Does anybody know a way around this error?

[wastingtime101]

Stamps.com allowed me to combine this buyer's purchases into one consolidated shipment because the name and address are the same, but the tracking didn't populate to eBay on the second transaction because the buyer used 2 different IDs (probably had coupons on both IDs and wanted to take advantage).

I went to manually upload the tracking to the second transaction on eBay and used "other" instead of USPS as the carrier because that used to work in this kind of situation, but this time I ran into the above error so I guess that's no longer a loophole.

Any thoughts on getting tracking uploaded to the second transaction that don't involve splitting the shipment into 2 packages? If not I'll probably leave all items in the same package and take the risk that comes with not uploading tracking.

[mr_lincoln]

@wastingtime101   The issue, as you have pointed out, is that the two purchases came from two different accounts.  Ebay's programming is not intuitive enough to automatically load one tracking number to two accounts from the same address ...

If it were me I would ship them in separate packages.  You can always knock off some $$ on each purchase if you want.

[wastingtime101]

Hey Mr Lincoln, I realize two IDs are the reason why I can't upload the same number. Using "other" as the carrier used to be a loophole around this issue but it looks like eBay closed that loophole which is why I'm asking if others have any thoughts that don't involve splitting it up into 2 packages. The second order is such a low value item that - if I can't find another loophole to upload tracking - it's worth taking the risk that comes with not adding tracking instead of spending an extra 5 bucks on shipping.

[mr_lincoln]

@wastingtime101   The "late shipping defect" for not getting the Acceptance scan on an item rolls off your account in 90 days.  That would be the risk you take for not using tracking on the 2nd low value item.  I've only been selling for 5 years and have never been aware of the loopholes you are talking about ...

I assume you have tried manually loading the tracking number in opposed to just having it be done automatically?

[moo*cow*corner]

Sorry, I know of no way to do that right off the top of my head.

I have been able to upload tracking to multiple purchases on the same ID just dandy, but I can see why ebay doesn't allow it across multiple IDs...

It's a perk of 3rd party shipping apps that ebay just doesn't deal with at all.

Probably the biggest risk would be the risk of the buyer filing an INR, even though you included the item with the other purchase. I don't think you'd win with a tracking number assigned to another shipment to another ID, even if the name and address matched.

On the other hand, great job on getting ALL of that buyer's available coupons!

[wastingtime101]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@wastingtime101   The "late shipping defect" for not getting the Acceptance scan on an item rolls off your account in 90 days.  That would be the risk you take for not using tracking on the 2nd low value item.  I've only been selling for 5 years and have never been aware of the loopholes you are talking about ...

I assume you have tried manually loading the tracking number in opposed to just having it be done automatically?

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All of my dashboard performance ratings roll every 90 days because of my volume and there's no risk to my account with a hit on late shipment or on tracking upload because I can afford the hit. The only risk is an INR which was mentioned by the poster above.

re: Uploading manually - refer to my first post.

[wastingtime101]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:

I can see why ebay doesn't allow it across multiple IDs...

It's a perk of 3rd party shipping apps that ebay just doesn't deal with at all.

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Yeah, it's too bad eBay won't recognize the same name and address. I can see why they don't - too much room for abuse if they don't get the programming right and, well ... I think I'll leave the rest of that thought unsaid. 😂

[corvettestainless]

Technically the system see them as 2 different buyers as the system looks at 'sign on name' first, before real name/address etc....  you cannot issue same tracking for 2 buyers as you found out. There is no work-around; you have to ship separate. Been that way for 10+ years. 

[moo*cow*corner]

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@corvettestainless wrote:

Technically the system see them as 2 different buyers as the system looks at 'sign on name' first, before real name/address etc....  you cannot issue same tracking for 2 buyers as you found out. There is no work-around; you have to ship separate. Been that way for 10+ years. 

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A seller does not HAVE to ship separately, it's simply what many sellers would probably do. However, a discussion of the risks involved in combining orders from 2 different buyer IDs to the same physical mailing address is definitely worth having. I've had it happen, but not in a LONG time.

