topic Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?! in Selling

Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 03:55:00 GMT

A buyer is trying to purchase three items from me, but ebay is forcing them to pay for each item with full postage without the ability to wait for my invoice on the lot. I told them to use the website instead of the app, but still no luck. They've given up now and I've lost the sales.

A couple of days ago, another buyer had no problem doing buy it now on several items WITHOUT have to pay for each one first. I was able to combine their postage for them easily.

This inconsistency has been going on forever, including when I'm a prospective buyer as well.

Anyone know why the system works for some and not others? Both buyers are in Australia.

No responses from the usual lurkers who want to call me an idiot for not already knowing the answer, please.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

domino-710 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 04:31:16 GMT

Check your ' selling preferences ' - isn't there a place there to combine - each extra item a set amount. ??

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

papermoon.lady — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 04:37:12 GMT

The easiest way is probably to ask them to add the items they intend to buy to the cart and then request a total (there is a link in the cart). This does not work if you have "immediate payment" in your settings though.

Some buyers prefer to contact the seller prior to requesting a total because once a buyer requests a total they commit to buy the items, so they should know how much combined postage is first.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 04:54:03 GMT

Thanks, yes I did tell them how much combined postage would be before committing to buy. I find that not everyone can see the cart, but I'll suggest it to this buyer.. thanks.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 04:57:56 GMT

No, but I know I haven't selected 'require immediate payment'. And another buyer was able to request an invoice just a few days ago on multiple items before having to pay.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

domino-710 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:04:50 GMT

Perhaps the other buyer was savvy enough to know where to go to ask for combined.??

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

papermoon.lady — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:11:09 GMT

I think they have to click on "add to cart" rather than BIN, or they might not see the cart.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:13:54 GMT

Thanks, hopefully they can see the cart. I do know that, as a buyer myself, adding to the cart doesn't always work either for combined post. And that's when the sellers do not have 'require immediate payment' selected.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:16:47 GMT

It just seems to work for some buyers and not others. It's happened to me a few times as a buyer where I can't get combined post despite the seller doing everything right. Wish eBay would fix this, I've lost a lot of sales because of it and also haven't been able to make combined purchases on several occasions.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

papermoon.lady — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:17:24 GMT

No, it doesn't always work (some sellers told me so too in the past), but if the buyer requests a total I think the seller can just send the combined invoice himself or herself without eBay's automated system.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 05:54:48 GMT

The buyer tried the cart idea, but it said 'seller does not combine postage' or some nonsense. I've suggest they just pay for each one separately then I'll refund the excess postage. I don't like doing it that way as eBay immediately takes their 13%+ cut of the entire postage amount.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

lynne8221 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 06:11:16 GMT

You can make a special listing for them, putting all the items into the listing with the correct combined postage. You can use "special listing for whoever" in the heading.

I've done this for buyers & it's worked OK.

I've also just changed the postage on the listings so it equals the combined total & request the buyer to buy ASAP so it's not sitting there for anyone else.

If buyer buys items separately without contacting me first, I give them the combined postage rate & issue a refund for the excess postage, taking out Ebay fees first.

I've never had a problem with any of these methods.

Hope this helps you.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 06:20:26 GMT

Unfortunately it tells the buyer 'the seller does not combine postage', so there's nothing we can do. Another lost sale.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

earthdreamer — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 07:22:58 GMT

This is the same issue I have had with some of my buyers.

Until a couple of days ago, I thought they were doing something wrong, but I had the same problem as a buyer the other day.

Had two items in the cart from the same seller, both had identical postage costs, combined them into a single transaction and paid in a single transaction, but after I made the payment, the purchases separated out into two individual transactions.

Obviously there must be a glitch in the eBay system. It now also separates purchases if there is a difference in the item shipping costs, something it never used to do, though I am not sure if this happens with everyone.

Very frustrating for the seller. There is the option to add the same tracking number to separate transactions to combine the shipping into a single parcel, but it is cumbersome and the postage refunds mess with my record keeping.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 07:28:20 GMT

Good ideas there, thanks. I did consider doing the special listing thing, but in the end just with the 'buy each one and I'll refund the excess postage' routine. I actually rang up eBay about this a couple of years ago and they suggested I send the buyer an invoice through Paypal. I doubt they would allow that now, with their 'managed' payments scheme.

Re: Some buyers cannot get combined postage invoice. Why?!

kustomizer99 — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 07:30:33 GMT

It'll be nice if eBay ever starts running smoothly and consistently.