The Value of Having a Return Policy
by Dave Steer
eBay's Senior Manager of Trust & Safety Marketing

It's November and that means that the holiday season is just around the corner. My favorite time of year, the holidays are all about family, friends – and shopping!

This year, more people than ever will do their gift shopping on eBay, trying to find practically anything on the planet. Many of these people will be new to eBay. They'll be looking for sellers who have the items they are looking for at a competitive price, and who provide the reassurance necessary to gain their confidence.

In past Marketplace Safety columns, I've written about what to look for in trusting your seller – I've even written about what not to do (a mostly tongue-in-cheek article called “How to Build Dis -Trust”).

Since sellers will be looking for any advantage they have this holiday season, I want to come full circle this month and highlight an important trust-building feature on eBay: Return Policy.

About the return policy feature
Last month, in an effort to enable sellers to build trust and buyer confidence, eBay introduced an improved way for sellers to display their return policies on the item page. This is how it works:

Sellers can include details of their return policies in a separate section on the Sell Your Item (SYI) form, where they can specify:

• whether they accept returns;
• the time period for returning items;
• the type of refund offered to the buyer (for example, exchange, money back, merchant credit, etc.);
• any additional details about the return policy.

Sellers who adopt this feature will have their return policies displayed in a special section of the item page.

So why did eBay create this feature?
I asked that question to Larry Friedberg, eBay's Director of Trust. Larry pointed out that many sellers on eBay already offer a return policy, but in the past these were often buried within the item description and were hard to find for buyers. The new return policy feature helps sellers communicate the commitment they are making to potential customers. Here's what Larry went on to say about the recent enhancements:

“The ultimate expression of trust is when someone places a bid. We have found that a clear return policy increases buyer confidence in the form of more bids. It's also about increasing transparency in the marketplace. The goals are both to make it easier for sellers to offer a return policy, as well as to help buyers quickly find and understand the seller's return policy information when viewing an item.”

An eBay Seller's Experience
I recently had an email exchange with eBay member afternoon-daydreams. Her eBay store (called ”Afternoon-Daydreams”) greets its visitors with a ”bold commitment to excellence.“

I asked afternoon-daydreams for her take on return policies. Did they help her business? Did she suffer from a high volume of returns? I wanted an honest assessment from an active member of the eBay Community. Here's what she wrote:

“I absolutely LOVE the return policy feature. It allows me to easily communicate to potential buyers that I do indeed have a return policy in place whilst at the same time instilling TRUST in the buyer right from the 'get-go.' Not a single buyer has ever asked to return an item. A few of my new buyers even told me that seeing my return policy on the auction listing was the deciding factor for them to bid or buy. It is an important feature every seller should consider including in their listings. I was amazed at the impact it had when I started using the return policy feature in my listings. Thanks again for a great way to tell potential buyers that their satisfaction is always guaranteed.”

Return Policy Tips
Have I convinced you to have a return policy? If so, consider including the following details to make your return policy clear and complete:

• Encourage communication – Encourage the buyer to contact you first before actually returning the item.
• Restocking fee – Mention if you will charge a restocking fee, and if so, what it would be.
• Shipping and handling charges – Clearly state who would pay for return shipping and handling – you or the buyer.
• Item condition – Clearly state the condition of the returned item that would be acceptable to you. For example, "unopened box" or "opened box with all original materials."

A competitive edge this holiday season will go to the sellers that put customers first and take steps to build buyer confidence. A return policy can be just the type of thing to set you apart from the competition.

For more information, please see the return policy preview page. You may also like to participate in an online workshop on the value of having a return policy.

Coming next month: Security & Resolution Center