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To start off 2021, Kirsty Dunn goes over the best seller submissions to the question “What Motivates You?” and Griff is joined by both Brian and Rebecca to go over two big seller questions that were sent into podcast@ebay.com; one is about removing feedback and our podcast trio outlines step-by-step, the best way to facilitate a return request from an International Buyer.

To have your questions answered on eBay for Business, call us at 888 723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com. To give us feedback, please take our podcast listener survey (https://connect.ebay.com/srv/survey/a/sellerops.podcast)

To connect with other listeners of the podcast and discuss, share insights and ask questions about the latest episodes please join us here (https://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-for-Business-Podcast)

Episode 122 Links
Stay at Home Moms Selling On eBay Facebook Group
Seller FAQs
Money Making Mondays (Suzanne Wells)
Lindy Glenn Motivation Monday

Canada Post
Canada Post - Additional
Royal Post (UK)
La Poste (France)
Deutsche Post (Germany)
Australia Post
Correos (Spain)

Transcript:

This week on the eBay For Business Podcast:

Brian: This week on the eBay For Business Podcast:

"So I think the listeners will remember the Holiday Hustle Sweepstakes that we ran at the end of last year. And we already did that awesome podcast episode on the packing tips. And so one of the other questions was what motivates you to get up and get busy. All of these answers that we're going to talk through right now have been canvased from our eBay For Business Facebook audience, and submitted by them. So there's some really awesome ones that we just wanted to run through to kickstart 2021 and set our intentions for an awesome year."

"I decided to use this as an opportunity where we could actually address the whole issue of international Returns. So prepare yourself. This is long enough, so it deserves an entire segment on its own, and we're going to call it How To Handle International Returns."

Brian: I'm Brian Burke.

Rebecca: And I'm Rebecca Michaels.

Griff: And I'm Griff and this is the eBay For Business Podcast, your weekly source for the information and inspiration to start, run, and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode 122. Welcome to 2021, Brian and Rebecca!

Rebecca: Well, thank you, Griff. Happy new year to you and especially happy new year to all of the sellers out there listening.

Brian: Yes. Happy new year to both of you and to all of our sellers listening.

Griff: And of course the same, all of our sellers. You've made it through 2020. Now it's all downhill from here. (laughter)

Rebecca: Don't say that Griff!

Griff: Well I mean down hill in a good way. Rebecca, how was your holidays?

Rebecca: My holidays were quiet, which is fine. That's what we needed this year. We have plenty of time for great big celebrations, hopefully later in 2021, but we'll see.

Griff: And Brian, I assume it's the same for you.

Brian: The same. It was more quiet than normal and appropriately so. But looking forward to 2021 and reconnecting with sellers again. It was a nice, quiet break.

Griff: Well ask me, how was mine?

Brian: Well, how were your holidays?

Griff: We had 20 people over and no one wore masks and half the people. I didn't even know who they are. I'm sure it was safe! (laugher) No I'm kidding. We just we watched movies and I bought some popcorn and that was the day. It was very quiet. We didn't have a big meal here. None of us are big eaters anymore, but it was fun. I enjoyed it, which is not normal for me because it's usually stress time that time of year. But it was great. I'm glad to be back at work though. It's nice to be freshly started on 2021.

Rebecca: Absolutely. I totally agree. You know, Griff, I have to point something out to all of us, which is that this is the first time Brian and I are on the podcast together.

Brian: Oh, that is right.

Griff: I thought you never noticed.

Griff: I thought it would be great if you both came on because there is a segment coming up in the Q and A, which is for our listeners edification, the Q & A this week, the you've got questions, we've got answers. It's the longest segment. And there's a reason. There's a topic I've been dying to tackle for months and months and months. And finally, a question came in a few weeks ago. That was the perfect question, but it took me weeks to finish the research on it. And it's about international returns. So that should be fun. And I needed you two to help me with it.

Rebecca: It looks like a really juicy, meaty topic. Griff: For those of you who probably figured it out course, podcasts that are professional like ours. We actually have a script. I write the script and make sure that all the topics are covered. We go off script all the time. I'm off script right now, in fact, but this one is such a detailed topic that I wanted to make sure we had all the right talking points and that they were accurate. So I needed to get them vetted by our friends in Customer Support and Trust. They made some suggestions for changes and additions. And so the information is accurate. So I can't wait to get to that, but it's not the only thing we're going to talk about this week, but I'm glad you're both here. It feels like we're a real podcast team to have all three of us.

Brian: It does. Three people on a podcast. It'll be interesting to see how that works. I'm so used to just you and me and, and then listening to Rebecca and you. So we'll see.

Griff: Well, let's start off with the news this week. What's in the news for sellers?

Rebecca: First up is what may be old news to some sellers. Back on December 19th, eBay posted an update as to what was happening with the shipping delays. And it was no secret that carrier delays were pretty widespread given that unprecedented volume and the bad weather that happened back then. So we extended the inclusion dates for protections for all sellers, any parcel shipped between November 15th and December 31st are covered. To read more, visit the post on the eBay Seller News Announcement Board, which is at www.ebay.com/sellernews.

Griff: Glad we got that. Brian do you have any news?

Brian: Yeah. Also in the news today, the annual carrier rate increases have been announced. There should be a seller news post up by the time you hear this, one of the annual concerns about the annual rate increase is when will the new rates be implemented into eBay shipping? And the answer is they will be implemented the minute. We'll probably not exactly the minute, but as soon as they are released by each carrier.

