After buying two separate items and paying for them separately, wants 3rd item shipped with rest

[electrola_man]

A buyer just bought two separate buy-it-now lots and paid for them separately.  At that point I'd plan to ship those separately as stand-alone orders, giving each its own tracking number, though I had not processed them yet.  Then the buyer messages me about a third item, asking if I could sell that also for $X and ship it with the rest.  The 3rd item weighs well over 1 pound, so it has to ship Priority Mail.  The other two items were effectively packaged already in boxes that don't allow room for anything else.  One was a light item that was set to ship First Class (with "free" shipping), so repacking with that would require a change to Priority, likely at the 3 pound rate.  There is no room for the 3rd proposed item in the other heavier box, so I would need to package that differently in a bigger box to fit it in.  Maybe I could find a box to put all 3 lots in, but what problems does that lead to?  Before I propose anything, is there a way to keep the tracking straight, or is it too risky to add an item into a package with something else previously paid for going to the same buyer?  I'm leaning toward saying in a nice way, "Thank you for your orders, but I'm unable to add that third item for no additional charge."  Thanks for advice.

[electrola_man]

OP back with maybe a much simpler question that covers all the above:

Once two or more separate packages are paid for individually, is there a way to combine them all into a single one-box shipment without problems?

[green-night]

Simple answer:

Tell your buyer No. 

Dress it up however you want, still same answer. 

[scga912]

If items are paid for individually, they can still be combined to purchase shipping.

When you go to "awaiting shipment" or check the orders that need to be shipped in your Solds, the next page will advise you that 2 or more items can be combined and do you want to combine them.  Check them off and select Yes.

They will combine for a one label purchase.  You'll need to enter the new weight/dimensions, but also pay attention because if you normally set your postage costs to not display, something in the combining will uncheck that option so you'll need to check it off again.

Also, the packing ship will show all 3 items on the one page, but they never calculate the shipping correctly on the packing slip

When you purchase the label, all three orders will automatically populate with tracking.

[electrola_man]

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@scga912 wrote:

If items are paid for individually, they can still be combined to purchase shipping.

When you go to "awaiting shipment" or check the orders that need to be shipped in your Solds, the next page will advise you that 2 or more items can be combined and do you want to combine them.  Check them off and select Yes.

They will combine for a one label purchase.  You'll need to enter the new weight/dimensions, but also pay attention because if you normally set your postage costs to not display, something in the combining will uncheck that option so you'll need to check it off again.

Also, the packing ship will show all 3 items on the one page, but they never calculate the shipping correctly on the packing slip

When you purchase the label, all three orders will automatically populate with tracking.

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Thanks, but I'm not seeing this happen at all.  I'm not yet ready to actually go ahead with this, but I've looked at this page and all the options, and clicked a few things, and nothing gives me the opportunity to combine.  What am I missing?

[scga912]

When you are in Awaiting Shipment or Solds, and check off the items you want to purchase labels for, the next page should take you to the Bulk Shipping page which will give you the option.

Do you use Seller Hub or MyEbay Solds?

 My eBay Solds - check off items - and select Print Shipping Labels (to take you to the Bulk Platform)

Seller Hub - Orders - Awaiting Shipment - select items - Print Shipping Labes - will take you to the Bulk Platform

Both end up in the same place and should have the offer to purchase a combined label.

[points13]

I would do this some sellers would not for various reasons. First thing I would do is see if I could package them together or not. Also I look at my shipping costs separate vs together. This should help you decide if you can sell the third item at the requested price or counter or say no.

Maybe the combining advice is not working if the third item isn't in the sold yet. Also I have printed a label with one of the items and added tracking from that one manually to the others and had no problems.

