Customers who don't take advantage of combined shipping.

[inhawaii]

I'm seeking some opinions.

I sold a widget today. $6 S&H for the first one. $3 S&H for each additional. Buyer bought one, then a few minutes later bought another one.

For years whenever a customer would do that  I would always give them the a combined shipping discount and refund them the difference. My rationale being - it's the right thing to do.

Recently it's been happening so often that I gave up doing that as of 2023.  If they buy a item and then buy a second one, I don't refund. I always check to make sure they are being shipped to the same address. If they are I ship them together. Technically I know they should be shipped separately but what a waste of time if they are going to the same addeess.

Since I stopped refunding I have had no complaints. 

I Know giving a refund is still the right thing to do, and if I don't give a refund that technically I should be shipping them separately. My rationale is now - why should I correct the buyers "error" when they apparently are fine with paying the the full shipping twice.

Just wondering how everyone else handles this. Thanks in advance for your opinions.

[duffy4444]

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@1786davycrockett wrote:

Maybe I'm just "old school" on the issue -- but I will always attempt to refund the buyer on excess shipping charges, if the buyer has made purchases on multiple orders.  My buyers seem to appreciate the few extra $$$ back in their pockets; and I have quite a few repeat customers as a result -- and the feedback is rewarding, as well...

...a seller should treat the customer in the same way in which the seller would like to be treated if the roles were reversed -- the Golden Rule, in other words:  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  

And I'm not even religious.

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   This is the better way of looking at it. I really, really like repeat customers because of the trivial extra steps I go to in order to take care of them. Combining and refunding the excess is a small price to pay to increase sales and get followers.

   It's easy for me to do, too... I use stamps.com, and with just a couple extra clicks bingo! They're combined. Weighing all items together is easier and less time-consuming.

Cheers, Duffy

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

I forgot to add but most important. If a buyer sees bad info at any listing, often it just scares them off. I've spoken to many buyers over the course time that were unaware that combined shipping was even a thing.

From a Canadians perspective it has become extremely difficult to make any purchases from US sellers due to GSP and International standard and the difficulties attached to combined shipping. When something has made so difficult it just makes buyers go elsewhere.

Strangely there are sellers that offer pickup but charge a handling fee per item(Often 5.00 per item and not discovered until customer goes to pay). Basically the opposite of a combined situation without a shipping portion even being involved. 

Brings the old adage into play....The best surprise is no surprise!!

-Lotz

[keziak]

Just chiming in. Happens to me all the time despite language in my listings. My TOS are very short so it's not like the message is buried in a lot of fine print. Even so I get frequent questions "do you combine?" even though it says right there I will. No problemo, I say I do and please wait for a combined invoice. Then some of them don't. Come to think of it there are several versions of this scenario. 

If they do not contact me or wait for the promised combined shipping I ship the stuff then tell them I am refunding the over payment. Most people say thanks for that. I don't look at my FB but I suppose some people leave me FB over it. Whatever. To me it's the Golden Rule and I'm not even a Christian. If you don't want to do that, fine, maybe most people don't care as stated in this thread.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I remember listing in the old days of eBay and I was able to click a box on each of my listings that stated I combine shipping.  That has gone away for probably 6+ years easy. I think buyers are blind of this option. 

Seems the new option is for buyers to buy / add to cart, and then ask for total. My guess it is a tech flaw with buyers using their phones. I really don't think todays buyers know / understand the process. 

The other thing I see is possibly another eBay money grab. I could be wrong (correct me), but I see it as buyer pays for 2 to 4 items and pays for them all individually. The honest seller with combine and weigh package and then does a refund, but I think the seller still gets hit with extra fees after refunding. 

Hope everyone understands my theory. 

[the_fancy_fox]

Same here. 

usually if i can bump something to priority (I ship a lot of media mail) I will do that.

Usually I refund the excess if I can’t combine. 

 I have to wonder why ebay doesn’t fix this. I think it’s a simple answer, they don’t want to. The higher the shipping costs the more money they make on FVF. (Just one of the reasons that charging FVF on ship costs is wrong, way too tempting for them to write code that benefits them and gets in the transaction between seller and buyer. )

Why write code that will lose you Money in every transaction?  Over the millions of transaction that happen daily that a good chunk of change. 

So on the principle of ebay acting like a shyster, I will probably continue to refund the excess. 

[harafkac0]

Refund, or extra cash for me.

Hard choice to make.

[clown_car_driver]

I purposefully price shipping AND HANDLING to be more than just the cost.

What's wrong with profit?

It costs me about $4.50 for postage to ship the average sale of mine, $1.00 for the envelope and packing supplies.  It costs me $15 an hour for fulfillment labor and we can wrap and pack four or five per hour.  So, I figue it cost me about $6.50 to ship the average item.

I charge $6.90

That $6.90 will either be hidden in the price of the item, or it will be a separate line item charge.

On this particular account (a new one I just started a couple months ago) it's disclosed.

[spark-chaser1]

My opinion as a buyer is to do what YOU feel is right. If I purchased and didn't ask for combined shipping for whatever reason, that's on me - not you.

[kiss-3]

I also offer combined shipping and have been perplexed as to why some of my regular customers do not take me up on it. Last week a customer told me he could not do combined shipping over his phone, which is how he makes his Ebay purchases.  Perhaps someone else, who uses their phone to purchase, can confirm or clarify this further. Of course, I simply refunded this person as a business courtesy. I feel it is a small price to keep a customer satisfied. 

[meme6253]

Don't They Come Up With Different Invoices?, Because Then Would It Not Show One Delivered & Not The Other? If Your Combing Them.

[kensgiftshop]

Myself, as a buyer, I don't want combined shipping on separate orders.

If I place 3 different orders from one seller, that's how I want it shipped.

I might be paying more on shipping and I'm fine with that.

[spark-chaser1]

I can confirm... Cellphone users can NOT ask for combined shipping invoices / request total. Major p i t a that hasn't, and apparently won't ever be addressed.

[wastingtime101]

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@spark-chaser1 wrote:

I can confirm... Cellphone users can NOT ask for combined shipping invoices / request total. Major p i t a that hasn't, and apparently won't ever be addressed.

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App users cannot. But I've successfully helped many buyers navigate to the classic web view on their cell phone browser to request total through cart.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I usually just combine & refund the excess S&H.  If it's a lot of items, I may contact them & ask & then also suggest they use the shopping cart in the future.  Sometimes that helps, as they come back & use the cart the 2nd time.  I have a fair number of buyers who buy, I ship next day, day after they buy another item, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a row.  They know I ship fast & the items won't be combined, but they don't seem to mind paying full S&H every other day.  

[spark-chaser1]

I've had zero success in classic view, and outside of  the app. Whatever luck people are having bypassing this issue, I haven't been graced with.