Griff: That's interesting because in the past, isn't it like one second after midnight, they go into effect. Everything is ready to click so that there's no discrepancies in what the shipping calculations are for labels?

Brian: It is tied in. So as soon as they are updated from the carriers, we will update them. I'm always nervous though, putting actual time lines out there.

Griff: I think what we can fall back on is that we've been doing this now for how many years, having to update this. I mean, it's a long time. So that's all the news this week. I think it's just been a slow news period, right after the holidays. I know we have some news for the week after. So the next week we'll have some, even more news, right? That doesn't sound right. Next week, we have more news.

Rebecca: So Griff, who's up for the first episode of 2021?

Griff: Well first off Kirsty Dunn's going to return and talk about what motivates you. Kirsty's team asked some sellers what motivates them to keep on selling and to keep on making sales and running their businesses. And some of those answers are really great and she's going to be reading some of the best responses. And all of us, all three of us, that's me, you and Brian, will be answering two questions today. The first one will be on feedback. And then that one on international returns, which I knew would get your attention. But first here's what motivates you.

... Griff: 2020 is over and done. And 2021 has just begun. We thought that instead of the tired, old, new year's resolutions that everyone does at this time of year, we would instead focus on a new theme to start off the new year. And that theme is what motivates you. And to help us determine what it is that motivates you, is our very own eBay Seller, Social Marketing, and Comms Manager, Kirsty Dunn. Welcome back to the podcast, Kirsty and a belated happy new year to you.

Kirsty: Thanks for having me Griff and happy belated new year to you too.

Griff: I'm sure that 2021 will in many ways be a much better year than 2020 fingers crossed. What are we actually talking about today?

Kirsty: I think the listeners will remember the Holiday Hustle's Sweepstakes that we ran at the end of last year. And we already did that awesome podcast episode on the packing tips. And so one of the other questions was what motivates you to get up and get busy. All of these answers that we're going to talk through right now have been canvassed from our eBay for business, Facebook audience, and submitted by them. So there's some really awesome ones that we just wanted to run through to kickstart 2021 and set our intentions for an awesome year.

Griff: Were there some overarching themes that you saw to these motivation posts?

Kirsty: Yeah. So as I was going through them, there were definitely five key things that I think popped out. So one and not surprising was kind of the thrill of the sale that cha-ching and everything like that. So there's plenty of those to go through. The second one was family and pets. So obviously being motivated to help your family. The other one was kind of more around pure goals. So setting goals, setting specific intentions, one that I was really happy to see and not surprising is motivation from other sellers. Obviously we know how much our sellers love to share tips and learn from each other. And I think you'll be very, very happy with one of the answers here. Um, and then the last one is around travel and then I've just thrown in a few like miscellaneous in that one as well.

Griff: Well, it sounds like we've got everything you can imagine. So how do you want to do this? Do you want to take turns reading them?

Kirsty: Let's take one each.

Griff: Okay. So why don't you start off and these are all around the theme of the thrill of the sale.

Kirsty: So Sybil said that could cha-ching sound LOL. I'm a people pleaser. So enjoying making people happy by giving them a good deal and making some extra money.

Griff: So for those of you aren't aware of this, if you're a seller and you're using app, you can actually set the app up that every time you make a sale, your cell phone, whether that's an Android or an iPhone will actually go cha-ching and a lot of sellers, they live for that sound. So that makes sense. Joe said that making the money for 2021 fun. Not quite sure what that is, but okay.

Kirsty: Whatever that's going to be. Yeah. Lisa said getting a sale keeps me motivated. It's like a little win each time.

Griff: Isn't it though. It's like, you've just won. Kevin. And Lisa said, cha-ching is all the motivation I need. Well, that's great.

Kirsty: But it's the noise. Like you said, the noise on the app. If they've got that on. Yeah. You can't go wrong with that. Yeah. Then Melissa said, I love the thrill of waking up to notifications of respond to offer and it's time to ship. Knowing my store was busy at work while I am sleeping is so cool. Thanks to eBay I get to be home with my family and work when it works for me,

Griff: How many sellers shut off their notifications at night. So they don't get woken up by a cha-ching or it's time to ship?

Kirsty: Yeah. I hope they take time to have a good night's rest. That's for sure.

Griff: Let's hope. Mona said, knowing that my customers purchased an item to help them express their creativity is highly motivating for me.

Kirsty: Then Heather said clearing inventory off my dining room table. Ha ha. I'm sure her house maids or her family will be happy with that. While she's just happy to obviously have a dining room table that she can use parts of.

Griff: I've been telling sellers this for years, if you, if there's any way you can get your inventory somewhere else, don't put it on the dining room table. Asha says cha-ching is music to my ears. Of course, there's another one.

Kirsty: And then Chuck says, I keep my mind on my money and my money on my mind. That is a song isn't it?

Griff: One track mid indeed. Sharon says my inner motivation, nice pics and good-looking listings and sales, which all means money in the bank.

Kirsty: Dave says getting items to sell motivates me to make extra cash and to help others for what they need for a reasonable price.

Griff: Dave likes to source Oh, note to self, right? Laurie says my daughter pushes me. And also the cha-ching I hear on my phone from a sale always makes me happy. She's getting motivation from her daughter. I think you're next.

Kirsty: Yes. So then Doug says comments back from customers telling me how happy they are with that purchase. That sort of keeps you going.

