Buying from US to Europe (non EU country)

[andromedagalaxy]

I have sometimes had issues when bidding on auctions from same seller. I won 3-4 auctions. Turns out seller says he can not combine the auctions into one shipment. I know for a fact this is possible as other US sellers manage to combine items into one order with a combined shipment.

So my question is this: Why does some US sellers, even when they part of the GSP, refuse or can't (according to them) combine multiple purchases from same seller within the same week?

Can anyone explain this obvious difference in how they deal with ebay. Or is it their seller settings that is not configured correctly?

[richard1rst]

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@andromedagalaxy wrote:

I have sometimes had issues when bidding on auctions from same seller. I won 3-4 auctions. Turns out seller says he can not combine the auctions into one shipment. I know for a fact this is possible as other US sellers manage to combine items into one order with a combined shipment.

So my question is this: Why does some US sellers, even when they part of the GSP, refuse or can't (according to them) combine multiple purchases from same seller within the same week?

Can anyone explain this obvious difference in how they deal with ebay. Or is it their seller settings that is not configured correctly?

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Well, I can not speak for everyone BUT - if the seller is using eBay's international shipping system then, indeed, eBay PREVENTS them from combining shipments and offering shipping discounts.

On the other hand, sellers like my self who ship through the U S Postal System CAN (and I do) combine and discount the shipping.

eBay, for reference, calls it EIS. When it was first introduced eBay automatically moved everybody into it although they did offer an opportunity to opt out. Based on comments I have seen on these boards not everyone knows about the opt out. Additionally, eBay listed a number of supposed advantages to using EIS instead of standard U S Mail such that some have decided to stay with it.

What you are describing is a major drawback (which is why I opted out). Others maybe just haven't come to realize the drawback and/or made a trade off between this and the supposed advantages.

Generally, if they use EIS you will find that drawback. If they us USPS then that drawback does not exist.

Hope this makes sense.

[steady2304]

The reason some sellers can't combine multiple purchases are because they are using eBay International Shipping (EIS) instead of shipping directly through USPS, UPS or FedEx.

With EIS shipping each purchase is treated as a separate order and a seller is not allowed to combined them into 1 package to ship. The only way to get combined shipping when a seller uses EIS is to contact the seller before purchasing and ask the seller to make a listing with all items a buyer wants to purchase into 1 listing. Once the seller does that the seller can send the buyer the new Item Listing number for the buyer to purchase.

eBay is supposed to start offering combined shipping using EIS later this year, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. It was just announced in the latest eBay Fall Seller Update.

You might want to contact your seller ask ask them to cancel the purchases and then relist all items together. It's worth a shot. Good luck.

[andromedagalaxy]

Thanks for two good responses and tips.

I will try ask the sellers - next time. For now I have to endure 2-6 months of bad rep, since seller refused to combine or cancel the items. He just let the other 2 items run out.... It can be annoying since some sellers have restrictions on bidders with strikes.

Regards Andromedagalaxy.

[pjcdn2005]

If the listing states that the seller ships through ebay international shipping you will know that they cannot combine shipping.  But hopefully that will be changed in the near future.