Return policies and sales/auctions...

ursabear

Good hello everyone!

I've been teetering on the fence concerning a stated return policy with my auction coin sales. I would appreciate your opinions on return policies, please.

First, let me say that I actually have a full return policy on every coin I sell. I don't want anyone unhappy with my coins. However, I do not currently explicitly state a return policy in my auctions. I've had bad experiences early in my eBay selling days with folks returning things under less than honest circumstances.

On one hand, I want all my coin purchasers to be happy. If I didn't describe it right, if I didn't ship out something that they're happy with, I want to work with them to come to an amicable end.

On the other hand, I really don't want folks to take advantage of my good nature and cost me lots of money on low-margin coins (the better part of my coin sales are very low margin.)

What do you think? Please share some experiences with me.

Bustman

What I have started to do, is to offer a 7 day return policy minus shipping, and a 2.5% restocking fee. Anyone who is serious about wanting the coin will most likely still bid on it. I am trying to avoid the guy out there that just wants to take a look.

airplanenut

You may want to say that the restocking fee only applies in a situation like gross overgrading/damage to the coin/etc... I wouldn't want to bid if I had to pay to send it back if you were the one at fault (not an accusation- I'm sure you are honest at describing your sales)... I should only be charged if I screw you, not if you screw me in the deal.

Jeremy

Dog97

If it's something expensive and a buyer wants it bad he will email you and ask.
If it's something cheap & common and you have good pictures don't worry about it.
I'm not an approval seller either but I put 5 days no ?? asked return in my listings when I sell and just hold my breath for a week after I get the $$ and ship the item.

TheNumish

I've always offered a 10 day no question asked return policy. I even have paid the customers return postage. I look at it this way. Having a simple policy like that shows good will. Maybe it's helped get some people to bid on my coins who might not otherwise have bid. I can count on one hand how many coins have been returned. I think it's less than 1% but I like to think 100% of the people appreciate having that option.

CommemDude

I have sold about 100 coins on ebay with 3 returns. I think that anyone who returns a coin should expect to pay all your costs associated with postage and nothing beyond that as it's best to make people feel that you are fair and respect their right to return coins that they don't like.

I even add a comment that the deal is not complete until the buyer is happy with his purchase, and I think this inspires confidence in bidders.

As a buyer, the hassle I have gotten from trying to return a few coins that were "creatively" photographed has turned me off to buying ANY expensive coins on ebay. I only buy from dealers who always take returns without question.

ursabear

I must say that these are good responses. I'm getting a good feeling for the types of things I could do to make my auctions better for all parties involved. I do sell my coins to make money to supplement our income (and to buy a nice Kennedy or type coin on occasion) - if it adds to the bottom line without causing too much loss - because of more satisfied customers (and perhaps more bids in general), I may give it a try. Perhaps a little of the advice each of you has given.

Any other thoughts from my fellow members for this particular Bear?

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses from all so far, truly.

relayer

My concern about listing a return policy in the ads is three-fold:

1) I don't want to encourage "lookie-lou's" who think I'm selling on an approval basis.
2) I don't want to get a different coin back than what I sold
3) Even though it can give a warm fuzzy feeling to a potential buyer, I don't want the customer thinking "return" when they are bidding on it.

I've always had a secret return policy (if you want your money back, I don't care as long as you return the same coin) but I decided to use my About Me page to list my policies and put a link in my auctions saying Click here for complete terms which links to my About me page.

I think it's good to have all of the terms of the sale stated, not just returns and the About Me page is a good place to do it.

In over 300 transactions, I've only had 1 return. It was on a modern PCGS PR69DC. I got an email with the buyer saying he wasn't happy because of the number of spots on it and he would be returning it. I grumbled to myself about how this guy returning a coin graded by PCGS, but sent an email saying OK but that S/H wasn't refundable. When I got the coin I looked at it under a 6x I saw he was right and it was pretty crappy so I refunded his S/H too. Since he used PayPal I used their refund procedure and they also give me a credit for their fees, along with ebays credit I was only out a few dollars.

I had one other inquiry from a dealer who bought a raw 1983 DD 1c coin for $150. He said he didn't want to be out that much on this coin and it had some spots that didn't show up in the scan. I told him I'd return his money if he sent the coin back. He wanted to negoiate the price after the sale and kept emailing - he decided he'd make a nice profit on selling it if I gave him $30 back. I sent him my address again of where to return the coin for a refund. He eventually got bored and left me positive feedback.

A lot of coins I sell I would welcome returns, because I lose money. Since I'm not doing this for profit (more of a liquidation) I don't really care. My worst loss was $144.53 on an 1875 California Gold 1/2. And my best profit was $335.42 on a MS70 West Point I made.

BTW ursa I saw you just made and sold one too. How much did you clear?

walkerman

There are unscrupulous buyers out there who take advantage of long (7-10 days) return policies.This gives them time to try to sell the coin for a profit.If they sell it they pay you and if they don't they ship it back.For this reason I offer 48hrs. no questions asked return. Anyone with any knowledge at all should be able to decide if the coin is as described and true to grade or even if they like it or not. .I only sell coins that are certified and encapsulated by the major grading services.One customer stated he needed at least 5 days on a pcgs slabbed coin so he could take it to his favorite pcgs dealer to have the grade verified.When I explained that the grade was already verified by pcgs and the only thing left to be decided was whether or not he liked the coin,he lost interest and decided not to bid.I try to deal in the top 5% of the grading tier and therefore have had only three returns out of over 300 sales.Two were sent back by the same buyer because one had a chip in the plastic ridge on the reverse of the pcgs holder and the other because the reverse was "dirty looking".(undipped).I returned his payment with no comment and moved on.I think it best in the long run to just return the payment with no argument as there is nothing to be gained and much to lose with dissatisfied customers,but for your own protection you should keep the return time to a minimum.

BAJJERFAN

As someone who has been more of a buyer than a seller both through eBay and other internet venues such as this message board I can tell you that it is an expensive way to "look". As a buyer its a lot of fun to put $15-$20 into a coin and not even own it. If the seller conveniently forgets to describe milk spots, rubs or other blemishes that don't show up in his scans he should be willing to take the item back. Just because a coin is in a PCGS slab doesn't mean its a keeper.

jadecoin

Our company (www.earlyUS.com) offers a full 30 day return policy, including ebay sales, and covers the full cost of the coin. This allows plenty of time for certification and resale on the buyer's part should he so desire. Purchase of a coin from us includes a printed invoice which clearly indicates the 30 day return policy. Having sold thousands of coins, we have only ever had four returns.

Sincerely,
jadecoin

relayer

So what is your new return policy?

coindaughter

Since photos can only do so much, even excellent photos, I feel that a liberal return policy is appropriate for coin auctions. It does promote goodwill to the buyer who knows that they are not "taken" if the coin isn't quite up to expectations. Reading over these responses, it seems that few get returns anyway.

Good luck in your auctions!

ursabear

<< <i>So what is your new return policy? >>



Zillions of bear-thanks to all for your well-thought responses.

I think what I've decided to do is to put a return/shipping/other policies section in my about me page, and link it to my auction layouts. I think the policy will be 7 days from receipt, 3 days email notice, less shipping. If I blundered, I'll refund the whole thing on my receipt of the coin. I think also I'll do a bit to explain how I come up with shipping - with very few small exceptions, shipping is a loss item for me after the cost of materials and actual postage/insurance.

Relayer, with my WP MS70, it was one I bought direct from the mint in pre-release ($30), and I made it just last month with PCGS after studying it a few times over a period of weeks, in comparison to some 69s I had made of the same series. It really made up for the rest of that submission.