Griff: That positive feedback loop. Yeah. Is this also from Doug? Cause it doesn't have a seller here. So I'm just going to say it sounds familiar.

Kirsty: Doesn't have a name on that one.

Griff: Well, this is from an anonymous seller who said the stories I get from buyers who tell me they have found a long lost beloved item in my store that they never dreamed they could replace. You would think that would not be so common. That is something that a lot of sellers tell us was they get a buyer who says I've been looking for this since high school. This is from my childhood. That sort of thing really is exciting when it happens.

Kirsty: I think there was even a story on Humans of New York of a woman had lost her childhood Teddy bear and was reunited with it. Thanks to eBay. So yeah, those are always the heartwarming, lovely stories that we love to hear. So Nicole said, just remembering how truly lucky I am to have the opportunity to do what I love for a living. Not many people are able to, and I never want to take that for granted.

Griff: So far. That's my favorite. It's so important that you love what you do. And it's apparent that Nicole has found that. That's a great life purpose. Now we're going to switch to family. These are all grouped under the family theme. Then Holly starts off with, I'm able to work from home. And I have the best coworker. My two year old daughter Paisley. Wow. Two years old. I wonder what she does?

Kirsty: They are very good with phones now. So she might be helping take pictures? Who knows.

Griff: She could be listing the items! Give that two year old a metal.

Kirsty: Start them young. I like it. Good work ethic. Pam said myself, my family. And because no one else is going to do it for me. And the satisfaction of making others happy when they find their treasure on eBay.

Griff: I think, see that's a common theme. People find their treasures. Nicole made it really short and sweet. My kiddos.

Kirsty: Karen said, I gave up my state job a year ago to move in with my elderly mother and take care of her. My only income now is eBay. My motivation is my mom. Every day is a challenge. And especially now with the pandemic, I have to stay on my toes in order to take care of her. I do not want her to have to take care of me financially. So I try to keep listing and selling and doing everything I can to keep business going.

Griff: Hats off to you, Karen. Yes, It's not easy to do that. Kristen says the ability to work from home and take care of my kids. Thanks eBay.

Kirsty: And then Diana says, what motivates me is four kids, bills and a house needing repair. But I love selling.

Griff: Jill says my daughters, hence my store name. Dot Trar. Am I missing this? What is that?

Kirsty: I think it's like daughter, Dot Trar? Dot Trar?

Griff: Okay. In some other language, I don't know probably.

Kirsty: Yeah. And then Cherry says yes, our money too you goes to feed our animals and all rescue pigs, cats, dogs, and pheasants. So lots of animals to keep fed. Um, and that's what Cherry uses her money on.

Griff: Well keep running that farm Cherry. Kimberly says I'm on a very tight fixed income. I'm motivated by my six rescued animals. I want them to have the best life possible. A woman after my heart.

Kirsty: So then going into the goals topic, Fred says my wife and I've always believed that we put things back where they should be in this world. I cannot tell you how many times a college or museum has bought from us. Makes us love what we do even more. How awesome is that?

Griff: That just has to make you feel good. Melanie says saving for the down payment on my first house is my motivation. And Melanie, I can tell you from the time I've been here, I've known a lot of sellers who have faced that big goal and they've done it. They've they've raised the down payment for their first house. So you go Melanie

Kirsty: And then Connie shares, I guess one of her habits that motivates her for work is obviously reading. So I'm assuming it might be some business books or some personal empowerment or those kinds of books or just anything generally just to chill.

Griff: Heather says setting small goals and getting to check them off my list is what keeps me motivated towards a larger goal.

Kirsty: Carrie says, I make monthly sales goals broken down by weeks and I make daily to-do lists that are doable, not overwhelming.

Griff: All right. So that's, that's a practical one. That's very good.

Kirsty: Girl after my own heart. I love a daily to do list.

Griff: Now, B L says, my secret for getting motivated is morning coffee. You and I both. On a serious note, it's simply about mind over matter, truly believing that you can accomplish anything If you set your mind to it, don't be fearful and keep the positive end results fresh in your mind. My secret for staying motivated is to stay positive and always remember the reasons that got you motivated from the start as well as the end results. I think it's also important to remember the alternate options that may not be as fun. Like having to get a day gig, always let the small things just pass on by and know that there will be bumps in the road, but that they will not get in your way of accomplishing the end result. That's really good. That's a good one.

Kirsty: And then Bruce is short and sweet. He says he beat his sales from last year for that month. So if he, if he's beaten his sales, he's, he's just going to continue to, to go onwards and upwards. And that keeps him motivated.

Griff: Yeah, that's the best way to set goals. Look at what you've done and see what, how you can meet and beat those goals that you set in the past. Melissa says, I have a planner and make sure I have a to-do list for each day. I like checking things off. There's nothing more satisfying.

Griff: Very organized.

Kirsty: And Kathleen says, when I can't muster up motivation, I have to rely on discipline. I like to put on the eBay For Business Podcast in the background and get to work.

Griff: Yeah. That's obviously my favorite. Kathleen, you win my prize. I'm glad it's in the background though. Even if you're not listening to every single word and I don't know how you can sometimes, but it's nice to know that people are listening. So thank you for that. Chris says I stay motivated with personal wellness and goal setting working out helps me blow off steam too. Yes! Keeping fit, doing some exercise. That is important.

