Invoicing over 40 items

[txentosupply]

I have a customer who regularly buys more than 40 items. Up until a couple of years ago, it was no problem sending multiple invoices. In the "Orders eligible for combined invoices" section, it would list the first 40 items & then a second one with the balance over 40. Now it combines them all under the buyers name. When invoicing it splits them into weird multiples & it's anybody's guess what the buyer receives. Is this a glitch? It sure is a pain trying to figure it out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[wastingtime101]

Another seller here @sin-n-dex deals with this all the time. I don't remember the specifics of how she handles it, but I tagged her so if she sees this message she can probably help.

[pennysdream]

I have the same issue.  So just tagging on...

[brightlightbookseller]

Just gonna say, I wish we had this problem.  Good luck figuring it out though!

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Combining shipping is not like it used to be. It is weird and tricky to process. Even adding the tracking number can be a pain. 

I remember when listing as a seller, you could select a box that stated something like 'buyer offers combined shipping' that would show in your listings. I have not seen that option in quite a while. I probably only had 1 or 2 combined shippings in the last 4+ years.

Almost like buyers are not aware of the option or to ask the seller. 

Another issue may also be when sellers select the option for 'payment required at purchase' in order to avoid non-payers running the clock for four days while seller is waiting for payment until they can cancel order for 'non-payment'. 

At times, everything is just getting more complicated when it should be getting simpler.

[isaiah53-57]

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@brightlightbookseller wrote:

Just gonna say, I wish we had this problem.  Good luck figuring it out though!

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As a bookseller, I'm sure you "DO" have this problem - Its likely you may not know about it when you do - Example: customers who are unhappy that they cant find a way to see what your combined shipping discounts are, or books being shipped to the same address that you were not aware of that could have qualified for combined shipping discounts, etc...

HOW HARD IS THIS??? Why has combined shipping been such a huge problem for this company FOR A DECADE?? To me, the only logical conclusion, is its just another way to penny pinch their customers, but - of course - ALWAYS at the expense of customer satisfaction and site usability - Great job ebay...

[brightlightbookseller]

Oh, we combine shipments all the time.  We simply don't get people ordering 40+ lots at once. 😉

[dirk12955]

It's irritating when the buyers can't find the "Request total"   button or the "Ask for invoice button"  

It's been an issue that seems to get worse as time goes by.   I'm not clear why some buyers have  no problem with this and others have no issues at all.   I've read that sometimes is has to do with what 

device they are using at the time.  

[johnjefprks]

What I have had to do is send the buyer an invoice for the 40 items and let them know ebay requires them to pay for that invoice before they can request another invoice. It's a real mess and I have called merchant support several times trying to get it fixed

[dirk12955]

I'm not sure I've ever had anybody try to buy 40 listings at one shot.

If a buyer wants 50 listings,   Can the 50 be divided up into 25 X2 by either

 the buyer or the seller?  

[sin-n-dex · Accepted solution]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Another seller here @sin-n-dex deals with this all the time. I don't remember the specifics of how she handles it, but I tagged her so if she sees this message she can probably help.

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I've actually given up on trying to handle it. Most of my 40+ customers are pretty reasonable, so I send the invoice for 40, tell them when they pay that invoice, I'll send out a second one (but no shipping added and combine their shipment).

There was a workaround a while back (and I haven't checked if they fixed it, I've become accustomed to just dealing with 40 items at a time and reinvoicing after they pay). What the workaround did, is you would "contact buyer" and then a page would come up that asks you if you want to "send an invoice" and when you click send invoice, it would give you the non invoiced items only. But eBay broke this link and I got a page not found, or redirected to the home page when I tried to use it. There is new messaging format (and I switched over because it wasn't allowing me to send messages with the old CGI.) I'm not sure the send invoice is a link with the new format.

Anyway that's the best as I can provide on how to handle it. I tried calling CSR for tech support in 2015 when this happened the first time, and they "opened a ticket" and were going to "look into it". 8 years later it's still broken.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

Combining shipping is not like it used to be. It is weird and tricky to process. Even adding the tracking number can be a pain. 

I remember when listing as a seller, you could select a box that stated something like 'buyer offers combined shipping' that would show in your listings. I have not seen that option in quite a while. I probably only had 1 or 2 combined shippings in the last 4+ years.

Almost like buyers are not aware of the option or to ask the seller. 

Another issue may also be when sellers select the option for 'payment required at purchase' in order to avoid non-payers running the clock for four days while seller is waiting for payment until they can cancel order for 'non-payment'. 

At times, everything is just getting more complicated when it should be getting simpler.

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You're touching on some other technical issues here...

The "Request Total" doesn't always work. Specifically with international customers (but not always), it navigates to a screen that says "Seller does not offer combined shipping". But I checked my settings, and yes I do. Thankfully buyers trust me, so probably every day someone over pays shipping, sometimes a crazy amount (I refunded $100 to a guy in England last week), and they wait for the refund. Some contact me to make sure I don't miss it. If I do miss it, I catch it during bookkeeping at week end or month end when I'm checking all the sales orders. (My month end groups by user ID, and doing my weekly one I can catch more than one order in a row if I missed the refund when I shipped).

The other thing eBay has done is add immediate payment required to items. I had numerous customers that would just buy a bunch of items, then request an invoice (or message me to ask for one). But if they're not aware of the add to cart feature, they will check out and pay for each item. This has happened as many as 15 times in a row, usually on small stuff. I've refunded a bit less shipping on these to cover costs incurred by what they did, but the fact the checkout doesn't work seamlessly is not the buyer's fault.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@johnjefprks wrote:

What I have had to do is send the buyer an invoice for the 40 items and let them know ebay requires them to pay for that invoice before they can request another invoice. It's a real mess and I have called merchant support several times trying to get it fixed

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That's my basic solution until something is done. For the most part, the buyers have been really good about this and understood what the issue was (that we have a maximum number of items we can invoice at once). I generally just say "due to how many you ordered..." and then provide instructions. I don't think I've yet come across anyone who gave me any resistance over this issue.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

I'm not sure I've ever had anybody try to buy 40 listings at one shot.

If a buyer wants 50 listings,   Can the 50 be divided up into 25 X2 by either

 the buyer or the seller?  

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There's one send invoice button, and 40 of your 50 items will appear on the invoice. eBay decides which ones. You send the invoice, combines it to an invoiced total of 40 (if you're lucky, sometimes that doesn't even work). If you go pick one of the items that's not on the invoice and send invoice again, it will show you 40 items again, picked at random by eBay for invoicing. It doesn't matter you already did 40 items, it will send a new invoice for 40 items to your buyers.

One of my regulars has been excessively patient as I tried to work through these issues. The invoice was for 40, but sometimes only 10-15 actually got combined. We have a new system that I message him when the invoice is properly combined (that I can see on my eBay) that will tell him to pay, and the amount, otherwise ignore all invoices, eBay doesn't know what it's doing.

C.

[txentosupply]

That's basically what I do. I too have a very patient & understanding buyer. She won 53 auctions. I sent one invoice & it came up with 27 items. The second one came up with 26 items. Evidently, they went through on the buyer's end & she paid today. Now to get ready to ship this evening! 

Thanks to everyone who commented. I guess the saying "Misery loves company" applies to all of us selling on Ebay!