THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED!! Sellers state they offer combined shipping, but no way to get it

[skeemirsky]

I have done the "Tell us what you think" at least 5 times, and posted on the forum before... THIS PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.  (Can someone tell me where I can post on this forum where an eBay rep or moderator will actually see it and hopefully get back to me??)

eBay changed their system to require immediate payment for Buy-It-Now items... but they did not alert sellers about the setting in Account-->Seller Preferences where a seller needs to check the box for "allow combined shipping".

Again and again, I try to buy multiple items from one seller, so I add things to the shopping cart and "request total from seller"... but then I get the error message, "The seller does not offer combined shipping discounts."  Often the seller clearly states in their listing that they DO offer combined shipping!  They just don't know about the setting in Account-->Seller Preferences.

This makes it strangely complicated to get multiple items; I have to contact the seller, one time I just paid the extra shipping and they sent me a refund after the fact... this is discouraging to buyers and will mean less sales and business for eBay I think.

PLEASE FIX THIS!!!!  At least, send sellers an e-mail to tell them about this setting???  Or something like that.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

I agree that sending a message to sellers to let them know about this would be awesome.  

Ebay is pretty firm in it's belief that they will reduce the number of unpaid items by requiring immediate payment.   I think they are trying to plug one whole while the rest of the dam breaks though.   

You can share this with every seller so they can set there accounts up:  

My Ebay> Account> Site Preferences > Shipping Preferences> Offer Combined Payments and Shipping choose YES

It will not take affect on current listings only new ones.  

Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone.  

[tkinnebrew]

Not only that.  We've had 4-5 errors in automatic invoicing this week.  Just this last time a buyer checked out and 8 of the items they bought didn't go on the invoice.  So now we have to give them free shipping on those 8 items.  In honor of the bay!  🙂

[dhbookds]

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@comics-scifi-collectibles wrote:

I agree that sending a message to sellers to let them know about this would be awesome.  

Ebay is pretty firm in it's belief that they will reduce the number of unpaid items by requiring immediate payment.   I think they are trying to plug one whole while the rest of the dam breaks though.   

You can share this with every seller so they can set there accounts up:  

My Ebay> Account> Site Preferences > Shipping Preferences> Offer Combined Payments and Shipping choose YES

It will not take affect on current listings only new ones.  

Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone.  

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From what I can gather that doesn't work, at least for some sellers.......  Ebay supposedly is rolling out an Immediate payment requirement on items that are Buy it Now...... while leaving items put in the cart to be combined.  The rollout is not complete......and as said, sellers haven't been informed of it, even tho their items are now, thru no action of theirs, immediate payment thru the BIN purchase. 

So sellers who already had Immediate Payment Required, as THEIR option, now may have Immediate payment required also by ebay......and the two together nullify any combining of purchases thru the cart. (The request invoice is greyed out and won't work)   At least from what I can find out.  Various people have questioned and tried to get info, asking whether Seller Immediate payment should be discontinued for those that do want to offer combined shipping, but no one has gotten any answers....apparently because the rollout isn't complete and no one can tell a seller whether his listings are "in the new IPR" or not.  Nor have there been any answers as to when the rollout will be completed. 

[skeemirsky]

I realize that eBay had a problem with people hitting "buy it now" then not paying... but if they get rid of combined shipping they will lose a fortune.  There are endless sellers out there who sell small items in the $1 to $10 range (for example)... it's not worth buying an item for $1 and paying $6 in shipping... so the only good option for buyers is to buy multiple items and combine shipping.  And if I buy, ie, a comic book, a deck of card, and a stuffed animal... you can't just add $1 extra per item or whatever, you must determine the shipping cost by size and weight.  Especially with the USPS flat rate boxes... those things are meant to be filled!  eBay needs to remember where they came from, a community oriented site (as it used to be anyway...) and put a little trust in their sellers to handle the shipping costs.  If eBay did away with combined shipping they'd lose me as both a buyer and a seller, and I'm sure there are more like me...

[tkinnebrew]

there is a way around this as well.  go to ask question about item.  then ask question about combined shipping.... strangely enough, you will then be able to request a total shipping price.  🙂 

best luck to all!!!!

have fun and be nice!