Kirsty: And then this is how the sellers are motivated through other sellers. So Doreen says I participate in monthly listing challenges. This helps me stay focused and surprisingly I do better than I had thought. It's great motivation

Griff: These are challenges with other sellers then it's a group participation.

Kirsty: Exactly. Yeah. I want to find out more about this as that sounds awesome.

Griff: Hey Doreen, If you're listening, email us at podcast@ebay.com or call us at 888-723-4630 And tell us how we can get involved in some of these listing challenges. Rhonda and Mike say, I watch Lindy Glenn and her Motivation Monday on YouTube. Awesome reseller content. Thanks for that tip.

Kirsty: Kristin says, I love Money Making Mondays and Fabulous Finds Friday on stay at home moms selling on eBay. It keeps me motivated and is very informative on what sells. It's more than just moms by the way, great network. That's a Facebook network.

Griff: Yeah. And what I'll do is I'll look for all of these and then I'll put the links in the transcript for episode 122. Jane says with traffic in my shopping down due to COVID-19, I have time to walk around and find things to list, also follow some favorite sellers and see their listings to motivate me to do more. This is basically my only source of income right now. Sales keep me motivated to keep going. I'm very thankful for this opportunity to reach so many buyers.

Kirsty: Love that I've actually spoken to Jane. She's based in Ohio and I believe her husband is going to be retiring soon. So they're a double team. And so they're figuring out how to make this work. And so yeah, all of their efforts are going into that eBay store right now, which is incredible.

Griff: Nancy says, I watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts for motivation, eBay For Business Podcast. Seeing and hearing how other people work motivates me and gives me new ideas.

Kirsty: And then the final section is around travel and miscellaneous, obviously not quite sure when travel might be, but I think a lot of sellers are gearing up for when they do finally get to go somewhere else. So we have a few things in here, but we'll start off with Lindas and she says, don't laugh, but finding the right size box for something I've been waiting to list really gets me going. I can totally relate. You want to find that perfect box. You don't want anything rattling around. As we know from the packing tips.

Griff: It's funny. Because people like Linda... I'm the exact opposite. That would be the last thing on my list. That would get me excited. So you never know what's going to get some people excited. Amy says getting all my work done so I can relax in my quarantine bathrobe for the rest of the day.

Kirsty: And then Jamie says, eBay pays for our RV adventures. Wonder where they been going?

Griff: With an RV you can just about go anywhere? Jennifer says selling to save for a family vacation. I bet it's way overdue this year too.

Kirsty: And then Michael says the more items I sell then, the more places I can visit.

Griff: Eileen says my sales keep me motivated. I list every day to keep the search results high and give offers as well. Very happy with the volume of my sales. It all goes into my vacation fund, which is growing rapidly. Since we can't travel due to the pandemic. Now you'll be able to afford even better vacation!

Kirsty: Exactly. Or a longer one hopefully. Randolph says, first year of selling has helped me become debt-free. I love making my own hours and being to save for future trips and supplement my income. Like how incredible is that? Debt-free and now also some money in the bank for a future trip.

Griff: So why don't you read the last one because the last one is the winner?

Kirsty: Yes. So Nancy was the winner and she said, I just love what I do. So it makes it so easy to stay motivated and completely agree. It helps when you love what you do, you get up every morning and you go to work and you just keep on going. Thank you for sharing that Nancy.

Griff: What does Nancy win by the way?

Kirsty: She won a $200 eBay voucher.

Griff: That'll keep you motivated too.

Kirsty: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure that kept all of these motivated.

Griff: Well thank you to everyone who participated in the contest that was going on in December. We really loved going through and collecting these great posts. We hope you'll still stay engaged. And for those of you are curious about where these came from. I'll put all the links in the transcript so that you can go and visit them as well. Kirsty, I want to thank you so much. It's always a pleasure.

Kirsty: Thank you. Thanks for having me and yeah. Happy new year. Here is to an awesome 2021.

Griff: And the same to you. Happy new year. Kirsty Dunn is the eBay Seller, Social Marketing and Comms Manager. And she's been talking to us and sharing with us the different posts on our Facebook, eBay For Business page that people had submitted for the December Holiday Hustle's Sweepstakes. Again, thank you to all. And we'll put the links in the transcript.

Brian: You have questions.

Rebecca: We have answers.

Griff: We do and this week's you have questions segment. I got to warn you. It's a long one. That's why I thought it might be helpful to have all of us here this week to help with the answers. So thank you both of you for helping out.

Rebecca: Happy to.

Brian: My pleasure.

Griff: Our first question was sent into podcast@ebay.com and it's about that perennial topic, negative feedback. And I'll read this and I'm going to let you take the answer.

“Hello Griff and Rebecca (and Brian.) I have a question regarding negative feedback and its removal when it's false or simply not true. Do either of you have issues with submitting for feedback removal when the feedback given is false erroneous or just downright wrong and not truthful? What about the feedback given as a result of the buyer not reading the description of the item they had purchased? I've had several occasions where this has happened to me recently. I wrote to the feedback team requesting removal. The response was a canned one. We've looked carefully at this feedback and see that it doesn't qualify for removal. I'm asking because this seems to be a common issue I've asked around and it had more than 70% responding with a yes that they too have had this response from the feedback team. This is worrisome to me as a seller. This issue affects every one of us as a community and should be held to very high standards and regulations. I'm not trying to upset anyone. I just want to see the bigger picture or the bigger issue that might warrant an internal investigation and possible retraining. If a team is not doing a thorough job, then we all suffer as sellers don't get me wrong. I love being part of eBay and this amazing marketplace. I only want for all of us sellers to have the best people doing their best jobs to help us and keep the fictitious negative comments from doing harm to our stores. My goal is to be a seller, like many of those I hear about on the podcast, I would love to be as great as they are and grow like they have. It's hard to do when the people you count on, aren't doing their jobs 100%. I love your show and eagerly look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter, Norm at Treasure Hunters, Things and Stuff. “

Griff: Well, thanks Norm. As many of you know, I have definite thoughts on feedback, but let's turn to Rebecca and Brian first. So why don't you guys answer Norm. Would you?

