Combined Shipping

[websight.2020]

I learned some by reading some other Combined Shipping posts, but I want to get in out on the whole process. Restarting selling on eBay after a 15-year hiatus constitutes a big (re-)learning curve.

I ship various items flat rate and others via calculated shipping. Just learned that if I use TERMS for shipping instead of Business Policies, I can include both flat rate options and calculated in the same shipments. So....

I state in every auction that I will combine shipping for all winnings with the following caveats:

....Cannot extend for more than 7 days.

....Cannot combine if they pay before requesting combined shipping.

....Request that they let me know if they intend to combine.

I am really confused by the combined listing form eBay gives. Here is what I want to do. Please tell me on each point IF I can do it, and if so, HOW I can do it. My bottom line....save the buyer money on shipping, while sending out in a manner that is most likely to avoid damage.

1. I want to be able to combine wins that have both flat rate and calculated shipping specified.

'...a. Am I prevented?

...b. If I can, do I have to combine one way or the other (flat or calculated).

2. I want to be able to decide myself what is the optimal way to mail the products, even if not specifically specified as an option (e.g. Regional Flat Rate).

3. Once a buyer expresses the desire to combine shipments, and when they have finished winning the items to be included, how to I initiate the combining process.

4. Am I correct that sales tax with be automatically and correctly applied to the invoiced total and not on each of the original uncombined listings?

Thanks in advance for all of your input. I have seen some really good input on other questions in the community.

Webs

[rfmtm]

In your Shipping Preferences, enable Combined Payments, and set the time to 7 days.

Automatic combine shipping rules do not mix and match Flat and Calculated as they are separate settings.  Best you can do here is disable both Flat and Calculated rules.  Instruct buyers to put all items in their shopping cart and click on Request Total.  Then you can manually adjust the shipping amount.

As long as the shipping method is the same carrier at the same level of service or better as stated in the listing you can choose.  In other words, if you list shipping as Priority mail, you can use any Priority mail service (regular priority, flat rate priority, regional priority, or cubic priority).   You can not change to say parcel select or UPS/FedEx, without buyer permission.    

Ebay calculates sales tax on the total amount buyer actually pays after any adjustments.

[websight.2020]

rfmtm.....

You said, "Best you can do here is disable both Flat and Calculated rules." I assume you mean that I should not use a Shipping policy within Business Policies. And my other Business Policies (Payment / Return) still remain in effect, correct?

You said, "Instruct buyers to put all items in their shopping cart and click on Request Total. " I thought the Shopping Cart only holds items not yet won. The combined shipping could include BIN items not yet paid for (because they want to take advantage of combined shipping) plus store items, plus auctions that they have won.

You said, " As long as the shipping method is the same carrier at the same level of service or better as stated in the listing you can choose." Generally, if it is calculated shipping, I would offer multiple options....such as Priority Mail, First Class, & Media Mail. Since I offered one of the latter two in the listing, and all other listings they won offered the same level, I should be able to choose (or let the customer choose) among any of those options for the combined package, right? 

Webs

[rfmtm]

Yes, business policies are separate.

Shopping cart only works for Fixed Priced items.  You'll have to tell buyers with any auctions won to not pay until your send them a combined invoice, since you seems to want to combine both auction and fixed price items, and mix flat rate shipping and calculated shipping. 

You can put multiple shipping options in the listing for the buyer to choose, you can not change buyer's selection unless it is a higher/faster service from the same carrier.

Would be better to simplify all the above to be able to use the automated combine rules, as buyers often don't follow instructions.

[glasser]

As far as I know, you don't need a buyers permission to change shipping method, although good to give them a heads up. When you go to print the label you will see all the options available. I have ben using FedEx recently for longer distance heavier items even through my listings USPS/ I do flat rate (my estimation not the flat rate box).  More recently started offering the choices in the listing.

There is setting to automatically combine purchases by a single buyer. You can then invoice them a new amount. Worst case. They pay for shipping twice and you give them a refund.

Do provide as much info as you can about shipping and combining in your listings.

Since its been awhile, make sure understand managed payments and how they work as well as return issues, etc. A great deal ash changed and we see sellers who come back after a while a bit confused sometimes.

[websight.2020]

Thanks so far to both of you. Yes, Glass, a wee bit confused. And to some extent, more than a wee bit. It looks at first glance like the Wild West, only worst. Things I have read in Community makes it sound like it's lawful for someone to break info your house holding two six-shooters, and it is illegal for you to own a gun to defend yourself. Anyway.....

I do explicitly talk about combining shipments in my listings. I say that they can acquire BINs and wait on the payment, and/or auctions, and combine all those auctions BUT for any that they pay for before requesting an invoice, I will not be able to wait to combine it with other shipments because of eBay rules. My main approach about the why of combining shipments is common sense. If someone has a flat rate box purchase (unpaid) and then adds something small that has calculated shipping.....and the second item can fit in the same flat rate box, why not combine? Or, if someone wins five listings of one small item each, and are faced with paying  $30 or more non-flat rate shipping in separate packages, but could instead be using a single USPS flat rate box to reduce shipping to less than $20, it saves them money and saves me time and materials and money, even though they originally did not specify a USPS Flat Rate box. Allowing this also encourages them to look further into my Store and into my listings to see what else they might be interested in that can be thus combined, potentially turning shipping for the additional item(s) into free shipping. Am I missing anything in that logic?

As for using automatic combined shipping, here are the problems I see in doing that in my situation. Please give me more clarity if I am missing something here.

1. Concerning setting up automatic combined shipping rules, they start out with "There are 3 rules for setting up automatic discounted, reduced or fixed shipping fees based on the amount of items in a buyer’s cart." The first issue is....I could care less how many items are being purchased. The weight, size, & value differ for each one, and combining depends on how many can fit into one type of box of another, and that in turn, either from a weight standpoint (becoming a high calculated shipping cost) or size standpoint (how much I can fit into a Flat-Rate Box) means that I cannot make a blanket rule in advance based on item count.

2. On the "Manage Shipping Settings" page, in the "Allow Combined Shipping & Payments" section, I figure that I am required to fill in "Time period to combine payments", which I did (7 days). I am leaving the Flat Shipping Rule unspecified, since I have no basis for adding or subtracting before I have the specifics of what needs to be combined. I initially have the calculated shipping rule set to "Combine all item weights", but if I do that, I suspect it will exclude items originally specified as flat rate, plus the fact that each listing with calculated shipping has the weight of the box & materials included. Combining will not include the weight of the extra boxes and perhaps some of the packing, so that the final (auto-combined) weight will be overstated if it is not shipped flat-rate. Besides, when I finish combining, I will weigh the final package(s) at that time anyway, making the automatic combined weight moot.

So in the end, it seems that I should just stick by my 7 days, which does flag me as allowing combined shipping, but do not specify any of the rules in that section. That should give me the option to select what winnings combine into what boxes, choose the shipping method for each one, and send the invoice(s) to the buyer, with savings for both. Input please.

[rfmtm]

Yes, as originally posted, for your situation it probably is best just to turn off the auto combine.  Also as you see, the ebay system is very basic, so often doesn't work for various combinations.  Even just the "add weights" can be wrong as it does not account for dimensional weight at this time.

Best you can do is hope your buyer reads how to get the best deal on shipping.  I'd probably put the note about it right at the top of the description in bold red letters. 

[websight.2020]

LOL....I will add the red letters. I do talk about it in the first couple lines of the listing, and in bold in the shipping section, and I think somewhere else. I cannot make them read the listing, but if they do, even a cursory reading should communicate what they need to know.