Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Jay, I agree to some extent it’s a question of philosophy. I don’t use it much, for a number of reasons, but I might start using it more. I wish we had more data from ebay on this. For example, what percentage of clothing buyers routinely use the free shipping filter? What percentage of book buyers, or antique buyers do? What percentage of clothing items are offered with free shipping? If I knew that most people searching for mens ties, for example, use the free ship filter, I might decide to list all my ties with free ship. But I have no way to know that, so I have to guess.
I also consider that for some things, like mens ties, would it be better to charge shipping on the listing, but run promos (Buy 3, get free shipping)” to encourage multiple purchases? I have a huge backlog of ties, if I ever get them all up, that might be the way to go….
For most of my stuff, I am guessing buyers aren’t using the filter, and are less worried about free and/or fast shipping. It would be different if I were selling mostly new stuff….
Jay, Yes, people brought up that hack on the thread, some seemed to think with Amazon especially, that if they just wait they’ll get a discount. I think this may be different in that only some ebay sellers will actually take ebay’s advice and reduce, so buyers really won’t have much assurance, any more than Put it on a watch list and wait for the price to go down. For our kind of stuff, buyers know there’s a risk: wait too long, and maybe someone else buys it. If it’s the only one on ebay, buyers may learn not to wait LOL
Mike, I definitely agree about measuring the impact of things like free shipping. Scavenger sellers have a far harder time than commodity sellers, because we can’t set up those nice A/B tests very effectively: I’ll list half with free ship, half without…..because our stuff is so varied, it’s hard to make an accurate comparison. I’ve been using PL a lot….a number of my sales have been PLs (still within my quarterly credit, so no cost to me)…but, would they have sold without the PL? No way to really know for sure. The best I can usually say about something we try is: Well, it may have helped, and I don’t think it hurt. LOL So, we just plod along, trying this and that and following Jay’s dicta: List. Then list some more.
Mike, I think a requirement for the buyer to be able to use an ebay return shipping label is that the original label be an ebay label. ebay doesn’t really care what you charged the buyer in shipping, they just need to know what the original shipping cost was and the method.
There was a screen shot, but I think it was just the top of the page, didn’t include details. I got the impression the email included a list of specific items, because she said before she could make the changes, one of them sold LOL (which does hint that maybe it was in someone’s cart).
Hoping I get one of these at some point…
Jay, I did mine using math and afterwards, my better half said : Well, why didn’t you just look in Seller Hub? LOL —At least it confirmed that my math was right. I’m a little less than .5 % for the last 12 months. I think that’s due to the fact that I’m a low volume seller and don’t sell in a lot of the high return categories. I do sell some clothing, but mostly mens, which I suspect is a lower return rate than women’s. Also, I just got lucky.
From the Seller Release: “Sellers will see new information about transactions where buyers contacted them about items not received, and requested returns for items not as described. Sellers will see their own rates as well as peer benchmarks to compare with other sellers on eBay.”
So, apparently ebay will be providing a way to compare one’s return rate (at least for INADs) to other “comparable” sellers….not sure how accurate or helpful that will be, but it’s something. I’d like to see some category benchmarks from ebay: average clothing returns, electronics, etc. Maybe some day….
MIke, I do free shipping on some things, but most things, no. I’m on the east coast. I know you crunch numbers far better than I, so can I ask: how did you decide on 3 pounds as the cut off for free shipping? I might try something like that…
T Salt,
I don’t think you can exclude international from free return shipping just yet. I asked them to do it a couple years ago, but they are only now doing it when they might have to pay out their own money LOL I think they said the option will be in place by May sometime. Would be nice if it was already an option, but I don’t think it is. I’ve been lucky, haven’t had any international returns using the free return shipping. But as soon as the option appears, I’m going to domestic only.
Atomic Star, The TRS Plus requirement for free return shipping kicks in June 1st.
Jay, I figured out my return rate for the last 12 months: a little less than one half percent. Like I said, it hasn’t been a problem. That could change on a dime, I realize, but for now, I’ll stick with free return shipping.
I’m not on Instagram, but agree with the potential there. I’m a member of a bunch of FB groups that are based on a certain theme, and allow buying and selling. Plan on getting my toes wet there (while still selling on ebay). I see a LOT of sales being made on these FB groups.
Also, as I posted above, ebay just opened a “portal” with pre-set filters for certain new items, all under $10. THis is probably an attempt to counter successful apps like Wish, which seems to be doing very well with low dollar stuff. Even Amazon has done something similar. So, no question all these sites are responding to competition. I would love to see ebay set up portals for various vintage items, etc…and go further, including content from collectors and experts etc. I suggested something like this many years ago, but of course was ignored LOL Still, I live in hope.
Geoff, As I note above, starting in June, coins and currency can go to a 14 day return policy without free return shipping (but no TRS Plus status) , or 14 days with free return shipping and they will qualify for TRS Plus. So, to some extent, they’ve already made some adjustments.
Jay, I’m not sure why you see free shipping on ebay as a bust. Despite what some on the Boards have claimed for years, eBay never set out to force free shipping on everyone. I always said they were aiming for a percentage of sales with free shipping, probably broken down by categories. For, I think ,several years now, ebay’s quarterly reports have indicated somewhere north of 60% of sales on ebay have free shipping. Since they haven’t really been pushing too hard to increase that, I assume they are pretty comfortable with that percentage. But there is, IMHO, just no way they would have ever gotten to 60+% without pushing sellers. Just as they aren’t going to get a lot of people to sign up for free return shipping by trying to “convince” them it’s a good idea. They need to use a carrot or stick or both.
Is free return shipping the “norm”? Maybe not. But when I read a Seller Release, I generally ignore what I consider the superfluous stuff—such as the FAQs that ask Why is eBay doing this or that? Because, for my business, it simply doesn’t matter WHY, it only matters that they ARE, and I need to figure out how it impacts me.
Matt, Let me add something to that, which I haven’t seen mentioned too often in any discussions about the TRS PLus free return shipping requirement. There are a few categories that do NOT require this (I think auto parts and accessories is one) Also, the following categories DO require free return shipping for TRS PLus, but you will have the option of going with 14 day rather than 30 day (beginning June 1st I think):
Antiques is one of them. It also includes:Art
Coins & Paper Money
Collectibles
Collectible
Comics
Entertainment Memorabilia
Pottery & Glass
Sports Memorabilia, Fan Shop & Sports Cards
Stamps(Together, ebay calls these the Arts and Collectibles categories)
And in those categories, you also will be able to offer 14 day returns without free return shipping, however, you will not get the TRS PLus designation in that case.
As I’ve said before, I’ve been 30 day free returns for a few years now, so this won’t impact me…I’m not going to go back to 14 day returns in these categories….but others might be interested.
Not actually about the Seller Release, but coming on the heels of the Seller Release:
https://www.ebay.com/b/Under-10/bn_7001623770
Read about it here:
https://moneyish.com/hoard/ebay-just-launched-a-new-site-where-everything-costs-10-or-less/
