What to do when eBay combines a multi-item shipment?

[varebelrose]

eBay apparently auto-combined multiple purchases yesterday into one shipping package.

In the past, if a buyer purchased multiple items, there was an option on the sold page to combine the items for shipping, with one tracking number. You had to make a conscious decision to do so, or you could ship them separately. Yesterday, we had a buyer purchase multiple large, heavy lots of books. These were marked in the ad as "cannot combine shipping due to weight/size", but I did not change anything in settings to set that.  I assume the buyer put them all in his cart and payed for them together. The shipping fee he paid seemed to be the total for the 3 lots combined. The three lots sold, showed up on the sold page and the shipping label page, as one transaction, with no apparent way to separate them out and ship separately.

In this case, we were able to repackage them and ship them together, although it was a PITA and made for an almost 30 pound package. I would have really preferred to ship each package individually, with the ability to use ebay shipping labels for each one , and have individual tracking numbers, as it has always been in the past. I say say this, because not every time can multiple purchases be easily repackaged into one shipment; this could have been 20# of books and glassware, for example. I suppose we could have split the shipment by using PP labels, but still would have had no way to input tracking info for each package individually.

Is there a recent change in settings that I have missed, to NOT allow multiple items to automatically be combined?

Thanks for any advice, YMMV.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

I don't know about settings, but when ebay wants to shove me into a bulk shipping page, I click on solds and select just one of them in order to do them separately. I have noticed the bulk shipping is the only option when I hover over the notification bell. 

[ittybitnot]

Is there a recent change in settings that I have missed, to NOT allow multiple items to automatically be combined?

Look in your settings of site preferences for any "shipping rules" you may have set up in the past. Just a suggestion. 

[coffeebean832]

After you print a label go to the transaction drop-down on your orders page and select print shipping label. You can repeat this process and print up to 5 different labels for one order.

[richard1rst]

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

After you print a label go to the transaction drop-down on your orders page and select print shipping label. You can repeat this process and print up to 5 different labels for one order.

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NO NO NO

If you click "print label;" you will get the SAME label with the SAME tracking number each of the 5 times. That link is there for times when your label didn't print (The printer jammed, you ran out of ink, etc)

The post office computer will  kick any shipment past the first as an invalid label since the tracking was registered the first time they scanned the first package. You can not use the same tracking number on multiple packages.

What you need to select is "Buy an additional label for this order". Then you can buy additional labels each with their own unique tracking number.

[goodluckselling]

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@richard1rst wrote:

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

After you print a label go to the transaction drop-down on your orders page and select print shipping label. You can repeat this process and print up to 5 different labels for one order.

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NO NO NO

If you click "print label;" you will get the SAME label with the SAME tracking number each of the 5 times. That link is there for times when your label didn't print (The printer jammed, you ran out of ink, etc)

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@coffeebean832  is correct.  Using the drop down box from the sold orders page will allow a seller to create additional different shipping labels.

I think you might be thinking about a different area?

Good Luck Selling!

[richard1rst]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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I think you might be thinking about a different area?

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The "5 times" is what got me turned around. I had a problem with my printer once and was having difficulty getting a clean label. After reprinting it 4 times it said I had reached the limit of 5 printouts. So when he said "5 times" that is the image that came to mind.

Yes, if you use "print label" not "reprint label" he is correct.

[goodluckselling]

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@richard1rst wrote:

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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I think you might be thinking about a different area?

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The "5 times" is what got me turned around. I had a problem with my printer once and was having difficulty getting a clean label. After reprinting it 4 times it said I had reached the limit of 5 printouts. So when he said "5 times" that is the image that came to mind.

Yes, if you use "print label" not "reprint label" he is correct.

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Trust me I know about reprinting labels.  I get a new batch of blank shipping labels or a new toner cartridge and it seems to create a problem for my printer to print the label correctly.  Doing batches of labels is still an issue.  I do not know if it is the labels or the new laser toner cartridges?

Good Luck Selling!

[varebelrose]

I think some may have misunderstood my question; I know how to print labels.

My issue here, is that a buyer purchased 3 items that in the past, would have shown up as sold and allowed me to process and ship each separately. There would have been an OPTION to combine the 3 items into one shipment.  I have NO preset shipping rules under settings.

In this case, a first in my experience, the sold page automatically combined the 3 items into one, with only ONE place to select "print shipping label". On that shipping label page, all 3 items were automatically combined, the weight was combined, but the package size was from just the first item.

I really wish I knew what the buyer did and saw when they paid.  I assume that this was done through the shopping cart and that they paid full shipping cost for each of the 3 items.

In this case, we got lucky because we actually were able to combine the 3, although it was one heavy box.

[divwido]

would have really preferred to ship each package individually, with the ability to use ebay shipping labels for each one , and have individual tracking numbers, as it has always been in the past. I say say this, because not every time can multiple purchases be easily repackaged into one shipment;

You can still do that.  You just click each one and choose mark as shipped and enter the tracking number and carrier.

[varebelrose]

Perhaps I am still not clear; there was NO option to click each one individually on the sold page. They were already combined as ONE shipment, as it would look in the past if you had selected to "combine these orders?". Sure, I still could have used Paypal shipping labels and manually done them one at a time, or even carried them to the PO and paid cash across the counter, but there was no way to use the eBay shipping to do them individually.

[ekmadonna]

I am glad you were able to print at least 4 labels out of 5. I tried printing a 2nd label 2 weeks ago after my printer ink ran out half way through the label and when I tried to reprint label #2 I got a RED ERROR MESSAGE that I "HAD ALREADY PRINTED 5 LABELS" and could not reprint label #2! GlitchFest

[a_c_green]

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@varebelrose wrote:

Perhaps I am still not clear; there was NO option to click each one individually on the sold page. 

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I get what you're saying: you have no option to split apart a single shipment/order into three individual mailings, presumably since the buyer put them in a cart and made one payment.

You should see that the buyer has indeed paid a Shipping total for the three items priced separately, so you should find that you have enough shipping funds to pack and ship each item by itself. Get the first item shipped as usual, then go to your Manage Shipping Labels page, find the shipped item, and select the Print Another Label option from the Actions column for that item on the right side of the page. Repeat for each item in the paid group. ("Print Another Label" means literally that; it does not mean that you are printing the same label a second time. You're buying a whole 'nother label.)

[glgenterprise]

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@varebelrose wrote:

Perhaps I am still not clear; there was NO option to click each one individually on the sold page. They were already combined as ONE shipment, as it would look in the past if you had selected to "combine these orders?". Sure, I still could have used Paypal shipping labels and manually done them one at a time, or even carried them to the PO and paid cash across the counter, but there was no way to use the eBay shipping to do them individually.

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Unless I am mistaken, you can print multiple shipping labels for the same purchase/items. It will just show up as multiple tracking numbers under the tracking number field on your sold page.

When I've done it, I print the first shipping label like usual. I then go the the paid & shipped list and select print shipping label from the drop down menu, It gives me the opportunity to print a brand new shipping label for the same group, with a whole new tracking number. There will be a tag line across the top of the screen that essentially states "you've already printed a shipping label - if you need to reprint go to labels page".  Ignore that - just print another whole new fresh label and while it will look like one tracking number on your sold page, if you click on edit - it will show the multiple tracking numbers.

I just did this last week for a customer that I gave a good deal on shipping for ordering multiple items, but I could not combine them all into one box. Worked fine.

[varebelrose]

Thank you both for the suggestion to go through the Shipping Labels Page; I will try that next time. It just threw me for a loop because in the past all items bought by a single buyer were separate, and it took a decisive action to combine them. Have a great afternoon!