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The reason is simple. When you accept free returns, you earn buyers’ trust and provide them with the confidence in your service and/or products. It gives you the advantage over your competition.
Just like free shipping, accepting returns would convert someone who’s still deciding into clicking that “buy now” button. In fact, the conversion rate from “maybe” to “yes” is 15% when you accept returns.
Global buyers are experienced online shoppers. A 30-day return policy is the standard practice that they expect from a trustworthy seller.
The eBay search algorithm actively boosts the search results rank of listings with 30 or 60 days returns policy. That’s when you’ll really benefit.
This is probably your second question. We are happy to tell you, the answer is, not really.
Only 2% or less of your transactions.
It really depends on the product category that you sell in. For example, apparel typically has higher returns than a book, since sizing can be quite subjective.
On the whole though, if you are a responsible seller both in terms of prompt service and quality products, the risks are minimal.
This depends on the reasons for returns.
If you shipped the wrong item or the item arrives inherently damaged, it is of course your responsibility as a seller to cover the costs – as stated in eBay Money Back Guarantee terms.
You’ve made sure that the item sent is the correct one and is in good condition. You’ve wrapped the item carefully to avoid damage. But the buyer still receives a damaged item. In this instance, you should cover with the buyer first. Then claim from your shipping company.
In buyer remorse cases, if the item arrives back in damaged condition or the product seal is broken, you can decide to issue only a partial refund to buyers. For simpler processing, most eBay sellers have moved to covering all costs for returns shipping. After all, if your items and listings are of high quality, your returns rate will be low.
Sometimes, unfortunately, a buyer simply regrets the purchase for whatever reason. Maybe she bought a birthday present for someone who is no longer her boyfriend. Maybe it’s a graduation present for someone who flunked his exams. Maybe it’s just a bad day. Whatever the reason, for buyer remorse cases, the buyer covers the return shipping cost, unless you offer Free Returns.
You have 4 options to choose from. Do speak to your shipping carrier for details.
If you have wisely decided to accept returns, this is how you go about it.
When creating a new listing, there is a section under “Selling Details” to set your return policy. Sellers will have the flexibility to set different return policies for domestic and international returns.
Returns will not be accepted unless the seller selects domestic or international returns.
To set 30 or 60 Days + Free Returns, simply select either 30 or 60 Days as well as ‘return shipping will be paid by the seller’.
For CBT, domestic or international refers to the country of your chosen listing site, not your own location.
This refers to returns from buyers of your chosen listing site (US / AU / UK / DE) regardless of return address. For example, if you’re listing on ebay.com, then “domestic” here refers to US buyers but the return address can be Malaysia or Singapore or wherever you are located. In short, the buyers’ location, not yours.
This refers to returns from buyers located outside of your chosen listing site (US / AU / UK / DE). For example, if you’re listing on ebay.com, then “international” refers to buyers located outside of the US but the return address can be Malaysia or Singapore or wherever you are.
