eBay® PowerSeller Business Practices FOR DUMMIES®

Chapter 31. Handling the Inevitable: Returns

Selling on eBay — especially as a PowerSeller — equates to making money. When you're making money, one of the last things you want to think about is taking returns on a product you've sold. But the customer's occasional need to return an item is an integral part of theretail model. You have to decide whether you'll accept returns on your sales — and whether you do is entirely up to you.

That said, one of the ways to keep making money on eBay is to have happy customers who do not leave you negative feedback and who return to buy additional merchandise from you. Even neutral feedback can leave a pain in your gut when you read it. So, you ask, what is the way to be sure that all customers are happy? Sellers who have high feedback ratings bend over backward to make their customers happy — and sometimes making a customer happy means accepting a return.

Personally? I hate taking returns. Arrgh, there's not much more to ruin my day than an e-mail from a customer who wants to return an item. I always try to accommodate my buyers, and the way I save myself grief isto have a clear return policy that's stated on my listings.

Establishing a Clear Return Policy

Setting the parameters of your sale upfront is a good policy for all retailers — no matter how much they sell or where. Interestingly, several states — including California, eBay's home state — have laws regardinggiving refunds for returned merchandise. The law in California assumes that consumers ...