@lyndal1838 wrote:
@digital*ghost
Digi, as a buyer I doubt that it would be of much use to me. In all my years on ebay I doubt if I have had to return 6 items. And ebay is only offering standard postage.....no tracked and SOD as needed for ebay and paypal.
I think eBay's paid returns use the Aus Post parcel service, so there's tracking (I've had buyers who've used it in the past, when they had a promo running for free returns - the label looked like any other you can buy online, either via eBay or Aus Post), which should be sufficient for buyer protection, unless the purchase total is over $750 - SOD is a requirement for seller protection on goods of that value (including postage) so I assume the same applies to buyer protection.
I won't be holding my breath to see if my items will qualify, though. Aside from only selected criteria being made known and the rest being anyone's guess, the language they use (eg "working with sellers") makes me wonder if they're not talking about sellers they already broker deals with, or in other words, the big box retailers who get the bulk of ebay's marketing attention already, discount promotions, etc. They certainly don't work with me - quite the opposite at times. 
On the other hand, though... The last several months, I have intermittently been getting payment notifications that say (for example) Purchase total: $15, Postage $0, Payment total: $20. I have no idea why it's been happening, but I've shrugged it off because I get the full payment, and buyers haven't complained about any payment discrepancies. But, in light of this announcement, I do wonder if Plus memberships haven't been trialed over the last year and people have been getting the benefits when buying my items (even if so, different rules may have been applied during trials, of course).
I actually find it interesting that $49 P/A is the price or value eBay have placed on this program, at any rate. I would love to know the data they used to arrive at that figure.... and the full list of criteria for qualifying items / sellers 
@kopenhagen5 wrote:zanadoo, eBay have just introduced make offer for auctions so you might still find a good item and offer 10% less.
Really? Not on anything I'm currently following. 😞
The trouble with scarce or rare items is sometimes the seller has to really need the money fast to want to accept 10% less - especially when the auction isn't over. Most of the time they know it is likely to attract many bidders.
One item I'm interested in (no bids yet but plenty of watchers) has been set at what might be considered its current value, as the minimum. However it is something unusual enough for collectors to at least consider paying more. The bids may not happend until the dying seconds but I have no doubt they will come. I'd like to be the winner, but who knows? Unfortunately I do have to watch the pennies., darn it
I have had some luck on make an offer for BIN items. On one occasion I was quite amazed it was accepted. It wasn't an insulting amount by any means (I wouldn't do that) but I was prepared for a counter offer....which didn't come. I couldn't pay the seller fast enough! 🙂
