Top Rated Seller Status & Returns

[solefoodbk]

Hey everyone.

Okay so a few of my stronger accounts have TRS status, going on for about 2-3 months. I have noticed steady increase in sales and also returns. Now I know returns are apart of business, without a doubt I understand that but the way eBay has it set up returns are a negative.

On accounts without TRS for whatever reason buyers usually send me a message asking for the return. I have no issue with returns at all actually its just when they use the "hassel free" ebay crap system I get a defect.

Do any of you notice this to on your TRS accounts? Do you have any type of suggestions of preventing such defects from occuring? I was on the phone with a incompetent eBay rep. Not sure if she knew exactly what she was saying but she told me even if a buyer opens a retun then closes it I still get the defect.

I mean seriously how silly does that sound? I couldn't even get her to admit how stupid that is. She just kept telling me what her policy sheet states...

[dallis]

I always get a defect, even if they close it themselves.

Yes, I see this all the time. Soooo frustrating! Good customer service is punished exactly the same way as poor customer service.

I try to divert as much as possible by putting a note in the package saying if they have a problem to email me directly and I'll fix it for them.

If it reduces 'requests' by as little as 50% it's worth it.

Even so, the bar is so high it's nearly impossible to keep TRS. It requires like a 99% satisfaction rate. I can't imagine any business has a 99% happy customer base.

There's more crazies in the general population than 1%, and every one of them seems to buy from me!

[okay]

This happened to me on my first listed item after a long break. Except my buyer is pulling that okeedoke sheesh! Unbelievable! I begin to sell on it again everything looking good, TRS, powerseller... But NOT ANY MORE!!

[Haidukken]

I totally agree with you, 100%.
BUT, and this is a BIG but.
It kind of makes sense to force sellers to do even more, if you think about it.

If you, as a seller, get fed up with defects then it's your responsebility to do something to avoid future returns/defects in general and eBay doesn't need to do anything about it, nor does the buyer have any extra work they need to do.
As a service, or a product, provider you are responsible that the other person who pays you is 100% satisfied when they pay for something.

EBay is a sea of ****worms and it doesn't take much to get a ****ty product, try to flip it quickly and when a customer gets the item and is not happy with the product or a quality of the product just shrug and say "Well, you kinda knew what you were buying"
If everybody would get away with it, then eBay would be a HORRIBLE experience as a platform. Can you imagine using eBay without rules and regulations? ****, every singe item that you'd get was either not what you expected or even worse than it is at the moment.

I remember when I first started selling on eBay I had return and after a while I realised how MY actions were causing it. You know, top notch description and photos might take you couple of extra minutes, but it's worth it because a person who then makes the purchase is 100% with what they got.
I used to get around 5 returns a month maybe and most of them were my own "faults" and I felt ****ty because I hate to let people down.
I then really sat down, thought what I was doing and decided to improve what I do first and then start blaming eBay or bellcheese customers.
At the moment I've gone 3 months without a single return or a defect.

I buy quite a lot from eBay and there is nothing worse than a listing that has a generic photo and random description. When the item arrives it a total ****ing ****house of a product and seller can barely speak English. I then spend 3 weeks swapping something out only to receive exactly the same ****ty ass product again.
I understand if you pay peanuts, you get peanuts but sometimes it's a matter of basic honesty- If the stuff that you sell is lower end crap, it should be described as lower end crap and not "Oh this is geat and that is great"

I understand that there are seriously retarded customers out there and I realise that there are some weird cases out there where a buyer probably doesn't even know how to use eBay or makes a fuss over something that's worth cents. I understand all of that because it's part of eBay.
BUT
If my sales are going up, I don't expect MORE returns. I don't personally think returns are "just part of business"
In my eyes, **** returns- I'll do everything in my power NOT to have returns.

I'm sure you can increase your sales AND avoid returns somehow. Perhaps be more honest in your description? Surey that's a big part of why people buy the item and why they might be disappointed if it's not 100% accurate?


Maybe I'm talking out of my ass here and I don't know what category you sell in. Maybe there truly are some categorys where people buy and return just for no reason, but **** it's hard to believe.

[okay]

.....this guy....

[dallis]

People who return ALWAYS have a REASON, but not always a GOOD reason.

Good pictures and accurate descriptions help prevent returns and defects, but they don't eliminate them.

My return and complaint rate remain remarkably stable at 1.5% over the long term. I sell 200 items in a week, and even with 12 pictures and an extremely detailed description, I'll almost always have 3 problem emails. If I don't have 3 three this week, I'll get 6 next week.

You are unbelievably lucky if you don't get any complaints, and you know what they say about luck - in time it always runs out.

[okay]

I was lucky for a year on a friends account. Super lucky for a year on current one. Depends on what your selling . eLOL..If your selling hirisk items with a TSR badge, like me, you will pay.

[jeffweico]

Returns ARE a part of business. But it has not really affected me. My return rate is normally under 1%. And that is across ALL of my accounts. When I start selling a product with a higher return rate, I always investigate to find out why. Was the inventory damaged? Is it a QUALITY issue? A shipping problem?

At the end of the day I want to keep returns low. not only can they affect me as a seller, but they are a pain in the a** to deal with and worst of all THEY COST ME MONEY! So, it is in my own best interests (regardless of what eBay wants) to keep the rate low.

I know that is not always possible, depending on what you sell. But some members have claimed they have return rates of 25% or 30% which is UNVELEIVABLY HUGE! We know from ecommerce research companies that the average return rate among all retailers is 3%. So, to my way of thinking, anything ABOVE 3% is a problem. I would say if it goes above 5% it is a SERIOUS problem. And if it is above 10%, then you need to stop selling immediately until you can figure out what is going wrong.

