Changes coming to the Ebay User Agreement

[Ringlets]

Yep they are doing that with ebay UK too (and adding the GSP which I was hoping they wouldnt but am not surprised that they are *rolleyes*  definitely opting out of that rubbish! )
 ebay is a difficult place for sellers these days....

[babylofty]

I sold a bra (unworn, thank you!  ) with tags back in December. I said in the auction that "Due to the personal nature of this item, I cannot accept returns." Can you imagine if the person who'd bought it decided they didn't want it now, under those terms that are coming, and I HAD to pay for it to be returned to me? So not only do I get a used item back that was new when I sold it, but now I've lost a sale, which, good conscious, I couldn't try to re-sell!

Definitely going to be selling my ponies here and on the TP.  I need to hustle on getting the rest of my non-pony stuff up on ebay and sold ASAP though.

I'm really disappointed in Ebay (I know, we all have been for a while now). But it should be up to to the SELLER'S discretion on whether we want to accept returns or not, not Ebay's. Yes, we represent Ebay, but they need to start acting in sellers best interests, not just buyers!

[brighteyes]

Oh I'm not worried about the requirement to describe your items carefully, what is scary is this:

for those sellers who choose not to facilitate a return or provide a return shipping label for a faulty or not as described item, we may refund their buyers without requiring the buyers to return the item, and in turn seek reimbursement from sellers.

That means if some skeezy buyer claims that your item wasn't what they were expecting/as described and/or broken (even if it was) they can get a refund WITHOUT EVEN SENDING THE ITEM BACK.  What if they changed it or broke it themselves?  Just seems like a policy that could be very problematic...

Exactly!  Beyond that, what if some skeezy buyer purchases a pony as an upgrade from one they already own and then claim the poor condition one is what was sent and try to return it.  Do we really think eBay is going to look at each case carefully and fairly?  Nope.  They are going to side with the buyer and if the seller puts up any kind of a fuss they'll just refund the buyer and make us pay for it later without having the item returned.  We've seen this kind of thing happen before in the community, but because we weren't obligated to accept refunds it usually turned out okay.  And it really seems that the sellers are going to be completely responsible for damage done in transit.  I always thought that USPS required return of the damaged item in most cases before a compensation could be issued.  So what if the buyer doesn't return the damaged item?  How is the seller to get compensated for damage done in transit? 

The TOS are becoming so slanted toward buyer protection that before long no one is going to be buying on eBay because there will be nothing to buy! With this possibility combined with having to wait weeks for funds to be released from Paypal, why would anyone but high volume sellers choose to sell on eBay anymore? I'll stick to the Arena!

[Diamond]

If you read it carefully as long as the buyer is willing to pay the return shipping it sounds like the buyer must send back the item.  It seems to read that if you do not then that is when they are gonna stick it to the seller and let the buyer keep the item and get their money back. 

This is still gonna stink because we all know their are folks out there that are gonna scam and buy your good item and send back their crappy one.

Still not liking it and still gonna sell as much of the none sense stuff before this goes into effect.

[FantasticFirefly]

The buy and switch scam has been pulled off for years on ebay, with PP/Ebay siding with buyers. Friends that sold electronics stopped due to the buyer getting a replacement from them, and returning their old faulty unit. And the doll story I mentioned in a previous comment, buyer bought the doll, swapped the parts off they needed and returned a ruined doll with their damaged parts claiming the box had gotten wet during postage (to rub salt in the wound the buyer soaked the antique doll they stole parts from. NICE)

Selling anywhere there is potential for loss, on ebay you could have a bidding war, or someone picking up a BIN from you at a much higher price, it's not terrible if your investment in stock is very low, selling prices are high enough that some losses still pull you out ahead enough to justify the time and expense. If you can't afford the higher % of losses, then forums are your best bet. I prefer selling directly to forum members myself, as my costs are high enough (since I buy to collect, not to resell) that most of my items break me even-steven.