Rebecca: We'd be happy to and I'll jump in first. The first thing that I would remind everyone listening is that feedback is subjective. It's the point of view from that particular buyer. It's opinion-based and it's really the chance for the buyer to share what their experience was buying from you as a seller here on eBay. So it is by design, just one person's opinion, given that, feedback is never removed on the basis of veracity. It's not about whether it's exactly true, but again, it's an opinion channel. It's not really meant to be a source of truth.

Griff: And that's the way it's been since the very beginning is it's a review. Feedback doesn't go through a process where, “well, this is not true. So we're going to remove it.” We never re remove it on the basis of its accuracy. To that extent, I want to make it clear that the team that is on the feedback team, they are doing their job 100%.

Rebecca: Absolutely. And if you think about it, you know, this is just a digital version of being able to say to a friend or neighbor, Oh, here's an experience. I have been shopping at a local store in town, right? That's not something that anyone has the ability to follow up on. Um, there's no expectation that when you're chatting with a friend, it'll be the absolute truth, except for that, we all try to be honorable people. And so the feedback channel here at eBay is very similar. It's just a chance for a buyer to share what their experience was.

Griff: Brian is negative or neutral feedback. Does it play a part in a seller's business?

Brian: It does in some ways and doesn't and others. So the first thing that I would say is it provides the seller an opportunity to kind of learn from their buyers and potentially improve their business. Look at negative feedback as an opportunity to evaluate your business and your business processes and see, is there something that you can improve on? So that's actually very helpful from that standpoint. It also doesn't really though have much of an impact on your business. Most buyers aren't necessarily looking for that negative. Oftentimes what buyers will do is they're going to look for how does the seller respond to a negative, because then that tells them a lot about the seller and how they'll be treated as a buyer, if something does go awry. And if you sell enough on eBay, at some point, something will not go exactly as planned from a buyer's perspective. And remember, as Rebecca said, it is the buyer's perspective on this. And so that buyers providing you some feedback, take advantage of that. The other thing is it no longer has any impact on your seller performance metrics. So you don't have to worry about it impacting your Top Rated Seller Standing or anything like that, treat it as good information for you to use. The other thing that I'll say though, is it's also an opportunity to engage with the buyer. I know that you can respond and best practice is to respond factually and kind of unemotionally to any negative or neutral feedback so that other buyers or other potential buyers can see the type of seller that you are. But you also have the opportunity. If you make things right with that buyer, the buyer can remove that feedback.

Griff: That's a good point, Brian, Rebecca.

Rebecca: I also think that it's important to make note that our own data shows that occasionally getting a neutral or even negative feedback has really little impact on the seller's business.

Griff: I've had a few and it hasn't affected my business at all.

Rebecca: Exactly. And you know, I think that there's also some research to show that the occasional negative or neutral actually makes an overall store feel a little bit trustworthy. No one out there is a hundred percent perfect all of the time. And so having once in a while an occasional neutral or negative over many years really just shows that you're a human being running a store and is likely to increase the trust that you have in your store.

Griff: What's it like when you buy Rebecca, do you look at feedback?

Rebecca: You know, I do look at feedback and I look at the negative feedback. I, in fact, I will sort so that I can see that first. And if it's just one or two over a number of years, like I was saying, I think it increases the trust. And especially when I see the seller come back with a response.

Brian: Rebecca touched on an important point, which is a lot of our sellers out there. They want to be perfect. They want that a hundred percent. And she said, you will experience some issues. If you sell enough on eBay, I've had conversation, and Griff I know you've had conversations with some sellers, where they will agonize for hours and sometimes days or weeks over a single negative. And if you think about that energy, that's not being spent on listing or your next customer or how you can help your most recent customer, it's not necessarily energy well spent.

Rebecca: I think that's a great point, Brian.

Griff: It takes energy and time to run a business. And it just seems to your point, Brian, it really is, it's a waste of energy and time to spend all that time chasing down feedback.

Rebecca: It's two sides of a coin. You do have to pay attention. If there's something that's showing a pattern, something that you could be doing better. This is valuable information. Everyone who leaves feedback is doing every seller, a favor, it's a gift. And looking at feedback, even if, as a seller, you're like, that's not really accurate. It's still a gift to be able to figure out how to do even better the time.

Brian: Really good point.

Rebecca: And then the last caveat I would say is there are some times when we will remove feedback, but again, it's not about whether it's true. But you know, like the protections that we have in place right now, if there's feedback about shipping times and the seller did everything right, that's the kind of feedback that may be reviewed for removal.

Griff: Yeah. And in those cases, for example, the one from last month, I believe that it's just any negative feedback that relates to shipping. If it shows that you did ship the item and it just was late getting there that's been removed.

