Possible to combine orders for buyer with same address/different handles?

[zoeriley]

A buyer purchased 2 items from me. The items were purchased under 2 different usernames. However, the buyer's real name and address are exactly the same. The items were purchased 2 minutes apart. 

Ebay will not let me combine the orders for shipping because the usernames/handles are different. 

Is it a good idea to combine the two orders into one shipment and mark the other one simply "shipped"? Or does that leave me open to a claim because the one item won't have tracking information on it?

I offer free shipping, so obviously I'm going to lose money if I can't combine the orders. However, both usernames are "0" feedback so I'm wary about the whole thing.

I'm guessing I need to swallow the extra shipping cost to be safe, but I'm curious as to what others think. Thanks!

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@zoeriley wrote: ... does that leave me open to a claim because the one item won't have tracking information on it?

I offer free shipping, so obviously I'm going to lose money if I can't combine the orders. ...

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Yes, you'd be vulnerable to a fake "Item not received" claim. You won't be able to enter the tracking number from one ID into a purchase from the other ID. So that's your choice:  You can save money if you take that risk.

[ebooksdiva]

You can ship them together be sure to add the tracking to the second order where it says “add tracking”. 
If 2 different buyers bought wouldn’t you be shipping separately? So how would you be losing $$ if you don’t combine the order in question? 
Shipping costs should be incorporated into the cost of the item when you offer free shipping. 

[zoeriley]

Thanks for the input.

Yes, I think I should err on the side of safety, especially with 0 feedback accounts. Separate shipments. Saving a few dollars isn't worth the harm that buyers can wreak.

@ebooksdiva Of course, if two different buyers bought, I would ship separately. But that's the point: that's not the situation. It's the same person, same address. So yes, I am losing $ because the buyer chose to use two different handles.  

[soh.maryl]

You had two different buyers make two different purchases.  Hard to understand why, but that's not our problem.  The simplest solution is to treat them as what they are, two different transactions.

[chapeau-noir]

If you're losing money with this 'free' shipping because you can't combine orders, it may be time to reevaluate the cost of 'free', because it doesn't seem to be covering costs.

[nobody*s_perfect]

I think this seller isn't losing money on shipping, even separately.  But if shipping together would cost less than shipping separately, then the "loss" is that savings (i.e., cost of 2 packages vs one package).

For instance, if each package costs $10 to ship, but the combined package would cost $14, then shipping separately costs $6 more, which the seller would prefer to have in his pocket rather than handing over to USPS.

[kensgiftshop]

Since it's different account, you have to ship separately.

Shipping isn't going to cost you any more then if it was two different buyers.

[pcobra93]

If these items are valuable, I would consider cancelling them. Two ZERO feedback buyers from the same address screams SCAMMER all over it...If they were $20 items, I would contact the buyers and ask them if they prefer the items to be combined. If neither respond I would assume it was a scam also and cancel. This is probably one of the oddest scenarios I have seen in a while on here.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@pcobra93 wrote:

If these items are valuable, I would consider cancelling them. Two ZERO feedback buyers from the same address screams SCAMMER all over it... .

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How would it be  scam -- unless perhaps they HOPED the items would be mailed together so they could claim that one wasn't received? But I would not ask if they wanted them combined.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

You received a couple great comments on why this could be an issue. Trust them!

I would ship separately at this point. 

Have you contacted the buyer(s) and ask why? 

Have you looked at each buyer's profile / feedback history?

I don't know the value of the sales and what you may see looking at their profiles, but you might entertain shipping with signature required. 

Could this be a new scam? I don't know. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote: ... Have you looked at each buyer's profile / feedback history?

I don't know the value of the sales and what you may see looking at their profiles, but you might entertain shipping with signature required. 

Could this be a new scam? I don't know. 

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The OP said that both ID's have zero feedback.

Looking at the OP's Sold items, yesterday they sold two items at $24.95 each, and since December 26 nothing over that price. So signature confirmation makes no sense at all.

[wastingtime101]

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@ebooksdiva wrote:

You can ship them together be sure to add the tracking to the second order where it says “add tracking”. 

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The system will reject the same tracking number on transactions for 2 different IDs.

@zoeriley 

Most likely the buyer used guest checkout and instead of 'add to cart' on the silver and gold cases, and submitting one payment, they used 'buy it now' instead which generated 2 separate transactions. I don't see anything malicious at face value as others have suggested. As a seller I get a lot of buyers using guest checkout that do the same thing.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

Shipping isn't going to cost you any more then if it was two different buyers.

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It IS two different buyers -- Granted, 2 buyers with the same address and possibly the same person, but with 2 different IDs, it's 2 different buyers and the orders need to be shipped separately.

[sapphire_studio]

Like someone else said the OP isn't losing money on the transaction by shipping separately they will just save more money if they could ship it together.

You can't upload the tracking number from one purchase to the other one because it will say that tracking number is already in use since it is two different accounts. You would just mark it as shipped without a tracking number. Then it wouldn't be protected in the case of an INR.

I'm sure they just use two different guest accounts and I doubt it's any kind of scam. Maybe they have a coupon code they can only use once per account. If they purchased the same item twice, you might want to reach out to them and ask if they meant to buy it twice. I did that when the same thing happened to me (where they used two different guest accounts to buy the same item twice) and they said that they didn't mean to purchase it a second time. So that saved me dealing with a return.