What happened to combined shipping?
Summary: A participant inquired about the challenges with combined shipping for their eBay listings, noting issues with customer service not addressing transactional concerns. mudshark61369 advised disabling certain buyer rules to facilitate combined shipping and explained the process for adjusting settings related to automatic payments and offers. The guidance included steps to modify these settings in the eBay seller's description and provided a link for further instructions on combined shipping. mudshark61369 shared personal experience on managing buyer rules to allow for combined auctions.
I have let several purchases go because of the lack of buying ease. There used to be a button one could press for combined shipping when purchasing multiple items. Now the items get totaled with shipping cost per item and ends up being more than the purchases and wrong. Seller says they will reimburse difference. This is a crazy way to have to do business. Also when the seller makes an offer if I want to purchase that offer but also several of their other offers I am unable to combine them, again have to purchase individually and pay full shipping for each item. How come Ebay can't address these issues and make it easier. I'm tired of having to shop this way.
victorianartdecovintagejewels
·4 months agoI agree as a seller this has been a big issue for me not being able to combine anylonger or being able to turn off unpaid item cases so that clients can continue to shop. I am constantly refunding shipping. Wish it would go back to the old ways. I have spoken to ebay reps and they said it is no longer an option.
mudshark61369
·4 months ago@victorianartdecovintagejewels ,
If you received a call back or chatted with ebay's customer service reps who all work for 3rd party call/chat centers, they have to reply by giving answers from the play book they receive, which doesn't cover many transactional issues. So they either make something up or terminate the connection, so they can move on.
Since your listings do not seem to have Best Offer you can combine shipping for Buy It Now listings to learn how to do that open the link below. I suggest that in the Seller's description you give buyers instructions on how to do that.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/shipping-rates/offering-combined-shipping?id=4169
In looking at one of your listings I see in it
Seller's other items
Sponsored
With a scroll list of your sponsored items. That means you are automatically sending buyers offers, which if they accept them they are locked into auto pay.
You would have to opt out of auto pay in your Buyer management Buyer requirements. Look under the usual auto blocks for Buyer Rules, Then disable the "Require all buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer", which also covers accepting offers from a seller.
I have disabled both buyer rules for my auctions so they can be combined.
cardsforauction
·5 months agoI think the issue is that the seller wants to keep complete control, because if the Ebay system does not work properly, then they have to honor the wrong shipping amount. My thinking was that if a seller has a store you can "Add to Cart" and also add auction wins or BINs to the same order over a 3 day period, but some sellers have it set up for Auto Pay or require Immediate payment (for offers, auctions, and BINs) even though I want to buy other things at the same time. Many sellers will reimburse shipping charges, and there are other sellers who won't. It's a crazy system, and it's been like this for years. It makes a buyer rethink what and who to buy from sometimes.
kibble-net
·9 months agoThis isn't an "Ebay" issue it's a seller issue.
For instance if you add my items to your cart, the shipping will combine automatically.
Not every seller has this option enabled, because not every seller offers combined shipping. Perhaps they have everything boxed up already and aren't able to combine the boxes. Perhaps they're a drop shipper. Perhaps the items are unevenly sized. There are many reasons a seller may choose NOT to combine shipping and that is their choice. Just like it is YOUR choice not to buy from them.
If you're tired of shopping this way, then be more selective of who you're buying from.
dredscot1
OP9 months agoInteresting but the listings say they combine shipping and when I ask they say they combine but I have to over pay and they will reimburse me. Why? Several sellers this has happened with. Is it hard to figure out?
snowflakes827
·5 months agoUnless the item is going in a flat rate priority envelope or box that can accommodate the number of items the buyer wants to purchase, it is impossible to calculate shipping on combined purchases ahead of time. That's why sellers say to pay the higher amount and let them refund the excess, which can only be determined when the shipping label is purchased. I don't think ebay is so stupid that they don 't realize how this new obstacle inconveniences buyers and sellers. Until they realize it's costing them money in lost sales commissions, nothing will change.
mudshark61369
·9 months ago@dredscot1 ,
What types of listings are you having trouble with? Are these multiple auction wins, or multiple items you made offers on? In either case if you saw a notice when you placed a bid or sent an offer saying if you won or had an offer accepted your payment source would be charged the seller could not send a combined shipping invoice because of the auto payment being made.
