Assemble a listing for multiple items

[hajbo]

I have been selling on ebay for some years but have always sold single items, or some known quantity of items, so that I could determine the package dimensions and weight for the listing at the outset.
Now I have come upon a quantity of Selectric typewriter elements, the golf ball things, and will put them in one listing, but will let the buyer decide how many he wants. The quantity purchased will affect the size and weight of the package.

I have never posted this kind of listing before, where the customer can pick one or two or three or however many. My previous listings have been buy it now, immediate payment required, shipping cost varies by buyer location, with fixed dimensions and fixed weight.

I commonly see listings with option to purchase multiple items but don’t know how to put one together. How do I structure a listing where package dimensions and weight (and shipping cost) are not known at the outset but depend on the quantity of items purchased?

[jonathanbrightlight]

Those are multi-quantity listings, or possibly Variations listings if they have a dropdown list of items to choose from like different colors of the same thing  (which is much involved to set up).

The thing to know is that while you can have shipping automatically calculated based on the weight you provide, eBay does not have any way to recalculate the box size based on how many items are going in. There is a somewhat complex method to enter what’s called Shipping Rate Tables that gives you some more granular control than eBay’s built in Calculated Shipping, so you can look into that.

 If the box size is likely to greatly affect the shipping cost, which it might for some services and the types of items you said you have, I would enter the biggest or at least a larger box size than is necessary for one, and let it over calculate the shipping if needed, but offer partial refunds to customers who pay significantly more than your cost to ship, or just keep the available quantity down to what will fit in a reasonable box and relist or increase the quantity as things sell.

 Sorry, it can be tricky to get that right, and I may have rambled at points in that! If you have any questions about specific parts of it, let us know!

[hajbo]

If I leave the 'Immediate Payment Required' disabled, and direct the buyer not to go directly to Checkout but wait for an Invoice, then can the Invoice process be used to send the buyer a more accurate cost for shipping multiple items? Would I still have to put package dimensions and weights in the original listing setup even if they need to grow for a multiple purchase? I guess that would be where I overstate size and weight just to get the initial listing completed?

Have never used the Invoice process either, trial by fire