This post "Goodbye, eBay ..."  is really a literary elegy reflecting our recent commercial divorce from selling  online via this eCommerce platform ( hereinafter referred to as 'eB' ). Our decision was prompted by yet another of their "throw-you-under-the-bus" decisions which was emailed to us by either their one of their AI bots, or one of their anonymous apparatchiks, we don't know which.  But let us begin.  We began this selling online relationship way back around in 2009, initially lured and, later seduced, by their enticing promises of easy, profitable sales. Alas, it was not to be... 

This month's post "Googling the right search terms" was sparked by an unknown visitor's, or visitors', persistence in seeking results for an unusual ( antithetical actually ) search term "square A2 frame" which is an excellent oxymoron. Why? Because A2 is an internationally recognised and adopted, rectangular ( not square ) plane being, to wit, 42x59.4 cm. It's also equally surprising that the unknown user, or users, persisted searching this term for several weeks. How would we know this happened, post readers might well ask?  Ah! we would retort, we know because we pay Google Ads to tell us every day what users search for, or with, that's how. As an online retailer spending copious amounts of advertising dollars with Google, Bing, eBay, Gumtree and other online search engines, platforms ...

This post will deal with the humdrum and slightly annoying topic of uncollected, abandoned picture frames and akin picture framing goods. We will  begin by saying that an unglamorous part of our online business retail of ready-made picture frames and the factory manufacturing of custom picture frames is the non-collection and ensuing abandonment by Customers of orders and custom picture framing jobs that they ordered. Each year this consists of anything between 10 to 15 assorted online orders and custom picture frames totalling in value between $1,000 to $2,000, some of these orders are shown below. Individually, nearly nearly every order is worth less than $200.  This amount is important, as it will be seen a little later on as we continue reading.

Apropos change-of-mind returns - it happened to us again last week!  A Customer brought back an 18"x24" black wood poster frame he'd bought earlier in the week claiming that "My husband doesn't like it" , and  adding" Can I please have my money back". We checked the poster frame for dents, dints, damages and breakages, and, on finding none, we refunded her money, and that was that. Nothing extraordinary, one might say, so, what's the big deal ? Nothing remarkable, we will segue, except to say that the refund that the Customer asked for called is called a "change-of-mind" ( CHOM) refund, and one which, legally speaking, Customers are not entitled to. To quote the Australian Consumer Law, Customers, or consumers, are not entitled to obtain refunds "when they got what they asked for but simply changed their mind".

We venture to say that our refunds policy is not only progressive and fair-minded, but that it's also quite generous and at the forefront of the picture framing industry.   We propose this commendation because the Australian Consumer Law legislation, in specific cases, restricts the payment of refunds ( inter alia ) by excluding this entitlement to certain Customers where and when  "  ..  Customers just changed their mind about buying a product,  or found the same product cheaper elsewhere , or simply decided they didn't like the products or could not use it ... ".  Felicitously for all Customers, our Terms and Conditions of Sale page advises that they can return most goods ( Conditions and Limitations ...