eBay

momcqueen · ‎01-09-2017

I thought this was an interesting story to read. About managing buyer expectations around Returns and exactly what people expect the seller to do for them when things go wrong. Basically, the experience the buyer has with a Return (whether remorse or due to seller error) will determine whether they come back again. For a company as diverse as ebay, I could see how this poses a problem. If one seller angers a buyer, they won't be back for anyone else here. We all get tarred with the same brush.

The Product Returns Process Remains Flawed

By Company-Issued Press Release
EcommerceBytes.com
January 09, 2017

Voxware, a leading provider of cloud-based solutions for distribution operations, released research highlighting why consumers return items purchased online or by phone and how their experiences with the returns process affects their future intentions to shop with retailers. The results of the third biennial report, which surveyed more than 500 consumers, demonstrate the increased importance of the returns process in consumer purchasing decisions as well as the impact that shipping incorrect orders has on consumer loyalty....

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y17/m01/i09/s01

momcqueen · ‎01-09-2017

Here is a direct link to the source material: http://www.voxware.com/press-releases/voxware-research-indicates-returns-process-remains-flawed/

rose-dee · ‎01-09-2017

Yes, this is something I've had a nagging concern about ever since eBay began "managing" the returns process.

Years ago, individual sellers were left on their own to deal with complaints, returns, etc., and buyers were more likely to blame a bad transaction on the seller him or herself, not so much on eBay as a place to buy. A seller then had direct control over customer service and interaction, which made it possible for really good sellers who worked at it to do well in attracting buyers (especially when FB more accurately reflected a seller's current standing). Of course that isn't to dismiss the fact that there were some pretty egregious problems. There were, but I think buyers saw eBay as a more or less neutral intermediary, rather than the source of the issues.

Now that eBay is effectively in charge of the returns process, they have to deal with the consequences of sellers who create negative buyer experiences and end up turning buyers away from the site entirely. Except the rest of us will suffer because those of us who do provide outstanding service may not even get the chance to prove ourselves. Which doesn't help eBay either. In the end, it's a lose-lose.

EBay has worked itself into a schizophrenia -- on the one hand, they've been trying to appear to buyers like any other single-source retailer and control everything that happens on the site; on the other they can't possibly fully control every transaction or product sold on this site, and still have to deal with millions of individual sellers. There was bound to be a collision.

This also in my view feeds into the FB vs. product review narrative -- one feature is connected to the "old", multiple-seller eBay, the other serves the new, online retailer eBay.

momcqueen · ‎01-09-2017

Well, I cannot really fault ebay for wanting to manage the Returns process. Returns are a very sore spot, as the study demonstrates.

In the past, when an ebay seller has proved themselves to be terrible to deal with and, as a buyer, I've had to ask ebay to step in and manage the resolution of that problem, I've felt a fair degree of frustration that ebay didn't keep a shorter leash on the seller in the first place.

ebay's brand and reputation is hijacked by million of individuals each day: sellers who may or may not be doing a good job and ebay has to be able to manage that somehow. Making Returns a one-size-fits-all is about all they can hope to do. That and Seller Standards to be met.

Like all sellers, I find certain aspects of Returns to be frustrating but those aren't the principle points we are expected to follow but the minute details in how those processes are managed: like paypal account freezes on items that are never returned and vague instructions for sellers to reimburse the buyers for international postage without clear direction of his that is expected to occur. This is no less frustrating as a buyer. The last time I had a problem with a purchase, I was shocked at how long ebay gave the seller to manage ever minute step. IT seemed to take weeks to resolve. Maybe it was only one week but it was unsatisfying and slow.

tellephoto · ‎01-10-2017

I do not mind the returns, its the justification of seller having to pay for the return shipping. The justification is flawed, when the buyer has buyer remorse and no skin in the return.

momcqueen · ‎01-10-2017

I agree it should be easier for the seller to prove the Return request is for reasons of remorse, regardless of the manner in which it is opened. We've had cases come to Community where the buyer has admit via eBay Messages that it's a remorse return but then opens it as Significantly Not As Described and then eBay CSRs side with the buyer because there's no recourse by which to fix the Returns request once it's opened that way.

i.am.vivian · ‎01-11-2017

@mjwl2006 wrote:
I agree it should be easier for the seller to prove the Return request is for reasons of remorse, regardless of the manner in which it is opened. We've had cases come to Community where the buyer has admit via eBay Messages that it's a remorse return but then opens it as Significantly Not As Described and then eBay CSRs side with the buyer because there's no recourse by which to fix the Returns request once it's opened that way.

That is something that really REALLY bugs me. I suppose it could be said that maybe the buyer made a mistake, that they said they changed their mind in messages but got confused and meant it for another seller.

I had been thinking about this. There should be some way to state this as part of the initial contact request. I haven't completely thought it through so its probably a terrible idea, but I was thinking in order to contact the seller AFTER buying, there needs to be buttons to click first, not just "I want to contact the seller", but a reason, like "didn't fit". Or else if they want to return it, have the seller fill in the reason and the buyer clicks to agree, like with a cancellation. The seller could click "item didn't fit" and in the little message box add "buyer explained that the item did not fit" or something.

There's got to be some way to stop making sellers pay to get an item back for "remorse" reasons. There has to be some way that when buyers say they've changed their mind, the seller doesn't have to pay. All I can think of is if the buyer asks to return an item, the seller clicks the correct reason.

momcqueen · ‎01-11-2017

It's as if there should be a step between accepting the Return request wherein the seller can confirm the details first -- or ask ebay to step in to facilitate a Return opened incorrectly.

I'm not talking about the he-said-she-said scenarios where a seller might be splitting hairs to try to absolve themselves of an actual legitimate Item Not As Described but the blatant ones that have come forth where the buyer admits in a message it's a return for reasons of remorse but selects SNAD anyway just to stick the return postage on the seller.

One of the most blatant examples that comes to mind is he buyer who bought an appropriately-described piece of luggage to match a set they already owned which was completely different and admit that to the seller but opened an SNAD anyway. The seller lost. That's not right.

i.am.vivian · ‎01-11-2017

@mjwl2006 wrote:
It's as if there should be a step between accepting the Return request wherein the seller can confirm the details first -- or ask ebay to step in to facilitate a Return opened incorrectly.

Even better! That would be good. (It would be fair!) Buyers can already get eBay to step in if the seller doesn't snap to it, so sellers need to have the option to enlist reinforcements as well.

momcqueen · ‎01-11-2017

Without fear of reprisal or negative consequences, the seller should be able to ask for a Return adjustment when the reason cited for the Return is demonstrably incorrect.

I totally *get* the reason ebay has a Returns process: to minimize damage to the integrity of the experience when a seller ships the wrong item, or when a buyer realizes they don't like what they bought, but it should not have to be so punitive for the seller. As it stands, if the seller has to ask ebay to step in to look at something that's gone cockeyed, the seller is potentially punished with a defect if it turns out the seller saw it wrong. That's not fair.

momcqueen · ‎01-11-2017

Al it needs is a button to click that says, "I agree to accept this as a Return but I don't agree it's SNAD; please investigate further" so that a CSR has to immediately step in to examine what is wrong while the buyer prepares to ship the item back with the settlement of return postage to take place later in the process. Would that be so terrible to enact?