Why can't IPR and free shipping items get a combined shipping quote?

[sg51]

Maybe you can help me out here @Anonymous , even if it's just to understand why this can't logically be done. I sell nearly all BIN/IPR these days. There was a time I was a 99c auction guy, but that time is long in the past.

So I care about shared shipping.  I use the combined shipping mechanism provided by ebay, but it's really limited (and buggy).   While I can combine most of my items, and I'm willing to forego anything I can on the 2nd item,  I can't combine all, and some combinations just don't yield any savings.  Like for most sellers.

So why can't a buyer put some collection of IPR items, maybe even some free shipping items,  into the cart and request a total, to see what I could do?  I'll give the quote, and buyer can IPR the quoted cart.

It would almost always work for both me and buyer.

If someone bought one or more of the items before buyer did, then, that offer would disappear.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

IPR means "immediate payment required" -- separate payment for each item number, no negotiation.

"Free shipping" means the shipping amount is already included in the selling price, so there's nothing to discount. ZERO is zero -- you can't charge less than $0.00. You can't amend the selling price unless you change the listing prior to a purchase.

That said, when a seller offers combined shipping in Site Preferences, even IPR items can be added to the shopping cart if shipping is stated as a line item. The items do remain for sale, but at least the buyer can request a revised invoice based on the buyer's registered eBay address. However, you don't want to risk quoting to, say, San Francisco and then having the buyer specify an address in Maine!

In the past at least, I have added IPR items and non-IPR items to the shopping cart and asked for a revised invoice. None of them was "free shipping" and the distance was Zone 8, Hawaii to the mainland.

A better solution is for the buyer to send an e-mail citing specific listings to ask for a quote to a named city. Of course, for multi-quantity listings, you can specify a shipping cost for "each additional item" that automatically computes the total cost.

~~C~~

[d-k_treasures]

The best solution is to put it back the way it was before they messed it all up. The forced IPR on a BIN is much more logical on items over 1000.00, not under. 

Or even over 500.00, for new sellers, so they don't get scammed so much.

[sg51]

A better solution is for the buyer to send an e-mail citing specific listings to ask for a quote to a named city. 

No, because buyer cannot make use of any reduced shipping quote, due to having to pay separately.

[sg51]

"Free shipping" means the shipping amount is already included in the selling price, so there's nothing to discount. ZERO is zero -- you can't charge less than $0.00. You can't amend the selling price unless you change the listing prior to a purchase.

Not by itself, no.  I'm discussing combined shipping here.

[sg51]

IPR means "immediate payment required"

Yes.

-- separate payment for each item number

An example of "in the box" thinking.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@sg51 wrote:

Maybe you can help me out here @Anonymous , even if it's just to understand why this can't logically be done. I sell nearly all BIN/IPR these days. There was a time I was a 99c auction guy, but that time is long in the past.

So I care about shared shipping.  I use the combined shipping mechanism provided by ebay, but it's really limited (and buggy).   While I can combine most of my items, and I'm willing to forego anything I can on the 2nd item,  I can't combine all, and some combinations just don't yield any savings.  Like for most sellers.

So why can't a buyer put some collection of IPR items, maybe even some free shipping items,  into the cart and request a total, to see what I could do?  I'll give the quote, and buyer can IPR the quoted cart.

It would almost always work for both me and buyer.

If someone bought one or more of the items before buyer did, then, that offer would disappear.

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Hey @sg51, I can see how adding free shipping items to a cart with items with shipping cost from the same seller could be of benefit to both parties if the items can be shipped together. The way I imagine it, if I purchased three items from you with item A being free shipping, and items B & C both having $2 shipping, but you can ship all three together for $2, this could be easily tracked through the combine shipping process. Since we don't allow this currently, the buyer has to remove the free item, request a total, and then purchase the free item separately. I'll go ahead and pass this along for consideration, as I'm currently discussing other cart/combined shipping discount suggestions with the appropriate team and am happy to tack this on.

[sg51]

 I'll go ahead and pass this along for consideration, as I'm currently discussing other cart/combined shipping discount suggestions with the appropriate team and am happy to tack this on.

Thank you @Anonymous

It seems that the primary purpose of the cart should be to maximize the use of combined shipping. It's always been dissapointing that it isn't able to do combined shipping very well.

