Combine shipping question. Never in 23 yrs of selling on eBay.

Question

I had someone purchase 3 items all going to the same address. The name is different for each one though. Like Mike XXXX for Chritsmas, Jean XXXX for Christmas, etc. It won't allow me to combine ship so I assume each should be mailed individually to be covered under seller protection. It also could be a new scam out there to mess with sellers that would combine ship and then the buyer files something with eBay. Does anyone know how to handle this one? I have never had this one come up in 23 years...

dphiloxon · Accepted Answer

This typically happens when new sellers sign on as guests. They buy one item and then sign on as a guest again but require another registration each time. It's really ebay that is causing this issue and it's been going on for years, but ebay does not repair or correct anything that might hamper a sale even though they have been informed by many sellers over the years. I'm afraid you cannot combine these as they each come under a different registration/user ID even though the name might be identc...

a_c_green · Answer

@oldwestcoins wrote:
I had someone purchase 3 items all going to the same address. The name is different for each one though. Like Mike XXXX for Chritsmas, Jean XXXX for Christmas, etc. It won't allow me to combine ship

If it definitely won't allow you to combine the shipments, then I wouldn't worry about that, and just ship separately as the buyer seems to expect.

The blockade on combining those shipments, if that's what's happening, would appear to be because the purchases were made using different accounts (perhaps guest accounts as someone has suggested), if the Ship-To: address is the same in all cases.

Normally, you can combine shipments if the purchases were made with the same buyer ID and are going to the same address. The recipient's name doesn't matter. All you need to do is purchase the label as usual via one of the sales (I generally choose the most expensive purchase if the amounts are not the same for each), then go into my Sold Items page, select the Mark As Shipped action for each of the others, and paste in the tracking number on those other listings where indicated.

I agree that packing each item separately in an inner box, with that recipient's name written on it, and then combining them into one bigger box should work fine. You might want to send a heads-up note to the buyer to explain what he can expect to receive.

yardsalesshabbymom · Answer

I haven't had this issue myself but depending on what you're selling and the size, maybe package each one with a name on it and then put the 3 packages inside one larger package with the address. Hope this works for you, just a thought.

maxine*j · Answer

I think the buyer wants each shipped separately and bought the three items accordingly. They arrive, they get popped into a closet to be dealt with closer to Christmas, each duly marked for its recipient. An organized person!

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wastingtime101 · Answer

Buyer most likely checked out as a guest and instead of add to cart, they kept hitting buy it now. eBay won't let you use the same tracking number across different buyer accounts. So you can:

- Ship 3 separate packages and maintain seller protections or

- Ship together and risk having to pay out on 2 INR claims if the buyer is an opportunist

Edit: Reading your post again, since the buyer put in different ship to names like "Bob for Christmas" it means they want them shipped separately so they can identify these gift purchases at a later date. Ship them separately.