Why does eBay not combine purchases?

[charmony]

Can anyone explain why this happens? Someone buys two items from me, then pays for them, but eBay doesn't combine the purchase so I end up paying the Paypal transaction fee twice.

It never happens when I buy stuff - eBay always combines purchases from the same buyer so I only checkout once.

It just happened today with someone buying the SAME ITEM twice, then paying a few minutes later - but in two transactions. Why doesn't eBay combine the purchases?

(eBay customer service has given a couple of irrelevant answers when I queried them about it, eventually blaming Paypal.)

[patchoo78]

You have to buy the items first, then you pay for them together..eBay can't combine them if the buyer pays for each item separately 

[*sparklz*]

The seller combines purchased items NOT ebay.

The buyer can pay for multiple purchases in ONE payment if they want to by ticking all the purchases to pay as a combined lot to the one seller.

If the buyer wants a combined invoice to get to cheaper postage when offered then they can request that from the seller

If the buyer purchases 1 item then pays and then purchases a second item then pays for that then why is that ebay's fault?

[digital*ghost]

If you find that people are buying multiple items and sending payments separately (after all purchases have been made), they are most likely using one of the eBay mobile apps. I offer combined postage discounts, and have sent multiple invoices to buyers for combined post on iPhones etc, but the app doesn't recognise the invoices and just won't let them pay for all the items at once. (It can be done on a mobile device, but they have to go to 'Classic Site', not use the app). 

[jensmanchester-australia]

The seller combines purchased items NOT ebay.

The buyer can pay for multiple purchases in ONE payment if they want to by ticking all the purchases to pay as a combined lot to the one seller.

If the buyer wants a combined invoice to get to cheaper postage when offered then they can request that from the seller

If the buyer purchases 1 item then pays and then purchases a second item then pays for that then why is that ebay's fault?

Sparklz - unfortunately it doesn't always happen like that.

Recently I made three purchases from the one Seller.

After finishing shopping I went through checkout, ticked all the boxes for them to be paid together and made one payment.

When the email came through from Paypal it came as a receipt for Multiple payments - even though I had only made one payment.

When I checked back on ebay they had split the order into two and when I checked with the seller they had received two separate payments.

I have no idea where the order was split - I suspect when it went through Paypal as up to that point they all appeared to be on the one transaction.

I could see no reason as to why it went through as two transactions instead of one but that is what happened.

[jensmanchester-australia]

Also - I was not on a mobile phone. I was using my PC at home.

[*sparklz*]

Oh ok thanks for that Jens.

Is this a recent issue or has it all ways been like this as there has not been complaints till now.

[digital*ghost]

jens, I've had showing on my PayPal receipts a couple of times 'Receipt for multiple payments' when sending one payment to the same seller for multiple items (also on my laptop), so I suppose they would have received multiple payments when I only sent one?

In my instance, I won a few auction items over a couple of days, the seller invoiced for the first two, then I paid as soon as I won the third - they were all free postage so I didn't bother waiting for a new invoice. At checkout, it told me that the two grouped items reflected the items I had requested an invoice for, and there was a link to request an invoice for the third one. I wonder if it's to do with the cart system we don't have as yet, because on those receipts it mentioned those two items as being in my shopping cart. ?:|

[charmony]

I am referring to a buyer who buys several items and THEN pays, not someone who buys and pays for each one in turn. eBay customer service had similar reading comprehension difficulties when I asked them about this.

Most of the time eBay puts them all one invoice for the buyer (with the postage added up) - the seller doesn't have to do anything for this to happen. It's what almost always happens in my experience as a seller and buyer. Usually of course the buyer does request an invoice so I can combine postage.

But sometimes - it's happened to me (as a seller) about four times over the past couple of weeks - eBay does not combine the items and the buyer pays in separate Paypal transactions. I haven't followed these incidents up with the buyer to see what they did differently (e.g. if they were using a mobile phone - is there a way to discover this without asking them?).

[jensmanchester-australia]

Sparklz - As a seller over the years there have been many occasions where buyers have gone through checkout once and I have ended up with more than one payment.

Paypal (or eBay) used to split the payments depending on what postage service was being offered on the listing. ie if some were for express and some were for regular they would split those.

These days they seem to be splitting the payments even when  the postage service offered is the same.

Digital - I would say most likely yes the sellers have received multiple payments.