Partial shipping refund

[bmusic4]

If I refund a buyer partial shipping costs due to a combined shipping discount, will eBay charge me for this?  What is the best way to charge a combined shipping cost to a buyer who purchases multiple items? 

Thank you. 

[wastingtime101]

Charge you for what, exactly? Processing a partial refund?

No, they will not charge you for processing a partial refund. They will apply a prorated final value fee credit for the amount you're refunding.

In my opinion the best way to handle combined shipping is to set up combined shipping rules, so the system can automatically add item weight and calculate the combined cost. You can also set up flat rate combined rules if you use flat rate shipping.

If you don't want to do that, the buyer can always click the link to request total in their shopping cart, which will trigger an invoice request. You can send an invoice with combined ship before they pay. There are a lot of restrictions to that method, like if the item has any other type of discount applied the buyer won't be able to request an invoice.

If the buyer already paid then the simplest method is to do the partial refund.

[slippinjimmy]

@wastingtime101 

You actual can't "always click on the request total". First, it's not available on the App and second because eBay often disables the request total function for reasons they will not explain. I sell a lot of combined orders and I would estimate only about 15% of my buyers are able to use that function and these are buyers who know how the system did work years ago (pre-2012).

As far as the combined shipping rules for Fixed Price, this is a deficient process that does not work well for many sellers, even the calculated version is poorly designed because it does not properly handle dimensional factors.

[wastingtime101]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

You actual can't "always click on the request total". First, it's not available on the App and second because eBay often disables the request total function for reasons they will not explain.

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Yes, it is on the app! Has been since last year.

And I did mention, "There are a lot of restrictions to that method, like if the item has any other type of discount applied the buyer won't be able to request an invoice." Regardless, I edited the post to remove the word always.

This is the list Kyle from eBay gave us:

Edit to add screenshot from app:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

As far as the combined shipping rules for Fixed Price, this is a deficient process that does not work well for many sellers, even the calculated version is poorly designed because it does not properly handle dimensional factors.

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It does have limitations, but it's not all-or-nothing. You can choose to apply rules to some listings and not others when you think dimension will be a factor.

Most of the OP's items are small enough to work well with combined ship rules. It's worth mentioning, at least, and the seller can choose whether it's right for them or not.

For me, refunding after the fact is more of a bookkeeping headache. Every seller can choose the best option(s) for their product. 🙂

Also @bmusic4 - I've never seen so many Barry Manilow items in one place! I love seeing eBay sellers' listings that are different from the norm. 😃

[barbiedollusa]

Call Ebay they will make the right changes for you, It happen to me before. You really need to double check that you have everything right before submitting anything. Sometimes they will change the weight on things. Also make sure that you and the buyer are paying the same amount for the shipping. If you haven't paid for the shipping yet you can still make the adjustments by editing the pencil on the right. Hope this makes since.

[slippinjimmy]

@wastingtime101 

You jogged my leaky memory, eBay did add that to the App "recently". Maybe it works more consistently on the App but that is not what I hear from many of my buyers.

I send them instructions and they come back telling me it's not available or disabled.

[shire123]

To answer your question.   No.  ebay does not charge for a parrtial refund.   As someone below stated ebay returns the appropriate amount in fees and taxes.    

Setting up "rules" for combined shipping works for some things but not all.  (examples:  heavy and light items being shipped together:  distant buyer vs buyer living in the next state.)  

For the things I sell, it is just much easier to do the partial refund as appropriate. 

[jrkirk]

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@bmusic4 wrote:

If I refund a buyer partial shipping costs due to a combined shipping discount, will eBay charge me for this?  What is the best way to charge a combined shipping cost to a buyer who purchases multiple items? 

Thank you. 

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To get the actual shipping cost right, you need to package all the combined items together in the box you intend to ship in, measure and weigh the box, then calculate the shipping cost to the buyers correct shipping address, and then use that shipping cost in the combined invoice you send to the buyer from the shopping cart. I often add a dollar to the cost for my trouble, although you don't have to.

[a_happyhoarder]

I offered a 15% discounted offer on some of items and when a buyer added them to their cart, the shipping did not combine. They told me that they could not request an invoice. So, they purchased the two items in their cart but I was charged for two separate transactions fees. 

I gladly refunded the extra shipping but I don't see why I was charged an additional transaction fee by eBay!

[wastingtime101]

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@a_happyhoarder wrote:

I offered a 15% discounted offer on some of items and when a buyer added them to their cart, the shipping did not combine. They told me that they could not request an invoice. So, they purchased the two items in their cart but I was charged for two separate transactions fees. 

I gladly refunded the extra shipping but I don't see why I was charged an additional transaction fee by eBay!

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If the discount was through an offer, that's the reason. Offers are handled separately, as separate transactions.

Since you have a store, one option is to run a 15% sale instead of using offers, and if you have combined shipping rules set up then shipping will automatically be combined when the buyer adds the sale items to the cart.

If you don't want to set up combined shipping rules then you can lower the price on the listing - that way buyer can add multiple to cart and request a combined invoice before paying.

When items are discounted in some way the buyer cannot request a total through the cart.

[bmusic4]

Thank you! 

[a_happyhoarder]

Thank you! This was very helpful! I have never had a sale before so I will look into that next month.

Geri