eBay Premium Badging requirements too high for Australia compared with US & UK 14 days Return! WHY?

[auction_arc]

Why is 30 day money back a requirement for Premium badging in Australia when in the UK it's only 14 days, and in the US you can get a "Top Rated Plus" badge with only 14 days money back and NO EXPRESS POST! I think 30 days is too long and over the top! Another case of  Australian sellers being treated very unfairly by eBay with all these new requirements, plus the loss of the original "Top Seller" badge! 

Not doing it! No way! Too long a return period! Very unhappy!

[wgtnbloke]

You're noit alone , you get shafted & gouged , if they can get away with it (usually ex Pro-am USA Ebay seller, who wouldn't know good business ethics IF they tripped over it/them)

You get shafted if you're a New Zealander too (& one entity springs right to mind)

In the 10 years I've been a member I've watched ebay & its Net world IT Dept send it into an ever increasing downward spiral,for the honest buyer (& some sellers) , I'm wondering how many staff are using it for thesis for their Doctorates , so their Cards look better,

At mine & others Credit Card Expense

I've been in Successfull HONEST business & manufacturing & export & a 95% of the gen X Y inspired "Business Moidels" I see trialled on would have them down the job center from any on my Straight-up concerns

FTC needs another good look & class action into the Place.

Bottomline - Do I sound cheesed off ? Yep & I'm loathing american sellers out for a hustlers buck on US ebay in greater increasing quantity & its well deserved.

I Always Said , don't throw out your Fax Machine & I'm more ways than 1 , I'll be pushing to use it , bi-passing Ebays Flake * Buyer protection systems * - Yeah,right.

Cheers Cobber , pop a prawn on the Barbi & pour me a Midi will ya ?

[toysartnstuff]

that sounds a bit high considering I don't know of any b&m store that allows returns after 7 or 14 days unless the item has a warranty.

[harley_babes_hoard]

I think you will find the majority of sellers will not comply with such ridiculous terms such as 30 day returns and free postage to get the top seller plus badge. I lost my top seller rating due to the new requirements and honestly it hasn't slowed my sales one bit.

[digital*ghost]

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@auction_arc wrote:

Why is 30 day money back a requirement for Premium badging in Australia when in the UK it's only 14 days, and in the US you can get a "Top Rated Plus" badge with only 14 days money back and NO EXPRESS POST!

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Possibly because eBay AU think they need to make their sellers compete with other online sites operating in Oz which offer free express post and 100-day money back returns, and they think buyers are shopping elsewhere because of those incentives.

I hear-tell a site in Oz that does the free express/100 day returns doesn't actually make any money, but whether sellers on eBay make any money from trying to compete with those incentives isn't really eBay's concern. 

I'm honestly not fussed about the premium service badging. My categories have always been some of the most saturated on-site, so with or without premium/top rated badging, my items are in a sea of hundreds of thousands. I just try to compete in other ways, and thankfully I've managed to hang in there so far. 

[auction_arc]

I've seen a site like this and they offer free express shipping on orders over $20.00, but with socks priced at $19.99, t-shirts at around $30.00 for one t-shirt and shorts going for $60.00 to $80.00, I would think that the express shipping service they offer is only free in one's imagination only! furthermore, the price range that we're talking about here is typically not the price range buyers on eBay are looking for for these particular types of products.

eBay sellers are already extremely competitive pricewise, and expecting them to augment services/return periods, provide free shipping, supposedly to compete with other online stores that have a completely different price structures than most eBay sellers is the wrong approach and extremely unhelpful!

eBay needs to understand that it already has a huge advantage over these other online stores, and the only reason that these stores are coming up with these gimmicky ideas is precisely because they are feeling the pressure from eBay!

Those other online stores would have achieved their purpose if eBay itself ends diminishing it's seller base by making it more difficult to compete on eBay itself, leaving fewer sellers on eBay and a diminished range of products on eBay!
 
I would ask that eBay reconsiders, and reinstate the "top seller" badge based on a seller's performance and do away with this "premium badging" on a per item basis.

[velvet-underground]

i sell second hand and vintage clothing...the 30 day returns policy would be totally innapropriate..i would end up hiring out my clothes instead of selling them AND go broke in the process...it is just rediculous for second hand dealers or sellers who are just getting rid of their own stuff to have to offer 30 days returns..soon we will have to offer 12 months warranty too...just too unfair and totally reduculous

[bigbrickshop]

If you sell in a category where the requirements are not practical for your business then it is unlikely your competitors will have the Premium badging and there should be no real change in Best Match rankings. The only thing missing will be your old TRS badge from the search results. We haven't made any changes to meet the requirements and we've had no change in sales.

[auction_arc]

The real question still remains. Why do the requirements for Premium Badging for Australian eBay sellers exceed those for Sellers in the US and in the UK, with only 14 days return period requirement for both the US & the UK and no express post required in the US?

It's understandable that some eBay sellers may not be affected by this, but some will and I think whatever category you sell in, the badge does add to a sense of comfort and safety for buyers generally speaking. After all, this is why the previous Badging system was introduced in the first place.

[digital*ghost]

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@auction_arc wrote:

The real question still remains. Why do the requirements for Premium Badging for Australian eBay sellers exceed those for Sellers in the US and in the UK, with only 14 days return period requirement for both the US & the UK and no express post required in the US?

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You're comparing eBay AU to eBay US & UK, but these sites have never been uniform and what each one does or imposes is dictated by the market - each market is different, is competing with different things, and will bear different things. 

Sellers in the UK & US have a little more choice, as there are more platforms that they can use to sell, and some of them are just as well-known and popular as eBay. That means eBay has some competition not just for buyers but for sellers.

In Australia, there is really only competition for buyers, as there is not another selling platform like eBay here, so the things they introduce are often geared towards making their sellers more competitive with other, independent sites.