How to prevent buyer from paying for items individually on a combined invoice

[yambansw]

I sent a buyer a combined invoice for 4 items but they paid for each item individually. Can I prevent this from happening?

[bakeandfry]

Nope, you cant prevent it from happening

[digital*ghost]

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@yambansw wrote:

 Can I prevent this from happening?

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As above, not really, because eBay don't really make it the most intuitive thing to do (hence pestering eBay until they  - hopefully - make it so couldn't go astray :D).

I try to encourage single payments wherever possible, and spread the message to buyers as much as I can, due to app issues and eBay encouraging 'pay now' as soon as someone clicks 'Buy It Now'. i.e. Explain how to pay for all items together, when they message asking thinks like if I combine postage etc.

This sort of thing should be a fundamental, completely intuitive part of every retail website, and shouldn't need a tutorial, but that's eBay for ya. 

[joethenuts]

i cant see any magor problems from paying each one .  i had one the other day 15 items and she paid each one separatly ,very strange i thought  but hey everyone to there own. she brought 10 in a row  then brought 1 at a time every few hours .

[digital*ghost]

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@joethenuts wrote:

i cant see any magor problems from paying each one . 

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Really? Methinks you're not looking hard enough. 

Or perhaps it's more a case of not thinking objectively enough, and/or outside of your own situation.

The issues that have the potential to cause problems are primarily because buyers usually don't want to checkout separately and pay full postage on each item, it's time consuming and potentially expensive when postage is involved, but they do it because they don't see any other way to go about it. This sort of rigamarole can turn buyers away from the site all together (huge problem). 

Separate payments will require separate packages if the seller wishes to qualify for seller protection - the buyer usually wants one package. Problems there, which can range from minor to major. 

FVF is charged on each individual postage rate, often significantly more than 1 lot of postage, and eBay (officially) do not credit that fee if you refund the excess postage. Problems there again. Potentially expensive ones. 

[imastawka]

If they pay by paypal it's 30c fee for every payment too

That can be expensive with a $2 item for instance

[joethenuts]

what postage discounts   this seller offers free postage  no fvf on separate postage , i can understand if the seller offered discount postage , but the seller does not .

the only diference is the seller pays a 30c paypal fee  on all the items , but thats in the price anyway ,

also separate parcels can be better in the long run , for instance what happens if the 4 items were sent together and only  3 of them in the parcel. what happens next on tracking .

[digital*ghost]

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@joethenuts wrote:

what postage discounts   this seller offers free postage  no fvf on separate postage , i can understand if the seller offered discount postage , but the seller does not .

the only diference is the seller pays a 30c paypal fee  on all the items , but thats in the price anyway ,

also separate parcels can be better in the long run , for instance what happens if the 4 items were sent together and only  3 of them in the parcel. what happens next on tracking .

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Has anyone ever told you that sometimes, your exceptionally focused tunnel vision can be really frustrating? 

If not, consider that they have now. 

My post was actually pointing out the potential problems applicable to lots of different sellers. Thousands, probably millions, not just one.

-But- if we just look at the seller's listings (as opposed to paying attention to their post, which indeed implies separate payments are a problem, despite you not seeing it), you should also be able to see that alongside auctions, their BIN items have the Best Offer function. 

What if they accept discounted prices on multiple items from the same buyer, on the understanding a single payment will be made (thus only 1 PayPal fee, and 1 [outgoing] postage cost for all items)? 

[joethenuts]

for a start my post was to the op which stated   [I sent a buyer an invoice  but they paid separatly .  have a look at what the op has asked she did not ask if next week somebody brought this and brought this at auction or bla bla ,,  

dg please stick to the question the op asks,  not what might happend if it rains or shines.

and if you want to answere the question what happens if only 3 items in the parcel instead of 4, 

and if you want to answere the ops question  its a simple  [no]  not if ebay does this or does that. 

[imastawka]

Does the word belligerent belong here?