Customers sure do some wacky things.

[inhawaii]

A customer just bought a item from me. $11 + $6 Shipping. $17 total.

A few minutes later the same customer with a slightly different user ID buys another 3 similar items.

$11 each + $6 shipping for the first item, $3 for each additional. $45 total.

I double checked the order details for each order. Same name and same address.

What possible reason would  someone have to do this?

Would you combine or treat it as 2 different orders?

[pargran3]

Yes.  Two different orders.  

[buyselljack2016]

Guest purchase?

and yes, as other posted, 2 orders. No way to combine that I know of when the buying ID is different.

[nobody*s_perfect]

You have to ship the orders separately because you can't enter the same tracking number for different buyer IDs.

[crazystuff4sale]

There's one reason I can think of:

On a rare occasion ebay will send a $5 off of $10 or some such coupon out to users. Basically free money.

When I received the offers it was to an old account I rarely use and my wife who rarely shops ebay got one at the same time. I assume they do those to boost their active user stats for stock reports.

There's also some of those online shopping rewards/rebate programs that people get involved in.

But yeah definitely treat as 2 separate orders. Don't combine.

[lepke1979]

Even if you can enter the same tracking # for both, I wouldn't want to risk it. However, if you feel like putting in the effort. You can always message the buyer and ask if you'd like to cancel one of the orders and buy it under the other account.

There could be a legit reason for making them separate orders though.

[714ricki]

I would treat them as two different orders with two separate shipping labels. The buyer probably was using a one-time guest account on one or both.

Good luck!

[rugerskick]

Make sure you take packing photos.  

[crazystuff4sale]

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@rugerskick wrote:

Make sure you take packing photos.  

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Why?

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

You have to ship the orders separately because you can't enter the same tracking number for different buyer IDs.

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Thank you for posting that.  I didn't realize you couldn't do that. 

[wrong66]

Packing photos are meaningless. They can't be used for anything, by anybody.

[wrong66]

Could be for two different people in the same household. 

[lepke1979]

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@crazystuff4sale wrote:

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@rugerskick wrote:

Make sure you take packing photos.  

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Why?

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For your scrapbook.

And some people think it makes a difference if a buyer says it was not as described or incorrect item sent or something.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

They do.  It's a little different, but I have several customers, mostly regulars who buy something, then the continue over the next 3 or 4 days to buy 1 item at a time.   Even though I have FS for 3+ items & they know that.  They also know that I ship immediately, so I can't combine.  They don't mind.  I've never understood why they don't just wait & get the FS.  If they miss my shipping cutoff, I can sometimes combine & I have 1 regular who also wants me NOT to combine her order.  Only customer who's ever wanted that.  IDK why, but she's a great buyer, so I do what she wants 🙂  

In your case, I would have asked them if they want you to combine, but I guess you can't do that as per a post here, so the only thing I might do is remind them for future purchases, what your promos are. 

[luckythewinner]

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What possible reason would  someone have to do this?

I have 8 eBay accounts and every once in a while I accidentally buy something on an account that is not my buying account. So if I changed my mind and wanted to buy more, I would switch to the correct account and make the second purchase there. 

Or they were guest purchases where the buyer did not use an eBay account.  Or as someone else suggested perhaps the buyer had a coupon or credit he wanted to use up.  

Would you combine or treat it as 2 different orders?

Absolutely not. I would protect myself as a seller and ship the orders separately.