Buy It Now Creating Combined Shipping Issues With The New Changes

[mikepa_15]

Buyers who use the Buy It Now option or those who submit offers on multiple items that offer combined shipping are forced under the new eBay system to provide immediate payment. This creates issues for the seller (me) who now has to refund the difference for every item purchased beyond the first one. This change seems to have been poorly thought through and creates unnecessary steps for the seller and discourages buyers from purchasing additional items. It's a lose/lose for everyone. Anyone have any thoughts or maybe someone from eBay will read this and put things back the way they were which actually worked for everyone.

[mam98031]

It doesn't have to.  It will be all in how you handle it.  Before they started this test, I got frequent buyers that would buy several items, but pay for them one by one.  There was no requirement for them to do that, it was just how they prefer to shop.  There are buyers like that and have been for many years.

So I have a message I created a long time ago that I have in MS Word.  I message the buyer that message anytime this happens.  In that message I explain to them that I can not give them as big of a discount on the shipping because of the multiple payments and how fees are charged to sellers that can't be refunded.  I politely reminding them that for the future I have instructions stated in all my listings on how to get the best combined shipping discount. 

I then go and calculate their shipping refund as if it were one payment.  Then I deduct about 35 cents for each payment beyond the first payment to cover the per transaction fee and the fees on that.  I just round it off to 35 cents.  This part I do not share with the buyer.

I've been doing this forever and it has always made my buyers happy.  They thank me for my honesty often times.  AND as a bonus many of them have become repeat customers.

So you just need to decide how you want to handle it.  Do you want to put a positive spin on it and work WITH your buyer to give them a refund.  Yes it is a little extra work, but in my opinion, it is just part of my job.

[mikepa_15]

I disagree. It's a flawed transaction system that needs to be addressed and changed at least back to where it was. They Buyer should be able to purchase items and add to their cart or purchase history page then have the option to either wait for an invoice or request a total. It would make things infinitely easier for everyone. The company line doesn't fly well on this one.

[mam98031]

OK.  You have the right to do nothing and just wait for Ebay to fix something it is unlikely they are going to fix.  

Buyers have done this for years.  Separate payments on multiple purchases.  It isn't new just because of the test they are doing regarding requiring a payment source before a buyer can bid on an auction or make an offer.

Buyers CAN add things to their carts without paying for them.  They are free to do that anytime they want.  But that typically doesn't work when they are Making an Offer to a seller and it can't work on Auctions.  So the Shopping cart isn't going to help in these two situations.

When they take this test site wide, you as a seller can turn the options off.  It is currently in your Buyer Requirements.

There is no change or tool that Ebay will EVER be able to offer that will work for every seller.  That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the change or the tool, it ONLY means it doesn't work for everyone.  So change it, don't use it.  Ebay doesn't need to make a change, you do.

[unemployed_husky]

That just sounds like you are scamming people and trying to justify legally getting away with it. If someone buys 6 widgets from your store, each about the size of, say, a wristwatch, and each item costs $5 each in shipping, you are then expecting to profit over $30 in shipping on about 2lbs of small items. Also eBay will take all your fees on shipping because they punish people who scam buyers by overcharging shipping, so you're losing more money than you make just paying shipping fees.

[mam98031]

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@unemployed_husky wrote:

That just sounds like you are scamming people and trying to justify legally getting away with it. If someone buys 6 widgets from your store, each about the size of, say, a wristwatch, and each item costs $5 each in shipping, you are then expecting to profit over $30 in shipping on about 2lbs of small items. Also eBay will take all your fees on shipping because they punish people who scam buyers by overcharging shipping, so you're losing more money than you make just paying shipping fees.

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Slow your roll and try not to be so judgmental.  I don't have free shipping on any of my listings.

Just for clarity if a seller sold 6 widgets with free shipping and you are estimating that $5 of the sell price was your shipping.  You are correct 6x5 = $30.  However while the seller is offering free shipping, they don't literally get free shipping.  Our of that $30 the seller does have to pay for the shipping of the 6 items, so NOT they don't have a $30 profit on shipping.

Ebay charges their FVFs on the total amount that the buyer pays, period.  So whether a seller does Free shipping or stated shipping, the FVFs will be the same.  

[dbfolks166mt]

Buyers who use the Buy It Now option or those who submit offers on multiple items that offer combined shipping are forced under the new eBay system to provide immediate payment. This creates issues for the seller (me) who now has to refund the difference for every item purchased beyond the first one. This change seems to have been poorly thought through and creates unnecessary steps for the seller and discourages buyers from purchasing additional items. It's a lose/lose for everyone. Anyone have any thoughts or maybe someone from eBay will read this and put things back the way they were which actually worked for everyone.

       mam98031 has already covered most of this and as noted you as the seller have the ability to "put things back" by changing your account settings. While it may appear to be a lose/lose situation when you have the auto-pay selected the change is an attempt to resolve the unpaid items issues that sellers have screamed about for YEARS.

     As with any change there is always a tradeoff and there have been multiple posts on this forum about some of the impacts the combined shipping being one of them the payment method is another one. Even before the new feature was implemented I often had to deal with issues related to multiple purchases and combined shipping due to occasional glitches in the way the system was supposed to work when the buyer purchased more than one item. 

     While it is a little extra work as mam98031 stated I just simply considered it to be a small issue to deal with in exchange for making a multiple sale. Even without the option turned on since I use the auction format almost exclusively these days I have to deal with this on occasion. 

[deltilogical]

Combining orders seems to be a challenge to the ebay technology.  The app seems to allow orders to be combined into one with one order fee and all the shipping added up, but the buyer must pay and get a refund, there is no mechanism for the seller to send a combined total.   

"That just sounds like you are scamming people and trying to justify legally getting away with it. "

What is the scam?  The total charge was specified.   Was a discount specified?   If not, where is the scam? 

"Also eBay will take all your fees on shipping because they punish people who scam buyers by overcharging shipping, so you're losing more money than you make just paying shipping fees."

No they won't, they will take their usual 15%. 

Sellers have to reclaim the 30c order fee, they add up. 

[ittybitnot]

@mikepa_15 

For offers you SEND, eBay has made them all immediate payment required.  That means they pay individually for each item with full shipping and no invoicing is possible. 

 Since you don't require a payment source upfront, buyers can still send you an offer and combine the ones you accept and request an invoice.  That is unless the buyer is using the app, which does not (after three years of it being requested) have a request total feature.  

[c574778]

Dito, its a turnoff for buyer of Multiple items since they now think there is a shipping fee for each item driving up the cost. I recent bought 4 items and paid $28 in shipping vrs $7.  I almost didin't buy because it is a hassle to contact them and try to negotiate a shipping refund after they already have the money in the bank, although it wasn't a problem, just a big turnoff hassle. 

[kh_nipun]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread  if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.