eBay Sending Out Mass Emails for Private Sellers to Upgrade to Business

soolin

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

You don't really need a return policy on eBay, if you are a business seller you have to accept change of mind returns with the timeframe set at a minimum of 14 days, the buyer will open a return, send the item back with tracking and eBay will refund.

Anything you have written in your listing about returns won't override eBay's process, it will only deter buyers who take the time to read the listing and pick up on the mistakes many sellers make in thinking they have much of a choice over how returns work on eBay.

If you shop via the app, the seller description is well hidden anyway, I highly doubt many people bother to read the seller description and those that do are looking for a specific piece of information, i.e the size of something, rather than wondering about returns. 

For SNAD the process is the same for business or private, i.e return opened, seller to arrange return and refund given. 

eBay has a general policy for returns abuse for all sellers:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-protections?id=4345

An item is returned after it was used or damaged by the buyer

Sellers who are not Below Standard are eligible for this protection for listings that offer free returns.

You can deduct up to 50% from the refund to recover the lost value of the item

We'll automatically remove any related negative or neutral Feedback

If the buyer had requested the return because the item didn't match the listing, we won't count the return in your "Item not as described" rate in service metrics

Now putting eBay aside if you are legally classed as are a trader there is certain information you need to provide under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 which includes many things but, on this topic specifically, it includes information covering the buyer's right to cancel the contract plus providing them with a model cancellation form. I don't think I have ever purchased anything on eBay from a business seller and been given this information in accordance with the regs. 

So if you want to offer a returns policy use either the returns box or T&C box here:

https://accountsettings.ebay.co.uk/business-seller

(T&C box does show on listings, not sure about return) and study the regs to see what your legal obligations are, that's if indeed there are any as I don't know what a genuine private seller with an eBay business account would be viewed as. 

A return policy is needed only for change of mind returns as seller must specify that buyer pays. It must be clear to buyers that returns aren’t free, so a simple line or two stating clearly that buyer pays is strongly advised. I agree that a business seller must accept change of mind returns with no exception. 

It is also worth remembering to tick the box for the time limit on change of mind returns. I think it still defaults to 30 days (that’s to notify the seller that a return is needed) and you previously needed to have 30 days to qualify for TRS or whatever they call it now. However you can opt to offer 14 days which is the limit allowed by law. 

On seller accounts when change of mind returns are accepted , which includes all business accounts, the return is accepted automatically, a selelr doesn’t have to do anything. The buyer opens a change of mind return , the system then offers the buyer a return label which the buyer pays for, or the seller’s address and from that point buyer has a (to me) extremely generous return window in which to post item back. If they use the eBay return label it is automatically tracked, and once it shows as delivered seller has 2 days in which to refund. 

shapala

soolin said:

I should add that my policy is within the postage options, both on my business and my private accounts. I have the same policy copied across all my various postage options (letter, large letter parcel etc). 

Yes, finally found it - better to have something, even if simple enough, to outline my terms, esp on the off chance it needs to be quoted to a buyer. You would think that would be easier to find and add/edit. Got there at least.

My terms align with eBay's rules & regs which are obviously first and foremost so it's more to give buyers expectation for transit times, turnaround time, refund time etc (all of which I'm proactive with anyway).

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

A return policy is needed only for change of mind returns as seller must specify that buyer pays. It must be clear to buyers that returns aren’t free, so a simple line or two stating clearly that buyer pays is strongly advised. I agree that a business seller must accept change of mind returns with no exception. 

This is built into the SYI form (etc) and the listing as standard under the BIN button (or similar area for auctions):



There is no need to add any custom seller terms or text regarding this  

soolin

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

A return policy is needed only for change of mind returns as seller must specify that buyer pays. It must be clear to buyers that returns aren’t free, so a simple line or two stating clearly that buyer pays is strongly advised. I agree that a business seller must accept change of mind returns with no exception. 

This is built into the SYI form (etc) and the listing as standard under the BIN button (or similar area for auctions):



There is no need to add any custom seller terms or text regarding this  

That's interesting and shows how long ago I last checked mine as it used to show nothing unless I confirmed buyer paid to return.

