'RESTOCKING FEES' Went Live Without Warning: Sellers Check Your Listings

[momcqueen]

There were two threads created about this over the weekend. One by me http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/No-Restocking-Fee-Set-on-My-New-Sold-Re-Listing-Without/m... and one by another member http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Restocking-fee-option-in-Return-policy/td-p/319088/highli...

Basically, ebay Canada sellers, you need to check to see if you have been auto-set to NO RESTOCKING FEES on your listings. All of them. Mine began to auto-switch November 8 but it wasn't until November 14 that we started to see evidence of it in the individual Sell Your Item Form. If you take the links to the threads above and read about it, you'll see specific examples. 

If you don't use restocking fees, this is a non-issue. You are all set with the NO RESTOCKING FEES pre-selected for you. 

If you do use restocking fees -- or like me just like to state it's a possibility even if you are unlikely to actually enforce it -- then you must check your listings and alter them to state whether you want to charge 10 per cent or 15 per cent or 20 per cent of your item. 

The easiest way to do this is by Using Bulk Editor to group similar listings. If you try the SYI form, it will fail to load at least 50 per cent of the time and then fail to save another 75 per cent of the time it does load.

While it's true that ebay did warn us in the fine details of the 2015 Fall Seller Update http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate2015/returns-updates.html that a restocking drop-down menu would be available in our listings somewhere near the end of October, I didn't see it mentioned anywhere that this was happening now. At least, there was no reminders issued.

Consider yourselves warned.

[momcqueen]

Further to this, it was my assumption the Restocking Fees changes were specific to the ebay-managed Returns Process but while they may be an aspect of it, this is independent to that. I manage my own Returns and my listings had their Restocking Fees changed regardless. 

[pjcdn2005]

HFR was the only way that you could set up an automatic restocking fees but the new return system they announced in the fall update mentions that option will be available. I agree though that that option shouldn't say yes or no until we can set it up for ourselves.

I haven't gone and looked back but I remember at one time they did announce that all sellers who accepted returns would be opted into the HFR program. That could have been for .com listings only...I don't remember.  But now it looks as if they decided against doing that specifically and instead have set up a separate returns program.

There are just so many variables when you set up something to work automatically like this and they usually don't have all of the variables set up in the program.  As you mentioned earlier, you might state that you have a restocking fee but want to decide on a case by case basis if you will charge it. According to the info, if you have a restocking fee it will automatically be deducted from a refund when a buyer returns an item for buyers remorse reasons so you might want to ask Raphael if that will happen automatically or will the seller have a chance to indicate that they won't be charging a restocking fee and to refund the buyer in full.

I hope that makes sense...lol...I'm having a tough time explaining what I mean for some reason.

[momcqueen]

I do understand what you mean. Hassle Free Returns is an ebay.com thing that doesn't apply to ebay.ca according to the 2014 Fall Seller Update http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate2014/ebaymoneybackguarantee.html section near the bottom that says:

Do Hassle-Free Returns Apply to Sellers on ebay.ca?

• No, hassle-free returns is a process only available on eBay.com and for sellers residing in the US. A hassle-free return is only eligible on domestic returns in the US.

  Learn more about the hassle-free return process on eBay.com

I guess I'll have to ask about this at Board Hour.

I'm not sure the reason exactly this gets my dander up as much as it does. It's not likely to actually affect me as a seller because I've yet to get an actual Returns request come in and if I did, I'm not sure I'd use the restocking fee anyway unless there was extenuating circumstances to factor into play. I suppose it's the principle of a seller's advertised Terms of Sale changing without their prior knowledge and/or consent. That's bad news for sellers and buyers. No one likes surprises unless it's Antonio Banderas jumping from a giant Birthday cake. 

The only two orders I've ever had kicked back were international ones where the buyer rejected them at delivery due to import fees being assessed by the incoming Customs of the country in question: one Great Britain and the other Spain. Neither were actual, official returns. It was more like the parcel arrived back on my desk with a note from Customs saying El Rejecto del Tariffsio and I said, 'What?!' and sent the buyer(s) in question their refund(s) with a note explaining everything again outlined in the Fine Print section of my listings. I was the one initiating contact to explain the order had, in fact, come back to me after they had refused to pay their import taxes on it and I would, of course, refund their money.

So that's a 0.25 Returns rate? I think I can manage those numbers without help from an automated Returns process.