I don't use Stamps.com much, but I do use a couple of other 3rd party shipping solutions. One will recognize the same name and address and ask me if I want to combine the orders into a single shipment, regardless of buyer ID used at time of purchase. Stamps apparently does the same thing. It's indeed a cool toy.

As for ebay, I used to have to use the Other field all. the. time. when manually entering tracking for a multiple purchase combined into one shipment. I've seen the error screen that you show, even when if it's a purchase by the same buyer ID within the same single payment transaction. Even now, I occasionally still have to fight with the stupid thing to get all of the tracking entered properly sometimes.

[corvettestainless]

True, seller does not have to ship separate if they enjoy shooting themselves in the foot. Since a buyer could state 'never received' and seller will have no valid tracking to put in to rebut (ebay or paypal); and it will become a defect for shipping as that item will show as an item that was not 'shipped' on time, because they won't have a valid tracking number to enter- even if seller marks as 'shipped'- won't matter. Been there, done that. 

So, I'm not sure any seller is willing to get that defect and risk a 'not received' on an item they shipped- so what I said stands. Ship it separately. 

[moo*cow*corner]

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@corvettestainless wrote:

True, seller does not have to ship separate, but it will become a defect for shipping as that will show as an item that was not 'shipped' on time, because they won't have a valid tracking number to enter- even if seller marks as 'shipped'- won't matter. Been there, done that. 

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Agreed. The OP is apparently a stellar seller, because they stated that their dashboard can easily accommodate the percentage hit for not uploading tracking. A seller who occasionally ships a PWE sale would have the same issue(s).

IMO, the possibility of an INR being opened against the buyer is the bigger risk, as OP stated. On a good day, a competent CS would be able to easily resolve any problem that may arise. Then again, as we all well know, this is ebay.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:

Probably the biggest risk would be the risk of the buyer filing an INR, even though you included the item with the other purchase. I don't think you'd win with a tracking number assigned to another shipment to another ID, even if the name and address matched.

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^^THIS^^

The same tracking number can't be used for different buyer IDs. It just can't, the system won't allow it. Once that number is associated with an ID it can't be associated with another. That's the same reason why multiple guest ID purchases to the same person have to be sent separately if you want INR protection.

[dtexley3]

Method #1 is found here.  Let me know if it doesn't work, there's another way but of course the bookmark I had for it has vanished.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Shipping-Returns/SOLUTION-How-to-upload-tracking-number-for-co...

[dtexley3 · Accepted solution]

Found it!  Please msg me if option 1 didn't work.

[wastingtime101]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:

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As for ebay, I used to have to use the Other field all. the. time. when manually entering tracking for a multiple purchase combined into one shipment. I've seen the error screen that you show, even when if it's a purchase by the same buyer ID within the same single payment transaction. Even now, I occasionally still have to fight with the stupid thing to get all of the tracking entered properly sometimes.

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Ya know what? That could be exactly what I was thinking of - before eBay allowed us to use the same tracking for multiple purchases from the same buyer we had to use Other as the carrier as a work-around. The error message we saw even when it was the same buyer ID was exactly the same. I thought we used to be able to use that loophole across multiple buyer IDs, but maybe it was just for multiple transactions across a single buyer ID? I really don't know. Before eBay finally started catching up with the times all of those work-arounds kinda blur together in my head.

@corvettestainless wrote:

So, I'm not sure any seller is willing to get that defect and risk a 'not received' on an item they shipped- so what I said stands. Ship it separately. 

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Well I did say I'm willing to take the risk above. If I had shipped separate that's $5 gone on shipping. By shipping together I'm gambling on an honest buyer. If I end up with an opportunist or a would-be scammer then I refund them and lose a total of the item acquisition cost plus the non-refundable per transaction payment fee which comes to a total of $6. For a buck difference I'll take that gamble any day. My metrics are in great shape so if they take a hit on this one transaction there's virtually zero effect.