eBay

momcqueen · ‎09-30-2016

Read this on an industry blog. http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2016/9/1475192230.html

Excerpt: "eBay first announced its Returns Handling pilot program last year as part of the Fall 2015 Seller Update. The program launched in November to a small number of sellers, and it's designed to counter "bad buyers" who lie about returns when filing SNAD claims (items significantly not as described)."

From ebay itself: http://p.ebaystatic.com/aw/sc/returns-on-ebay/snad_faq_links.pdf

While I know nothing about this actual pilot program beyond what I have read above, I do think it's good to see some acknowledgement that all Return requests are not as they seem.

fashionoutletdeal · ‎09-30-2016

Is eBay became like Amazon? UPC,return policy changes?

sylviebee · ‎09-30-2016

I buy antique/vintage items and these all have some damage.

I have no tolerance for sellers who do not disclose all the damage but it's very common for issues to be concealed or overlooked. As a buyer I have no way of knowing if these sellers hid the damage intentionally or not so I don't even go there.

However, virtually all of the guilty sellers insist that they are not at fault when items arrive with more damage than described.

If sellers are given a choice why would they refund the full amount plus return shipping?

We see it here on the board all the time. Sellers refuse to take responsibility when an item has more damage than described or breaks during transit.

It's easy to predict the outcome of this Pilot Programs because sellers generally refuse to take responsibility when things go wrong.

Keep in mind that the regular sellers posting to this board are the best of the best.

i.am.vivian · ‎09-30-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
I buy antique/vintage items and these all have some damage.

I have no tolerance for sellers who do not disclose all the damage but it's very common for issues to be concealed or overlooked. As a buyer I have no way of knowing if these sellers hid the damage intentionally or not so I don't even go there.

However, virtually all of the guilty sellers insist that they are not at fault when items arrive with more damage than described.

If sellers are given a choice why would they refund the full amount plus return shipping?

We see it here on the board all the time. Sellers refuse to take responsibility when an item has more damage than described or breaks during transit.

It's easy to predict the outcome of this Pilot Programs because sellers generally refuse to take responsibility when things go wrong.

Keep in mind that the regular sellers posting to this board are the best of the best.

Good post! I was thinking something like that about the feedback thead. The regular members here are those who at least try to do everything right but the good thing about FB is it points out the ones who don't. But that's for another thread. 🙂

For THIS thread I would like to see something, ANYTHING, done about the problem of sellers having to pay return shipping when there is nothing wrong with the item but the buyer changed their mind and just SAID it was NAD, and about sellers not being able to send a return label but eBay still expects rtn shipping to be paid somehow. If eBay can't get the program set up properly then they should wait until they can before launching it on the worlds sellers.

I'm all for eBay being "buyer friendly" but not "scammer friendly" so there has to be a way to easily sort the sheep from the goats.

momcqueen · ‎09-30-2016

I think that is part of this pilot. Figuring out a way to determine when a SNAD is or isn't really a SNAD.

While I don't source as much of my product on eBay as I once did, I don't think I'll ever forget some of the terrible buying experiences that I had. Like when sellers would bend a product in half to mail it to me in a used Kleenex box. It would be destroyed by the time it got here and I'd have to send it back but those sellers wanted to accept no responsibility for it. And we all know as sellers that a buyer's idea of SNAD might vary widely from what we believe.

As a seller, I worry most about the ole box-of-rocks return. It's never happened to me yet I'm bracing for the day it does.

As a pilot, I see this as a test of sellers' honesty. If I were eBay, I would scrutinize the sellers invited to participate in this pilot into two camps: perfectly perfect sellers in every way, and cagey ones.

I'd want to know how often the cagey sellers would reject buyer terms if given the power to do so, and use the perfectly perfect sellers as a control group.

I think eBay can see that a certain segment of buyers is abusing Returns the way a certain segment of sellers abuses terms of sale. This pilot probably aims to find a middle ground that doesn't punish honest buyers and sellers. Or the mostly-honest ones.

momcqueen · ‎09-30-2016

And this thing with return labels for international customers should not be a thing. I don't see the reason it needs to be a problem. If a seller cannot buy that label, eBay should be able to buy and print and provide those labels and then add the cost to monthly fees. I don't think it should be a seller's problem at all. eBay has offices all over the world, let staff worry about the logistics of supplying the return labels where required. Or directly oversee supplying it to the buyer. Or work directly with the buyer to reimburse postage on behalf of the seller with funds coming from monthly fees.

momcqueen · ‎09-30-2016

AND while I'm trumpeting my list of wishes and should-be's: this nonsense with seller PayPal funds being frozen the moment a buyer opens a remorse return must stop. Freeze funds if and when tracking shows something is actually being returned if frozen funds are really necessary. I waited 20 days with frozen funds for a buyer to return nothing. It timed-out. And I had to escalate it to see it closed and get my money back, thawed, unfrozen. Nothing was returned, but the buyer left the case open after they changed their mind. That's an insult.

momcqueen · ‎10-01-2016

Another article about it:

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y16/m09/i30/s01

sylviebee · ‎10-01-2016

@mjwl2006 wrote:
eBay has offices all over the world, let staff worry about the logistics of supplying the return labels where required.

Good Point!

I hadn't thought about that before, but since eBay has offices all over the world this shouldn't be the problem it is.

Not just that, but looking only at the CPO where the Post Office is always stressed, why haven't they made it possible for customers from other countries to spend their money with them?

Looks like they're missing out on a business opportunity that's right there in front of them and would take very little effort to implement.

momcqueen · ‎10-01-2016

I suspect the individual national post offices don't (and can't) offer cross-border sales to outside residents due to their agreements with the Universal Postal Union. I can see how this could lead to abuse.

But eBay should be able to do it. No excuses for them.

fashionoutletdeal · ‎10-13-2016

i would love to go on this program .Just got scammed again lol.Customer sent me a message that i didnt sent the right item.I excuse myself and just asked for picture of the item that she received.Guess what im sold out of this item few months ago.My lucky month