[dtexley3]

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@electrola_man wrote:

A buyer just bought two separate buy-it-now lots and paid for them separately.  At that point I'd plan to ship those separately as stand-alone orders, giving each its own tracking number, though I had not processed them yet.  Then the buyer messages me about a third item, asking if I could sell that also for $X and ship it with the rest.  The 3rd item weighs well over 1 pound, so it has to ship Priority Mail.  The other two items were effectively packaged already in boxes that don't allow room for anything else.  One was a light item that was set to ship First Class (with "free" shipping), so repacking with that would require a change to Priority, likely at the 3 pound rate.  There is no room for the 3rd proposed item in the other heavier box, so I would need to package that differently in a bigger box to fit it in.  Maybe I could find a box to put all 3 lots in, but what problems does that lead to?  Before I propose anything, is there a way to keep the tracking straight, or is it too risky to add an item into a package with something else previously paid for going to the same buyer?  I'm leaning toward saying in a nice way, "Thank you for your orders, but I'm unable to add that third item for no additional charge."  Thanks for advice.

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Simple answer is yes you can combine the three orders into one shipment.  But you don't have to.  If the cost of shipping the three items exceeds what you are willing to absorb, then the answer would be "no" on the third item because of the increased shipping cost.  The buyer would need to be willign to pay more to cover the shipping cost.

[electrola_man]

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@scga912 wrote:

When you are in Awaiting Shipment or Solds, and check off the items you want to purchase labels for, the next page should take you to the Bulk Shipping page which will give you the option.

Do you use Seller Hub or MyEbay Solds?

 My eBay Solds - check off items - and select Print Shipping Labels (to take you to the Bulk Platform)

Seller Hub - Orders - Awaiting Shipment - select items - Print Shipping Labes - will take you to the Bulk Platform

Both end up in the same place and should have the offer to purchase a combined label.

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OP back with an update: 

First, thank you for your help, and here are my responses to your helpful post. 

I ship using the seller hub.  For awhile, I got errors if I tried to ship through the old "my ebay," so I got used to using the hub.  I had tried to check off the two items and click on "Print Shipping Label" but did not see the "Bulk Platform."  I don't know what that is, but I was not taken anywhere that allowed me to combine things so I backed out and shipped separately.

Now...the rest of the story...with an update.  The situation became just a matter of two items purchased separately that the buyer thought would be shipped together.  Because the offer on the third item seemed to have nothing to do with the two already paid orders, I declined.  Unable to find a way to "ship" the two items together officially, trying what was suggested here, I shipped separately, likely at more cost to myself.  After packages were scanned at the PO, the buyer sent a message saying he wants to cancel the small item.  His reasoning was that he travels a lot, and has his packages forwarded.  Forwarding a small package by itself would make that item "too expensive."  I sent him a photo of the portion of the scan sheet that indicates processing of this package before he contacted me.  He will let it go and hope it doesn't cost too much.  I didn't want to make it hard for him, but I had no way of knowing of this unusual situation.  He noted that he has bought from me before, and wants to make sure that in the future, any multiple purchases get boxed together, and he asked for my thoughts. 

1.  I think it's important to let me control what does and does not ship together, at least to some degree.  I'm imagining the extremes like a combination of a cannon ball and fine china teapot.  I'm guessing there is no way to control that without personal interaction and decision.  Is that right?

2. I have to believe that scga912 knows what she's talking about, and that I'm goofing it up and need to still figure that out.  What am I doing wrong?

3.  I'm also seeing comments that items paid for separately should be shipped separately.  I see lots of sellers state within their listings that they will not combine items paid for individually.  Is that for good reason?  I know that I could ask this buyer to, in the future, contact me first with the items he's interested in combining, and make sure I take off the "immediate payment required" on each so he can buy them, get a combined invoice from me, then pay for all at once.  I'd rather not do that if not really necessary, though.   

4.  What happens in the unlikely event of a return request on one single item shipped as a multiple-item package?

[dtexley3 · Accepted solution]

1.  Thank the buyer for his understanding and ask him in return to please use the shopping cart when purchasing multiple items so they show as a single order for you.

2. Agree that you will, in the future, ship such multi-item orders in the few number of packages that is A) safe and B) cost effective for both of you.  Don't give up YOUR control over how you ship, just let them know you will do your best.