Rebecca: Exactly.

Griff: Thank you both. That was a, that was really helpful. Norm, I'm not so sure it's the answer you expected. I have to reassure you. The reps are doing their job correctly. And as Rebecca said, there are only a few instances where feedback is removed. Now onto the second question. And this one, as I mentioned at the top of the segment is about international returns. Who wants to read it? Brian?

Brian: Sure. Griff, I'll take this one. And this one's coming from a Canadian seller. Remember that as I go through this.

“Long story short, a buyer from the USA purchased a Lego set from me then decided they didn't want it and wanted to send it back for a return. Since I do not have the ability to create shipping labels with the USPS to Canada from the eBay website or my shipping partner, I asked the buyer to ship it back with whichever courier they deemed fit. I have no issues accepting returns. This is why all my items have 30 day return policy. I paid the domestic returns and international buyers pay for return shipping. International being outside of Canada, tracking this buyer's return. I see that ups is charging $46.16 cents Canadian for $120 Canadian item. And the buyer is also expecting me to pay back his return shipping. Looking for some insight on ways to avoid paying border broker fees for returns from international buyers in the future, as this is a costly return. All the best, keep up the great work. Love listening to your podcast. While I work graveyards at my full-time job, eBay store Canadian Brick Cafe .“

Brian: Well, Canadian Brick Cafe. So sorry to hear this happen. There isn't much we can do post-transaction so we can't help you on this one, but we may be able to help you avoid this situation in future international sales.

Griff: Yeah. Now bear with us Canadian brick cafe and everyone else, because like I said, this is going to be a long answer. It could have been short because she only asked one question. And the question was, I'm looking for insight into ways to avoid paying border and brokerage fees for returns from international buyers. And that's really easy. That's a really short answer. And the answer is make sure your buyer labels the package and puts on any custom documentation. This is a returned item. In most cases, once any customs from any country that sees that that's coming back and it says it is returns, they won't charge duty on it. So that's a good way of avoiding duty and brokerage fees and everything else. But because it's about international returns and it's a subject that I've been having to figure out how to answer seller questions and I just don't have all the, or I haven't had all the information. I decided to use this as an opportunity where we could actually address the whole issue of international returns. So prepare yourself. This is long enough. So it deserves an entire segment on its own. And we're going to call it how to handle international returns. And sellers don't feel you have to take notes. Cause all of this will be in the transcript for episode 122 at ebay.com/podcast. And because it's a long one and I've scripted out some of this so the talking points make sense. We'll take turns addressing the different issues. And Rebecca, I thought we'd start with you.

Rebecca: Okay. If anyone is considering opening up your eBay store to international buyers, and there are so many reasons why you should consider doing so, just as there is for any domestic transaction there will always be the possibility of a return for international transactions as well. Brian: And unlike how it works for returns made within the US the managed return case flow does not provide the option for an international buyer to print a return shipping label. For those returns the seller could, if they are able provide the buyer with either a PDF of a label or a hard copy of a return postage label inside the shipment for the buyer. Most retailers do this and quite a few businesses on eBay do this as well. However, most eBay sellers are not set up to provide this service. In those cases, a seller has to reimburse the buyer for purchasing a return postage label.

Griff: Yeah, and the challenge for the seller is knowing how much return posted should cost beforehand. So that seller isn't stuck with the unpleasant surprise of overly expensive return postage like seller Canadian Brick Cafe found out, especially if the return postage amount is close to or even exceeds the actual value of the item that's being returned. But if you know how much the return parcel should weigh and its dimensions based on the same information for the same package you shipped, you can determine a close estimate for the return cost yourself. We've done some research and we've come up with some steps a seller can take when faced with accepting a return from an international buyer. We have broken them up into four parts and they are Pre-Listing, During the Listing, Post Transaction and Buyer Opens a Return Request. And it's, again, this is a little long, but bear with us, Rebecca.

Rebecca: Yes, this is going to be worth it. So let's talk about pre-listing first. You want to consider how you will handle returns from international buyers for items below a certain value. An amount, which as a seller, you should determine yourself. For many low value items. It may make more sense to simply refund an international buyer without requiring them to ship the item back. This may not be the case for domestic buyers, you know, in any case, make this determination at the time you list the item and maybe make a note of it in the note field.

Griff: For example, I would most likely not require an international return for any item I sold that's worth less than $40, except maybe if the sale was made to Canada were actually returned shipping is more in line with US domestic shipping. The cost of return shipping from all other international locations for a $40 item for me is just not going to be worth it. So sometimes it's just smarter to take the initial loss on the item by refunding the buyer without requiring them to ship the item back. But again, I want to make this clear. I'm not saying you have to do this. This is a determination that every seller has to make on their own. Some sellers might want to have a $40 item back regardless of the cost of returning it. That's up to you.

Brian: And our second segment during the listing, the next step is to be ready to answer pre-purchased inquiries from international buyers regarding your return policy. Of course, the seller should indicate their return policy clearly in the item description, don't make it too long to read, but include the most important details. Do you take returns? Who pays for return shipping, et cetera. But be ready to repeat or expand on your return policy should a prospective buyer from outside the US message you with questions.

Griff: You know, this would be a good place to remind sellers to fill out their seller FAQ's so that an international buyer can get answers right away for the most general shipping questions.

Brian: We'll put a link in the transcript to the seller FAQ page.

