Why are buyers buying multiple items but paying for each individually?

[misterskullhead]

I've had a this happen a LOT lately - buyers will make like 5-10 purchases and pay for each one, THEN message me and ask to combine shipping.  I don't have any of my listings set to require immediate payment, so what is going on here?  It makes it a huge pain to dig through transactions and figure out combined shipping then send partial refunds.

Some buyers have told me they don't get options to commit to buy without having to then pay immediately.  Am I missing something here?  Does it matter if any items were best offer purchases?  I do have a lot of auto-deny/auto-accept best offers set up.  I don't know what to tell these people.  Most of my buyers don't have any problems with this stuff.

[di2360]

On buy it now auctions, I have never seen a option for getting combine shipping. You have to pay for it right then. If you are able to put in cart and maybe request invoice sometimes it want work and will tell me the Seller does not combine shipping. Also someone else may be able to buy it before you get a combine invoice while in the cart. If you request a best offer then it would work. This is what I have seen. Maybe someone else will give you the answers you are looking for. I have seen quite a few Sellers that had this happen to. 

[ittybitnot]

Some buyers have told me they don't get options to commit to buy without having to then pay immediately. 

That would be correct.   It has been like this for a long time.  I was trying to purchase several small lightweight items from one seller.   Shipping was $3.00 each, seller says they will combine shipping when a total was requested.   

That didn't work. 

Put all the items in the cart,  there was no "request total".  I went to check out and   I was directed to pay for all the items with the $3.00 shipping for each one.  That would have been $30.00 shipping for  a parcel that was under 5 ounces.  There was no place to "request total".  None of the items were on sale, IPR was not in evidence, there was no difference is shipping method, or any of the other things that usually prevent requesting a total.  

The part of the process that was MISSING was the old "commit to buy and continue shopping with this seller".  
I think eBay may have put their super secret IPR on the listings, messing the whole program up whether you use the cart or not.   Without the "commit to buy" a seller has no idea what is in your cart to send an invoice. 

Last time an ebay staff person responded to this issue, they insisted the cart is the way to go, and all is working as intended.  Well, isn't that special.  I was not going to pay $30 for shipping so I just dumped out the cart and went someplace else to shop. 

The only way it is working for me as a buyer is actual AUCTION wins.  A request total is available through a drop down menu in that format. 

[richard1rst]

They are fairly new and simply don't know how to combine orders? I frequently get requests about combined shipping and I give them specific detailed instructions as to how to do it. (copy and paste a pre-typed instructions paragraph - only takes a few seconds) Mostly it works just fine.

[inhawaii]

Why are buyers buying multiple items but paying for each individually?

Simple answer:  Because some buyers are not that smart. 

[gwzcomps]

Many buyers don't know how to use the cart.  I just skimmed the page, but I think this is helpful information for setting up combined shipping policies:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/posting-items/postage-rates/postage-discounts?id=4168

[violetsource · Accepted solution]

I want you to go look at my listings and read what I put for the language about add on orders. Very clear language for my customers. This is the best solution I can find. Read my listing, I think it will make total sense for you.

[misterskullhead]

I should have mentioned that I have a flat rate combined shipping rule in place already.

[misterskullhead]

That's pretty good.  I'm going to have to put something similar on all of my listings and hopefully it'll save me a lot of headaches.  Thank you.

[powell-memorabilia]

I like your write up on combined orders, BUT, I noticed the absolutely incorrect statement "I am not responsible for your package once it is in the possession of the USPS."  An experienced buyer knows that this isn't true.  Who do you think is responsible if a package is lost?  The buyer? Heck, if I was an inexperienced buyer, I'd hit the back button and never buy from you - fearing that this statement is actually true, which it isn't.  

[violetsource]

Thanks for the feedback about my listing. It is a common statement in my niche selling market.

I can see how somebody could misinterpret my intent regarding that statement. I realize that if the items don't arrive that I am responsible. Thankfully it only happened once, and the item was re-shipped and I got positive feedback. I suppose just omitting that one statement could clear up any confusion. 

I put that in there because of the fragile/perishable nature of what I am shipping. Leaves on plants can break and minor damage happens from time to time. Delays and misdirected packages are beyond my control and if a plant shows up in rough shape due to excessive rough handling and prolonged transit time should not reflect upon me negatively (as a seller).  I have clear language to my customers to let me know if the plant arrives with excessive damage they will receive a refund or replacement. If it never shows up, then that is a separate issue and the customer gets a refund per eBay policy (still beyond my control and not my fault personally as a seller as far as feedback). All they need to do is contact me and I can add the missing/damaged plants to another order or they get refunded. There is no risk to the customer. 

I am having an amazing selling year so far.

[monster-deals]

The shopping cart has been broken for years and they have no plans to fix it.

I get all kinds of buyers who pay shipping multiple times but never say a word...or ones that try to ask AFTER they pay or ones that ask before and I say yes and then they go ahead and pay multiple shipping costs.

I have stopped trying to figure out the customer and just let them spend their money hwoever they want.

[monster-deals]

---

@ittybitnot wrote:

 is working as intended.  

---

Oh blues say that about everything that is broken around here.

Literally those exact words.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Rude. You’re blaming the wrong party. The other day I put three things in my cart and checked out together. eBay broke it into two transactions. Why? I can tell you it wasn’t because I’m not that smart. I understand very well how the cart works and mostly doesn’t.

i tried to request a total from another seller but the cart wouldn’t allow it because the seller had

ipr. The seller removed ipr and it still didn’t allow the combine request. The seller had to add make an offer and that finally worked but I set my own price.

once again I cannot believe a seller is here with their selling ID making rude comments about paying buyers. Many sellers wonder why their sales are off. Here’s your sign.

[violetsource]

Sometimes when that happens it is because the seller does not check the box to include the calculated shipping rule. It is easy for sellers to miss that. They should have checked to see if that was the problem. If they are similar items, I don't understand why a seller wouldn't/couldn't combine. Rudeness, helps nobody. Sorry that happened.