Good News for Auction Buyer/Bidders?

[mudshark61369]

This morning while helping a member I opened the How Bidding Works policy and found the announcement below, about combining shipping on ebay auctions. I cannot find any further information on when the option will start, but will update it if and when I can find out more.

[mudshark61369]

Update,

I've looked through all recent announcements and could not find any information as to when it will start, how it will be rolled out,  who will decide which buyers will be selected at first, and will it become a seller option?   I've posted questions about this in the Mentor Lounge tagging some blues.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Interesting. I wonder whether this option will override the seller's ability to cancel based on nonpayment after just 4 days. Surely it would be unfair to allow the buyer to choose the 7-day delay, only to find that on day 5 they have received a nonpayment strike.  Will buyers see this option only if the seller has already set up the policy to allow 7 or more days for payment, for just this purpose?

[wastingtime101]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Will buyers see this option only if the seller has already set up the policy to allow 7 or more days for payment, for just this purpose?

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The logical assumption is sellers would have to adjust 2 account settings:

1. Allow combined payments of 7, 14 or 30 days on the shipping preferences page (3 or 5 days will not jive).

2. Uncheck the box on buyer preferences page to require immediate pay on auctions.

eBay's not always logical, so we'll have to wait for more info.

As long as sellers use the setting to allow combined payments, that will impact their ability to set up automatic cancels for unpaid items. Ex: If you choose a combined payments timeframe of more than 3 days, you cannot set up auto-cancels after 4 days.

So if sellers are required to allow combined payments of 7+ days to participate, they will not be able to automatically cancel after 4. Assumption is they could not manually cancel in that window, either - but again, we'll have to wait for more info.

@mudshark61369  wrote:

who will decide which buyers will be selected at first

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eBay usually opts in really tiny numbers to start - like 5% then 10% of the user base - to get feedback from the guinea pigs and to check for tech issues, before ramping up to larger numbers. eBay will decide accounts by criteria they won't share with us. Sometimes it's random, but in this case I think they'd have to set criteria to include buyers that actively bid on auctions.

[12345jamesstamps]

So....if I win an auction at 3AM I have to be up to choose 'shop and ship separately'?...If I have other auctions with the same seller?

Guess there will be a lot less auctions from sellers and a lot of less auctions from buyers bidding on them.

Every country has different time zones.

As usual, another dumb idea.

I got one of these 'test' in one of my winning auctions a month ago and like freaked out not knowing what is happening and contacted the seller...seller does not have automatic-payments after auctions are won.

[campanaelia]

I will never provide a payment for auto-pay so this does nothing. Combined shipping is not my only issue with it . Most sellers don't even have combined shipping set up properly and you won't find out if the combined shipping option will show up or not until after you win. Each new idea ebay comes up with regarding auto-pay keeps getting dumber.

Here's an idea , how about only applying auto-pay to non-payers and leave the paying bidders alone.

[12345jamesstamps]

'Combined shipping'...I don't understand how some International buyers can ask and send for a total combined shipping and some can't. I scratch my head all the time. I am not hooked up to pay as you buy.

I get so tired of refunding International Shipping because I do give that discount.

With auctions it's like Russian Roulette not knowing if eBay is testing you or the seller when you win.

I had one auto-pay in an hour a few months ago and never saw one again.

[ittybitnot]

2. Uncheck the box on buyer preferences page to require immediate pay on auctions.

@wastingtime101 

Should "unchecking" the BUYER RULES automatically take care of the problem?  i.e. seller doesn't require this in the first place?  

The "shop more/ship together" delay up to seven days, seems to indicate that this whole dog and pony show was perhaps NOT all about non-payers in the first place.   They don't even have to pay for 'counter offers' the seller accepts now either, and with that and cancellation requests, non-paying buyer strikes are on their way out as well.  

[fbusoni]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

dog and pony show  

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Apt description.  That, or a barrel full of monkeys.

I was going to try to decipher what all of the aforementioned means, but I've decided I lack the brain power to do so and will continue to avoid auctions like the plague.