Buyer has bought and paid for 2 separate items with postage. Now what to do ???

[elegant--u]

The buyer did not request combined postage, just bought and paid, now with the new fees on postage how hard is to get a refund from ebay if I refund the postage on 1 of the orders ???? is it easier to contact buyer and refund both sales and combine the invoice ??? or are there other options ?????

[curraone · Accepted solution]

with the new defects system, everything you try to do will be wrong and you will get a defect it seems

I have abandoned trying to refund - if they pay separately, I send separately.

[sueken4812]

You have to be careful with this new 'defect' policy.  It is probably easier in the long run, to contact the buyer, and tell them you are sending them the difference back.  Don't refund.  That opens up a can of worms, until ebay sorts out the defects for refunds.

Follow the 'Send Money' procedures through PayPal. 

[bigbrickshop]

We do the same as curraone.

If we've had no request for combined postage and receive individual payments then we post separately. Also, if you are using the eBay Postage Labels there is no way to combine the items.

[elegant--u]

Thank you so much for your reply's, this is why I checked, as I was not sure of the new system and how it works, and I have been bitten by the defect system already, when overseas buyers bought items and I sent mutual cancelations, even though I did have the box marked "not to sell to people in other countries" ??? but because I did not wait the 4 days, I cop the defect ??? (tried to appeal it but you seem to get the run around these days, it seem the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing)

[stampingpaws]

Hello,

I solved this problem as follows:

DISCOUNTING
We do not charge for postage anywhere in the world.  We are unable to offer a discount on postage.  If you wish to buy more than four Stamp Albums together, please contact us PRIOR to ordering. We will negotiate a discount and provide one listing for all your items. Under no circumstances can discounts be given after purchase has been made.

Fortunately, I am able to offer free postage world wide. If someone buys more than 1, then I send them either together or separate whichever costs me the least.

I do not like these defects at all - any refunds I have to send will be done using Send Money NOT by Refund.

[mbselections00]

As with so many issues, 'one size doesn't fil all'

My solution, which wouldn't be right for everyone, is to message the Buyer and explain their items can be posted together and offer them the opportunity to select another item to the value of the postage which I then include as compensation.  This has worked on all but one occasion, when the Buyer said they wanted a Refund then !!  Some Buyers are so grateful, they reply and say, oh, it was my mistake, I don't expect you to do that (the lovely ones & I still find out what they would like !!!), but they are all very appreciative, so it works really well for me and my products.

[digital*ghost]

If someone buys and pays for two items separately, I'll post separately, but if it's more than that I will generally message and provide a couple of different options, with a specific time / date for confirmation of choice otherwise they'll all be posted separately. One of the options I give is to refund excess postage and combine the items into one package, with $x as the refund amount, then explain that for future purchases, they may wish to reduce time and access greater postage discounts by paying for all items together, which I hope draws attention to alternative ways to purchase / pay that benefits everyone (I also explain that the issue with combined purchases on the mobile app, and how to work around it).