free returns

[nbflea1]

I think the "Free Return Shipping" is a bunch of bull.
When I shop on ebay I look for the best price, closest location so I can get the item ASAP and for the seller to have the least amount of negatives, I dont care if the seller is top rated or not, thats another bunch of bull.
I will never consider a seller who offers Free Return Shipping because I dont buy something with the intention of returning it.
I am already protected by ebays not as described policy so why change it..
But if I was one of those buyers who buy something only to find a cheaper price a week later then that policy would be for me as I could return the first item I bought.
Also, for ebay to punish top rated sellers by demoting them for not choosing free return shipping isnt fair, it is just another way for ebay to save that 10% they give top rated sellers off their final value fees.
The new Seller Protection Policy remains to be seen if it will help sellers as ebay has always sided with the buyer, I wonder if that policy will only protect the sellers who opt in for the Free Return Shipping.
I think ebay should have left the original return policy alone, it was already bad, now it is worse.
Remember, there is no such thing as free, someone has to pay for it, if you are not big enough to absorb the loss you will go out of business, once again, the little guy loses.
Shipping rates seem to go up every year so it is only going to get worse, unless you are in China!
As big as Ebay is they should negotiate better deals with Fedex, USPS and UPS and pass the savings on to the sellers, not keep the savings for themselves (which you know they do).
I used to work for a small company that shipped about 50 items a day, we negotiated with UPS and saved a lot. Can you imagine the deal you could make when you ship thousands of items a day
Ebay only cares about the money they make for their stockholders, every year they tinker with the fees so they can make more money, when is the last time ebay did something to help the sellers make more money.
This year ebay raised my store rate $3.00 a month and cut my 20% TRS refund on my fees to 10%, now they want me to offer Free Return Shipping.
This isnt fun anymore.....

[mam98031]

@allforjoy12

Being rude is not necessary.  I went by what you posted.  I do not know you and I could not have known you meant something different than what you stated in your post.  Which is why I asked.  There is no need to be defensive or annoyed with me.  It was a simple question.

As I stated, I won't be using the Free Return policy on most of my listings.  Maybe you missed reading that.

[carlmarxx]

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@mam98031 wrote:

@kaelykat

I mostly agree with you.  It really shouldn't have any real impact on sellers as we are currently under this kind of system with Ebay anyway.  But there is something about renaming it Free Returns which will affect some buyers.

For example.  I got into a really enlightening chat with a seller in fashions about a week or so ago.  She was having problems with buyers buying several sizes in items she sold.  Then once they received them, apparently they tried them on to see which one fit best and put in for a Request for return on the rest.  That can snowball into a real issue for a seller.

For myself, I have concerns about the fragrances I sell.  Everything I sell is new and sealed.  Yet Ebay will allow a return for full refund on an item that gets opened and tried out.  Which of course once opened and the seal broken I can't sell it as new.  There are health laws to prevent that.  But Ebay will allow the return as if it were new.  Now of course with fragrance sales on the internet, no one can guarantee a buyer will like the scent.  But since Ebay allows the use of these items, there would be nothing to prevent a buyer from purchasing a few different fragrances.  Trying them all.  Decide which one they like best and then return the rest.

I'm a small seller, so too much of that could put me out of business.  Yes, Ebay says they are going to track buyers abusing the system, but they haven't released any details on that.  Does that mean if they do this twice they will warn the buyer.  Three times, 4 times, 10 times, what?  What is that magic number?

So for myself I won't offer Free Shipping on my fragrances.  But I'm willing to try it on the craft stuff I sell.  I think it is less likely someone would abuse it for these items.  But if I find that my return rate increases, I'll take everything I sell to a regular 30 day policy.  As I said, I'm a small seller, so losing the TRS discount is not that big of a deal to me, especially since they cut it in half recently.

Like you, I don't understand why some our outraged by a reasonable price increase in fees each year.  Ebay is a for profit company.  They has as much right to earn money as any seller on Ebay.  So I agree with you.

