Home › Forums › Buying and Selling › Selling on eBay › Done With Free Returns
- This topic has 23 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 6 months ago by
Anonymous.
-
AuthorPosts
-
-
07/26/2018 at 12:33 pm #46182
All of my listings with first class shipping have free returns. And for perspective, I have 2,500 listings and it’s mostly clothing and accessories with a smattering of hard goods. All of my listings have measurements and this week alone I have 8 returns to refund. In all of my years selling, I’ve never had 8 returns in one week. It’s lunacy. Bye bye free returns. You’re out of here.
-
07/26/2018 at 2:44 pm #46191
This is good information. Glad you look clearly at the return rate and decided it doesnt work. Eight returns in one week is nuts.
We’re most of them just “changed mind”?
-
07/27/2018 at 9:37 am #46231
Thank you for sharing this. I just turned on free returns for 5% of my items as an experiment. I assume your sales didn’t go up to balance the costs?
I have not heard anyone say that sales increased b/c they have switched it on? -
07/27/2018 at 10:32 am #46239
Wow! That is crazy!
We haven’t seen that big of an increase in returns. We were just under 2% and are now at 2.7%. Interesting part is only returns have been clothes. No shoes. That was my fear.
Hard to prove right now if sales are up because if this. We are up Year Over Year, but more inventory too. I can say our July is looking way better than I planned. But hard to prove if Free Returns is a part of that.
It is really a sauce as to what creates a sale. So many items are in there, Free Shipping, Free Returns, Trusted Seller, Good Photos, Good Description, Good Price, On Sale, Promoted Listings… Very difficult to nail down how much each item helps or hurts.
-
07/27/2018 at 11:33 am #46243
I’ve been selling since late 2015, had about half a dozen returns in that time. I turned on Free Returns and got 4 returns within 10 days. I maintain that eBay is teaching the public a return mindset.
-
07/27/2018 at 12:01 pm #46249
Just to play devil’s advocate, I have had free returns on since the policy change and have had no noticeable jump in returns. Out of curiosity, is most of the clothing you guys are selling female or male? I’m guessing you’d have more returns with female clothing due to the different cuts / styles / sizing.
-
07/27/2018 at 12:57 pm #46260
We are primarily men’s clothing. I would agree that it from talking with others sellers, women’s clothing has a higher return rate.
-
07/27/2018 at 1:08 pm #46261
It is hard for me to judge where I am in sales right now re: not opting into Free Returns as July is hard for clothing. I will re-evaluate in September if I want to participate.
-
07/28/2018 at 11:27 am #46329
Anonymous
- Location:
My top rated badge disappeared bc I do not offer free returns. I sell vintage variety, all size things. My sales are dead. I do promotions, reductions, but it’s been no offers, no bids, no sales, no contact and it is unsettling. Is it bc I don’t do free returns? I have 30-day rets, always have. My store is not worth the subscription fee. I will ask for that to be credited. WHAT am I paying for? a New Orleans girl is my store. grumpy for about three weeks now
-
07/28/2018 at 11:54 am #46339
a New Orleans Girl: I can’t seem to find your store. Can you sent your seller ID?
–How many items are listed?
–How many new listings have you done this week?
–Are these summer type items?
–Are you seeing similar items from other sellers sell? -
07/28/2018 at 12:26 pm #46341
Anonymous
- Location:
hello, T-Satt, ty for writing. My seller id: winebreath, store – a New Orleans girl – 320 items, not seasonal – vintage, pottery, cloisonne, collectibles, I posted this week, I don’t know how many new items. You may see others, but not exactly vintage, antique, unique. I am at a crossroads with basic store, wish to list more, but I abide by subscription limits, and work hard not to incur ebay’s extra charges. It was all good until summer slapped me silly, about a month ago. Wonder if I’m out of algor favor, not doing “free returns”. Appreciate your communicating with me, Linda, a New Orleans girl ebay store.
-
07/28/2018 at 12:30 pm #46343
Anonymous
- Location:
T-Satt here is the link, https://www.ebay.com/str/aneworleansgirl if that is wrong to do so here, pls dele. TY
-
07/28/2018 at 5:48 pm #46350
You store looks really good! I like that most of your store is composed of high priced items. Just put more listings up, but you are going about it the right way.
-
07/28/2018 at 1:20 pm #46345
a New Orleans Girl: Ok, looking at your store now. Plus, the boss in this area (Veronica) is looking and talking with me as well.
First, I think a part of this is just summer. Summer is a slowdown for retailers everywhere, so there is always an issue there. Most of the items that I’m seeing that you are listing are not really related to summer, so this just isn’t the season. If you can add more summer type items (thinking what people need for the beach, the sun, vacations, etc.) then you can probably fill that hole.
Also, looking at your sales volume compared to your inventory, you are running at about a 3.3% Sell Thru Rate. That is about normal for this type of year with this type of merchandise. I see a lot of people at this level of sales.
The items that you have listed look good, but we would recommend that you always put your Brand Name as the first part of the title. All the eBay and Google search folks said the same thing. For most items, Brand is king. For items that don’t have a brand, it is really hard to sell them. No matter how cool they are, it is hard to reach a buyer when most buyers search by Brand. Check the eBay Open site when you can for when they will post the breakout sessions to watch. The Google one talked about this more in depth.
