mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Please join The Community Team here on Wed April 18th at 1 pm Pacific for a one hour Q&A chat. We do not have a set topic, so please share your buying & selling questions.
Chat with you then 
*Keep in mind the Community’s Rules of Engagement when you post. Non-constructive/disrespectful posts will be removed by our moderation team so that the thread can focus on a productive discussion.
Yes coins brought up this return item button last week
There is the new purchase history & old purchase history pages
see 2 below screen shots.
Why are some of my items showing with a Big Blue Return item button & some Leave feedback button?
I thought at first it was because the 2nd item on my screen shot was over 30 days so outside ebay MBG or return policy so I could just leave feedback but if you look at the date it isn't.
So why Leave feedback on some, Return item on others?
What is the reason
Old purchase history
New
@mam98031 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
Good afternoon Everyone.
In the new Auto return system Ebay started back in October of last year, I find what I consider to be a serious flaw in how it is intentionally programed that I find very concerning as a seller.
I require a RMA number on all returns and I have my return preferences set up to do that. So when a Request gets filed, before Ebay can auto issue a label, I can lay eyes on the Request and respond to my buyer if I choose to before something gets shipped back.
This has come in handy for me as I've been able to divert an actual return because my customers problem was easily resolved without it. Everyone went away happy.
No with that said, the concerning part of this process for me comes after I assign my RMA. Once I do that, I can NO LONGER communicate with my customer inside the Request. To me that makes no sense. Ebay is forcing me to communicate with my customer outside of the Request or Claim and that just should not happen. I'm a firm believe that once a Request is open that ALL communication should be within that Request for good records and less misunderstandings. But for some reason Ebay does not see it the same way. My question is WHY?
A quick example is after I assign a RMA, I send a note to my customer asking them to put a copy of the packing slip or a note in the package noting their Ebay ID and the RMA number. But with the program written the way it is, I have to do that BEFORE I assign the number and that doesn't make sense.
Of course other things could happen during the processing of the Request that communication becomes important, but I can't do it inside the Request. WHY?
Hi @mam98031, this is a great callout and I'm happy to get this over to the appropriate teams. I definitely think that there is value in continuing to provide a messaging option, as the buyer may have followup questions for you regarding the RMA and the messages you are looking to send would be helpful to include.
Do you happen to have an example or screenshots of your options before and after? This won't be strictly necessary, but if you happen to have them I can share them in my report. If you do have them, feel free to send them over to me via email with a link to this post
I do not have screen shots. That would have made way too much sense to do at the time. LOL
With that said, it is by design, not glitch.
I reported this last year and I'm confident you guys got this over to the right team then as you said you would. But we are many months into it and it remains the same. This tells me that Ebay does not see it as something as important as I do.
Hi @mam98031, hindsight is 20/20, they say 
I do remember discussing this previously and am happy to follow up with our developers so we can get improvements made or context on why this wouldn't be an option. I will touch base on this topic and let you know when I hear something back!
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:I also have a question about the upcoming Free Return program.
For some of the things I sell, like the craft stuff, I don't have too much of a problem offering the program. But on my fragrances not so much.
My concern is that since Ebay will allow my customers to open and try out a fragrance and still return it to me as if it were new and sealed, what is to prevent a buyer from purchasing multiple fragrances, try them all out and then return all or some of their purchase?
What will protect a seller from this? This could bankrupt small sellers in short order if it happened too often. Because while Ebay considers the item still in new condition, the seller can not. It is now a used item and can not be sold as new. Which makes if value significantly less than it was when purchased.
I know Ebay has said they will be tracking buyers that use the return system too much. But by the time Ebay has caught up to the buyer for misuse of the system, several sellers could be left in their wake of distruction.
As a seller of fragrances I can not guarantee to anyone that they will enjoy any given fragrance. Not just because it is an internet sale, but because it is completely a personal subjective decision.
Hi @mam98031, I am happy to reiterate what brian@ebay shared on this topic last week. If you receive the product back and it has been altered or damaged by the buyer, you can deduct up to 50% of the refund if you offer Free Returns.
Additionally, while customers are generally after first time use, returning a perfume simply because they "didn't like it" would be considered an altered item and would not qualify for the eBay Money Back Guarantee. This is similar to how we do not offer coverage for a buyer who purchased a makeup product that they opened and used, then asked to return it because they didn't like it. If they need to return it for a not as described reason, then we would expect a return - if it is for a remorse reason and they have tried out the product, we would consider this to be altered and would be able to protect the seller.
If you run into a specific issue with a return like this, definitely touch base with our Customer Service teams or let us know if you aren't receiving the help you are looking for.
