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02/27/2020 at 4:28 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74519
By the way, I think the categories that are permitted to have 14 day returns instead of 30 are: Collectibles & Art, Cameras & Photo and Medical, Mobility & Disability Equipment. I believe they added jewelry to this list too, but I’m not sure. Since a lot of what I sell is in the Collectible category, I could go with 14 days, but I think buyers are more likely to buy when they feel confident about my return policy, and so I give 30 days. I’m also set to auto accept. Much easier than reviewing every return request.
02/27/2020 at 4:10 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74514Atomic Star, As long as we’ve had 30 day return policies, the buyers have had 30 days to initiate the return. (You can use 14 day returns for certain categories, but I think most sellers just use 30 days). Studies have shown that most returns are initiated within a few days of receipt….which is one reason some sellers have 60 day returns….studies have also shown that, the longer the buyer has to initiate the return, the more likely they are to calm down and just forget about returning it. But I digress.
So, this isn’t adding more time to initiate the return, just giving the buyer more time to print the label and get to the PO. Since most buyers will initiate the return within the first few days of the 30 day period, and most will print the label and ship fairly quickly, the number of times a seller is likely to get a return that takes 45 days is probably very tiny.
To me, this isn’t any big deal, because IN PRACTICE, most of my few returns will go as they always have.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by
MyCottage.
02/27/2020 at 12:50 pm in reply to: What to watch today: Dow to drop into correction as global coronavirus concerns #74502As scavengers, our supply line isn’t really effected by this, but if (as is likely) this shakes consumer confidence, we may see a serious contraction in our sales. Well, if I’m not shipping, it will give me more time to list I suppose….
02/27/2020 at 12:20 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74501Mike, Yeah, this is simply no big deal for my business. There’s really nothing in this Update that really concerns me (unless I’m missing something). The categories and item specifics will mean extra work, but changes to categories and IS were expected, and if they can eventually get some of that mess cleaned up, we’ll all benefit.
02/27/2020 at 11:13 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74496I suspect ebay was probably giving the buyers ten days even before this (despite the five day rule), but was closing the case after five days IF the seller contacted them to close it. ebay probably got push back from unhappy buyers and ebay was also probably tired of having CS reps tied up with the seller requests. So, come April , no more calling ebay to close the case…will save CS rep time, and fewer pissed off buyers. From a seller standpoint, if I understand this correctly, I won’t need to babysit the returns, waiting to jump in and call ebay on Day 6….if they don’t meet the ten business day deadline, ebay will automatically (I think) close the case in sellers favor.
02/27/2020 at 10:55 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74492Here’s a bit more, from an ebay rep (this is the April change): If the buyer doesn’t print the label, we’ll close the request 10 business after the return was opened. So the buyer won’t have the option to print the label on day 30 as the return will have already closed.
If the buyer does print, we’ll wait 15 days from open to close the request if we don’t see a ship scan.
02/27/2020 at 10:16 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74489Atomic Star,
Under the current rules, they have 5 business days in which to print the return label and upload tracking (done automatically with ebay return labels) Then they have however much time it takes for the item to be delivered to the seller, and then the seller has 6 business days in which to refund.
This is changing on April Fool’s Day (Yes, ebay has a real knack for writing their own punch lines).
Per the ebay Discussion Board:
“Starting April 1, 2020, we will no longer close returns early at the request of a seller when the buyer has not shipped the item back. Instead, we will wait to ensure buyers have sufficient time to provide proof items they requested to return were shipped back. If we do not receive proof of shipment from your buyers while the return requests are active, we will protect you by removing any negative or neutral feedback left on that transaction.”
Could you please define “sufficient time”.
When buyers are sent an eBay-generated return label, the return is closed if the label is not printed within 10 business days. If the buyer prints the label, we allow the return to remain open an additional 5 business days to ensure shipping scans are captured. When buyers are not sent an eBay-generated return label, we wait up to 35 business days before closing the return.
So, I’d say what will be happening in April is: Instead of five business days in which to print the return label, the buyer will actually have ten business days. If ebay can see that the label has been printed within that time frame, the buyer will be given another five business days to make sure there’s a shipping scan. I assume if there is no scan, ebay will close in favor of seller.
Keep in mind that most buyers would prefer to get a refund sooner rather than later, so usually there is no incentive for them to wait any longer than necessary. But yes, this gives the buyer a good bit of time. In my experience, and I believe this is pretty true for most returns, returns are usually initiated within a few days of receipt of the item. As a practical matter, I don’t think this change is going to have much impact on me.
02/27/2020 at 9:00 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74486Yep, a 30 day return policy is 30 days to initiate the return request, not 30 days in which to actually return it to the seller’s address. If you have a 30 day return policy, ebay will not auto approve after the 30th day. Buyers can still request a remorse return after the 30 days, there is no prohibition on that, but you can safely decline the request. I had that happen only once, and there were extenuating circumstances, so I refunded (and told him to keep the item, which had cost me all of 50 cents)
almasty,
I definitely don’t see ebay requiring this for all sellers/all listings. eBay does recommend using an all white background for at least the Gallery Photo, in part because Google seems to prefer it. However, I think eBay recognizes that it is probably most useful for “new” items, probably because buyers are used to such items having an all white background. A while ago, while still saying that the Gallery is best as white, eBay acknowledged that many items (especially vintage, etc) can look better if they are staged somewhat (as long as the photo isn’t “cluttered”. So, yes, an old stoneware crock might sell better if it’s on a weathered pine table rather than an antiseptic white background.
I think the tool is simply aimed at making it easier for those sellers who really want the all white background to get it. When eBay first started recommending white backgrounds, a lot of sellers said “Well, if you want it so badly, why don’t you make it easier for us to provide it.” and that’s what they’ve done. Unfortunately, pretty sure it won’t work on my older model phone, or I’d at least play around with it.
02/26/2020 at 10:45 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74417Of course, the category changes and item specifics will probably be a PITA, but it will be a not unexpected PITA.
02/26/2020 at 10:44 am in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74416I’ve only skimmed through it so far, but, yeah, I don’t see anything to be alarmed about, and that in itself is a plus. LOL. On balance, it looks pretty good to me.
This was mentioned today on the Town Hall as one of the issues ebay is looking to fix this year, so hopefully we’ll have a real vacation mode before the end of 2020….
02/25/2020 at 5:14 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74387Mike, One thing to keep in mind….there is no one date when they will be onboarding everyone onto MPs. While they will be ramping up fairly quickly in July or August, when the restriction expires, it isn’t going to be everyone at once. Hopefully, that will limit the potential for disaster….
02/25/2020 at 3:12 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74377Well, to my surprise, they did address my question first. Most responses were relatively general, which is probably unavoidable, but my impression is that they really are trying to improve things, and that they recognize that the “used” market has been left to languish for too many years. I’d call myself cautiously optimistic at this point.
Sonia, Yeah, emails like that always make my day! Very nice!
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