Custom shipping discounts not being applied to buyer's invoice
Summary: piecespast reported an issue where custom 25% shipping discounts were not being applied after September 1, 2026, despite their preferences being correctly set. monroe67 provided feedback on eBay's shipping practices and suggested refunding buyers directly if needed. piecespast expressed concerns about additional fees and found a potential solution by opting out of eBay's new default. marycastl-39 and pabl221 also experienced similar issues and have been struggling to resolve them. A participant explained that eBay's system might allow only one type of discount, causing complications. Despite contacting support, the problem persists for some users.
I have been offering buyers a custom 25% discount on shipping. As of 9/1/26, all buyers have been charged full retail price. I've checked my preferences and the custom option is still on there. Any advice? Thanks.
piecespast
OP5 days agoThank you. At least I'm not alone! It's a very simple problem ... the way it's always worked is no longer working!!
pabl221
·5 days agoI have been having the same problem. When you search for my items, it shows the discounted shipping rate in the list of items for sale. But when you click on my item, it shows retail rate for shipping (and buyers are paying retail rate). I contacted ebay on Instagram. They said they have had others contact them with this problem. Said they would send my info to the tech team. This was 9/23. Haven't heard anything yet and problem still exists.
quicksilverdiecast
·1 week agoIt may be ebays shopping cart and their policies, ebay will allow only one discount period. I went through this awhile back with the techs, and what ebay does not tell you when generating a new listing is that if you offer bulk rate discount (where it is cheaper the more you purchase of that item) is considered 1 discount, if you list it with a "Make or best offer" that is considered 1 discount. If you offer combined shipping that is considered 1 discount..and so on..so if a sellers listing is listed using anymore than 1 discount things begin to go astray on getting an accurate shipping discount...When ebay created the cart system it can only handle so many variables and then ebay adds various "Policies" some conflicting, the cart pretty much loses a grip and defaults. On ebay allowing only 1 discount on sellers offering items to buyers, is ridiculous. There is zero reason for doing this and not really ebays realm to dictate what a seller sells the item for, as they still get their sales percentage fees off the total sale value.
piecespast
OP1 week agoI have to correct myself. This morning's transaction did charge the eBay rate to my buyer. But it was only 24% for a package size that has been closer to 50% off retail in recent weeks.
piecespast
OP1 week agoUnfortunately, I have no solution. Just more confusion. I gave up and changed to "eBay negotiated rates" for all buyers and added a handling fee to a few listings. Today I made a sale and it charged the buyer full rate USP! ! So very frustrating.
marycastl-39
·2 weeks agoI started having this exact problem on Sept. 1, 2026 also. Have been able to resolve this? I tried the AI help but it didn’t help. I haven’t gotten a live person.
piecespast
OP2 weeks agoThank you for your comment. I realize that buyers won't be aware of the discount to retail via the listing and that's fine. I simply assume that $12 will be more attractive than $16! And, yes, I can refund on each sale, but I'd rather not add that extra step to my bookkeeping. Plus, if I use the eBay rates straight to the buyer, eBay takes their percentage of fees from that income and I'm now paying more for shipping than I'm receiving in payment. I found another posting that deals with this issue and it offered a link to "opting out" of the new eBay default. Hopefully, that will work.
monroe67
·2 weeks ago · EditedIt sounds like you have been entering a Flat Rate for USPS Ground Advantage delivery as the shipping price you ask your buyers to pay. Now I understand how and why you referred to that as a custom discount on the shipping price in your listings.
And, yes, of course, $12.00 is a more attractive price than $16.00 -- for anything, these days.
"Plus, if I use the eBay rates straight to the buyer, eBay takes their percentage of fees from that income and I'm now paying more for shipping than I'm receiving in payment."
Are you aware that eBay's Final Value Fee (FVF) percentage is applied to the total amount paid by the buyer?
In the category of most of your historical reproduction clothing (very creative, BTW), eBay's FVF percentage is 13.6%. So whether the buyer pays "only" your $12.00 flat rate for shipping or the $18.95 that I would have paid for shipping to me in Southern California (if I had bought that green dress in mid-August), eBay will keep 13.6% of the shipping price that is paid by your buyer.
With the info in your response, and the more I think about it, you may have actually discovered a very clever strategy for trying to keep your eBay fees as low as possible, for your own listings while not violating any eBay policies.
My hat is off to you !!
About eBay's October 1, 2026, postage rates default:
"I found another posting that deals with this issue and it offered a link to 'opting out' of the new eBay default. Hopefully, that will work."
I looked at that link yesterday, but didn't study it too closely, because I already use eBay's Calculated Shipping and pass the postage discount on to my buyers.
Opting out may work out for you really well, letting you continue with your flat rates.
Just be sure to opt-out before the deadline in eBay's announcement.
monroe67
·2 weeks ago · EditedWhen you say, "I have been offering buyers a custom 25% discount on shipping" --
how did you handle that discount prior to September 1, 2026?
I looked at a couple of your previous sales, one from mid-August (green dress), and the listing showed a USPS Ground Advantage price to my zip code.
I could be mistaken, but I don't think eBay ever offered sellers an option of creating their own "custom" shipping discounts on USPS prices, or UPS, or FedEx, or any other shipping carrier.
Nobody other than you and the computers of eBay, Inc., currently know whether your shipping policy includes passing along eBay's discounted USPS prices to your buyers.
As of October 1, 2026, the default of USPS Ground Advantage shipping prices shown in all listings, if I read it correctly,* will be eBay's discounted USPS rates.
*Edited to add: I found more info:
As of October 1, 2026, the default USPS shipping price will be eBay's discounted USPS rate -- on all listings with Calculated Shipping.
As a viewer of your listings, I, as a potential buyer, do not know whether the shipping price shown to me in your listing is a USPS retail price or eBay's discounted USPS price.
The shipping information in the listing of that green dress did not mention anything about it being a discounted shipping price.
It seems to me, though, that you would probably still be able to process refunds to your buyers in any amount you choose. You might choose to refund a percentage of the shipping price that the buyer paid.