Combined postage

[mountainherbs-123]

If a buyer buys two items from me in two different orders, does ebay automatically combine postage? I had a buyer doing this and I saw that she paid the full postage twice, which I would not have charged her. What must a buyer do that ebay automatically NOT overcharge? What should I do with this buyer?

[twyngwyn]

They haven't waited until you've sent them a combined invoice....you can either ask them whether they want them posted together (then refund 1 x postage through Paypal) or separately

[englishrosegardens]

A buyer has to wait for an invoice before they pay if they want combined postage, but not many do wait. 

If you can always send two for the same postage as one, and if buyers mostly buy only one or two you can set up postage discounts so they don't over-pay.  I sell one product that has to go in 3kg satchels and I can fit two in so I've set it to charge the same postage whether they buy one or two.  Any more than two and they pay too much postage so I've got the cost for 3 or 4 in my descriptions but I've spelt it out quite clearly that they have to wait for an invoice if they want to be charged that amount.  Most people only buy one or two and anyone who buys more than that isn't as likely to pay straight away because of the large postage amount.

I also sell things that go mostly as large letters but in either case if anyone pays straight away I refund the excess postage minus the fees ebay have charged on it. 

[egglesdtp]

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@mountainherbs-123 wrote:

If a buyer buys two items from me in two different orders, does ebay automatically combine postage?

No.

As long as the buyer hasn't paid, then the purchases can be combined on the one invoice (the seller is asked if they want to do this). But even though you can combine purchases on the one invoice, ebay cannot combine the postage, but will include the individual postage costs of all items purchased. 

I had a buyer doing this and I saw that she paid the full postage twice, which I would not have charged her. What must a buyer do that ebay automatically NOT overcharge? What should I do with this buyer?

The only solution is to hope that the buyer waits for an invoice from you where you have adjusted the postage cost, before they pay.

Most buyers don't seem to understand this concept, even when you put it in your description (or as I do, include it in one of my photos, as we all know buyers never read the descriptions anyway).

If a buyer has paid double postage, I refund them the second postage minus the ebay fees (10% of postage cost).

Apparently you can ring ebay and request that they refund part of your FVF, but that sounds like too much work for little return to me, and there is no guarantee they will refund anyway.

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[5kazam]

I had one recently who paid separately.  Melbourne Metro, so she paid $10.05 twice.  

Got a call back from eBay to find out what was the easiest way to (a) refund excess post and (b) refund by eBay on post FVF.

Answer : Refund excess post through PayPal.  Copy/paste the PayPal reference no. on an email to eBay (with a brief explanation) and eBay then refunds to your eBay a/c.  Confirmation email then received from eBay to say credit applied.

It wasn't hard at all, and not time-consuming.

And okay I'm not talking mega $'s here, but eBay gets enough in FVF's as it is without getting more, and the buyer gets their refund in full, which makes for a happy buyer.

[egglesdtp]

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@5kazam wrote:

Answer : Refund excess post through PayPal.  Copy/paste the PayPal reference no. on an email to eBay (with a brief explanation) and eBay then refunds to your eBay a/c.  Confirmation email then received from eBay to say credit applied.

It wasn't hard at all, and not time-consuming.

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I ddin't know you could do that, so thank you for the information.

[mountainherbs-123]

Thanks, best way is simply to refund and write the buyer a nice email. Ebay is sometimes a bit cumbersome, really. I would expect that it automatically combines postage or has a loop which tells the buyer to wait with paying until they get the invoice. There is no such thing as a shopping chart like in other shopping pages.