Same tracking number on 2 different orders.

[inhawaii]

Recently i noticed that ebay does not allow the same tracking number on 2 different orders.

A customer mistakenly bought 4 items in 2 transactions. I gave the customer a partial refund for hat he overpaid in shipping. So when i pack all 4 items together and ship in 1 box, how do i make both orders have the same tracking number? 

[teth_1615]

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@inhawaii wrote:

A customer mistakenly bought 4 items in 2 transactions.

So when i pack all 4 items together and ship in 1 box, how do i make both orders have the same tracking number? 

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You provide the exact same tracking number, but as an alias. For the second transaction, add ahead of the tracking number

420 + last-five-digits-of-one-item-number + tracking-number

so if the tracking number is 98765432 and the last 5 digits of one of the item numbers is 12345, then the alias tracking number is 4201234598765432. Check the alias at USPS.com to see that it works.

[inhawaii]

Thank you. Very interesting. 

I actually found another way to do it by checking the box for each transaction and using the menu on the top to "combine shipping".  It worked.

If i were to do it your way, what happens when the customer (or anybody) runs that "altered" tracking number?  What will they see?

[bigdeals.etc]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Thank you. Very interesting. 

I actually found another way to do it by checking the box for each transaction and using the menu on the top to "combine shipping".  It worked.

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Will that fix work if the buyer paid both transactions with two different guest accounts?

[48hrs-clothing]

In UK we do this regularly and we simply select the concerned order and under postage drop down select add tracking and on the next screen put the same tracking number on all selected items. Never any issues.

If you are having problems then only thing that comes to mind is that eBay USA site has a different set up.

We always make sure that orders we are combining for postage all have the same address. 

[fern*wood]

I have needed to add tracking to a combined order a couple times over the last few weeks and it worked okay.

[bbravo65]

...well, recently I made 2 orders with the same seller at the same time...my mistake that I forgot to ask her for an invoice to combine shipping cost as her listings are non- free shipping...I assumed she still remember me as my post purchases from her was just past week...but nope, she charged me twice shipping cost, provided a non-exist tracking number that up to today as I am writing this comment it still did not show any moving, and guess what, my 2 orders were in 1 package which was already delivered...

...if I am not an honest buyer, I can use the other tracking number to make a claim for INR with eBay...this gave me a bad taste about her business performance...I probably won't come back to shop on her site...

...it was my fault, but it's also her dishonesty to a repeating customer whom spent hundred dollars on her selling items...

[48hrs-clothing]

I agree with your sentiment.

Seller should automatically have refunded excess postage charges which may not be the same as what you paid for the 2nd order as postal service providers charge according to weight and size of package.

For quite a while we offer FREE shipping on all domestic orders but prior to that when we did charge postage and after combining the orders and uploading tracking we always sent buyer a message advising them that we have combined the orders which resulted in a postage saving of amount X which is refunded to your account.

[snoopwiz]

I would write to the seller and tell them that if they are going to charge me (you) separate shipping then they should ship the items separately.  Seeing how they shipped them together in the same box, obviously saving themselves money, they should now rightfully share that savings with you.  If they say no, then thats fine, simply let them know their lack of customer service has just cost them a repeat buyer.  Period.  

[bigdeals.etc]

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@bbravo65 wrote:

...if I am not an honest buyer, I can use the other tracking number to make a claim for INR with eBay...this gave me a bad taste about her business performance...I probably won't come back to shop on her site...

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You can do a lot more than that if you are not an honest buyer 🙂

[bigdeals.etc]

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@snoopwiz wrote:

I would write to the seller and tell them that if they are going to charge me (you) separate shipping then they should ship the items separately.  Seeing how they shipped them together in the same box, obviously saving themselves money, they should now rightfully share that savings with you.  If they say no, then thats fine, simply let them know their lack of customer service has just cost them a repeat buyer.  Period.  

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I've gotten messages from buyers from time to time telling me I lost their repeat business because the shipping refund they received isn't high enough. For instance, they expected me to refund them $20 when they bought and paid for 5 items separately that each had $5 shipping on them. Basically they expected to only have to pay the postage for 1 unit while I shipped them 5 units. I don't know if that's an aggressive negotiation tactic or what... but I chose to stick to my guns, refund them the amount I saw fit and dealt with the consequences. Sometimes I wonder if the whole thing was caused by me refunding them in the first place that put a blip on their radar.

So yea, just saying this issue goes both ways.

[inhawaii]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

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Will that fix work if the buyer paid both transactions with two different guest accounts?

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Good Question.  I'll play around with it next time. 

[fern*wood]

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@snoopwiz wrote:

I would write to the seller and tell them that if they are going to charge me (you) separate shipping then they should ship the items separately.  Seeing how they shipped them together in the same box, obviously saving themselves money, they should now rightfully share that savings with you.  If they say no, then thats fine, simply let them know their lack of customer service has just cost them a repeat buyer.  Period.  

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Before going nuclear on the seller, it would be wise to make sure that combining the items into one shipment did save money on shipping.   I recently sent items separately because combining them cost more than two separate charges due to going from 1st class to Priority.

[cheezypoof68]

Thanks for that info! I had one person order with 2 different User Names (don't ask...I have no idea...both of them had 0 feedback, so I'm guessing she's new at this) but...your 420 + last-five-digits-of-one-item-number + tracking-number worked!!

[jda10121]

It is the buyers responsibility to arrange/ask for combined shipping.  If you made a mistake, ask for a refund but don't assume sellers will go to the extra work and expense to do it. Sellers do not get their FVF back on partial refunds.