Important changes regarding cancellation experience.

[auntietootieblue]

And another change that will cost us the seller.  Ebay are you gonna refund the transaction fee then when everytime immediate payment is taken from a buyer and then they cancel 5 seconds later???  We are still out of pocket as far as I'm aware we don't get the transaction fee back when a buyer cancels, yet they get a full refund.  35p everytime some one cancels.  You ebay are just giving them an easier option to do this.

Just to add also, if you promote the item and it sells, then they cancel you will also not get the promoted fee back either so its a win win for ebay but its us the seller as usual that as to fund this.

[cobwebcottage]

Great points.

This needs to be raised today on the weekly chat although I can guess what the answer will be!

[bravergrace]

It's a step in the right direction, but doesn't exactly fill me with confidence as a seller.  I'm a bit concerned about the ambiguity of the "feedback protection".

- What if a buyer leaves negative feedback for refusing their cancellation request?

- eBay will protect you by removing negative or neutral feedback on these orders.

Clearly this means the feedback will be removed if it just states:

 - "Seller refused my cancellation request".

Which is good and fair, obviously.

But it isn't quite so clear what will happen if the feedback states:

- NEGATIVE: Item didn't fit my machine.  I told the seller about this but they were unhelpful.

- NEGATIVE: Horrible item.  I asked for my money back but seller refused.

- NEGATIVE: Item was rubbish.  Also, seller wouldn't let me cancel.

And of course, the big thing for sellers, is that if you refuse the cancellation, the buyer is free to open a "not as described" case, which virtually guarantees the seller is out of pocket by two lots of postage, and gets unremovable negative feedback, plus a possibly damaged item back.

It's not the please-forgive-me-I changed-my-mind buyers that are the problem, it's the how-dare-you-not-compensate-me-for-changing-my-mind ones.

[jbrusby]

I particularly like the tortuous ways they find to spin a positive where the opposite is clearly the case, such as claiming that buyers who find it easier to cancel will be encouraged to place repeat orders from you (which they'll probably cancel again), which it absolutely does not:

"In prior tests, this change resulted in a minimal increase in cancellation requests (maintaining an overall average cancellation rate of 1%, with an increase from .9 out of 100 transactions to 1.1 out of 100 transactions), and a notable 25% improvement in buyer satisfaction, which led to a higher likelihood of repeat purchases"

[papso22]

My guess would be that each buyer that messes a seller about with a cancellation will not get the opportunity to make repeat purchases, if the first one counts as a purchase at all!   At least until ebay removes the ability to block members. 

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

So it's a notable 25% improvement in buyer satisfaction yet they describe the near 25% increase in seller cancellations as minimal.

Par for the course.

[bravergrace]

To a certain extent, ease of cancellation is likely to lead to repeat purchases.  

I had a buyer last week who bought the wrong size, realised straight away and then went on to buy the right size, and THEN request to cancel the original order.  This was a £20 item.  I imagine that this happens less with expensive items - if you buy the wrong freezer or car, you don't just buy another on the off-chance that the seller will let you cancel.   

But the "higher likelihood of repeat purchases" mentioned, is:

- not defined.  It could mean buying the correct colour/size from the same seller (which is good for the cancelling seller).  Or it could mean buying the exact same item from a different seller for tuppence less (because as soon as you've bought something, eBay helpfully gives you a list of identical items that you could have bought cheaper).  This is good for the megasellers, but does no good at all for the cancellling seller, who loses out on time, possibly wasted packaging, relisting fees and possibly promoted listing fees.

- not quantified.  There are quite a lot of statistics in the announcement.  But this one is either too small to mention, or unquantifiable.  I suspect it's not based on actual buyer behaviour, but on the answer to the question:  "Did our new super-easy no-risk cancellation procedure make you feel more likely to buy from eBay in the future?"

Cancellations are a nuisance on eBay, for buyers as well as sellers.  I've bought things in the past, messed up the voucher code, and ended up either losing the voucher or buying the item at full price because the seller wouldn't cancel two minutes later.  Those of you who get eBay packaging vouchers may be sympathetic.

 I don't know the answer - perhaps an automatic 5-minute cancellation "cooling off period", before eBay processes the order?

[sheba-knows-best]

---

@auntietootieblue wrote:

  We are still out of pocket as far as I'm aware we don't get the transaction fee back when a buyer cancels, yet they get a full refund.  35p everytime some one cancels.  You ebay are just giving them an easier option to do this.

Just to add also, if you promote the item and it sells, then they cancel you will also not get the promoted fee back either so its a win win for ebay but its us the seller as usual that as to fund this.

---

Happy to be corrected (please show where you get info from), but it is my belief that ALL fees - 35p transaction and the PL fees are refunded. I believe there was an ebay announcement regarding the refund of the transaction fee (which was initially missed on cancellation, I agree, but then updated) and I have checked my own PL sales to make sure the PL fee is refunded (which it is); just like PL fees are also refunded with returns.

[wyattharrisx]

You get fully refunded on a cancelled order that is final fees, transaction fee and also if the sale was part of a sponsoured listing sale the ad fee is also refunded. It has been this way for ages so you won't be out of pocket on a cancelled order

[the-nutwood-collection]

... a notable 25% improvement in buyer satisfaction, which led to a higher likelihood of repeat purchases

I'd like to see the statistical proof that supports these statements.

Does the 25% improvement directly correlate with the buyer's satisfaction level when they cancel an order?  If so, 75% of buyers didn't report any increase in satisfaction by being enabled to cancel.

What are the parameters for saying 'higher likelihood of repeat purchases'.  Higher likelihood of a repeat purchase from the seller whose order they cancelled?  Higher likelihood of making an eBay purchase sometime in the future?  I suspect the latter.

'Buyers' who cancel orders don't get a second chance with me.  They're on my BBL before I confirm the cancellation.  'My little sister bought it by accident' - nobody buys merino wool rovings by accident.

[santlache_sales]

Perhaps if eBay didn't insist on showing people the same item from other sellers, possibly slightly cheaper, once purchased, we'd only get a fraction of the cancellations

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Its better the buyer cancels upfront than getting a return for "not as described" which will cost outward and inbound postage.

[darth_baggins]

It used to be the case that we were charged the transaction fee but this changed quite some time ago, at least a year ago and probably longer.

[bard16]

So, what happens if I post the item and by bad timing the buyer cancels 5 minutes after I post it and before I have added the tracking number to eBay?

[sml192]

Buyers can only request a cancellation.  Nothing has changed in that regard.

Sellers then get 3 days in which to accept or decline the cancellation.  If they don't do either and the item has been paid for then the cancellation is automatically declined at the end of the 3 day window.  If the item hasn't been paid for then the cancellation is automatically approved at the end of the 3 day window.

[bard16]

Nice one. Thanks for clearing that up. 

[lens-sage]

I've had two cancellations this week including "seen it cheaper elsewhere"

First since 2023

0.2% increase my foot.