Combined shipping request, no response

[esperanza*11]

Hi, I recently requested combined shipping for two small, lightweight items that I put in my shopping cart on May 20th. As it was late night, I went to bed, hoping to pay for the items this morning, with combined shipping. I've messaged the seller 3 times, requesting combined shipping, but have not received any reply. And now, eBay wants me to pay now. The items are  2 small Ginny doll plastic hangers, and 2 small vintage paper pocket calendars. The seller specifically states WILL COMBINE SHIPPING in the description. Without combined shipping, the total shipping is $8.75.

One thing, though, is that each time I messaged the seller, I checked 'Send a copy to my email' - but I never got any copies. Maybe my request didn't go through? Is it possible that eBay messaging is flaky today? lol Anyway, eBay won't let me cancel the order, and I'm kind of frustrated, at this point.

[chevymontecarlo88]

 Give the seller a day to contact you back. Maybe something happened on there end.

Edit.. I don't know how much lower the shipping will be combined but i understand your point.

[mudshark61369]

@esperanza*11,

If the 3 items are in your cart, go to it check the items you want to pay for, then use the request total from seller button.  You do have to commit to buy when you do that, but the seller can send a combined shipping invoice before you pay. That commit to buy button does not mean you will be charged automatically.   Depending on the shipping service the seller uses, there may not be much of a discount. 

[myangelandmyprincess]

You don't have to pay now.  You have four days.  So don't panic over the pay now reminders.  Give the seller a little more time to respond. 

[sassykzt]

It also depends on how your seller set up combined shipping in their business policies.  It may be automatic but you have to go to  the cart and hit " checkout" -- you may then see that it automatically combines the 2 shipping costs.  If your seller hasn't bothered to set it up that way , then you have to request it as stated earlier.

If your seller doesn't respond,  that should tell you something.

[esperanza*11]

Hi, I tried to reply to montecarlo88, but it just made that 'best answer'.  So, here goes nothin'. First, I know eBay is hard on sellers, so I don't want to cause the seller any problems. Second, the shipping on the two small hangers alone is $4.50. The shipping on the 2 small paper pocket calendars alone is $4.25. I'm not trying to cheap out; combining the two just makes sense (to me). Third, I have sent and received messages to and from other eBay sellers I bought from recently; one just this morning, others in the past week.  Anyway, I will wait, as you've suggested. Thanks for your replies!

[esperanza*11]

Okay, so: I made some progress! Instead of requesting combined shipping from my cart page, I contacted the seller directly, from the item page. They responded and said yes, would absolutely combine shipping!  Now, combined didn't show at checkout, so I did what the seller said; I just paid up, and seller said they will refund any overage.  I should have contacted the seller directly to begin with, but I just didn't think of that until I was getting ready for bed (as usual, lol).  So everything seems good, and I appreciate everyone's suggestions here Thank you!  June D.  😊

[esperanza*11]

Hi everyone - well, I did get a refund of $4.26, which is nearly half of the shipping total for the individual items. I'm waiting for the items; today is Memorial Day, so no mail, but I expect delivery tomorrow. Anyway, I'm pleased with how things turned out, and I hope I didn't sound like a cranky p.i.t.a. buyer! However, even the seller didn't understand why combined shipping didn't work from my cart. But they were wonderful, and of course I will give them the 5 stars positive feedback, as usual. 👍 🌟 Thank you again, everyone! 😊

[steady2304]

@esperanza*11 

Glad you were able to work it out. The reason that the seller probably never responded is that when you put items in the shopping cart a seller can't see them unless you hit the BIN button or the Request Total button to request that the seller send you a revised invoice. You have to commit to buy before a seller can see what's in your cart.

Luckily you figured out to contact the seller for instructions. The cart is strictly for buying and until a buyer hits the Request Total from Seller button or does the BIN, a seller has no clue you have something in the shopping cart.

[esperanza*11]

Well, the thing is, I was showing as commited-to-buy, and I did do the Request Total from my cart. But when I finally contacted the seller directly, i.e. from the actual item page itself (not my cart), they said that Request Total wasn't getting to them, and they didn't understand why.  Anyway, yeah - good thing I thought (finally, lol) to message the seller directly, and they were super-nice, and said they would absolutely combine shipping. But I had to buy the items with the individual shipping costs first, and then the seller refunded me. I would have bit the bullet and lived with the non-combined shipping if necessary, but it all worked out in the end. 😊