I'm very pleased to see you care, and you're doing what you can.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

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@sg51 wrote:

 I'll go ahead and pass this along for consideration, as I'm currently discussing other cart/combined shipping discount suggestions with the appropriate team and am happy to tack this on.

Thank you @Anonymous

It seems that the primary purpose of the cart should be to maximize the use of combined shipping. It's always been dissapointing that it isn't able to do combined shipping very well.

I'm very pleased to see you care, and you're doing what you can.

Thank you.

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I try! I appreciate you sharing suggestions and insights so we can work on improvements on our end 

[moo*cow*corner]

@Anonymous

I'd like to see a way to offer a combined shipping discount on 'free shipping' listings too.

I sell relatively heavy items and offer free shipping. There are many times I'd give a discount for multiple purchases which can be shipped together in one box.

I have a blurb in many of my listings asking prospective buyers to contact me if they are interested in a multi-listing or multiple item order, but it's been ages since anyone has.

Example- I had a buyer inquire about buying everything I had listed in a certain dinnerware pattern.  After some crazy number crunching, I was able to offer her an extra 15% off the total of my already marked down prices. The only way I could work around the free shipping and the IPR was to revise each listing to spread out the extra discount dollars amongst the 4 or 5 listings she wanted. She put them all in the cart and the total amount was a few pennies off our agreed price, but she purchased everything. She saved about $15 in shipping costs and was a happy camper when one LARGE box of dinnerware showed up on her doorstep.

Crazy clunky, but I made it work.

If I could offer an automated discount in the cart for multiple item purchases that would ship together, I'd do it immediately.

@sg51 

Thanks for bringing this up. It's something that's been on my seller wish list for a LONG time.

[Anonymous]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:

@Anonymous

I'd like to see a way to offer a combined shipping discount on 'free shipping' listings too.

I sell relatively heavy items and offer free shipping. There are many times I'd give a discount for multiple purchases which can be shipped together in one box.

I have a blurb in many of my listings asking prospective buyers to contact me if they are interested in a multi-listing or multiple item order, but it's been ages since anyone has.

Example- I had a buyer inquire about buying everything I had listed in a certain dinnerware pattern.  After some crazy number crunching, I was able to offer her an extra 15% off the total of my already marked down prices. The only way I could work around the free shipping and the IPR was to revise each listing to spread out the extra discount dollars amongst the 4 or 5 listings she wanted. She put them all in the cart and the total amount was a few pennies off our agreed price, but she purchased everything. She saved about $15 in shipping costs and was a happy camper when one LARGE box of dinnerware showed up on her doorstep.

Crazy clunky, but I made it work.

If I could offer an automated discount in the cart for multiple item purchases that would ship together, I'd do it immediately.

@sg51 

Thanks for bringing this up. It's something that's been on my seller wish list for a LONG time.

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Thanks for outlining an example! This kind of detail is much appreciated! I will get this passed along as well and we will see what we can do 

[dtexley3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Hey @sg51, I can see how adding free shipping items to a cart with items with shipping cost from the same seller could be of benefit to both parties if the items can be shipped together. The way I imagine it, if I purchased three items from you with item A being free shipping, and items B & C both having $2 shipping, but you can ship all three together for $2, this could be easily tracked through the combine shipping process. Since we don't allow this currently, the buyer has to remove the free item, request a total, and then purchase the free item separately. I'll go ahead and pass this along for consideration, as I'm currently discussing other cart/combined shipping discount suggestions with the appropriate team and am happy to tack this on.

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Ha! This was exactly the situation I was trying to describe in the other thread.  As soon as one item in the cart has either free shipping, OR *could* have a discount (but doesn't yet) the buyer can't request an invoice.   The example I couldn't come up with on that day, Buyer wants two $9.95 items + shipping and one $14 item (qualifies for a 10% off if you buy 3 or more above $12) plus shipping.  The buyer would like to invoice me because I can ship these for less than my built in shipping discount, but they can't because of the $14 item (or an item with free shipping).

<soapbox on> How does this improve the buyer experience?  How does this help the seller?  How much is eBay losing in fees because the buyer gives up in frustration?

Please, Please, Please remove the eBay imposed IPR on items under $1000.  When sellers complain about UPI, *teach them* how to set *their own* items to use seller chose IPR.  Let the rest of us run our businesses in the way that benefits us the most.</soapbox off>

[moo*cow*corner]

@Anonymous

Glad I was able to help.