3. People are correct that returns on a single item out of at multi-item order can get sticky.  Make very sure you have clear messages back and forth agreeing to the exact amount of the refund since it will be a partial refund.

Now, if a buyer purchases 2 or more items separately, select the items by clicking the checkbox next to them.  Near the top of the page, a menu will become active (no grey overlay).  Click on "Shipping" and select "Print shipping labels or invoices".  If you need anything other than labels print those now, unfortunately they WILL NOT combine at this point.  Once you are ready, select "US Postage Service or FedEx" (Why do they say FedEx when you can't bulk ship FedEx, I have no idea).  This takes you to the bulk USPS labels (no FedEx here!) page.  Above the list of shipments you should see a box with a yellowish outline stating that some orders can be combined.  Click the button and follow the instructions to combine orders as appropriate.

Hope that helps.

[points13]

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3.  I'm also seeing comments that items paid for separately should be shipped separately.  I see lots of sellers state within their listings that they will not combine items paid for individually.  Is that for good reason?  

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 It can be a hassle as you are finding out. It's not that you can't or shouldn't. If the buyer uses the cart and requests total it can go smooth. You adjust the invoice and send it to the buyer, they pay and you ship. It's just that for various reasons the cart doesn't work or buyers do not do it right.  I have automatic discounts in place now for buyers that use the cart and that has worked much better.

Suppose large sellers would have a hard time locating multiple separate orders to combine and won't want to do it.

One of the big reasons I believe sellers do not want to do it is FVF. A buyer that wants combined probably wants reduced shipping. If they have already paid that means you need to send a refund via paypal. Problem is ebay does not refund you the seller the FVF you paid on the refunded amount. Paypal does refund their 2.9% but not the thirty cent transaction fee that you wouldn't of paid if they were combined originally. So if you reduced the bill $10 you lost a $1.30 of your profit. I've seen were some sellers will refund minus the incurred loss. Not sure how buyers respond to that.

It's a customer service vs bottom line battle and we all fall on different sides

[electrola_man]

OP with final wrap-up of all this:  Thank you everybody for your help.  On a new transaction this morning, I had two items going to the same address, paid separately, so I tried this out, with success.  The postage to ship both items was close to what I was used to paying for one, so while it was a bit of hassle, ultimately it saved some money that I got to keep with no qualms, since both items were offered with "free shipping."  Some observations:

1. The w hole process was not intuitive, and I needed the help you provided to find what I needed, so thank you.

2.  I forgot the caution I was given to make sure I set the new label to not print the actual postage on it, but fortunately these were two "free shiping" items, so I figure it doesn't matter if the buyer sees it.  Normally this would be a concern.  I'll watch for that in the future.

3.  There was seemingly no option to switch to classic label printing, so I had to just continue from the hub, and I elected to print label, package list, and receipt for label purchase.  I had already printed individual packing slips for each item and attached them to the inner packaging of the items, as I know this customer likes to have the item number easily identifiable to the item.  The "Package List" produced by Ebay for the combined package seems quite inadequate compared to the individual "Packing Slip" forms.  There is no seller address, and no mention of who I am or what my return policy is.  Maybe those are customizable, but I didn't see where to do it, so I was glad I followed advice and printed individual packing slips first.

4.  The label and label receipt print on separate pages and are not formatted to fit the adhesive-backed pre-scored labels I usually use, so I had to just print them on plain paper and cut out the label and glue it down. 

5.  It resulted in additional pieces of paper kept for my records.  For each item, I usually keep a copy of the packing slip with a small receipt contianing the cost, date, and tracking info glued/stuck to it, meaning one sheet per transaction.  For these two items, I'm keeping 4 sheets stapled together. 

Overall, there was some savings, and I'll probably use this at times in the future, but it is still almost enough additional work that, for me, it is barely worth doing unless there is some really good reason that I should.  It's good to know that if a customer asks me to do it, though, I can.  Thanks again.

[scga912]

It'll become easier when you've done it a few times.