yet. As usual, 98% of the returns are complete nonsense with fake excuses for opening the return(ie. I get the item back and no problem found). 

I have rolled back to buyer pays returns. Even though this doesn't stop potential scammers from buying and then lying to get a free return, it does seem to stop a certain segment that may not want to "fight" for that free return when the transaction is done. 

I do sell in a high fraud category. With the high rate of fraudulent returns I was forced to roll back the policy because the return shipping charges are just too much for the profit margins. For the numbers I do have, it looks like profit margin was down from about 28% to 5%. I had a call with eBay(for whatever that is worth) and did express my concerns that it is not equitable to continue to sell here if I can only turn a 5% profit margin. Perhaps this is what eBay wants- I don't know, but I can only imaging that for large sellers these problems must be much worse. 

I also sell on that other site with recent, similar policy changes and have seen the same increase in fraudulent returns there, as well.

eBay will really need to address the issue somehow, or its going to turn into a dump like Az with nothing but cheap Chinese junk you could care less about losing anyways. 

I have seen a strong increase in receiving lowball offers by eBay messaging(even though I do not have best offer on my listings), and others who fish for partials after the sale. Its incredible the number of people who have started fishing for partials this year. The latest problem is a buyer who has hinted about feedback, or that they could have bought the item elsewhere at a lower price, etc, but has not made any direct extortion threats that I think would be actionable by eBay. I feel that I make my listings and photos very clear, and specifically state condition issues in the listings, if there are any.

Another buyer lately happened to buy an item that I was using here personally for an extended period of time. First fished for a partial... I tried to help them to use the product, then demanded a return claiming the item is not working and is not as described. I know this to be false because this was an item in regular use in my office for 2-3 years, and was only replaced upon upgrade. Of course, now I will be stuck paying shipping both ways and an item with zero profit margin left to resell if I don't decide to just toss it in the trash. 

I'm not sure what is going on here, but I am starting to feel like I am being targeted with these scams. I am sure though, that this is just business as usual under the new policies. 

[galunlati1042]

Exactly what keeps happening to me, and I'm on the verge of shutting down my store as a result. Customers lie and claim product isn't as advertised to avoid paying return shipping. Even with facts on my side eBay sides with the customer every single time, when I can probe the customer has lied. eBay still does not care. To make matters worse I ship oversized packages and ALWAYS lose money on the initial shipping costs, then when customers lie to avoid adhering to my return policy I am losing money faster than I am making it. What good is a policy if eBay won't enforce it?

[42golfnutt]

You need spell check

[castlemagicmemories]

With all due respect, Ebay is not forcing free returns on anyone.  You can decline to offer them.

TRS is an option only if the seller chooses to comply with the requirements.

Many buyers don't think that TRS means anything.  

Here is the list of return options you can choose from as listed in the Summer Update, 2018,

Streamlined returns policies

In our 2018 Spring Seller Update, we announced that we are streamlining our returns policy options to deliver a returns experience that is consistent and competitive with the changing marketplace.

Starting in August 2018, listings that you have not updated to one of the new returns policy options, including Good ‘Til Cancelled, will automatically be updated for you.

Certain product categories have unique retail standards and sellers of those products will be able to offer variations on the updated returns policy options. Categories that will continue to have the option to offer 14-day returns include Collectibles & Art, Cameras & Photo and Medical, Mobility & Disability Equipment.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@plumbingspecials wrote:
I agree with Laura. The badge is hard-earned and should not be taken away from us if we are still TRS. The discount is one thing, because that's something they are giving to us as a pat on the back. But that BADGE? I bust my behind every freaking day for that thing. It's very unfair, not just to sellers either. How will buyers easily recognize reputable sellers if they don't see that badge? Everyone knows most people do not click any more than they have to to read descriptions or vet sellers. They look for that badge, and people who are honest, hard-working people on eBay are not getting that recognition, and it is wrong.

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With all due respect, while I understand the badge means something to you, many buyers think it doesn't mean anything due to bad experiences.  In fact, I have seen posts that state that they actively avoid TRS sellers for this reason.

Maybe the badge does impress some newbie buyers.  But when they gain experience, that opinion may change.

If you are a good seller, that will get you sales.  Not the badge.  And the loss of it frequently doesn't mean a loss of sales.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@orangehound wrote:

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@plumbingspecials wrote:
They look for that badge, and people who are honest, hard-working people on eBay are not getting that recognition, and it is wrong.

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I would agree that buyers should have some distinction between random seller and trusted seller.

But, the problem with TRS is that even dishonest sellers can easily get it ... it is more based on sales volume than anything else (just a rebranded PowerSeller).

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And being based on sales volume, these sellers may have inaccurate listings, not check items, even when asked about damage that may be seen in (poor) pictures~they don't check and just say the item is fine.  SNAD comes, all buyers are scammers, and there is no such thing as a legitimate SNAD, so seller fights tooth and nail with a string of abusive, hostile, accusatory, profanity laced messages to intimidate the buyer into abandoning the return.  

This thread is by well known, respected, sellers and buyers, Board regulars, who detailed their recent purchases and the high percentage of SNADs they received, followed by abusive and hostile customer service.  Many of these posters have been on Ebay almost two decades and their loyalty was severely strained and in some cases broken as far as buying on Ebay.  Now not all these sellers were TRS but in many cases, they were.  My apologies to those great sellers out there, TRS or otherwise, who do act  professionally and honorably.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/I-m-beginning-to-see-what-buyers-contend-with/m-p/27854770

[everything-collectable]

they need to put on glasses for there visions put things back the way they were foir sellers and quit trying to stuff there pockets and they absolutely are traffic controlling which should not be allowedthey dont do that on free sites and people sell there stuff just fine been selling on here 4 years folling every rule and they still punish me by taking away my bage so i just copy and put it where my profile picture goes i earned it and there not punishing taking away lol

[xchains]

You obviously have a ton of experience.  I do also and  I have NEVER protested ANYTHING they chose before.   This really is a disaster but other than whining - what can we really do?

The other post titled "Why is ebay throwing TRS+ under the bus?"  That really says it all.  I can NOT get that out of my head.  The only way I entertained myself this week was by having a losing-money-sale.  The main loss to me is not the silly badge or 10% but the hard earned boost in best match over my ZILLION same exact items competition.  I have a ton of stock I have invested in to sell on eBay and will have to sell all at a loss.  I am 61 and selling for 20 years now.  The Dream becomes a nightmare.

[xchains]

There is a lot more at stake than a silly badge.  I count on getting pushed in BEST MATCH and perform to the best of my ability for that honor.  I considered it a deal with ebay - I perform well and they pushed me a little.  Now they changed the deal unilaterally and don't give anything for the EXTREME loss a lot of us would suffer with to comply.