Rebecca: Okay. Finally, the steps for handling an international return, we are on post transaction after the transaction. So congratulations an international buyer has purchased your item. Before you ship make sure to include inside the parcel, a page of printed instructions on how to handle a return. The instructions should contain your return policy. And if you decide that you will pay for return shipping include a reassurance that you will, as part of the return process, reimburse the buyer for the return shipping costs. You may also want to include a link to where to begin the return process and to wait for instructions before starting the return. You do not want the buyer sending the item back on their own without instructions on what to purchase for a label or which shipping service to use.

Griff: Yes, that's very important. Also another important point we should put in here is always use fresh packing materials and a new box to ship an international item, and include a note in the box, reminding the buyer to save the packaging and the box in case they want to return the item. They can use the same box and the same packaging.

Brian: That's a good point Griff. And now most international sales will end at this point without a buyer asking to return the item, but that's not why we are here today. So for this example, you receive an eBay message saying the buyer is open to return request, which leads us to the next section of steps.

Rebecca: Okay, here we go. Your international buyer has received the item, but wants to return it. And they have opened a return request. Don't panic, but also don't respond just yet. You have some tasks to do before you get back to the buyer. First of all, check the buyers country so you can determine the cost of return shipping. Using the dimensions and the weight of the box that you shipped out you can calculate the cost of return shipping by visiting the website for the buyers country.

Brian: I recommend using the Chrome web browser. Chrome has an extension for Google translate that will detect a website's language and offer to translate it to English. This comes in super handy for reading non-English language websites.

Griff: It sure does. It really helped me when I was doing some legwork for the five most common countries. Those happened to be the UK, Australia, Germany, Spain, Canada, and France. And of course I will include their best international rates as well as the links in the transcript for this episode to the individual websites. Now, if your buyer is in another country, you're going to have to do that legwork yourself. Again, you can use Chrome and search on Google for X postal service, where X is the name of the country. If it's a foreign language site, let Chrome translate the site into English if necessary. And then you can search for the rates for international shipping.

 

Royal Mail.pngAustralia Post.pngDeutsche Post.pngLa Poste.png

 

Griff: One big tip, make sure that the service you're looking for includes shipping to the US this is important. Most countries put the USA in their most expensive shipping zone. That's shipping zone four D or whatever, make sure you're looking at the rates for the zone that includes the US.

Brian: And you will also have to convert the weight and dimensions on the international postal sites from metric to Imperial. So pounds and inches, and you will have to convert the currency displayed for each rate into US dollars. So go back to Chrome, open three new tabs, and in one search for length conversion in the second tab search for mass conversion in the third search for currency conversion. Use the converters in these tabs to determine the data for dimensions in inches, the weight in ounces or pounds and the currency for US dollars.

Rebecca: Oh, my head is swimming in math now guys.

Griff: Sorry. I didn't want that to happen but it's really important. I think my head was swimming too, but if you have these tabs open, it makes it a lot easier to do the figures as you're going along.

Rebecca: Absolutely. And the headline here is you really have to make that translation or the conversion from their style of measuring to the US style so that you can make sure you're paying the right amount.

Griff: Yeah.

Rebecca: Okay. So now you're ready to respond to the return request. You've done all your homework and all the legwork. Your response should include a link to their country's postal website, specifically the webpage that shows the specific class of service you want them to use. Include the metric dimensions and the weight of the box and the cost of the label in their currency. Again, you're doing the homework for your buyer here, ask them how they want to be paid for the label reimbursement. Suggest PayPal, because it's the easiest. And lastly instruct the buyer to Mark the parcel and any customs documents as return. In most cases, US customs will not add on duties on an item that is marked as a return.

Griff: Yeah, that goes for Canadian customs too, for our Canadian seller. And I should also mention here, whatever you do, if you're tempted to issue a refund through the return process at this point, you know, for shipping, don't. You need to use a payment service outside of the refund flow in order to make the reimbursement for shipping. Now, once the buyers responded with their preferred payment method, and we assume it will be PayPal, immediately send them the amount for the label and download a soft copy. That is you go to your invoice in PayPal and click print and save as PDF. And you want this as a receipt for the payment. And then you're going to go back to the return case and upload the payment receipt to the return case as a document file, that ability is in the return flow. This is important. This is how you control the cost of the return postage.

Brian: Once you have sent the buyer funds for the label and you upload a receipt that shows the amount and the payees name and the date of the payment, you are then not responsible if the buyer decides to purchase a service that is more expensive than the one you provided. Also, you want to make sure the buyer captures the tracking number for the shipment. They will need to upload that tracking number in order to receive the refund.

Griff: Yeah. That's important

Rebecca: To make sure I understand. They need to separate out the refund for the cost of the item and the reimbursement for the cost of shipping.

Griff: Right. All we're talking about right now is the reimbursement for shipping. The refund comes later when the package arrives.

Rebecca: Okay. Got it. So the buyer has approximately five to 10 business days from the date of purchase to ship the returned item. Most buyers will ship a return as quickly as possible. Once the seller receives the package and issues, a refund, the case automatically closes. For other possible scenarios are a few things to keep in mind. If tracking does not show movement, or if there is no tracking, then eBay may need to wait up to 35 business days before the return would be closed. But once the return case is closed under those circumstances, the seller is no longer obligated to refund the buyer for the purchase price.

