eBay

briancards · ‎04-18-2022

Hi all, 99.9% of the items I have listed are sports trading cards. I am pretty new to the world of ‘Allowing Free Returns/Refunds and Paying Return Shipping Costs’. The vast majority of the cards I sell are low end, meaning their total value is between $3-15. So I ship the majority of my cards via the somewhat new eBay Standard Envelope shipping with ESUS tracking. Also I offer free shipping on 99.9% of my listings. So my question for you guys is this- I sold a $10 card with free Standard Envelope shipping. Well the buyer wants to return it because they found a better price, apparently, since I have agreed to Free Returns (with me paying the return shipping), the Return was auto-approved, is eBay going to take $4 from me so the buyer can ship the card back via First Class, or will they take .53 cents from me so the buyer can send the card back via Standard Envelope shipping, which is the method I sent the card??

I am assuming I will get the shaft and they will take the $4 from me, not giving me the option to send them a Standard Envelope label?? If this is the case then I’m not sure what Ill do going forward. I mean this is a $10 sale but what if it was a $3 sale? Then I’ll be out the .53 cents it cost to ship it initially, then another $4 for them to ship the card back?? So I’ll have my $3 card back but be down $4.53++? Seems silly and lacking common sense.

donsdetour · ‎04-18-2022

@briancards wrote:
Hi all, 99.9% of the items I have listed are sports trading cards. I am pretty new to the world of ‘Allowing Free Returns/Refunds and Paying Return Shipping Costs’. The vast majority of the cards I sell are low end, meaning their total value is between $3-15. So I ship the majority of my cards via the somewhat new eBay Standard Envelope shipping with ESUS tracking. Also I offer free shipping on 99.9% of my listings. So my question for you guys is this- I sold a $10 card with free Standard Envelope shipping. Well the buyer wants to return it because they found a better price, apparently, since I have agreed to Free Returns (with me paying the return shipping), the Return was auto-approved, is eBay going to take $4 from me so the buyer can ship the card back via First Class, or will they take .53 cents from me so the buyer can send the card back via Standard Envelope shipping, which is the method I sent the card??

I am assuming I will get the shaft and they will take the $4 from me, not giving me the option to send them a Standard Envelope label?? If this is the case then I’m not sure what Ill do going forward. I mean this is a $10 sale but what if it was a $3 sale? Then I’ll be out the .53 cents it cost to ship it initially, then another $4 for them to ship the card back?? So I’ll have my $3 card back but be down $4.53++? Seems silly and lacking common sense.

It is the costs of doing business on the Internets.

One does have to think about the costs of returns in relations to sales. Is it cheaper to let em keep the item and refund, or have the item returned and refund.

Of course the scammers use this to their advantage on both partial refunds, or returns hoping to keep the item..

A lot of thinking has to go into such. It still comes down to the bottom line for the seller.

Hence the BLOCKED BIDDERS LIST.....

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎04-18-2022

This may or may not help in the present case, but I'm pretty sure you can set up your return policy to refund without a return if the dollar value of the item is below an amount you set. This amount is not disclosed to prospective buyers, but if you set it, say, $4.00, if the buyer wants to return a $4.00 or less item, the refund will be approved and buyer will be told to keep the item.

I don't use the Standard Envelope, so I don't know what shoipping label ebay would provide in the event of a return. Hopefully, someone will be along who has experience with that issue.

briancards · ‎04-18-2022

This is all spot on. If a buyer is unhappy with an item, or they find it cheaper, they will find a way to get their money back. I am hoping becoming a top rated seller plus will help with sales to cover the cost of doing business. The last step for me to become a TRS+ was to offer the free returns.

The BLOCKED BIDDER list is a MUST. This person went on it right away lol. Whether they are a scammer hoping to get a free item or legit, I just don’t have time for “I found the item cheaper, thanks”. Well maybe, you should look harder to begin with, and not buy the more expensive item. I wish I could sell people common sense. In this case Promoting my item hurt me for sure lol. Thanks for the comment.

briancards · ‎04-18-2022

Thank you, but the problem with automatically refunding the buyer if say the item is $4 or under is, I don’t want them to get the item for free. I’d 100% make them send the item back, then block them, even if it meant I lose money. Not willing to give in to scammers and let them have the item for free. They at least have to go through the minimal effort of sending the card back.

donsdetour · ‎04-18-2022

LOL

"common sense"

does it even exist in the real world this day and age.....

briancards · ‎04-18-2022

LOL, no I do not believe it does. I run into it occasionally “in the wild (eBay)” but not often.

mandisattictoyz · ‎04-18-2022

PS: cost of doing business only should refer to the bubble wrap, shipping supplies, cost of merchandise, cost of shipping, and platform fees. Mileage or gas expenses. But not scamming. This is because Amazon rewarded scammers hence the reason why they have over 50% of market share. But you do not have to take this as “cost of doing business”. That is complete nonsense. I should start an insurance company to ensure this “cost of doing business”. I’d make more than amazon lol.