The problem comes in when a buyer tells the seller clearly in an email that they don't like the smell or something similar. They then open a Request for return, but the don't open it as a Buyer Remorse Request but as a SNAD. Maybe they claim it is a counterfiet or whatever. Doesn't really matter because they are not being truthful.
The seller has no way of getting Ebay to change the Request to a BR even with clear proof that the buyer lied when opening a SNAD. Plus that darn word "counterfiet" is a key word that gets a seller no matter how good of a seller they are or how long they have been on Ebay.
So you have a buyer that is returning it for a buyer remorse reason in actuallity, but they file it as a SNAD which in the land of Ebay it gets process at the Seller's expense.
@vrykalak wrote:
We talked last time about the RETURN THIS ITEM button replacing the LEAVE FEEDBACK button. I didn't see any resolution.
I just looked at my Summary page, and every item I ordered AND RECEIVED has the big, ugly RETURN THIS ITEM button on it. That's terrible! Please get it changed back.
Hi @vrykalak - we looked into this and this has been displayed in one form or the other for several years. In general, Buyers don't purchase items with the sole intent of returning them and making things simple for a buyer who needs to return an item is the best thing to reduce the negative fallout from a purchase that may already by a stressful situation.
In our experince this does not lead to returns from buyers who are not interested in returning their items.
Thanks for your input though - please share it with the dev teams by using the "Tell us what you think" link towards the top of your Purchase History. Thanks!
@theshoppingmom2 wrote:
alan@ebay Thanks!
Ok definately going to get my new RX for eyeglasses
you are hilarious!
@mam98031 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:I also have a question about the upcoming Free Return program.
For some of the things I sell, like the craft stuff, I don't have too much of a problem offering the program. But on my fragrances not so much.
My concern is that since Ebay will allow my customers to open and try out a fragrance and still return it to me as if it were new and sealed, what is to prevent a buyer from purchasing multiple fragrances, try them all out and then return all or some of their purchase?
What will protect a seller from this? This could bankrupt small sellers in short order if it happened too often. Because while Ebay considers the item still in new condition, the seller can not. It is now a used item and can not be sold as new. Which makes if value significantly less than it was when purchased.
I know Ebay has said they will be tracking buyers that use the return system too much. But by the time Ebay has caught up to the buyer for misuse of the system, several sellers could be left in their wake of distruction.
As a seller of fragrances I can not guarantee to anyone that they will enjoy any given fragrance. Not just because it is an internet sale, but because it is completely a personal subjective decision.
Hi @mam98031, I am happy to reiterate what brian@ebay shared on this topic last week. If you receive the product back and it has been altered or damaged by the buyer, you can deduct up to 50% of the refund if you offer Free Returns.
Additionally, while customers are generally after first time use, returning a perfume simply because they "didn't like it" would be considered an altered item and would not qualify for the eBay Money Back Guarantee. This is similar to how we do not offer coverage for a buyer who purchased a makeup product that they opened and used, then asked to return it because they didn't like it. If they need to return it for a not as described reason, then we would expect a return - if it is for a remorse reason and they have tried out the product, we would consider this to be altered and would be able to protect the seller.
If you run into a specific issue with a return like this, definitely touch base with our Customer Service teams or let us know if you aren't receiving the help you are looking for.
The problem comes in when a buyer tells the seller clearly in an email that they don't like the smell or something similar. They then open a Request for return, but the don't open it as a Buyer Remorse Request but as a SNAD. Maybe they claim it is a counterfiet or whatever. Doesn't really matter because they are not being truthful.
The seller has no way of getting Ebay to change the Request to a BR even with clear proof that the buyer lied when opening a SNAD. Plus that darn word "counterfiet" is a key word that gets a seller no matter how good of a seller they are or how long they have been on Ebay.
So you have a buyer that is returning it for a buyer remorse reason in actuallity, but they file it as a SNAD which in the land of Ebay it gets process at the Seller's expense.
Ebay should have a realistic way for sellers to get a Request changed from a SNAD to a BR if there is crystal clear info in Ebay M2M to support it.
@labs118 wrote:Yes coins brought up this return item button last week
There is the new purchase history & old purchase history pages
see 2 below screen shots.
Why are some of my items showing with a Big Blue Return item button & some Leave feedback button?
I thought at first it was because the 2nd item on my screen shot was over 30 days so outside ebay MBG or return policy so I could just leave feedback but if you look at the date it isn't.
So why Leave feedback on some, Return item on others?
What is the reason
Old purchase history
New
Sorry replied to cnj surplus was a mistake
It was meant to alan !!1
