"Why lose sales to have a barrier up that may never be used?"
That is true. My eyes have been opened with all the excellent tips here. 
Hope it helped other newbies as well.
Thanks!
@craftee_shadow wrote:Excellent observation!
However, I think a return policy should be tailored to what a person is selling. I have several patterns to sell. Patterns are never returnable in a brick & mortar store. Not sure if books are either. I will not be allowing returns for patterns or books or magazines, that much I know.
I've been selling patterns of various types for several years (welcome to the club 
), and I would strongly advise that you show returns (preferably 30 days or more) on such listings, as well as for books, magazines, in fact everything, with the possible exception of undergarments and bathing suits.
The fact is, in the "new" eBay, even if you specify no returns on some items, Paypal may force a return anyway, so you gain nothing except perhaps scaring off a lot of buyers. Soon we are probably all going to have to cope with Hassle Free Returns, and the 180-day Paypal return policy anyway. So to quote that famous line: "resistance is futile". Never so true as here, now.
You might as well forget about what B&M stores do -- these days eBay policy dictates sellers' terms and how we deal with our customers. Sellers who don't toe the line soon find themselves downgraded or restricted.
I think you'll find this shift in control is one of the biggest differences now from even 3 or 4 years ago, and it's something you'll need to adapt to if you want to survive. It requires a real adjustment in attitude toward selling here that for many of us has occurred over several years, but will be somewhat more difficult if you're jumping back in after an absence.
If you remember "the buyer is always king/queen", you'll have the idea in a nutshell. And believe me, if you don't remember it, eBay will make sure you do.
@pierrelebel wrote:"Soon" !
At this time, I expect to close on October 9th or so.
It may re-open sometimes next year. It very much depends on our potential relocation. We have been looking for several months and have yet to find "the one". We visit "open houses" every weekend (two are scheduled for this afternoon) and arrange the odd week day visit with realtors for new listings possibly offering what we are looking for.
In the meantime, I will start packing next week whatever remains of my stamp inventory. Some of it will be sold and shipped to other dealers, some will be sold at public philatelic auctions and some I may keep for marketing on eBay at a later date to keep myself busy.
You'll still be helping us newbies on the forum - right? 'cause I need all the help I can get 🙂
@reallynicestamps wrote:Can I quibble?
even if you specify no returns on some items, Paypal may force a return anyway,
PP doesn't force returns. It forces refunds. Which is even more painful. The unhappy buyer has his money back, as well as an item he doesn't want and has to figure out how to dispose of it.
And the unhappy seller has neither the money nor the item plus a queasy feeling that the buyer was scamming.
I'll continue the "quibbling" if you don't mind...
I believe in most cases Paypal will take the money from the seller (i.e. debit the seller's account) but won't actually pay it out to the buyer until the buyer can confirm he/she has dispatched the item with tracked shipping by providing Paypal with a tracking number. At least (it must admittedly be said), that's the official drill.
Normally it isn't left to the buyer to decide how to dispose of the item . Once Paypal intervenes, the buyer must return the item in order to get the refund (unless of course the seller doesn't want it back). The seller may feel obliged to pay the return shipping as well, but once the "Hassle Free Returns" policy is implemented in Canada, that choice will apparently disappear too.
I think most sellers do understand "Paypal may force a return" to mean it will force the seller to refund once an item is returned (assuming the seller wants it back). After all, a return policy on eBay is in effect a policy on refunds.
Accordingly, a new seller who specifies "no returns", thinking that she/he will never have to refund a buyer and accept product back, is mistaken. Paypal will, in that sense, force its returns policy on the seller, willy-nilly, perhaps not in every situation (for example, if the buyer changes her/his mind about colour), but certainly in a SNAD case. Just wait until we get buyers popping up 180 days (yes, that's 6 months!) after the fact asking to return for a refund. Yikes.
As I said, I think the OP would be wise to remove "no returns" from her listings, as she'll find out sooner or later that she really has little or no control over the matter anyway, and will be losing buyers in the meantime.
By the way, you're absolutely right about trying to write a guide to selling on eBay -- has anyone published anything in the last 2 or 3 years? The way eBay shape-shifts these days, it could drive a person nuts trying to get it to press.
Featured Posts