Of course, all of this depends on VOLUME. If you sell 5 items in a month and ONE gets returned, then your return rate is 20%, but there may be nothing at all wrong with your product or how you are handling it. But if you sell hundreds of items a month, then your return rates should be normal.

Of course, returns are not always the fault of the seller. And some categories attract more scamming buyers than other categories. But convincing eBay of that is just NOT going to happen. As the OP found out, complaining to them will just generate a scripted response their employees are not allowed to deviate from.

One thing you CAN do is to enclose a thank you letter with each order and prominently display a phone number they can call if there is a problem. That is what I do. I also include an email address. About half of my customers will contact me directly that way if there is a problem. But some will always go through eBay no matter what.

[dealagreeproceed]

the note in the package is your LAST line of defense to avoid negs n defects.

That note is sooo important.

[dallis]

Agreed with both the above. They reflect my own experiences exactly.

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by Haidukken

I totally agree with you, 100%.
BUT, and this is a BIG but.
It kind of makes sense to force sellers to do even more, if you think about it.

I see what you mean. I agree with everything you said expect...

The only thing I have against how the have it set up is that once its opened no matter what its a defect. If I was a casual buyer not knowing the selling aspect and how much these types of situations affect us obviously I wouldn't think twice when opening a case as they do often.

To better display my frustration take for example....

I listed a item.. got a VERO from "versace" stating I was selling ⊗⊗⊗⊗ versace. False. I was breaking tos because I had in the listings title "versace medusa" as a keyword, thats keyword spamming. But because verscae vero'd my listing eBays dumb bot automatically inacted a 7 day suspension on my account.

Me doing stealth and having broken this policy enough times on other accounts to know you never get a 7 day suspension off first violation of word spamming only a warning.

Now yes I realize I shouldn't of spammed the listing title but the brand was clearly listed as a different brand other than Versace. My point is because the bot put the limit on my account I even after talking to stupid ebay reps was left helpless and had to wait it out.

The problem is they have things set up to where they can't reverse what they inact. Thats stupid.


So when it comes to say a buyer opens up a case prematurely or accidentally and then closes it, you still have the defect.

[GhostOfAmazon]

I realize this is a bit off topic OP, so forgive me, but if you don't already sell on Amazon, I'd suggest it. You aren't punished for returns and if you get to the equivalent of "top-rated seller" (buy box for most of your items) you'll get FAR better returns and profits than the eBay version.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer for your high-quality problem. My last TRS got shut-down prior to the new defect system.

[dallis]

Somebody said you can opt into managed returns, but that you set your options to 'contact seller for RMA number/instructions', and short circuit the defect/return/open a case process that way, but I don't know if it's accurate.

It's always seemed to me TRS is a magnet for problems. You see the words 'TRS', they see the words "This guy will do ANYTHING to keep TRS status so let's see what we can get for free'.

[okay]

Originally Posted by dallis

Somebody said you can opt into managed returns, but that you set your options to 'contact seller for RMA number/instructions', and short circuit the defect/return/open a case process that way, but I don't know if it's accurate.

It's always seemed to me TRS is a magnet for problems. You see the words 'TRS', they see the words "This guy will do ANYTHING to keep TRS status so let's see what we can get for free'.

and that's what I'm talking about. I never had a professional buyer get over on me until I was stuckup with the badge.

And Ive got a statement within my listing that specifically says that certain items are recorded for fraudulent attempts.

[rsot]

If you have TRS and have competition...your competition can aim to take you out as well - it's the nature of the game

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

The problem is they have things set up to where they can't reverse what they inact. Thats stupid.


So when it comes to say a buyer opens up a case prematurely or accidentally and then closes it, you still have the defect.

Not that I am trying to defend eBay, but you also have to look at it from their point of view. They have a hundred million users. A certain percentage of those users are going to try to use their site to sell counterfeits, illegal items, dangerous items, etc. And there are other users who simply violate eBay's rules in one way or another, whether they do it purposely or not.

At any given time, they could have tens of thousands of users with issues. If they were to allow their reps to change things, it could give scammers a way to undo eBay's decisions. A decision could be made, then it could be undone, the re-done, then undone again and so on and so forth. So eBay - since it's earliest days - seems to have taken the position that they will not allow their reps to reverse their decisions.

[solefoodbk]

Its not like a rep is a seperate entity, they're employeed by eBay haha.
If thats truly the case, it really just means they have no trust in their reps and points out how obviously have training issues.

Like I said I fully understand what your getting at but at the same time its hard for me to agree with your/eBays reasoning.

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by dallis

Somebody said you can opt into managed returns, but that you set your options to 'contact seller for RMA number/instructions', and short circuit the defect/return/open a case process that way, but I don't know if it's accurate.

It's always seemed to me TRS is a magnet for problems. You see the words 'TRS', they see the words "This guy will do ANYTHING to keep TRS status so let's see what we can get for free'.

Whoever said that was wrong. Once you offer returns your automatically opted into "hassel free returns" theres no way around it.

[GhostOfAmazon]

Wow, is TRS even worth it anymore?

Last time one of my accounts had it was early 2012. Boy have things changed....

[dallis]

[QUOTE=Once you offer returns your automatically opted into "hassel free returns" theres no way around it.[/QUOTE]

Link to managed returns process details Q&A...

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformat...s.html#FAQ1-11

[mufc365]

If your registered as a business seller there's no way around it you have to opt into Ebay's crazy return request process.

I tend to include a note stating please contact us before opening a return request/leaving feedback. Message your buyers too before sending the items too. It is tedious but this will help eliminate those ODR.