Griff: That's true. The buyer may also have to fill out a customs declaration for the return shipment. They should provide the same information that is in the order for that purchase. And they usually do like the country and manufacturer the final price category, the item, whatever they ask for. But they should also mark the return parcel on the documentation as “returned.” We're reiterating this. Keep in mind that if a US Customs assigns any tax or duty on an item, it will be your responsibility to pay them and to pay these fees in order to receive the shipment. Even if you do mark the package or the buyer marks the package returned, there's always the possibility remote that the customs official may say, you owe duty on this. That's not an eBay issue. That's not a buyer issue. If the customs assigns a duty, you're going to need to pay that. Whether it's as a contingency or a requirement to get the item shipped to you, or they're going to bill you and they could bill eBay, I guess maybe not, but you will have to pay that eventually. So that's something to keep in mind, make sure your buyer marks it as returned, but it's not an absolute guarantee that you won't be paying brokerage fees, or customs fees.

Brian: So once it's through all of that, and you have the parcel in your hands, open it, and this is important. Inspect the item and issue the buyer's refund through the return process. The same rules apply to international returns as for domestic. If you're an eBay Top Rated Seller and the item had free returns, you may at your discretion withhold up to 50% of the refund. If the returned item is not in the condition, it was when you shipped it.

Griff: Don't do it without reason. But if you need recourse with the item comes back used, or it's, it's been damaged, you can withhold up to 50% and just give 50% to the buyer. And they can't really argue about it. I want to thank you very much, cause that was it.

Rebecca: That's it?

Griff: Any questions?

Rebecca: A million of them. But I actually do have a question. What if the transaction was initially shipped through GSP or standard delivery? Are all these steps the same there and what happens with the refund? For both services the seller would not have collected the portion of the funds the buyer paid to eBay for shipping from the USA.

Griff: That's a good question. The steps are the same for GSP standard delivery and seller ships. You follow the same steps up to and including issuing the refund, which you would do through the returns flow. And again, not from an outside payment source, don't go to PayPal and refund them. You refund them through the return flow. And at that point of refund for the GSP and standard delivery, eB.ay knows how much to take from the seller, which is only what the seller collected. And then eBay ads from their own kitty, the cost of shipping from the USA to the buyer. And then they put both things together and they give the full refund to the buyer, but you don't want to do the refund outside of the flow. You just want to say, send refund. And if you're only sending 50%, then you only send 50% of the refund. eBay will take care of it from there. Any questions Brian?

Brian: Yes. I have a question.

Griff: I knew you did.

Brian: What if a seller has their return set to auto-accept? Won't that make it difficult for the seller to step in immediately after the buyer makes the request?

Griff: It's a great question, Brian. And I asked myself that too, and I didn't have an answer. So I went to our good friends in Customer Support and they got right back to me because the answer is “no,” it won't make any difference. And in fact, all returns auto accept rules only apply to domestic returns. So if a seller has their return set to auto accept, like I do, they don't have to worry about an international return request being auto accepted, because they'll never auto accept an international return request. This leaves that initial breathing room space after the request is made by the buyer for the seller to step into the process and then start messaging the buyer with the steps. If you have your returns set to auto accept you don't have to worry about anything.

Rebecca: I hope that's it.

Griff: That's it in a nutshell. A very large nutshell.

Rebecca: More like a coconut.

Griff: Yeah, I'd say so.

Rebecca: And for those of you who maybe got a little bit lost don't despair, you can go back and read the entire answer in the episode 122 transcript.

Griff: Yeah. It's all there. You know, I've got to take this moment, guys. I want to thank you both for pitching in today. I really didn't want to tackle this topic alone, but I wanted us to cover it. So thank you for both being on to help with this. I could not have done this alone.

Rebecca: It's our pleasure.

Brain: Definitely our pleasure. And it was a good reason for all three of us to be on the show together.

Griff: Wasn't it fun?

Rebecca: It's been great.

Brian: So thanks for both of those questions from our sellers. And if you have a question related to selling or running a business on eBay, well, don't just sit there. Call in at (888) 723-4630.

Rebecca: That's (888) 723-4630. And the best part is that you can call that hotline anytime of day, any day of the week, just leave your question or comment, and we might even put it on the air.

Griff: We might! Especially if it's about international returns. If you're not a call on the phone person, you can always email us at podcast@ebay.com. That's podcast@ebay.com. Now it's time for one last thing. And I think, you know what it is.

Rebecca and Brian: Your podcast to do lists.

Brian: Number one, check the announcement board for up-to-date seller news.

Rebecca: It's the place to go for the latest updates and new releases that pertain to selling on eBay.

Brian: Like the recent updates to seller protections for shipping delays and the new carrier rates for 2021.

Griff: Yes. Now, number two. Hey, did anyone gift you with a thermal label printer for Christmas? No. Then bite the bullet and buy yourself one right now. I know, I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but believe me!

Brian: It will change your life.

Griff: Exactly.

Rebecca: And number three, check out the transcript for this and all episodes for follow up on what you've heard and to see the links that we referenced during the episode.

Brian: We'd like to, again, thank our guests this week. eBay Seller Social Marketing and Comms Manager, Kirsty Dunn.

Griff: And I'd like to thank both of my co-hosts, Rebecca Michaels and Brian Burke. Let's give a big hand. (clapping sounds) Thank you so much.

Rebecca: And happy new year again to everyone.

Brian: Yes.

Griff: Happy new year. The eBay for Business Podcast is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.

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