Is it unreasonable to ask for cheaper combined postage if purchasing more than one item?

[tomcollins3]

Would I be wrong in thinking this was just the correct ebay etiquette as a seller that this is the norm?

I mean I always combine postage to make it cheaper- I even refund the difference if I have overquoted by mistake. 

I feel is nothing to be gained from not combining- only more postage fees and potentially losing sales and future customers.

I had a weird / rude response from a seller I just won 2 kids jackets with and have had a slightly strange response to my request of cheaper combined postage...

the seller said "Hi 
I’m not going to the post office till Friday.
I had my postage bags all organised ready to go with postage prices aid out on Ebay listings.
That is until you assumed I would combine postage. 
I never said in my listings I would combine postage.
However I can get that looked at on Friday.
Have a good day"

Usually I would ask beforehand but I only spotted the auction in its last hour so I thought I wouldnt gat a response in time anyway. 

I guess my real question is why wouldnt you send cheaper combined postage if you could?  Am I missing something that I dont know about?

[enigmabear]

Do you know for sure it would be cheaper to send them together?

What would the combined weight be ? Would both jackets fit into the one postage bag ?

The seller in this case may indeed have already bought the postage bags. They may have bought 500gr bags,or 1kg bags or bigger bags, I don't know and without knowing I can't say

I personally don't think their response was rude

sorry

[gutterpunkz05]

Quite often  I have items pre packed to suit postage as quoted, and yes it can be a pain to rearrange packing to suit buyers, especially if you do not have larger packaging on hand, and may have purchased packaging  purely to suit the items you have listed.

Maybe they have purchased  2 x prepaid satchels to suit these jackets, and will now be stuck with them (presuming they have no other use for them) and will also have to purchase  a larger satchel or box.

Always best  to confirm prior to purchase, or be prepared to pay the prices quoted.

[digital*ghost]

It's not unreasonable to ask, it only starts to get unreasonable if a buyer refuses to accept the seller's reply and try to insist on things being done their way.

[lyndal1838]

I think it is unreasonable to expect the seller to give combined postage when you ask after the auction has ended....especially if combined postage is not mentioned in the listing.

I think your seller was very moderate in his reply especially as he already has his packaging arranged.

[tazzieterror · Accepted solution]

I once asked a seller if they could combine shipping on two items purchased within an hour of each other one morning, and they declined, saying they couldn't do it and requiring me to pay full postage for the second item, which I did.

They then packed the second item in with the first, thinking they were pretty clever. They weren't.

Anyway, tomcollins3, I think there's no harm in politely asking, but if your seller doesn't want to do it for whatever reason, you just need to accept it.

And if somehow you find yourself in the situation where you've paid two lots of postage for two items, but only receive a single parcel...well, it gets awkward for the seller when eBay asks them for the second tracking number to prove the second item was actually delivered...

[*tippy*toes*]

If the seller isn't willing to combine, that's their choice, but I'd be insisting that the items were sent in separate bags. If you are paying 2 lots of postage, then you should expect 2 separate bags. Otherwise, it's as mentioned earlier, they struggle to explain to eBay that the second item has actually arrived when it has no tracking number...........

[kopenhagen5]

I had a weird / rude response from a seller

Not rude, just factual.

And seller is going to look at options for you on Friday.

But as others have said, the time to ask about combined postage and if discounted is before you bid.

[tomcollins3]

Thanks to everyone for their reples and feedback!- I dont think i've come across a seller that wont combine or charge a bit less for postage at least so I was a bit confused by it all. 

 Next time i'll definitley ask beforehand! 

[digital*ghost]

Why are there people in this thread implying a buyer should make a seller prove delivery to ebay with two tracking numbers, after having received a package with both of their purchases?

A) they won't necessarily need two tracking numbers, B) its already been established the seller isn't obliged to combine / reduce postage, and C) encouraging fraudelent behaviour, to what? teach a seller a lesson? is pretty disturbing.