Item Description and Returns

[mahal-2395]

Hello,

First time posting as a Business Seller so apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

I am a seller of Football Cards and Toys for context, one of the mandatory fields for Trading Cards is the condition guidelines (provided by eBay) as Near Mint or Better, Excellent, Very Good and Poor. 

I am a stickler for accuracy so always list based on the biggest card defect and ensure all listings are checked before posting. Any cards that are too bad when I receive them will have been binned as I don't send these out.

I have had a couple of return requests recently for 'Item Arrived Damaged' due to edge whitening or corner whitening. On the phone with eBay, I have been informed that photos and the condition guidelines do not count towards the item description, can someone confirm this is the case?

The reason for asking is that the whitening is shown on the photo and I picked Very Good (which is the following guidance) but the buyer's photo does count as justification. It is yet another reason why I feel like Business Sellers are becoming disillusioned - offering no fees to businesses masquerading as private sellers is one thing, advising that photos and condition aren't valid in disputes is another.

Flaws may include:

• Moderate creasing
• Moderate edge chipping
• Rounding and soft corner
• Moderate discolouration

[cobwebcottage]

The answer will always be the buyer is always right. It will not matter how many photo's you put on the listing although do try to describe your items as though you are sending them to a partially sighted person who lives on the moon.

[myriad*seller]

The buyer might have a card in worse condition they want to swap with the one you sent too.....

[ojewellery]

From everything you say you're picking the right condition to list.

Accepting returns is one of the pains of being a business seller.  Each category has a typical returns volume and this needs to be factored into numbers.  For clothing its quite high I think 10-15% but for my area jewellery its under 5%. 

Another thing that needs to be monitored is your service metrics.  If you go on the seller dash to the drop down 'Performance' then select 'Service Metrics' you'll be able to see how you rank against your peers.  Its important to stay in the yellow or ideally green area.  

A certain percentage of buyers just want a free return and will try it on.  If you disagree with their claim, before you refund when you get the return back from the dispute screen report the buyer.  The system will ultimately pick up they're not great buyers and they'll be dealt with.

Ultimately if you're getting various claims, it could be a case of bad luck or could there actually be an issue with the listings not portraying your items quite as well as you'd like - that's your call, I'm just putting it out there as a possibility.

I notice you're using mixed backgrounds, have some shadow and some images are slightly out of focus on scale up.  The actual condition of the cards is quite hard for me to establish from the photos.  When I look at one of your listings then look at items from other sellers I notice other bigger business sellers in your sector do have really sharp and squarely taken images.

There are quite cheap (free) fixes to these - if you're using natural light a sheet of clean paper or plain surface on or near a windowsill with several folded white sheets of paper surrounding the three other non window sides to use as light reflectors around the card will significantly reduce shadow.  If you don't have a tripod (for a mobile they're available under £5), then a stack of books, or a couple of boxes to balance the phone on works really well.  It also means your photos would be square to the cards.  Using a plain contrasting to the cards background for your shots means that background removal tools work well. 

It sounds like a bit of a faff but if you're often taking shots of similar sized items, creating a little set up where your camera/ phone is held and the light is consistent can enable you to produce lots of images very quickly.

General guidance has been use a minimum of five shots per item, I'd also recreate a standard blurb on what the different conditions mean to use on every listing, possibly you could create a condition description image to add to your image set.  You can only change what's in your control and attempt to cover all bases.

Finally the dodgy buyers can be blocked so they don't try it on again from your seller dash there is a link block buyers - just enter their ID.

You are in the right place for business questions and you'll get lots of answers.  Its up to you to cherry pick the bits that most suit your business

[ed_58611]

Photographs do not count toward part of the description... never have done. This is eBay policy.

What absolutely IS part of the description is the written description of the condition.

Unless all faults are listed in the description the buyer has grounds for INAD.

At the end of every Condition report in the Item Specifics of each listing is the sentence "See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections".

[bravergrace]

I wonder if this might be a seasonal problem?

I know nothing about the sort of cards that you're selling.  But if one of my grandchildren asked for a specific card (and sent me a link to your listing), I'd buy it for them, for Christmas.

And then, if it arrived with 

• Moderate creasing
• Moderate edge chipping
• Rounding and soft corner
• Moderate discolouration

I'd worry about it.  Because your item condition says "Excellent".  

Now, I'm not saying you're wrong about listing things with these faults as "excellent".  That's way beyond my level of expertise.  And to me, as a non-expert, "excellent" would mean that the cards were uncreased.

I've had something similar with some of my items in the past, where I'd sell hundreds of this item during the year - and then at Christmas, people would buy the item for someone else, and be disappointed.

There's not much you can do about it (except put more details on your listings at Christmastime).