Regarding brands, I see three tiers in almost every category: Low, middle, and high. Low end you stay away from. As an example, Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica are good well known items, but it is damn hard to sell them for any profit. 100,000 other listings, all low and cheap, and buyers can get them at reasonable prices other places. High end is great! So a Brioni or Eton shirt is what you look for. You make great money on them…but they take a while to sell, because you are looking for the buyers that know the high end and are willing to pay more for it. Your middle tier is where you make your bread and butter. You can get reasonable profit for them, there is less competition than the low end, but in a price range where you can get more buyers. This keeps the cash flow coming in.
So I wouldn’t freak out at this point. If your goals are to keep growing your store and get consistent income, then keep looking for good brands that you like, keep listing and growing your store, and you either know that your STR will be lower and your consistent income will be provided by a higher inventory, or you can look for more items that will sell quicker with enough profit to make it worth your time.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk more. TSATTERF@YAHOO.COM
Good luck!
PS – Veronica was wondering if you have thought about putting a lot of your nice pieces on Etsy, especially the pottery items. That may be a solid target market for those items.
-
07/28/2018 at 6:15 pm #46351
Like I said, T-Satt is King! Invaluable info. So helpful and much appreciated.
-
07/28/2018 at 9:39 pm #46357
Anonymous
- Location:
Right now I have no sales. Often my vintage items have no brand or maker marks. I “really” appreciate your feedback. I intend daily to list more + my basic store restrictions. Mainly am selling my collections, bit by bit. I don’t need a 1000 item store, so I am stymied. 10,000 thx! linda
-
07/28/2018 at 9:45 pm #46358
Anonymous
- Location:
Joe, I appreciate your compliment about the looks of the store a lot!! I have a good many listings under $50 or $100, Horrors — my status is about to summer-dive bc I’m not making sales. glub glub
-
07/30/2018 at 9:18 am #46403
Sorry I posted that and disappeared. I was at eBay Open and I still haven’t recovered, lol. All of the returns were due to fit.
-
07/30/2018 at 1:27 pm #46424
AtomicStar: What were your thoughts on eBay Open overall?
Also, that is horrible on the returns. I’m hoping that it is a bad wave and not a trend. Very crazy! We are at a similar level of listings and haven’t really seen an increase in returns so far. We are up about .75% on returns, but nothing to that level.
-
07/30/2018 at 6:12 pm #46464
T-Satt,
I really enjoyed it. The workshops were pretty much propaganda… free returns, free ship, promoted listings, opting into the new payment system… No thanks, not before the upcoming 4th quarter with exclusion of Paypal and GSP.
That said, I learned a lot from my peers. I loved being with other sellers as this is such a solitary career. And my husband is a managing member of my s-corp, so a nice write off. Food was very good even though you could tell they spent less this year. I was satisfied. Closing party was a little bit of a letdown after last year, but we still had fun.
I have enough eBay chapstick to keep my lips supple for at least a year. 🙂 And the Fedex socks were another fun freebie.
I thought they danced around the lost photos issue and I’m peeved as I have about 200 listings affected. I need to use Sixbit, but I’m a Mac girl currently. I need to buy a new laptop to use it.
Loved Mandalay Bay.
All in all, very happy I went. I wish we had met up. Next year!
-
07/30/2018 at 7:13 pm #46472
AtomicStar: Totally agree. We are planning on going again next year, so let’s definitely have a meet up. We like to find more out of the way and off the strip places to eat, and we have vetted two of them and have a list for others.
PS – We did spring for The Void: Star Wars Virtual Hyper-Reality at the Venetian…TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!
-
-
07/31/2018 at 9:40 pm #46567
New Orleans Girl: You have some COOL stuff. I like how you have your Store Categories done as well. Makes me want to switch mine up a bit to themes like yours.
You have some very high end bags, I would suggest taking those pics again on a white background or outdoors even on a white sheet. There are some cheap light kits on AZ you can try (get brighter bulbs though). Since you have so many high end items, I would suggest this. Your Armani, Balenciagia, especially. You are competing with The Real Real and high end consignment sellers for someone who wants a $1,000 purse, ya know? The Solid Black Quilted Coat would be stunning on a white background. Also don’t forget measurements. 🙂
I would suggest taking your trendier “brand name” pieces to Poshmark as well if you are interested.
You have amazing taste! I love your items and I am sure you see stunning pieces in NOLA!
-
07/31/2018 at 10:45 pm #46571
Anonymous
- Location:
Yes, I know some of my images are bad. Especially that reversible coat. (I wouldn’t buy it based on that picture set – but I never fix it – like I don’t really want it sold, hmmm?) You know fees on shipping, that is low. but eBay’s a means to an end. I’m not going thru poshmark, et.al. learning curves now – rather fatten this store. But wish 750, not 1000 store subscription. heavy sigh. I am not doing free returns. Puh-LEEZE! I try to hang in there for the best price; it’s my job. On prices, today I learned the value of an item is what someone is willing to pay for it. Thank you for your feedback and compliments. ‘s wonderful.
-
07/31/2018 at 11:00 pm #46574
Anonymous
- Location:
All I did for themes on my store categories was to list what I have for sale. But some words matter – I never say handbag, I say purse. And I followed eBay’s step-by-step, I think, to set up store categories.
-
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.