30 day return policy on 2ndhand books. I am concerned about being used as a library any thoughts

[hawkerdemon]

I didn't realise about the  listing specific. It makes sense then to apply requirements to specific books. 

Most helpful

Thank you

[davewil1964 · Accepted solution]

I am a bookseller and none of my 900+ listings comply with TRS+ and never will.

My sales certainly haven't suffered. I am a TRS, but I don't believe that makes a difference.

It pays to remember that a lot of buyers DO NOT search by 'best' match. Price + postage - lowest first or ending soonest (for auctions) seem to be the common preferences.

[hawkerdemon]

Sorry accept as solution was finger trouble. Although over various posts here I have appropriate answers.  

Are there any stats on the most common preferences. 

Cheers

[harley_babes_hoard]

I don't offer it on any of my items. I lost my top seller status because of it, but guess what, my sales have increased not declined over all so it makes no difference what so ever if you are top seller rated ot not.

I concentrate on things I can control.........customer service.

[gec2002]

It is very hard to tell what impact it has due the highly variable nature of eBay sales.  I have several IDs and 2 stores selling similiar but not identical items.  One store lost its TRS status late November and has yet to regain it (hopefully next month) and over the Xmas period its sales were down compared to the other store.  Normally their sales are close in both $ and no of sales.  The store with TRS also uses Premium Service on selected items and it does seem to help, however its in a competition area and I want to give sales any help that I can.   In a niche market probably not worth it.  For what its worth I have had very few change of mind returns, however I charge a 20% restocking fee and the buyer has to pay the postage.

[hawkerdemon]

Thanks.

One thing that a friend has just pointed out to me is that I have a 7 day return policy and have not specified any conditions (much to my surprise / horror) while I am relatively new to ebay I have never had a return so maybe it's not such a big issue. 

The % return or set price restocking fee gets interesting. While I can't find any ebay rules on this I rather suspect that consumer law would be similar to lay by defaults. If required you have to be able to justify a restocking fee in exact terms ie the exact labour x wages plus packaging if applicable. No allowance for lost sale potential or general pain to seller

Still different rules may apply here.  

[gec2002]

My understanding is

"If a trader is offering a refund or exchange out of goodwill only (when you are not legally entitled to a refund, ie change of mind refunds), they may place conditions on the refund or exchange, such as a restocking fee. Such conditions or fees should be fully disclosed on a sign or receipt." 

I have the conditions on both the tax receipt and the refund conditions on eBay sales.

[hawkerdemon]

Okay thanks I'm not a lawyer and that makes sense. 

Hopefully the restocking fee and return postage would be off putting anyway as I expect we'd get negative feedback.

Thanks. 

[davewil1964]

I have a 7 day return policy for 'not as described' only. I am not going to extend it to 30 days because, inter alia, I don't offer an express option and most of my items aren't listed as 'free' post. If a book is not as described (happened the other month - had a duplicate 32 page block and was missing the right one) and the buyer satisfies me of same, I refund anyway, without requiring another hit of postage (which I would be obliged to pay for) for the return. I have less than 50 books that would warrant paying return postage for.

Mind you, I might have missed out on the mentioned one, although I doubt the rarity value would offset the unreadability of a $5 paperback.

[gec2002]

The problem is there isn't a set time for return of faulty items "There is no exact time limit to obtain refunds for faulty goods. However, it must be within a reasonable time after the consumer has had a reasonable opportunity to inspect the goods."  Your buyer could possibly argue that with a thick book of say 800 pages it took more than a week to reach the "duplicated" pages and was therefore entitled to a refund even after 7 days.  For a change of mind 7 days is OK.