About Returns

[sylviebee]

I'm curious:  a while ago there was a post about returns and the buyer hadn't opened a case.  Sellers seemed to prefer it that way but my feelings are that I'd prefer if the buyer opened the case and proceeded by the book.

When the buyer isn't requesting return shipping costs what are the benefits, if any, of returns without opening a case first?  It just seems to me that as long as you only have a few returns/year and the buyer is paying return shipping that putting these types of returns through the eBay system is easier for everyone.

Why do some sellers prefer that buyers don't open a return case?

[femmefan1946]

In my case, the less those others than my customers and me know about our dealings the better.

I know eBay is aware of our transaction and Paypal and some credit card company and ever CRA, but ..... emotionally, it's butt out, buddy.

I can understand your viewpoint too, and if  transaction is getting acrimonious, definitely get eBay involved, if only to have possible notes about a difficult member on record.

[sylviebee]

I know that sellers get dinged for cases that require eBay to step in and resolve the issue, but I'm under the impression that eBay doesn't penalize sellers for "clean" returns.

However I can't seen to nail it down.  Does anyone know if sellers get dinged for returns?

[momcqueen]

Not dinged, per se, but monitored with an eventual slap on the wrist of some kind should a seller reach a point of rate of Returns (for ANY reason, remorse or otherwise) that’s not in-line with that category. This was a semi-recent change. I recall the day Returns materialized on our dashboards and I was irate about it, predicting this development to which Raphael (at the time) assured me was not in the cards. Of course it was: it had to be after metrics were altered to eliminate Negative feedback as repercussions but that’s an argument for another day.

[sylviebee]

Thanks for the response.   I'd love to find some numbers regarding the percentage that's acceptable.

I really prefer that buyers open a case when doing a return but don't want to push it if there's a penalty for returns.  

[pjcdn2005]

A nad return is put on a sellers service metric but doesn't affect you unless you have 10 of them AND you are considered to have a high amount of nad returns in that category. (as compared to your peers..supposedly)

Buyers remorse returns are tracked and have been been for at least a couple of years but haven't affected us so far so I don't see how asking a buyer to open a return would affect you in that situation.  However, sometimes it is easier for both buyer and seller to handle things themselves without going through the ebay return process.

There is one situation to be careful of since in some cases ebay does give us an out of stock request if we refund without any official cases being open. However, if there are messages showing that the buyer has requested a return and that's why the seller is refunding, that shouldn't happen and if it does, you should be be able to appeal it.

[recped]

I prefer they open a case for one simple reason......

If you do a return outside of eBay and give a full refund to the buyer eBay may see this as an "out of stock" situation and serve you up with a (mega) defect.

In addition it simplifies the entire matter for both parties, the refunds, fee credits are all done automatically and it's fully documented in case there are any complications down the road.

[sylviebee]

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@recped wrote:

In addition it simplifies the entire matter for both parties, the refunds, fee credits are all done automatically and it's fully documented in case there are any complications down the road.

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Yes, I agree and I asked the buyer to open a case yesterday as those are the things I've been considering as well.

Mainly "the complications down the road" aspect of this return concerns me.  For example:  If there is a reason not to issue a refund the buyer would still have the option of opening a PP case.  If an eBay case is on file I believe that option would be closed.

[pjcdn2005]

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@sylviebee wrote:

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@recped wrote:

In addition it simplifies the entire matter for both parties, the refunds, fee credits are all done automatically and it's fully documented in case there are any complications down the road.

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Yes, I agree and I asked the buyer to open a case yesterday as those are the things I've been considering as well.

Mainly "the complications down the road" aspect of this return concerns me.  For example:  If there is a reason not to issue a refund the buyer would still have the option of opening a PP case.  If an eBay case is on file I believe that option would be closed.

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Paypal cases can be opened even if an ebay case has closed.

[sylviebee]

Except I'm not sure about that because I wasn't allowed to do so in the past.  

Perhaps it has to be for a different issue?

[pjcdn2005]

It changed awhile ago...around the time that the eBay/PP split was announced.  I’ve read about lots of cases that were closed on eBay and then opened on PP.

[sylviebee]

Good to know.