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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
*** A much bigger problem…why is Etsy tinkering with their “Return” subsystem?? ***
For the love of my hobby and minerals, I’m a stone cutter and jeweler on Etsy, however, I use to be a Software Engineer. I have no doubt the “return policy” field problem is a glitch, however, I’m mostly concerned as to why….
Engineering work is done in subsets. So my question…why is Etsy tinkering with their “Return Policy” subsystem? I’m concerned that Etsy is ready to change return policies for their sellers.
For my Etsy shop, I have a return policy that says all returns are to be paid for by the buyer which include Priority Mail and Insurance. And for jewelry pieces at $250+ , this amounts to approximately $17.00. Just this morning I read an article on CNBC about how online has generated so many “returns” that its become harmful to the environment. And thanks to Amazons’ easy return policy, consumers now expect easy returns paid for by the seller. Latest survey says that 96% of shoppers come back to the retailer if they have a good return experience, while 69% deterred from buying if they had to pay for shipping.
I’m very skeptical that Etsy will soon force shops to allow for “returns” to increase sales activity. And the latest data from consumers concerning inflation, for the month of March, says that there is now an increase of consumers that feel they may lose their job due to a slowing economy….because a fear of inflation is more than just being able to afford to buy a product…it’s also about a consumers collective wealth in investments…i.e. the housing marking, the Stock Market, the jobs market. If consumers begin to lose wealth, they will stop spending.
Etsy will become more cut-throat if Etsys sales begin to contract. I had my first Off-Site Ad sale on Thursday which took an additional $60 in fees to Etsy. Immediately, I’ve stopped posting new pieces, because my new buyer tells me that she’s had her eye on my shop for quite a while and found my on Etsy; not from from Off-Site Ads. I have no doubt Etsy will begin to charge sellers for Off-Site Ads whenever they need more money.
Watch your backs, sellers. Etsy will lie, cheat and steal for their shareholders. And I wouldn’t doubt that a change in “return policies” will be on their list.