But I think part of the outrage over increases has to do with the lack of stability on the platform and the lack of training for CSRs in the call center.  We pay our fees so that the site can function properly and that people paid to explain policies and help us when there are issues know what the heck they are talking about.  All too often this is just not the case.  I can not even tell you how many times I've called into Ebay and gotten bad advice or the CSR didn't even know what they heck to say.

There is always at least two sides to everything.  So for some this new policy may work very well for and others it won't.  Each seller just needs to figure out for themselves what is best.

But THANK YOU for being a thoughtful and responsible buyer on Ebay.  

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Ebay needs quit stating  phony Business  pratice  for  free return shipping  !  

[mam98031]

What do you mean specifically?

[allforjoy12]

Why you found me rude? I just answered your question. Looks like you definitely miss read something.

[mam98031]

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@allforjoy12 wrote:
Learn to read a contest. 🙂
Thank you for your more than detailed comments. I got your opinion. Good luck in free returns. Hope you’ll benefit from them. 😉

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"Learn to read a contest. :)"

I read it just fine, thank you.  I think you meant content, but I got the idea as I make plenty of typos myself.  But I find the comment rude.  

[kaelykat]

One thing that confuses me in eBay's return policies is that they state that an item can be returned if it is in the same condition in which it arrived. Wouldn't a package of perfume that had been opened automatically be NOT AS RECEIVED. You can't unopen a bottle of perfume.

Wouldn't that be considered the same as a used cosmetic? I just went and read the policies again and it's not very clear. Things have to be returned in the original condition. I find it very confusing. I guess I should just be happy I don't wear fragrances. Though if I did I would think that, if opened, it would be unreturnable for health reasons.

[mam98031]

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@kaelykat wrote:

One thing that confuses me in eBay's return policies is that they state that an item can be returned if it is in the same condition in which it arrived. Wouldn't a package of perfume that had been opened automatically be NOT AS RECEIVED. You can't unopen a bottle of perfume.

Wouldn't that be considered the same as a used cosmetic? I just went and read the policies again and it's not very clear. Things have to be returned in the original condition. I find it very confusing. I guess I should just be happy I don't wear fragrances. Though if I did I would think that, if opened, it would be unreturnable for health reasons.

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I agree, but Ebay does not see it this way.  Their opinion, the one that counts, is that it is understandable that the buyer wants to try it out and that until they smell it they can't tell if it has gone bad.  Now that latter part I understand, but the first part I don't.  No matter how I feel on the matter, it is what Ebay says they will do that matters.

Yes, it should the same as cosmetics as they have similar health rules that are suppose to be followed.

Ebay does have some pretty restrictive things in which sellers have to deal with and there are buyers out there that will take advantage of those policies.  But for the most part, I find my customers to be good solid people.  However I have no intention of inviting trouble with this new return policy.

[kaelykat]

I can't argue that, the stuff I've read on these boards about the scammers out there make me too afraid to ever sell on eBay. 

Yes you can't tell if ANYTHING has gone bad until you open it, but if someone just doesn't like the smell, then the seller just has to lose their money??? Plus shipping? You certainly can't sell it again once it's opened.

I think I'd let them keep their trs plus sign and skip the free returns on that stuff.

[mam98031]

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@kaelykat wrote:

I can't argue that, the stuff I've read on these boards about the scammers out there make me too afraid to ever sell on eBay. 

Yes you can't tell if ANYTHING has gone bad until you open it, but if someone just doesn't like the smell, then the seller just has to lose their money??? Plus shipping? You certainly can't sell it again once it's opened.

I think I'd let them keep their trs plus sign and skip the free returns on that stuff.

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Yep!!!

[waterbed_bigfoot]

So true ours too.  I don't know about eBay anymore.

[waterbed_bigfoot]

That is so true and we are there too.