Shipping cost on invoice is larger than in listing

[kim_y_buran]

Over the past week I've won two auctions where shipping cost on the invoice was larger than the cost shown in the listing.  I was under the impression that not only it is a no-no, but ebay simply won't let a seller charge more than the stated price.  Any ideas?

[partial*eclipse]

Sellers can send an invoice with a postage cost that is higher or lower than the cost shown in the listing. For instance, a lower cost for combined purchases or added cost for extra services that are requested by the buyer.

Another potential reason for a difference would be if the two postage costs are not based on the same ZIP Code/ postal region.  Double-check the shipping section of the listing, to check on whether the postage is being calculated based on the same ZIP Code as the payment shipping address.

If the shipping is via UPS or FedEx, there can be surcharges that are based on a specific address.

[kim_y_buran]

Both are USPS, both are fixed price, one was stated as free.

[alanadamsbidder]

Hey look!  This question finally comes up in a section where I can actually reply, instead of the so-called "Member to Member Support" where I've never seen a reply that acknowledged the problem.  🙂

One thing I'm aware of that fits this description, and has happen on at least three of the items I've sold, is that eBay shows potential buyers the "shipping cost with eBay discounts applied" when showing them calculated shipping while viewing the listing.

But then once they purchase and are sent to the eBay/PayPal check-out page, the shipping cost listed there "is correct" but WITHOUT the eBay shipping cost discount applied.

Fortunately my buyers have caught this, and send me a message.  If I use the "Send Invoice" option, and go through the "Calculate Shipping" steps in the invoice, eBay will now calculate a correct price including eBay shipping discounts.  The buyer then has to pay using my invoice, rather than being able to pay immeditely after winning/buy-it-nowing the item.

This first happened back in April 2017, and I contacted eBay support, who acknowledged it was a bug under investigation, and said they would update me once the issue was resolved.  It happened two more times just last month (June 2017), so I contacted eBay support again, and was given the same "resolution."

So as far as I know it's "buyer beware", and you have to check the shipping cost yourself during checkout.  And then DON'T check out if the shipping cost is wrong, and instead request a corrected invoice from the seller.  The seller doesn't actually have any idea what value you actually saw for shipping, since that's caclulated by eBay.  But if they simply run through the "Calculate Shipping" when creating their invoice, eBay will generate the same with-discounts price as they advertise to buyers who are viewing the listing.