My Customer Is Abusing the Return Policy Selling on eBay

I have often been asked, “Steve, what do you do about repeat returners?”

So this is the basic issue. What happens if you’re selling on eBay, and you notice that somebody returns an item, and then maybe a couple weeks later, they buy another item and return it? What do you do if the same person is consistently buying your items and returning them?

Now, I do want to be 100 percent honest. This has never happened to me—or at least if it has, I’m not aware of it. I don’t think I’ve ever had somebody who has purchased multiple times and returned items multiple times.

Is It Something You Are Doing?
First of all, if it’s happening to you, I would try to investigate why. Why are they consistently returning the items? Is it something that you’re doing incorrectly? Are you taking really poor pictures? Is the lighting off? Are you editing your pictures in a funky way, and it’s showing the color differently? Are you not including measurements? Are the items not clean? Are you packaging them the wrong way?

If you are not sure why someone is continually returning the items, figure it out. At the end of the day, when you’re selling on eBay, your goal is to make your customers happy. Your goal is to provide value to them. So, if they’re unhappy, there could be a reason.

Click To Watch This Video On YouTube…

Block Only If You Have To
If you think you’re in a situation where the customer is just screwing around or messing with you, well…I don’t actually know why somebody would do this. This has never happened to me. You could go in and block them. I have done this a couple times. And you could do it when you honestly believe that someone is trying to scam you or mess with you.

Because I have a YouTube channel, I sometimes have people who mess with me and go through my eBay store. That’s why I don’t even release my eBay store anymore; some people are just freaking crazy. But if you’re not on YouTube, well, you probably don’t have to worry about that. But, yes, you can block buyers. Again, I don’t do this all the time, but every now and then, you're going to meet somebody who is just a little wacky, a little crazy…and it just is what it is.

That’s the simple answer. But, first and foremost, figure out why they are consistently returning the item. There’s probably a reason. There’s probably something that you’re doing that’s putting them off. I’m going to guess it’s probably the photography or not including enough item specifics or details.

Disclose Flaws and Issues
If an item has a flaw or any other potential issue, you not only want to put it in the description area, but when you list your items, that first little box at the top that shows up next to the price and the pictures is a place to list a flaw or an issue. Always put it in there because a lot of times, people, especially customers who are purchasing via mobile device, won’t even read the description.

I know it sounds crazy because I always do. I’m looking to make sure it is what I want. But some people out there are impulse buyers. They see something, and they buy it. They don’t really look at the description. They just figure, “Hey, if it’s not what I think it is, I’ll just return it.”

So all you can do is investigate your items or, if you absolutely have to, block some buyers.