eBay have announced this afternoon that they will no longer be requiring Top Rated Sellers to offer a 90 days returns service this Christmas if they want to enjoy TRS benefits including fee reductions.
This u-turn will be welcomed by many and reflects a move made by eBay in the US earlier today.
You can find the announcement on eBay here, but this is the text verbatim:
eBay Top-rated sellers on eBay.co.uk: Extended Christmas returns no longer required for eBay Premium Service benefits
28 October, 2014 | 11:33AM GMT
Hello,
We’re pleased to announce that eBay will not require extended Christmas returns for your listings to earn eBay Premium Service benefits in November and December – including the 15% final value fee discount – as previously announced.
This will help ensure eBay has the best inventory for buyers this busy festive season. And, as a valued Top-rated seller offering the current eBay Premium Service services, you’ll continue to be rewarded for your ongoing commitment to providing great service.
Note we’ll also be highlighting extended Christmas returns on item pages starting in November and making this service a cornerstone of our holiday merchandising and marketing. This will be a great way to attract buyers and boost your sales – so if you haven’t already, add it to your listings now.
Regards
The eBay Team
13 Responses
That is sensible on the part of ebay. I am now more inclined to plonk some of my website inventory on ebay. It has to be that TRS sellers were not placing inventory on ebay and ebay picked this up when they compared their listing stats for this year and last. Why I should have been forced to do a 90 day return on second hand used stuff at bargain prices to maintain TRS only ebay know!
Shame more sellers didn’t refuse to offer Premium Service requirements to keep their discounts. eBay might have let us all keep our discounts and offered an extra 5% for Premium Service like they did on .com
squeezed the “lemming” just a little too much eh!
Bonanza seems to doing well in the USA. There are sellers there with feedback scores in the 1000’s.
“Bonanza: the best eBay alternative we’ve seen” – Ecommerce-guide.com
“The runaway winner as our ‘Best eBay Alternative’ is Bonanza” – Jupiter Media Reader’s Survey
Are Bonanza going to open up in the UK?
Maybe this is where all the former ebay USA sellers are moving to? Wonder if this announcement is linked to the USA having a second marketplace for used goods that seems to work?
Seller fees 3% and no listing fees.
Cheers eBay, that was a waste of day. I like it when eBay forces sellers to jump through hoops as we always benefit from being fast to adapt.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”.
They do like a good U-turn. It looks like they’ve changed the way you cancel a transaction today also and not bothered to mention why. Within the resolution centre, you can only choose ‘I’ve run out of stock’ or ‘The buyer asked to cancel the order, or there’s an issue with the buyer’s address’.
So much for stability…
Any idea on why they’ve removed the ability for sellers to cancel transactions for buyers returning item for a refund. We’ve got returns which cant be processed now? Is this a permanent change and what are we going to have to do?
Ebay is down all scam fraud return for free, now i will buy items use 1-2month and for free send it back. how money back and i will be happy “Ebay rentals”
Dashboard still showing extended holiday returns required for TRS discount. Is this another ebay future nightmare to sort out scenario?
As Gary pointed out, dashboard is STILL showing extended holiday returns required for TRS discount. Is this the same for everyone?