Requesting Combined Postage

[babel_bear]

On three separate occasions, I have tried to purchase from different sellers who list that they combine postage.  On each occassion I have placed multiple items in my cart and then requested a Combined Shiiping Invoice.  Each time I have already had an email conversation with the seller first to confirm a price for shipping, so it is only a formality to request this be applied to the items.  Every time I go to click on the button to request the Combined Invoice it tells me that the 'Seller does not Offer Combined Shipping'  and it will not allow me to proceed further.  

The only option is to accept the full charge if I wish to purchase the items.  They don't even process out of my cart, so the sale has not gone through.  All 3 sellers have confirmed by email that this is not a setting that they have put on thier seller accounts.

One seller I did proceed as I did not want to miss out on a sizes and then they refunded the difference through Paypal.  This worked OK, but is not ideal and I am sure they lost money paying fees on the full amount.  It is so frustrating that this seems to happen every time I want combined postage.  Is this a bug with ebay?  Or just a sneaky money grab??

[twyngwyn]

there's a HUGE BUG with the cart.....don't use it....contact the seller and wait for them to send you a combined invoice before paying...works for me 🙂

[babel_bear]

Thanks twyngwyn,

I tried to confirm purchase with one seller by clicking on Buy it Now and it requested immediate payment or the order did not go through.  I will email the seller I am trying to buy from this time and see if I do the Buy It Now can they send me an invoice.

Thanks again, Kath

[redders_60]

Hi Kath; The phone apps are particularly buggy too! I'd suggest not using the cart (as mentioned above) put the bits you want on your watch list, then contact the seller directly about combined post, await an affirmative reply; then purchase if BIN's, then await a revised invoice after purchase.

Do let the seller know if you're bidding on auctions that you want to add to your parcel should you win.

Ebay has made what should be easy so difficult! This can be overcome with a message to the seller. Any good seller should help you with a combined parcel purchase. 

[lyndal1838]

Kath, it has been happening since before Christmas.

I was trying to purchase some small items from 2 different sellers in the UK who I have dealt with before and always had combined postage.

When I contacted them about the problem they both said that their settings had not changed and there was nothing they could do from their end.....it was either pay the full amount or don't buy.  As the postage was minimal (small, light items sent in an envelope) on the items I paid up in full but felt a bit annoyed as the items ended up being much the same price as I could get them for in Australia.

[digital*ghost]

I'd be curious to know what the seller's settings actually are.... I know the cart and eBay apps can be very buggy, so it's highly likely that's the cause, but there is also a setting in a seller's site preferences that is about offering combined postage. Before the cart etc, it didn't matter so much because it mainly applied to whether or not automatic postage discounts applied without requesting an invoice (and within a certain time frame).

For example, my current settings are to allow combined postage within a 7 day period, which doesn't mean I won't combine postage if items are bought more than 7 days apart, just that my discounts will apply automatically in a 7 day period, but outside that I'd have to issue a manual invoice. But, that option can actually be set to "don't offer combined shipping" or somesuch, and along with site / cart / app glitches, it's not uncommon for things like that to reset or mysteriously change (in saying that, from memory the 7-day setting is default). 

PS If the seller has immediate payment required, the only way to combine shipping is by using the cart and the seller having auto-discounts in place - however, there have been numerous instances where ebay forces immediate payment on listings. The add to cart option is usually removed in those cases, though. 

[lyndal1838]

Digi, in my case the items were not immediate payment and were put in the cart within a 20 minute period.   The sellers both made a feature of combined postage (I have dealt with both of them on a regualr basis for several years).

When I went to request combined postage a message popped up to say that the seller did not offer combined postage on these items.

Nothing would persuade the system that they did offer combined postage.  Fortunately the amounts involved were only about GBP1.50 on each item so it did not break the bank, but it was annoying.

[davewil1964]

I have had 2 sales for multiple items this week (which is about 2 more than the average month). In both cases the buyers DID NOT go through checkout, but instead waited for an invoice, as advised in the listings.

It's amazing what happens when buyers are literate (and don't pretend their phone is actually a computer).

[lyndal1838]

Oi Dave, I am literate and I use a laptop and it happened to me.  Don't blame the buyer for everything.  There was no way I could request combined postage as the system just would not let me do it.  It was quite categorically stated that the seller did not offer combined post on those items.

[davewil1964]

I didn't get combined postage requests. They just waited a few hours until they got an invoice.