A buyer is requesting a sales link

[spikehaven]

Hello and thanks in advance for the help!  I have a buyer that is interested in buying two pairs of shoes but is requesting a "sales link".  Does he mean invoice?  He has not purchased anything yet but wants to bundle the shipping together of these two items.  I have looked for a sales link, does he mean to my store?  He wants to purchase two or more pairs, and I am unsure of what he means as a sales link.  Any help or direction to this question would be appreciated very much

[nyr134]

Perhaps that is the buyer's way of phrasing combined shipping.  No harm in asking the buyer what they mean by that term.

[duffy4444]

IF  by "sales link" the potential buyer means taking the sale off of eBay and completing it another way, it is probably a scam and should prompt you to put the potential scammer on your Blocked Buyer List. If you were to take the sale off of eBay and complete it another way, you could lose your selling privileges permanently.

Cheers, Duffy

[inhawaii]

A link to the page of the item he wants to buy?

[nyr134 · Accepted solution]

Just a further thought:  the buyer’s first language is not English and using a translation program to communicate to you a request to combine multiple sales resulted in using the word “link,” a synonym for “combine.”  I don’t see anything sinister with this.

[spikehaven]

Thank you for your response, his first language is not English.  How do you combine sales if I can ask?

[nyr134]

I’ll let one of the expert explainers chime in and articulate that.  Could be sending a combined invoice for multiple sales or sending a refund for shipping costs  if individual listings are purchased or setting up a new listing for all of the shoes your buyer is interested in (while removing the single listings).  The latter option may be where your buyer was headed, based on what you wrote.  These folks can walk you through that better than I can.

[ittybitnot]

 How do you combine sales if I can ask?

@spikehaven 

If the buyer wants to "make offers" on multiple items, and get combined shipping they can't.  This is due to your retention of the "Buyer Rules" that limit how a buyer can pay, and forces them to be auto-billed separately for each offer you accept.  

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

Buyer Rules:

*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid.

*Require buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer.

You can turn these off, and when you accept their offers they can request a total for the multiple items.  

If the buyer is willing to pay full price for a Buy it Now listing, they can put the items they want in their (often malfunctioning) cart, and request a total/revised invoice.  You cannot discount the "Item Price" but can send a corrected invoice that reflects a combined shipping discount. 

[714ricki]

I would just ask the buyer to confirm if they were referring to a combined sales invoice for the different pairs of shoes. 

[ryry-jj]

If the items are buy-it-now listings, the buyer can place the items in their shopping cart and request a total.  You then calculate the shipping based on how you pack it up and plan to ship, and then send them the total.  Let the buyer know the items are still live until paid for and can be bought at any time by another if paid for.  The cart request & response is not a guarantee for a sale, only paid items are.

But as far as a "link for sale",  I'd still ask them what do you mean?

[nyr134]

Hi @ittybitnot , 

I am trying to learn more…how are you able to tell that this seller has set a rule limiting how the buyer pays. Where is that shown?  Thanks.

[ittybitnot]

@nyr134 

eBay does not announce that, nor provide that information in advance.   When you go to make an offer or bid and are required to put up a payment source prior to being able to proceed, that is your clue.  

No more Apple Pay, Google Pay, Spendable Funds, PayPal Credit, PayPal Pay in 4, gift cards, seller coupons, etc.  There is no announcement, you find out on your own. 

When eBay first started this, it was pitched to buyers as a "Now you can use the New Improved smoother Checkout" or some such to make buyers think it was indeed a good idea to put up that payment source in order to make offers or bids.  However, it was NOT 'now you can', but in reality now you must. Ebay left out the part about limited payment options, and combining items for a reduced shipping price would not be allowed.  

So a buyer that complied and made offers on twenty listings for postage stamps with a shipping cost of $2 each that were accepted, would find their payment source billed for twenty separate transactions right away.  Shipping would be $40 for the twenty stamps. 

The seller could ship them together for $2.50, and refund the difference by refunding some from twenty different listings, OR just keep the extra as a bonus.  The seller ended up paying 20 separate non-refundable transaction fees of 30 or 40 cents, instead of one fee for a combined order. 

[ittybitnot]

P.S. 

@nyr134 

You have your buyer rules "turned off" and you can see the "save with combined shipping" on your auctions.  
I can tell this because my buyer IDs are into forced compliance for those that retain the Buyer Rules, so I am alerted right away when I try to make an offer or bid on auctions with the mandatory payment screen. 

 I am in the "Other people didn't pay so I have to suffer eBay punishment camp" LOL..

But with your listings, I could bid and win ten of your auctions, ask for a combined invoice, and pay with PayPal Credit.   You would pay one 40 cent transaction fee for the ten combined as opposed to $4.00