Increase eBay Profits With a Return Policy

By Armando Pensado
There are all kinds of people on eBay, decisive and indecisive. As a seller you are lucky if the person who purchases your product is someone who makes rock-solid decisions from the start. However the majority of people are less decisive and prefer to have a guarantee to fall back on.

Offering a return policy might seem like a policy that would lower profits, not increase them. However experience says otherwise. By offering a return policy you as a seller are basically conveying two messages.

First it gives the buyer peace of mind; they rest assured that if something goes wrong they can always reverse the deal and get their money back. That peace of mind is crucial if your want the buyer to bid up high on your products.

Second it backs up the rest of your sales letter. A refund policy tells the buyer that you mean what you say because if you lie to them now all they have to do is call on you on it.

Picture two eBay auctions. One describes the glory of the product and the amazing implications it will have on the buyer’s life. Then the listing closes up with, “all sales are final, absolutely no refunds.” Now picture a second listing with the same description but it closes instead with “100% satisfaction guaranteed or every penny of your money back.” The second one gives buyers the confidence to bid up to high prices.

The truth is you don’t have to offer an absolute shipping-both-ways return policy. If your profit margin is narrow for whatever reason, try offering a refund where the buyer pays to ship the item back to you. Depending on the size and weight of the product a buyer might not find that to be too bad.

So what happens when a buyer invokes your return policy? Simple you follow through. The majority of buyers are usually happy with their purchase and rarely try to go back on their purchase.

Thus the result is perhaps a return here and there, and higher profits in the long run.