How do I combine items I've listed into one sale?

[jaksvortex]

Hi community. I've poked around a while and not found this particular situation (though I'm sure it's not uncommon).

Simply: I have two different t-shirts listed and got a request from a buyer to combine both for a discount, which I've decided to accept. So... how do I proceed? Do I lower the prices of each and try to sync with the customer online, or is there a better way? I'm offering free shipping, so that's not an issue. 

Thanks in advance! 

Jak

[honestabe411]

Yeah. Just lower the price. Boom. Done.

[tiramisu41]

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@honestabe411 wrote:
Yeah. Just lower the price. Boom. Done.

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And @jaksvortex, tell the buyer to put both shirts in his shopping cart at the same time so you're dealing with one order, not two.

[online.target]

You can send them an invoice with the updated price. Ask your customer to purchase both but not pay for them. I think if you remove the "require immediate payment" option the customer can commit to buy but not pay for it right away. That way you can send them an invoice with the discounted price. Hope this helps!

[slippinjimmy]

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@online.target wrote:

You can send them an invoice with the updated price. Ask your customer to purchase both but not pay for them. I think if you remove the "require immediate payment" option the customer can commit to buy but not pay for it right away. That way you can send them an invoice with the discounted price. Hope this helps!

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This may or may not work because for a couple of years now eBay has implmented "forced IPR" and the "request total" button in the cart is not active.

If the buyer clicks the BIN they MAY be directed to pay immediately for each item.

Two ways it can always be done....

1 - tell the buyer you will refund the extra amount

2 - create a new listing with all the items the buyer wants and set the price as agreed.

The forced IPR is somewhat random, every time I think I've figured out what triggers it I make a sale with those parameters and buyers are not forced into immediate payment.

[jaksvortex]

Thanks, all, for the answers and speed! Slowly making my way around the ways of eBay and trying to keep it as simple as possible. 🙂

[jaksvortex]

I hadn't thought of those two options. Thanks!

[jaksvortex]

A question that's nagged at me when I've thought about this sort of thing: 

How do you lower prices or otherwise alter an item to fulfill a request and not have it be snatched up by some other buyer first? I chose to just lower the prices of both shirts this time, and letting the buyer know I did it. But, there's no guarantee they'll be online at that time. I feel like I'm overthinking this (my normal mode). 

[slippinjimmy]

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@jaksvortex wrote:

A question that's nagged at me when I've thought about this sort of thing: 

How do you lower prices or otherwise alter an item to fulfill a request and not have it be snatched up by some other buyer first? I chose to just lower the prices of both shirts this time, and letting the buyer know I did it. But, there's no guarantee they'll be online at that time. I feel like I'm overthinking this (my normal mode). 

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It could happen but if your item has so much demand why would you reduce the price? If you are giving out a huge discount it's likely your item has little demand so the odds of someone else snapping it up are VERY slim. If you are giving a modest discount because an item has been sitting it's not likely anyone cares except the buyer you are dealing with.

When I make a special listing for a buyer for multiple Items I use a title "custom order for >user name<" and send the link to the buyer. New listings don't even appear in search for a period of time so unless the specific buyer sit on their hands for hours and hours there is little chance anyone else would find it. Even if they did they probably don't ewant the exact same combination of items.

Bottom line, if somebody else buys it then you make a sale, the original buyer loses out which is the same thing that happens if they add to cart and then go back later to buy and find the item(s) have been sold to someone else.

[jaksvortex]

Ohhhh, I see. I like that "custom order" listing! Which means you don't have to repeat all the info, since you both know what it is. Cool! I'll try that next time. 

Yeah, the shirts have gotten interest, but I was ok with making a rare special deal so they could get good homes. As far as popularity, man, what a nut to crack! I have a couple items that each have gotten several hundred views, and never a sale. I can only attribute that to someone having posted links to collector pages or something; I really don't believe potential buyers keep circling quite that much!. Good thing I'm not in a hurry.:)

[gew6463]

In the past I worried about that as well, so here is the solution I used: Raise the price to a higher denomination (above market value), then add 'make an offer' and tell them you will accept the agreed on price when it sends the offer back to you. I have never had that not work. Of course, if you wanted to combine shipping (which you mentioned is not an issue here) then having them add all items to their cart, then request an invoice on cart page, is the best way to do that IMO. I haven't had a problem with 'request an invoice' working, unless the seller checked the box to show they don't allow combined shipping (and some sellers don't realize that they have it set that way).  It's always nice to have multiple purchases from a buyer; good for you!