If these were multiple buy It now items, you should be able to place them in your cart without committing to buy first and then request a total from the seller. The seller(s) who have told you they would refund the shipping cost difference if they were able to ship the items together, probably will once they create a shipping label.
dredscot1
OP9 months agoWhen I get an offer from seller I do not have an option to put in cart, I can buy it now, decline, or counter offer but I can only go to checkout and purchase.
dredscot1
OP9 months agoIf I put multiple items in my cart and I am unable to request total. There is no "commit to buy and request total" like there used to be. When I ask seller they say to overpay and I'll get reimbursed. This is happening with several sellers and to be seems not a good way to do business. Has eBay made it so hard?
jerhod97
·4 months agoThere is no way to combine ship until the buyer has paid in full for all the items plus shipping. Then you have to refund the buyer all but one of the shipping prices. You used to be able to send an invoice with the adjusted price before payment was made. I don't know why they changed that. All of my listings are the same weight so this is not a big deal, but I can see where this would be a pain in the butt for others with different size packages.
mudshark61369
·4 months ago@jerhod97 ,
"There is no way to combine ship until the buyer has paid in full for all the items plus shipping..."
There is a way you can combine shipping before a buyer pays, open the link below
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/shipping-rates/offering-combined-shipping?id=4169
soh.maryl
·9 months agoThis may not be the answer you're seeking, but, although I've had very few occasions where I wanted to purchase multiple items from one seller, have always asked the seller first if he combines. It's my understanding that a seller is not required to do so, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
My recent past purchases have been mostly sewing patterns, and, without exception, those sellers have been willing to combine shipping and I do appreciate that, given the current USPS shipping rates.
dredscot1
OP9 months agoI do ask if they combine shipping, and they also say that on the listings but eBay does not combine shipping. I do not know what a seller has to do to be able to combine but apparently for a lot of seller it is not an easy thing for them to do? I really do not understand why it is so hard for them. But as a buyer I no longer have that button where you can ask for combined shipping.
snowflakes827
·5 months agoIt seems to me that ebay has changed something to make it difficult for sellers to offer combined shipping. Does ebay just want the invoices to be as high as possible since they charge sellers commission the TOTAL invoice, including shipping AND sales tax? It's not helping sellers OR buyers and ultimately hurts ebay as well since buyers really like combined shipping and are more likely to buy if they can save on shipping. It's also possible that their goal is to compel sellers to always build shipping costs in to the price and offer so-called "free shipping," which isn't actually free. Again, the only winner in this situation is ebay. As a seller located in the extreme southeast of the USA, how can I possibly know how much shipping cost to build in to my prices when I can't possibly know how far my items will have to travel, which is what determines the cost?? The difference can be substantial.
shire123
·9 months agoThere is a link for the SELLER to combine purchases but I don't remember one for the BUYER. It should be entirely up to the seller to offer combined shipping. As other threads have pointed out, sometimes it is not feasible to combine items for cost savings to the buyer. Larger, heavier items don't combine well.
As a seller I always offer combined shipping IF POSSIBLE. But I do require the buyer to pay for the full shipping costs and then will refund any excess AFTER I have figured out how much it costs to ship.
shire123
·9 months agoSellers can also set up shipping rules that have a base shipping number and then an amount for each additional item. But that only works for items of similar size and weight.
I actually had a buyer purchase two items that it actually worked out to ship them separately rather than combining them. Both were relatively large items which caused "dimensional shipping rates" to kick in.
But again, buyers cannot nor should not able to force a seller to combine.
Talk to the seller before purchasing. Most will gladly accommodate the buyer.
dredscot1
OP9 months agoI am being told by buyers that combined shipping is not an option for them. I understand about heavy items and that often eBay shipping costs are not accurate and that you would refund based on that but if I'm buying it seems wrong to have to pay i.e. $76.00 to ship $40.00 worth of merchandise (clothing) and that the seller will reimburse. I have to have faith that the seller will reimburse. And often these sellers cannot tell me what the shipping will be. This is not a good way to do business IMO and I end up not buying. So how does a buyer offer combined shipping, what are the steps to do that when they list items?
kibble-net
·9 months agoI think you have your wires crossed.
Combined shipping is offered by SELLERS not by BUYERS.
A "seller" is one who sells an item
A "buyer" is one who buys an item
Hopefully we've cleared that up now!
dredscot1
OP9 months agoYes a typo, I meant the seller is saying combined shipping not an option
dredscot1
OP9 months agoIf I put several items in my cart and went to purchase there would be a button that said 'request combined shipping'. That is no longer there. When I write the seller most of them say for me to overpay the shipping and they will reimburse me. I think when a seller got a notice to combine shipping they could figure out what it would cost right?
mamacassidy
·9 months agoYour best bet is to contact the seller by message and tell them what you want and ask for a shipping price before you buy. They may make a new listing for you with the items you want and one combined shipping price, or they may tell you to go ahead and buy them and they'll refund you whatever the difference is.
If they gave you a quote in the message but do not refund you the appropriate amount, you can take appropriate measures after that. However, there are mostly good and reliable sellers here, so most of them will do what they agreed to in the message.
Yes, there is a trust factor involved in that, but you can look at their feedback to see what others' experiences have been like.
snowflakes827
·5 months agoNo, they can't figure it out ahead of time. It isn't possible to do so, and this is ebay's fault.