[NoDivision]

My parents rely on Ebay for a large portion of their income. They already have problems with having to accept returns on things that people claim are not as described (typically its shoes and it's size. Example the shoe says size 7. The buyer wears a size 7. They buy the shoe, and its not a good fit. The buyer claims "ITEM NOT AS DESCRIBED! OMG YOU LIED! YOU MUST HAVE CHANGED THE SIZE MARKING ON THE SHOE BECASUE IT DOESNT FIT MY PERFECT FOOT!! (seriously guys this happens a lot, people really say that) and ebay almost always sides with the buyers. Even when the item is EXACTLY as described.) This happens enough that ebay has now started holding their funds because they think it is somehow a reflection them as sellers that people want to return things, but really  it's because people are crazy. Now they won't stand a chance in hell of ever winning any of those cases, ever. Ebay will automatically make them accept returns AND pay for the return shipping? Ugh. UGH.

[Prismatic]

Honestly I deal with a lot of this already.  Yeah they're forcing sellers to pay return shipping, but you're already basically expected to, or you get negative feedback.  We deal with this constantly at work (I manage 2 ebay stores.)  Ebay just hasn't enforced it until now.  Imo, if the item really is defective, the seller should be paying it anyways.  That doesn't count the liars, scammers, and idiots, though we get a decent amount of those too, unfortunately.  Keep in mind that it's on defective/not as described only, they won't force you to pay return shipping for other returns.  Yeah scammers may get around that, but they already do, so it's not going to change much.

I don't like the refund without returns, but that seems like it's only if you refuse to accept the defective item back or offer a refund.  If you tell them to send it back, they'll need to in order to get a refund.  I'm guessing it's if they open a case and escalate because you won't take the defective/not as described item back or give them the refund.

These don't bug me nearly as much as their new defect system ('hey let's implement this system but only half of it so sellers are screwed til the rest is released!') and the fact that they removed the toys category from their free BIN promotions...

[Tap Dancer]

Oh I'm not worried about the requirement to describe your items carefully, what is scary is this:

for those sellers who choose not to facilitate a return or provide a return shipping label for a faulty or not as described item, we may refund their buyers without requiring the buyers to return the item, and in turn seek reimbursement from sellers.

That means if some skeezy buyer claims that your item wasn't what they were expecting/as described and/or broken (even if it was) they can get a refund WITHOUT EVEN SENDING THE ITEM BACK.  What if they changed it or broke it themselves?  Just seems like a policy that could be very problematic...

I think a lot of people will get perfect items, but tell eBay they arrived damaged in order to get a freebie.

[lovebeam]

This is why I'm slowly moving my stuff over to Etsy. The people are really nice there, too.

Seconded!!

[NoDivision]

Well, but in the past if you opened a not as described case, the buyer still had to pay for return shipping - so at least with scammers/liars trying to get their money back they had to return the item out of their own pocket. Now there is absolutely nothing to deter people from screwing sellers over, because lets face it, even if in item is exactly as described probably 99 times out of 100 ebay sides with the buyer anyway.

[Cool.Breeze]

Yeah I'm definitely no longer selling on eBay :\

[Eternia]

Ugh! What a pain, I only sell things that don't sell well here on ebay, it is my back up to get rid of things....who wants to deal with forced returns? Guhhh that sucks.

[PinkiePosh]

This really concerns me. However, I'm usually very good with compromise!

[babylicketysplit]

Yep. ebay has finally lost their minds completely.  sadly i still have remained a buyer just not a seller due to their nonsense.  but now there wont be much of anything on ebay to BUY should this be implemented because no one wants to risk losing their item outright because scummy buyers will take advantage and have absolutely no deterent

[Stormy31685]

To me, the most major issue here is that eBay wants to generate a customer service experience that rivals the "big dog" competitors (online retailers like Toys R Us that have Brick and mortar stores and Amazon), but the problem is, completely UNLIKE their competitors, they DO NOT HOLD INVENTORY.  Their hundreds of thousands of sellers do, and once all this is in place, their sellers will ALSO end up getting stuck with the losses that eBay facilitates.  These losses are easily absorbed by larger companies, where small-time sellers cannot.  Therefore, while their wants and wishes have great vision, they fall short on perspective.

Now, I will say, that since eBay started, there have always been bad buyers and bad sellers.  Nothing has changed.  Just the rules.  All these other sites that have very limited sales structure (like Etsy, etc.) also have a great deal more scamming sellers and buyers because they lack rules.
As a buyer, I would be very dissuaded from buying there because of that lack of protection, as are many other buyers.  So as a seller, I am not going to sell there because my buyers will be elsewhere.  So there are always pros and cons.  In the end they all even out.

Any time you sell any thing to any one any where, there is always a risk.  And the pendulum swings both ways.