Purchasing more than 1 item should be made clearer for sellers

[9647ian]

I don't know how many times I have ordered 2 or more items from ebay sellers and they have only sent me 1. Then I have to make contact with the seller who usually states they did not see that I had ordered more than 1 item. They generally send me the additional items in due course, but this all wastes time and no doubt money for the sellers on postage. From now on if I want 2 or more items and the postage is free, I will buy the same item 2 or more times, rather than change the quantity in a single ad. At least by doing this the seller understands that the buyer requires more than 1 item. But obviously this can't be done if the seller has a fixed postage cost on each sale.

I wonder if ebay could alter their notifications on the orders for sellers to make it clearer when buyers order more than 1 item. Perhaps a big, bold sentence in red should appear on the order notification: "Please take note, this buyer has ordered more than one item!"

It would make life a lot less bothersome and frustrating for sellers and buyers alike.

[digital*ghost]

I do this (as a seller) every so often.  

I pick from my ebay "All Selling" list, and unfortunately it is very easy to miss the quantity purchased, because I'm looking at the image & title of the item to make sure I get the right one, since I sell a lot of items with minor variations like size, or different add-ons (so I'm not looking at the sold price), the quantity sold on this page is really small, underneath the main info I'm looking for, so I can miss it if I don't make a conscious choice to look for it before I pick. 

I address and pack from the PayPal notification, which lists sold items and their quantities, so sometimes if I missed it from the ebay list, I'll pick it up from there and add the remaining order before sending...but not always. Most recently, for some unknown reason, a buyer purchased 4x an item and I sent them 2x 

It would certainly help me if - for example - there was a big x2 over the image of the sold item, it'd make the process easier and faster for me at least, but at the same time, I have to admit that since I give myself 2 opportunities (minimum) to check the orders, when a buyer contacts me to say "what's the deal, yo?", I'm super embrassed, because I know already this can be an issue, and I really just need to be more careful / look properly. 

I do sometimes get buyers who order multiple items separately and I never put 2 & 2 together before, so it always made me scratch my head a little - good to know they may be trying to save us both a hassle. 

[zanadoo_56]

It goes with my other bugbear where the items come in different colours and instead of a drop down box you have to include a note under the Checkout Message or send a separate eBay message (or do both)....neither of which the seller bothers to read. Arrgghh.

[stickerswa]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

It goes with my other bugbear where the items come in different colours and instead of a drop down box you have to include a note under the Checkout Message or send a separate eBay message (or do both)....neither of which the seller bothers to read. Arrgghh.

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Unfortunately not all categories allow drop down boxes and the only way to give customers a colour choice is to ask for a message. Its a problem I have selling stickers. Why they cant give all categories drop downs beats me but hey it is ebay !

I have also done the - 'Customer ordered 2 and I sent 1' thing myself. Its called a brain fart and they happen sometimes especially when you are busy.  

[9647ian]

Yes, that's the kind of thing I was suggesting. A big, red, flashing "2X" or "3X" that really catches the seller's attention.

(Hopefully!).

[9647ian]

I have very seldom had this problem with sellers based in China. I guess they are more aware of the distances and time delays involved, so "getting it right" the first time is perhaps more of a priority. In fact I have often ordered 3 of something and they include one or two bonus extras! Having said that, I do find shipments from China to be very hit and miss. This is often not their fault, it is to do with poor postal services. Some items never arrive, others take a very long time, others turn up in a few days and include bonus extras. Very hit and miss. I guess they someitmes throw in a couple of extras, assuming that if it does actually reach the destination well at least that buyer will be happy!

Sometimes mistakes come about due to the seller's own confusing ads. I recently ordered 2 sets of kits. The seller's ad had "kit" in the title, suggesting just one kit, but it showed 2 kits in the photo and clearly stated "2X" in the description. They do each kit up in separate plastic packets. I ordered 2 sets of kits, but I only received two packets from the seller. In fact I should have received 4, because 2 sets of 2 kits equals 4 kits. The seller realized his mistake after I contacted him and has sent me the remaining 2 kits. But it seems to me some sellers do not really do themselves any favours when their own ads are confusing. Also I wonder why the seller doesn't tape the 2 kits together in his stock considering that this is the way they are always sold?

Getting back to purchasing more than 1 item, ebay is great in the way it prevents sellers from deliberately being unscrupulous in this regard. I don't know how many times I have purchased multiples of an item from companies outside of ebay and received only one item. The really suspicious thing is that if you contact these sellers they reply that the item was out of stock and you bought the last one. They then issue a refund. But if you do not complain they seem quite content not to bother giving you a refund on the extra items that you purchased. I caught one company out one time when a friend of mine ordered two of the same parts shortly after me, and they did exactly the same thing to him. They sent him one but did not provide a refund on the other one until he complained. So at least ebay does provide some protection against these kinds of "slight of hand" operators.

[zanadoo_56]

For different colours or styles of items a lot of Chinese sellers solved that too - no choice at all.  What you get is a random pick. 🙂

I've only struck one Chinese seller where I asked if among the 30 pairs of Barbie doll shoes I bought, that some of them could be blue...and the seller agreed.  Sure enough I got 7 blue pairs of different styles which was great.  Definitely the exception to the rule though.