Asking seller for total

[princess_phones]

I know there was a feature that when you had several items from one seller in your cart you could ask the seller for the total.

I have several items from several sellers that have agreed to combine shipping but I can’t find where to ask them for the total, on one of them I lost an item. Did this convenient feature disappear or is it only for won auctions? These are all BINs still in my cart, once I commit I am committed to full shipping unless the seller is willing to refund part of the shipping.

[mudshark61369 · Accepted solution]

@princess_phones,

 "I have several items from several sellers that have agreed to combine shipping but I can’t find where to ask them for the total".

First you have to commit to buy, then you can "Request a total".

 "These are all BINs still in my cart, once I commit I am committed to full shipping unless the seller is willing to refund part of the shipping".

One of the problems I have had with the Cart is that you have to commit to buy before getting a combined shipping total. Mostly because a seller can come back with a high cost combined shipping price, which could be a deal breaker.  Of course the same thing happens if you do not use the cart, but send the request from your purchase history once you commit to buy several items. 

The way it works though, is you are committing to buy the items After receiving a combined shipping invoice from the seller which will have its own Pay button.

  If the seller has combined shipping rules set up, (Ex: Buy one pay $X, add $y for each additional item) the adjustment is made automatically.   The only time there is an issue, is if a seller uses Immediate Payment Required (IPR), then you pay and the seller refunds the difference.

  "Did this convenient feature disappear or is it only for won auctions?"

No it did not disappear, the reason you have to wait to win an auction before adding it to your Cart is, once you win it becomes a fixed price listing.  The same is true if you use Best Offer on several of a seller's items. You add the items after the offers have been accepted.

[myangelandmyprincess]

The request total should be at the top.  If you have items from several sellers in the cart though it will likely be greyed out.  You have to do one seller at a time.  Once you hit the request total you’ll get the commit to buy.  You won’t know the combined cost until you commit to buy unless you just message to ask them.  

[mudshark61369]

@myangelandmyprincess,

Good catch.  I forgot princes phones mentioned multiple items from several sellers.  All they have to do is select Pay Only This Seller, commit to buy, Then request a total.  I don't use the Cart so I forget those things.  Darned CRS!

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

The request for total has not been showing for me for about six months now. eBay seems to have changed the cart, maybe when they rolled out some kind of marketing tool.

[castlemagicmemories]

I can see your concern. Many don't want to commit to buy before they know what they are committing to, in other words, they prefer to know what the combined shipping cost will be before they buy, and not after the fact.

[mam98031]

If you don't want to commit to buy first, send your seller an email and ask.  Give them details so they know what items you are considering.  Then they can quote you in an email and you can decide if that will work for you prior to purchasing.

If you like it, then purchase the items and request a total. 

I have buyers do this all the time.  For some, the shopping cart request for total isn't working or is not there and for others it is.  There is some kind of glitch that does not appear to affect everyone.

But either way it will work for you if you contact your seller first.  I've done this for years for my customers.  So just reach out to your seller.

[7606dennis]

---

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I can see your concern. Many don't want to commit to buy before they know what they are committing to, in other words, they prefer to know what the combined shipping cost will be before they buy, and not after the fact.

---

Alas!  It seems that eBay sometimes puts the cart before the horse.  Of course, if I were buying multiple items from a seller offering a combined shipping discount, I'd probably ask the seller about how much of a discount I'd be getting before making the purchase.

[castlemagicmemories]

@7606dennis

I love it!  Puts the cart before the horse, how appropriate!

It makes sense to know just what you are committing to before you actually do commit.

[princess_phones]

Thank you all so much. On my account even when I commit to buy I still don’t get the “request total from seller” button, which is why I asked.

I know it used to be there, and yesterday when I had reached agreements with both sellers I thought about the button that used to exist but doesn’t anymore.

Today one seller dropped the shipping from one item and I immediately bought both, so that one worked out for me.

Thanks again!

[castlemagicmemories]

I think it changed when they made the automatic IPR change.  I had two items in the cart, listing said ask seller about combined shipping discounts.  The items were IPR, so I couldn't ask.  Seller did not add the IPR~she didn't even know it was on her listings.  We had to work around it.  She sent me an offer on each item, I accepted, and she then sent an invoice. 

[mam98031]

---

@castlemagicmemories wrote:

I think it changed when they made the automatic IPR change.  I had two items in the cart, listing said ask seller about combined shipping discounts.  The items were IPR, so I couldn't ask.  Seller did not add the IPR~she didn't even know it was on her listings.  We had to work around it.  She sent me an offer on each item, I accepted, and she then sent an invoice. 

---

Ebay has NEVER fully implemented manditory IPR site wide.  Some sellers have to do it and some don't.  I honestly don't know Ebay's rational for this, but it is NOT site wide.

So NO, changes didn't happen due to manditory IPR, because IPR isn't manditory for everyone.

[mudshark61369]

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

The request for total has not been showing for me for about six months now. eBay seems to have changed the cart, maybe when they rolled out some kind of marketing tool.

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth,

I wasn't aware of the Request Total button not being there, or not on every multiple Cart purchase.  I haven't done much buying this year and those were all individual purchases.

It does explain why for awhile I had issues with buyers paying, and having to refund a portion of the shipping.  Since I do not use IPR I have added a blurb in red in the description box, saying; I combine shipping, commit to buy but do not pay until you receive a combined shipping invoice. 

I have to do that because I only sell a few items that I can add combined shipping rules to.  The rest are one ofs with many different sizes and weights. Not to mention more than half of my listings are auctions.

[mam98031]

I don't use the combined shipping rules either.  For my stuff there are too many variables that setting up a rule is just not realistic for me.

I have a statement in my listings to contact me for combine shipping.  It has served me well over the years.  Some buyers don't read it, but then I just refund their overpayment if they pay in one payment

[supercharger-parts]

If a seller has require immediate payment on their listing or is in the guaranteed delivery (which requires immediate payment) there is no option to request a total for combined shipping, the box will show but be greyed out.