One thing I didn't know about the EIS program...

[mamacassidy]

... is that when someone in another country buys multiple items using the cart, ebay automatically combines shipping. Or at least kind of.

I just had someone in France purchase 12 items from me. Ebay combined shipping weights, so the package they paid for was 14lbs (which was correct), however, they didn't take into account that 12 items would require an oversized box or multiple smaller boxes. (USPS says over 12x12x12 (I think 1728 cubic) is an oversized box).

It worked out ok in the end for me because I'm in the same shipping zone as the Glendale Heights center and the shipping cost was cheap enough to not make a big difference. But if I were on the west coast and had to ship an oversized box or multiple boxes to the EIS center in Illinois, this would have been a pretty big loss on shipping.

I wasn't aware of this because when people domestically buy multiple items, even in one cart transactions, it charges them the full shipping cost of each item, and then I go and refund them the difference of the actual shipping once it's boxed up.

Has it always been this way? I have shipped quite a few things with the EIS program, but I guess they were all bought as individual transactions so the shipping was never combined.

[ten_o_nine]

Calculating the weight of items is straightforward, but determining the exact box measurements required for shipping multiple items can be complex or even impossible without knowing the specific items' dimensions and how they'll fit together in the box.

[mamacassidy]

@ten_o_nine 

Yes, I agree. That's why I don't offer it on my regular transactions, and I was surprised that the EIS program automatically applied it.

[wastingtime101]

eIS wasn't a factor @mamacassidy . The domestic part of shipping is treated the same as any other domestic purchase.

[mamacassidy]

@wastingtime101 

Then I guess I don't understand. This has never happened before on any of the multiple orders that I have had with a US shipping address. I had 2 different orders this past weekend where buyers bought multiple items in 1 cart, and I had to go in and refund shipping afterwards.

I assumed that it was done automatically because of the EIS program. I didn't change any settings. 

[wastingtime101]

I suggest checking your shipping settings and if you have questions along the way just ask.

I've had buyers purchase multiples through eIS and when my domestic items have combined shipping set up, the buyer gets the combined domestic rate. When my items don't have combined shipping (ex: listings advertised different primary shipping services, or maybe one listing offered combined ship while the other didn't), the eIS buyer does not get a combined domestic rate.