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.

[inhawaii]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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.

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Why would you (or anyone) buy the same item 3  times minutes apart, all being shipped to the same address, and pay more for them to be shipped separately?

[inhawaii]

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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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Not really addressing requesting a total or asking for a invoice.

Just wondering why so many buyers buy the same item in multiple transactions (instead of all at once) and  how to handle these transactions.  Combine vs. no combine.  Refund vs. no refund.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

One of my regulars always wants her items shipped separately.  I have no idea why, but I'm happy to do it. 

[spark-chaser1]

I had responded to another poster who was wondering why their buyers were saying they couldn't request totals using their phones. I was replying to confirm that the issue existed. I apologise that it put thread off- topic.

[inhawaii]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

One of my regulars always wants her items shipped separately.  I have no idea why, but I'm happy to do it. 

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I'm happy to do it also, if that's what they want. 

But I think in most cases hey are making a mistake and would rather pay less for shipping and have them shipped together.

How did you know that's what your customer wants?

I assume you must have asked them?

I'm not sure I want to ask the customer (and wait for a reply IF i even get a reply) each time.

Dear customer,

I noticed you bought the same item minutes apart in two separate transactions,   I also noticed they are going to the same address.  Shipping is $6 for the first item and $3 for each additional item. Would you like me to ship them together and I will refund you $3 -or- would you like me to ship the separately?

Thank you,

The seller 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

One of my regulars always wants her items shipped separately.  I have no idea why, but I'm happy to do it. 

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I'm happy to do it also, if that's what they want. 

But I think in most cases hey are making a mistake and would rather pay less for shipping and have them shipped together.

How did you know that's what your customer wants?

I assume you must have asked them?

I'm not sure I want to ask the customer (and wait for a reply IF i even get a reply) each time.

Dear customer,

I noticed you bought the same item minutes apart in two separate transactions,   I also noticed they are going to the same address.  Shipping is $6 for the first item and $3 for each additional item. Would you like me to ship them together and I will refund you $3 -or- would you like me to ship the separately?

Thank you,

The seller 

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To clarify, 99% of the time, I do not ask them, I just combine/refund.   I don't ask b/c most of them want the combined shipping & selfishly b/c (you hit the nail on the head) I don't want to get in a bind of waiting for them to answer.   So the vast majority of the time, I just combine.  

With my regular who wants them separate, I did not ask, she just made a point to tell me in the NOTES section when you make a purchase, so I honor her wishes.  I was tempted to ask her why, but figured it was really none of my business.  She is the only customer I've ever had who has requested this.  Most are very happy that I've combined the purchases & saved them a couple of bucks 😃

[stephenmorgan]

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@meme6253 wrote:

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

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You can add the same Shipping Tracking Number to multiple items.

[kensgiftshop]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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.

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Why would you (or anyone) buy the same item 3  times minutes apart, all being shipped to the same address, and pay more for them to be shipped separately?

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I've never bought the same item, it's always been different items.

If I'm buying a couple items for my business at a store, I do the same thing, buy each one separately.

Why, I don't know, always been that way and I guess I'm to old to change now.

[inhawaii]

So if you want 3 red widgets from the same seller, you'll buy 1 widget 3 times instead of 3 widgets 1 time, even though it will cost your more in shipping?   Sorry, not being snippy, 'm just trying to understand.

[iamalwaysright]

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@inhawaii wrote:

So if you want 3 red widgets from the same seller, you'll buy 1 widget 3 times instead of 3 widgets 1 time, even though it will cost your more in shipping?   Sorry, not being snippy, 'm just trying to understand.

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To get two extra boxes?

[kensgiftshop]

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@inhawaii wrote:

So if you want 3 red widgets from the same seller, you'll buy 1 widget 3 times instead of 3 widgets 1 time, even though it will cost your more in shipping?   Sorry, not being snippy, 'm just trying to understand.

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Yes.

I know it sounds odd, but that's just me.

Plus, if there is a problem, I think it's easier to deal with one item at a time.

[kiss-3]

Thank you.

[kiss-3]

Thanks.

[hugerwonder]

Thank you.  As a buyer of multiple items from single vendors, I have to say that the process of requesting a combined shipping total on orders containing multiple items really should be built in to the website/app based upon the vendor's preferences.  I do always send a request for a combined shipping total from the vendor, but the whole process is marred in errors & problems - oftentimes I will send a request for that but when you do that you have to agree to purchase all items when you submit the request & often my order is based upon whether they can combine shipping (as sometimes the shipping totals for these orders can often exceed the price of the merchandise).  If they cannot combine shipping, I would not place those orders - but once you hit that 'Request total from vendor' button you are informed that you are obligated to buy those items - even when I get an error on the website that says either 'Vendor doesn't allow combined shipping' OR 'there has been an error and your request was not sent' but the item is still marked as 'Payment Due' for me the buyer.   This is problematic for many reasons.  As a buyer, it definitely makes me feel that eBay and/or the seller is purposely making this step a chore because they want to jack up the shipping on these orders as much as possible and are betting that the buyer will still pay for the order even with no combined shipping is available.

So I appreciate the vendors on this message thread who are trying to do the right thing by at least contacting the buyer about this option or offering to refund over charged shipping.   But the fact that the process can be so difficult for both buyer and vendor when it could be automatically figured out makes me feel that eBay is taking a big cut of these shipping fees.  They obviously don't want buyers having combined shipping totals AT ALL.

[hugerwonder]

That is the reason why you aren't refunding combined shipping totals - why bother because buyers don't "care" enough to acknowledge them?  As a buyer of multiple items in a single order from many different individual vendors I do notice when I feel like I have been overcharged for shipping & if it is not addressed by the vendor it tells me that the vendor doesn't "care" enough about my business to deserve it again and I don't make return orders.