I've just checked mine and even on my private accounts I still have to add or confirm my own return policy. Mine is under 'settings > account preferences> returns. My default settings show 'Returns Accepted, Buyer, 14 days' all on tick boxes - although I notice on my private account I seem to have some where return s not accepted is showing, so I will sort those few out this afternoon to bring them inline with the majority of my items.

soolin

I can't do a cut and paste on my PC without showing some personal ID - but this is what I have - this is on my private account and it isn't linear like this, it all has switch boxes (on /off) and the option to accept returns for 14 / 30 or 60 days.There's also the option for buyer or seller to pay.  The switch box for returns is on for domestic but off for International - but as I said I can't show it here, just a linear view.

On my business account the only options I can change is the time allowed to notify for a return and who pays for it. I obviously can't turn off returns accepted.

Domestic returns

Accept returns

Allow returns for items purchased domestically.

Allowed within

14 days

Return postage paid by

Buyer

International returns

Accept returns

Allow returns for items purchased internationally.

soolin

Then in my current listing tool I opt for which policy I want below the box for postage although it is prefilled with my default which is returns accepted for 14 days., buyer pays. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

That's interesting and shows how long ago I last checked mine as it used to show nothing unless I confirmed buyer paid to return.

I've just checked mine and even on my private accounts I still have to add or confirm my own return policy. Mine is under 'settings > account preferences> returns. My default settings show 'Returns Accepted, Buyer, 14 days' all on tick boxes - although I notice on my private account I seem to have some where return s not accepted is showing, so I will sort those few out this afternoon to bring them inline with the majority of my items.

There used to be a postage tab and then a returns box at the bottom of the listing but these last few weeks they've redesigned the page with the info as above. 

For private sellers the SYI form (which I imagine most use to create listings) has the option under Preferences with the SYI form typically remembering what you entered last time:



There are business policies for business sellers to apply set templates to your listings, I've not used bulk tools for a long time (last tool I used was Turbo Lister so that'll give you an idea of how far back we're going ) so don't know what other listing options eBay offer, I do have a business account but very few listings so just use the SYI form. 

I think the account settings option is that thing where eBay create overlap by introducing new ways of doing things but forgetting to update other areas of the site to remove the old way, they seem very fragmented as a company and the "SYI flow team" or "business policies team" probably don't talk to the "account settings team"! 

soolin

Firstly apologies for the post spamming, I tried to make it all in one post and it got jumbled- hence 3 posts in a row.

I'm really running down my business now, trying to take things a bit easier rather than continually stressing about getting to the Mail centre or buying new stock. Keeping it ticking over with better stock, simple items and uploading a few new items every week rather than daily.. This means that I also use the basic listing tool on ebay, no third party anymore. I have a couple of different views on the seller tool, all my accounts even the 2 private ones have different views even for seller dashboard which is irritating. 

I have that box above but I have used my business policies to set my default, so I don't have to do it every time I list- it already has my address and my return info there which is quite handy. I also use several templates for similar items- which is how one of my private accounts has had a few items slip by with no returns as for some reason that template is set up with a random policy I forgot about from ages ago . 

I quite like the templates now I'm used to them. I have all my postage set up so i can choose whether the item is a LL parcel or RM48 without having to put the info in on every listing I do.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

Firstly apologies for the post spamming, I tried to make it all in one post and it got jumbled- hence 3 posts in a row.

The forum seems all over the place today. 

The business polices is pretty good, for returns and payments it's very straightforward and if your items fall within 2 or 3 set options for postage/dispatch time (say 2nd Class LL, 2nd Class parcel and maybe courier) again it's quick and easy once set up.

The postage option becomes a bit of a pain when you start needing lots of variations on postage options with different dispatch times as manually adding or amending the policies is a bit of a bind (unless eBay has made it easier to adjust one off options in the last few years). 

MR1988

So I decided to upgrade and give it a go but eBay couldn't verify my Bank Account details. Which is strange as I already use the same bank account on the current eBay account. I gave them a ring and have been told that they will "unlock" in in their back office for me to use. I hope this is not going to take forever and miss out on the benefits of upgrading.