Bundle the questions that has been asked for years. Why no easy way for Buyers to bundle?

[marviolet]

Why is there no easy way for Buyers to do a bundle on eBay?

[marviolet]

No, not for easier shipping.  On another e-commerce platform, you can select a minimum of  3 items.  The seller then has the choice of giving you a discount of 15-20% on your completed selection.  You can also give a shipping discount if you like.  Easy for buyers to understand.  I have had a buyer who was so frustrated on placing items in the cart and then having me do the combined shipping that she did the Buy It Now, and I gave her a shipping discount on each one.

[marviolet]

You are exactly right.  That is what I am trying to convey.  Just make it simple for buyers.

[mam98031]

---

@marviolet wrote:

We know on eBay it is called combined shipping.  Combined shipping is not the answer.   As one eloquent community member opined,  " A lampshade and a 5 pound dictionary should never ship together."  There are e-commerce companies like eBay that make it very easy for buyers and in doing so make it easy for the sellers.  Not rocket science.

---

The lampshade issue is easily resolved.  It is likely most buyers trying to have things shipped together to save money are similar items and actually could ship together with the seller's cooperation.  

If you are looking for more than a shipping discount [combined shipping] but a discount on the products because you've ordered a few things.  Again that is a conversation to have with your seller.  If the seller agrees, they can issue you a coupon or something like that.

I think some are trying to make this more difficult than it needs to be.  Talk with your seller !!

[mam98031]

---

@marviolet wrote:

Agreed.  I am a seller, and you are correct.  Combined shipping is not the answer.  Another e-commerce platform allow buyers to select items, and then the seller discounts the bundle.  Easy and efficient.

---

Coupons.

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/seller-hub-discounts/coded-coupons

[stephenmorgan]

---

@marviolet wrote:

No, not for easier shipping.  On another e-commerce platform, you can select a minimum of  3 items.  The seller then has the choice of giving you a discount of 15-20% on your completed selection.  You can also give a shipping discount if you like.  Easy for buyers to understand.  I have had a buyer who was so frustrated on placing items in the cart and then having me do the combined shipping that she did the Buy It Now, and I gave her a shipping discount on each one.

---

I don't understand what it is you are looking for.

Are you asking about discounted shipping?

Are you asking about discounting multiple items?

Are you asking to discount shipping and discount multiple items all in one step?

This can be done with the invoice. 

If you are not able to use the invoice then you can discount shipping and multiple items within the same multiple item listing but it would only apply to that one listing.  Each multiple item listing would have to have its discounts set up.  If set up properly it is "easy" for the buyer to see the discounted shipping cost and the discounted item cost.

Combining different items of different dimensions from different listings for shipping would be difficult and not easy.

With an invoice, I added an additional $25 to this order for an additional item.  I could have just as easy deducted $25 if I wanted to.  

[mam98031]

A discount on the items.

[kelekt]

seems like some people on this thread have not experienced the easy-peasy bundling that is happening on other websites/apps...

I do love how some of the other sites make bundling really easy (for buyers AND sellers) and actually encourage customers to buy multiple items from one seller & sellers have the option to offer discounts on bundles + the automatic combined shipping means you don't have to have a million messages back forth to sell bundles. 

they just add the items to their cart and purchase ... then the seller gets a single shipping label for the combined shipping.

I sell more bundles than singles on the sites that make bundling easy (win-win-win for customer, seller and website)

I'm guessing the way Ebay has shipping set up is what makes it more complicated here though?

[mam98031]

---

@kelekt wrote:

seems like some people on this thread have not experienced the easy-peasy bundling that is happening on other websited/apps...

I do love how some of the other sites make bundling really easy (for buyers AND sellers) and actually encourage customers to buy multiple items from one seller & sellers have the option to offer discounts on bundles + the automatic combined shipping means you don't have to have a million messages back forth to sell bundles. 

they just add the items to their cart and purchase ... then the seller gets a single shipping label for the combined shipping.

I sell more bundles than singles on the sites that make bundling easy (win-win-win for customer, seller and website)

I'm guessing the way Ebay has shipping set up is what makes it more complicated here though?

---

"they just add the items to their cart and purchase ... then the seller gets a single shipping label for the combined shipping."

That doesn't happen on Ebay unless the seller has combined shipping rules set up or a Business policy that does this for them.  However the OP is NOT asking about combining the shipping, they are talking about a discount on the item prices they are interested in.  

[marviolet]

Okay.  Has nothing with shipping.

[marviolet]

We are talking about bundles.  Nothing to do with coupons.

[marviolet]

Thank you for your response. Check out the e-commerce platforms that do bundles and see how easy it is for both Buyers and Sellers alike.

[marviolet]

Thank you for your response.  I am hoping some community members will get what I am trying to say.  You have provided a comprehensive answer better than I could explain.  Thank you so much.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@marviolet  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you do realize that there are ways for an ebay seller to put together a mix of items and sell as a bundle. Your question is: Why doesn't ebay set up the shopping flow to make this process much easier? If other sites can do it, surely ebay could as well.

A possible answer  (someone, please correct me if my details are wrong):

Let's say I have five different items, each is $20 with $10 shipping and, let's just say, no sales tax to keep things easy. 

If it is easy to bundle, let's say I agree to knocking $20 off the total item price, and I can combine everything for a total of $20 shipping. I have one transaction at $80 plus $20 shipping. 

Let's say FVF is 10% (just keeping the math easy) and no PLs. 

So ebay collects 10% FVF on total cost (10% of $100= $10 fee plus 40 cent transaction fee, total of $10.40.)

Now, let's say the site makes it simply too much trouble for the buyer to try to bundle. He buys all five items as separate transactions. 

Each transaction is a total of $30.00 (item plus shipping). ebay collects 10% of that, $3 plus 40 cent transaction fee = $3.40.

Five such transactions = a total of $17.00 

$17.00 - $10.40 = $6.60

This difference might have something to do with it.

[marviolet]

Simple, if the platform accepts buyers selecting multiple items from my store.   I am then notified of the selection, I make an offer to discount the bundled items 10-20%, the buyer accepts the discount, and the sale is made. Easy. Seller and Buyer happy.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@marviolet  The condensed version of my answer: ebay believes it makes more money in fees with individual transactions than with bundles.