[ssik1974]

So, I just had a buyer from Germany buy two items. Ebay automatically doubled the shipping cost and thanks to the "new" UPS Global Shipping feature, I was not able to send an updated invoice for the combined shipping rate. This meant that the seller, not only had to pay ebay's auto calculated overseas shipping rate, but a double rate for the items to be shipped to the US shipping facility. I only saw and received payment for what a normal US transaction would be, so had no way to determine what the buyer paid. If I had, I could have adjusted the invoice PRIOR the payment made. Now I have to wait until the items are received by the seller BEFORE I can issue a partial shipping refund on what was overpaid to ME, not the shipping facility. Also, if the buyer happens to use the "return item" option, ebay will refund the full payment, so if I send a partial refund of shipping cost prior to this, I'm actually paying that previously refunded amount...AGAIN! Ebay needs to hire some people that have a friggin' clue!

[enzo7117]

eBay makes invoicing so difficult and if you cant combine, buyers ding your stars 😞

[enzo7117]

there is a way around this as well. go to ask question about item. then ask question about combined shipping.... strangely enough, you will then be able to request a total shipping price.


ask as a seller or a buyer?

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

GSP does not have combined shipping unless the buyer puts the items in their cart using the cart button on buy it now items and pays for all of the items at one time.    Auctions can not combined for GSP shipping.  You can not create a manual invoice for GSP.  

I think I'd put that message in my listings if I was using GSP.  

This is hard to make works since the IPR may not allow you to have a cart button.    

See my post above about using combined shipping, that usually turns on the cart button, but no guarantees.  

[skeemirsky]

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@enzo7117 wrote:
there is a way around this as well. go to ask question about item. then ask question about combined shipping.... strangely enough, you will then be able to request a total shipping price.


ask as a seller or a buyer?

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@tkinnebrew  I am not sure that will work if the seller has not configured the setting:

My Ebay> Account> Site Preferences > Shipping Preferences> Offer Combined Payments

I'd be curious to know, and I'll try that next time, & try to remember to report back here.  I have a feeling you might run into the same brick wall of "seller does not offer combined shipping discounts"... (if they have it set that way)...

[tkinnebrew]

Yes you ask as a buyer....and it works.  Been using it to get an invoice from many sellers for a while now.  Unless it changed this month,,,,there is a link in the text on the top of the screen where the words 'you can request a total invoice' are....

its there. it works.  worked recently i mean...ahem...

[lovett-1000]

The seller should have refunded you. Thur pay Pay. I agree  it is junk. Always wait to pay or contact seller. If the shipping is not right. I have had to ask buyers to pay. Then I pay back to them thur Pay Pal. E bay once a sell is made do not give the seller the option to change postage paid. It is a shame. I think last time. It did let me adjust the price of item. That is how I worked it out. With the buyer. E bay needs to give the seller the option. To cange postage pice on invoice. As they sould not be chaging fees for it any way to seller's.  It is a hassle sorry this keeps happing to you. I wish you the very best. 

[mr_lincoln]

@skeemirsky  Good post ... probably what they should have done was created an "Opt in" scenario for Sellers who want to Opt in to IPR and as part of that process the Combined shipping Yes would be enabled ... gee, what a simple solution.  Sort of like Opting in or out of Guaranteed Delivery.

Anyway, Sellers need to keep on thing in mind, "Yes" is not the only setting in Combined shipping, there are other settings.  Mine is set so the Buyer has to request an updated total and then I pack and adjust the shipping amount and send an invoice.  I did one of thses recently.  I offer the combined discount AFTER I determine what the weight of the cmbined items will be ... and the reason I do it that way is early on I had a Buyer purchase two items, one First Class and the other Priority Mail ... the order came through and you guessed it, Buyer paid for First Class ONLY and I had to eat the cost to ship the entire order Priority mail.  So only on occasion has a Buyer paid ALL the shipping costs up front, at which point I refund the overage back to them.

[dhbookds]

@ssik1974

I'd check into combining the shipments, I think (could be wrong) that with GS, you have to mail each separately.....