Why does ebay make sellers pay for the buyers wrong purchase

[centralqueenslandscopes]

Ebay wants seller to use free postage - in reality its built into the price.  Nothing is really free.  So when an item is returned because the buyer got the wrong item or didnt read it correctly or just didn't like it  the seller is in effect out the post cost.  To counter this ebay recommended a restocking fee.  in most cases 20% is sufficient to cover all costs.  Now ebay has moved the rules again.  So sellers can no longer apply a restocking fee regardless of the issue.  How is this fair to sellers.  With the competition forcing decreasing profit margins.  Apparently they say its all about the buying experience  - it suggests to me its pandering to a customers.

[davewil1964]

It doesn't affect me.

I don't allow change of mind returns, and I only offer 'free' postage for letter sized items. No eBay Plus qualification for me.

It doesn't seem to affect my sell through, which is fairly consistent, so I treat it as another eBay beatup/scare campaign and treat it with the respect that deserves.

[countessalmirena]

Spoiler

[digital*ghost]

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@centralqueenslandscopes wrote:

 Nothing is really free.  

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Therein lies the key.

eBay behave (or introduce policies) often with either the expectation or encouragement for sellers to treat costs on an average basis, rather than a per-transaction basis.

That means business costs that aren't incurred on all transactions often need to be averaged and included in item prices. For example, for a seller to offer free returns with no restocking fee, they need to work out (on average) how many transactions end with a return, and what the costs of facilitating those returns are. Let's say you have one transaction in 100 ending with a return, and it costs you $15 to accomodate it in most cases, the expectation is that you add 15-20c per item to cover those costs. 

I understand that this isn't feasible, practical, or even desirable for many sellers, so I'm not saying it's right, but eBay don't approach these kinds of things with a view to cater to individual sellers, they approach them with a view to cater to / attract as many buyers as possible, and they think this is the way to do it.