eBay

vroot_schroot9 · ‎02-16-2018

Hello again, just wanted to get other people's thoughts on my terms of service:

---

BIDDING INFORMATION
US and Canada only. Bidders with 20+ feedback only.

PAYMENT INFORMATION
Paypal only. Please make payment within 3 days of winning the auction.

SHIPPING INFORMATION
I will ship within 2 business days of payment being received.

Combined shipping available. All auctions must be paid for at the same time to receive discount.

Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

I do not mark items as gifts or below value.

RETURN POLICY
Refunds given for returns if item is misrepresented or damaged. Item must be returned within 14 days of buyer receiving it. Returns must be sent with all original contents (minus invoice).

---

1. Too much? Not enough?

2. Is my return policy going to screw me over somehow? Does the bold part come off as confrontational?

3. I am going to post this in the Item Description section. Should I remove the parts that can be posted in other sections of the listing? I kind of like all the info being in one area, even if it's more text.

4. Would I be able to add "Bidders must have 6 months or older accounts" and enforce it?

5. If someone with less than 20 feedback wins my item and I cancel it, would I be penalized for it?

vroot_schroot9 · ‎02-18-2018

Okay, I finally got that Buyer Requirements tab to show up (setting up a payment method for seller fees fixed it).

And now I have more questions:

1. Under the Combined Payments section, it says 'Buyers can send one combined payment for all items purchased from me within xx days'. Is this negated if I check 'Require immediate payment with Buy It Now' on my listing?

2. What time frame do you guys use to qualify for combined shipping? With a 2-business-day handling time, I'd assume it's 2 business days. Is that something I should state in my Terms of Service?

3. For those who ship through lettermail, do you use flat rate/calculated shipping rules for combined shipping?

4. Is it a good idea to allow automatic approval of all return reasons?

5. I chose a time for same-day business handling (in the Shipping Preferences section) and now I don't know how to get it to revert to 'no same-day business handling'. It only allows me to change the time. Any way to remove that? How would eBay know any of this if I am shipping via lettermail?

momcqueen · ‎02-18-2018

Answers to your questions:

1. Yes and no. Yes, if all you use is Immediate Payment Required for your listings. No, if ever you run auctions.

2. Your number of days for one should match your number of days for two. If Unpaid Item cases can be opened after four days of non-payment, most sellers opt for the there-day mark. Or seven. Very patient sellers might wait a month for both.

4. Lettermail within Canada can only be set to flat-rate only. Since it is, after all, a flat-rate. But you can have flat-rate domestic lettermail and still offer Calculated Shipping for international buyers. (Not at the moment without fighting that big glitch with the tool, mind you. But it used to work like a charm so therefore we must assume it will at some point return to functional.)

5. Do NOT offer same-day handling with your domestic lettermail unless you opt for the Economy Shipping setting with allows you up to 16 calendar days to deliver to your buyer. I speak from experience; I take significant pride in offering same-day handling service to my buyers, but without tracking, all it does is shorten your delivery estimates for fellow Canadians. By all means, also offer same-day handling but don't link it to the actual Canada Post Lettermail option because it won't give you a sufficient number of days to get your item to all buyers in Canada. When ebay first announced it was changing the metrics by which seller's were measured for performance, ebay Canada personnel suggested adding additional days of handling to any ebay.ca listing you had to compensate for not being able to offer tracking on our economy services. But to still ship on time. In other words, gaming the estimated date of delivery to avoid Late Shipment Marks. This is all history but it accounts for the reason I'm offering you the advice that I am. The only way ebay determines whether you have shipped an untracked item 'on time' is by asking buyers when they leave feedback whether it arrived by xdate which is a system that is somewhat flawed.

pjcdn2005 · ‎02-18-2018

1. If you require immediate payment, it is even more important that you set up combined shipping to work automatically as buyers will not be able to ask for an invoice even if they use the cart.

4. I don't think it is a good idea because sometimes people will inadvertently open a return case when they really just mean to ask you a question. Or there are times when you can settle the issue by communicating with them.

As far as I know, ebay doesn't do this for .ca but on .com ebay does automatically approve buyers remorse returns when the buyer pays return shipping and when the seller does accept returns.

5. I see what you mean by not being able to turn same day handling off in site preferences but unless you have same day handling checked off on your listings, that time is irrelevant. As you pointed out, same day handling with lettermail wouldn't be able to be proven anyway so I wouldn't promise it if I were you.

momcqueen · ‎02-18-2018

Oh, peppers, I missed number four and went straight to five. No, not automatic returns. Some returns are automatic anyway, but the remorse ones you want to be able to talk to your buyer first to see what the problem might be and whether it can be rectified without a return.

momcqueen · ‎02-18-2018

(And I mis-numbered my list! Good gravy. Well, no one likes the number three anyway.)

jt-libra · ‎02-18-2018

My goodness, Maureen! When do you sleep?

You ship same day; you have small children (I believe you once said 3?), you come to this Board often and offer assistance and advice to a countless number of people and, in addition, you often bring to our attention proposed changes by eBay and marketplace trends.

Your energy level is astounding .....

momcqueen · ‎02-18-2018

Three small ones, thank you, and one that's in university. I don't know that I have boundless energy, only that I am determined; it's either my greatest strength or worst weakness. If I was the type of person to participate in marathons, I'd be the one walking and the last one finished, but I'd finish it or die trying.

But thank you, jt, for your kind words. They are appreciated.

vroot_schroot9 · ‎02-19-2018

Lol I have a 5 page Word document with all the Q&A from my past week here 😄

Oh geez, I never even thought how immediate payment might mess with Combined Shipping. Alright, nevermind that. Also, I am going to do free shipping, so combined shipping costs will still be zero. I've scrambled my brains...

Would it be okay to include in my terms: “if your order is over $100, I will upgrade to tracked shipping at no extra cost"?

momcqueen · ‎02-19-2018

‘Would it be okay to include in my terms: “if your order is over $100, I will upgrade to tracked shipping at no extra cost"?’

It’s exactly the kind of thing I included in my Terms as a new seller but wholly unnecessary. Buyers don’t read, and they also probably don’t care about the internal processes you apply to your order shipments. They just want to buy what they seek, and receive it fast and in the condition they expect. All the rest of it.....

momcqueen · ‎02-19-2018

Did I ever share with you the link to the webinars that ebay.com is presently running? I'm register for three or four this month. You might be interested, I assume they are open to anyone registered to sell on ebay and not just a select few. Have a look if you're inclined.

https://www.ebay.com/rpp/mso-webinars