Service metrics / return rate

[mdparts72]

This system of being in very high on returns and having them charge you extra on each sale is ridiculous. We have never gotten a frame of reference  of what return rate we should be at. I'm at 6% and considered very high, i have had other sellers tell me they are 4% and they are at very high. We sell computer parts and components , we have a higher return rate ratio because we have people trying out for the first time to fix there pc. Or do not know the exact issue of there PC buy the incorrect part. And i am being punished for others mistakes, We are being charged over 3k in the past month for being the very high category. I have been calling for over a year and nothing has been done. And sellers are getting taken advantage of and the profits are being decimated by this tyrannical system. The system that only makes ebay richer and the seller poorer. I can not be the only one going thru this, we need to speak up in order for change to happen.

[disneyshopper]

Are you graciously accepting returns, and NOT forcing the buyers to Ask ebay to step in?  I believe that is what triggers the high return rate, in addition to sellers cancelling the transaction for being out of stock.

[uniwarehousewares]

seller service metrics is out of my sense this feature is most worse feature on ebay, new buyers are not familiar with return process and other are abusing return process so as result because of other mistakes, sellers are penalizing , one side ebay believe in practice of free returns and when you offer free returns then still there are new buyers who select reason not as describe and as result seller get punishment for no reason but by false actions of new buyers and scammers.

ebay say if you find return is false then report the buyer so it cannot be taken against your seller service metrics, why ebay not stop from opening false returns at first place? if ebay cannot stop false returns because its depend on buyer selection then there is no reason to keep this feature of seller service metrics, you cannot evaluate seller when there are issues causing by new buyers and by scammers.

[mdparts72]

Hi there, we free returns and  automatically accepted once opened. We are top rated and  we sell a couple thousand items a month. And we have been working under this system for a over a decade. But i see that you had to comment on something you have no idea , or have lack awareness of the present issue thousands of us sellers are going thru. See when you start selling more items, you will see things returned and people will return items that are not your or damage the item you sent. And then you may end up on the very high category of returns , if that happens they will charge an extra percentage point for every item you sell.  See automotive and computer part sales, we get higher return rates because we get a lot of novices and first time buyers for the items. And if they are novices they misdiagnosis there computer, they usually  buy something they don't need and it negatively affects our accounts. So please do not comment on something you know nothing about. 

[mdparts72]

Amen , please when you call tell about these issues. If enough of us band together we can be heard. Thank you for your comment. 

[corvettestainless]

Just some observations and possible solutions:

You sold 1500 items in 2 months, so you're more at 750 a month and not a couple thousand.

To have 6% returns means 45 of the 750 are coming back with 'not as described' as that is where the 6% comes from. Remorse returns do NOT count against you. You could have 100 returns, out of 750, which would be alot, but the 45 is what is pegging you at 6%. 

You are measured against 'others' in your category, so what category you sell in does not matter. If you are 'much higher' than the rest, you can try looking at your descriptions? Also know that many electronic items, do not handle shipping as well as other items, so items arriving DOA could be part of the issue. More bubble wrap? Double Box?

You also do not have 'free' returns, you have the "buyer pays' for returns. The returns that hurt you are the ones that state 'not as described' or 'not working' or 'damaged'. Remorse returns do not count against you so maybe change to 'free' and buyers won't do the 'not as described' to get you to pay the return shipping, which can lower your overall 'bad' returns? 

[mdparts72]

I do have return and I can't turn off the free returns because i will be taken off top seller. Remorse in theory don't count but if they lie or dont know what issue they are having and we retest the item and its working. We ar S.O.L because ebay will take a customers word over a sellers. Of the 6% we have only 2% are actually DOA. So the other 4%  we  have to relist and reship and take further hit on the loss because a month in the tech world amounts to a year . And under ebay rules parts and whole computers count as the same. As long as the prices match and it doesn't matter, Also  if parts are new or used they fall under the same category and are not taken under separate categories. Thank you for your suggestions, i hope you can see things from the sellers side, what we are dealing with. 

[pjcdn2005]

I don't see free returns on any of your listings and when I check off the 'free return' option on the left side of the page, it shows that you have 0 listings with free returns.

I agree that this particular metric is sketchy. It seems that  the automotive and electronic categories have the most problems with this as they do have a higher rate of return than many of the categories.  Whether you have a high rate or not is supposed to be based on the not as described rates of other similar sellers in the same category. But often those other sellers seem to have an abnormally low percentage and since we don't know exactly who they are basing the comparisons on, the results often seem skewed.

Plus, the metric doesn't really take into account course that doesn't take into account that some people lie about the reason for return so that they don't have to pay for return shipping.