As a followup, a way to offer a discount on multiple purchases with free shipping would help me be more competitive. I'd sell more, and buyers would save more. It's that simple.

Buyers in my category often buy multiple items in their pattern. Combined discounts are important to them.

The way things are now, my 'free shipping' search bump is completely negated by my inability to offer discounts for multiple purchases.

A change in that would be awesome! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@dtexley3 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Hey @sg51, I can see how adding free shipping items to a cart with items with shipping cost from the same seller could be of benefit to both parties if the items can be shipped together. The way I imagine it, if I purchased three items from you with item A being free shipping, and items B & C both having $2 shipping, but you can ship all three together for $2, this could be easily tracked through the combine shipping process. Since we don't allow this currently, the buyer has to remove the free item, request a total, and then purchase the free item separately. I'll go ahead and pass this along for consideration, as I'm currently discussing other cart/combined shipping discount suggestions with the appropriate team and am happy to tack this on.

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Ha! This was exactly the situation I was trying to describe in the other thread.  As soon as one item in the cart has either free shipping, OR *could* have a discount (but doesn't yet) the buyer can't request an invoice.   The example I couldn't come up with on that day, Buyer wants two $9.95 items + shipping and one $14 item (qualifies for a 10% off if you buy 3 or more above $12) plus shipping.  The buyer would like to invoice me because I can ship these for less than my built in shipping discount, but they can't because of the $14 item (or an item with free shipping).

<soapbox on> How does this improve the buyer experience?  How does this help the seller?  How much is eBay losing in fees because the buyer gives up in frustration?

Please, Please, Please remove the eBay imposed IPR on items under $1000.  When sellers complain about UPI, *teach them* how to set *their own* items to use seller chose IPR.  Let the rest of us run our businesses in the way that benefits us the most.</soapbox off> 

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Hey @dtexley3, I'll definitely get these suggestions reviewed by the appropriate teams. I do want to clarify that it is seller's complaining about UPIs that lead to this change, but eBay identifying that the Unpaid Item process was a top contributor to buyers leaving the site. A buyer not paying on time is not automatically a sign that they are a bad buyer or fraudulent in any way - sometimes they simply get distracted or don't realize they need to pay promptly. By requiring Immediate Payment we are drastically reducing this experience for buyers and subsequently increasing sales for our sellers. Creating more streamlined experiences for our members strengthens our brand and benefits everyone. While I know there are certain situations pertaining to shipping discounts and invoices that I am working to have reviewed for improvements, the IPR changes are something that have benefited the site by helping to retain and grow our customer base.

[dtexley3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dtexley3 wrote:

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<soapbox on> How does this improve the buyer experience?  How does this help the seller?  How much is eBay losing in fees because the buyer gives up in frustration?

Please, Please, Please remove the eBay imposed IPR on items under $1000.  When sellers complain about UPI, *teach them* how to set *their own* items to use seller chose IPR.  Let the rest of us run our businesses in the way that benefits us the most.</soapbox off> 

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Hey @dtexley3, I'll definitely get these suggestions reviewed by the appropriate teams. I do want to clarify that it is seller's complaining about UPIs that lead to this change, but eBay identifying that the Unpaid Item process was a top contributor to buyers leaving the site. A buyer not paying on time is not automatically a sign that they are a bad buyer or fraudulent in any way - sometimes they simply get distracted or don't realize they need to pay promptly. By requiring Immediate Payment we are drastically reducing this experience for buyers and subsequently increasing sales for our sellers. Creating more streamlined experiences for our members strengthens our brand and benefits everyone. While I know there are certain situations pertaining to shipping discounts and invoices that I am working to have reviewed for improvements, the IPR changes are something that have benefited the site by helping to retain and grow our customer base.

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I respectfully disagree from a seller perspective.  The site already had a way for those sellers that wanted or expected buyers to pay quicker/immediately.  Each seller could *choose* to enable IPR on listings or as a global setting.  The first response should have been education for those sellers that complained along with FAQ and demos.  Making significant changes to the website has resulted in (IMHO) just as much buyer and seller dissatifaction as the UPI issue.  

When  you have an OPTIONAL feature that addresses a preceived issue you should ALWAYS start with education on how to use that feature, what it does, the advantages, disadvantages, etc.  Otherwise you run into what you have now, malfuctioning code and unhappy buyers and sellers on the other end of the issue.