A closer look at U.S. eBay seller updates for Summer 2017 Part 2
Reading Time: 2 minutes Welcome to part 2 of the 2017 Summer U.S. eBay seller updates. In this update, we will cover the items that require less action right now.
However, you want to take note of these updates as they may impact you later in search results.
ADJUSTING RETURN POLICY FOR BETTER VISIBILITY
Starting this summer, eBay will improve the visibility of listings that offer return policies more aligned with industry trends. The company stated they would favor listings that offer free returns and 30 or 60-day returns without a restock fee.
Buyers will receive options to filter items with these return policies. Listings will also highlight eBay preferred return policies.
eBay also stated they will use listings with improved return policies in their marketing campaigns.
Sellers that opt for free returns will also get the option to offer partial refunds if a returned item is not in the same condition.
While eBay is not forcing sellers to provide free returns or specific return policies, they will promote listings that offer these in search results.
The company also suggests retailers remove return information from the description and place the information in the structured data for the listing. Of course, this makes it easier for the company to identify your return information and display the listing according to their new algorithm.
Sellers will need to evaluate their competition to identify what if any changes they need to make. If competing listings start to offer free returns or no restock fee returns, you will likely be forced to change to maintain conversion rates on your listings.
TOP RATED GLOBAL SELLER STANDARDS ARE CHANGING
Previously, for Top Rated Global seller status, eBay would count all transactions, including U.S. sales. However, starting August 1, 2017, eBay will only count international sales to evaluate your account for Top Rated Global seller status.
There are no changes to the U.S. Top Seller program, except as outlined in the spring 2017 update.
TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ON THESE EBAY SELLER UPDATES
eBay seller updates may at times provide some news not good to a particular type of seller or specific categories. For a platform that has to cover just about every product, it ‘s hard to make changes without upsetting someone.
Most of the changes eBay has been working on are to keep up with Amazon, Walmart, and other marketplaces. They reviewed some of the actions they already implemented or announced and gave hints about the future.
There are parts of this seller update that are not 100% clear yet on how they are being implemented. But the underlying reasons to mandate some of these changes are valid in the competitive eCommerce space.
What is your take on this eBay Summer Seller Update? Let us know in the comments below.
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Richard Meldner
Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.
To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.