Returns from eBay and your return rate
See every eBay return in ProfitClerk: what eBay waits for from you, items back to record, your return rate and why buyers return each product.
The Returns page shows what buyers send back and why: the returns eBay is waiting on you for, the items that are back and still need recording, your return rate, and the reasons buyers give for each product. On the website it is Returns in the menu under Shipping; in the app, open the Sales tab and tap the return arrow at the top.
Where returns come from
ProfitClerk reads your returns from eBay with read-only access, about once an hour for each connected eBay account, together with the normal sync. It sees the reason the buyer gave and anything they wrote, where the return stands, the refund, the return label and its tracking. It never acts on a return: accepting, refusing and refunding stay on eBay.
Waiting for you on eBay
Open returns where eBay waits for you to do something, soonest first: accept or decline the return, send a return label, refund the buyer, or confirm the item arrived. Each shows the date eBay gives you; after it, the return shows as overdue. Act on eBay before the date, or eBay may decide for the buyer.
Came back: record what happened
When eBay says an item is back with you, or the buyer was refunded and kept it, the return appears here until you record it.
- Click Record next to the return. The order's page opens with the Returns card's form filled in from eBay: the units and the date it came back.
- Choose what happened: Back in stock, Came back unsellable or Not sent back.
- Click Record return.
The return is then linked to eBay's, so it is never counted twice. What each choice does to the profit is in how refunds and returns affect your profit.
Return labels you paid on eBay
eBay charges a return label you paid for as postage on the order. Once ProfitClerk has matched that charge to the return, it shows as its own Return label (eBay) line under Your costs instead of inside the order's postage. The profit stays the same; only the line moves. In the profit and loss it counts as return postage on the date eBay charged it.
A label the buyer or eBay paid costs you nothing and is not added. If eBay voids the label, it goes back out again.
Your return rate and the reasons
For the period you choose:
- Return rate: units returned against units sold.
- Returns by product: units sold, units returned, the return rate and the main reason for each product. A high rate is a hint to look at the listing's photos, description or sizing.
- Why buyers return: eBay's reasons by count. Click one to list its returns.
Export CSV downloads the period's eBay returns with their reason, stage, refund and return label.
Where returns show up elsewhere
- The order's Returns card lists its returns on eBay above the ones you recorded.
- A push notification tells you when a buyer opens a return (More › Notifications to switch it off).
Questions people ask
Where do my eBay returns come from?
ProfitClerk reads them from eBay with read-only access, about once an hour for each connected account. It can never accept, refuse or refund a return: you still do that on eBay.
Why does it ask me to connect my eBay account again?
Reading returns needs a permission that accounts connected earlier did not give. Connect the account again from the Returns page or Settings; everything else keeps syncing meanwhile.
Does a return change my profit?
The refund already does, as soon as eBay pays it. Recording what happened to the item decides whether its cost stays on the sale. A return label you paid on eBay moves to its own Return label (eBay) line; the profit does not change.
How is the return rate worked out?
Units returned in the period, from eBay's returns and the ones you recorded, divided by the units you sold in the same period. A return you recorded from an eBay return is counted once.
Can I see returns from before I connected?
The first read brings in returns opened in the last four months. The Returns page says from when returns from eBay are known.
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