Is this a postage glitch?

[jellybirddesigns]

I have a listing with 3 variations.

My postage is set at $2.00 for the first item and 0.70c for subsequent items.

A buyer just bought 2 out of the 3 variations and was charged $4.00 for postage.

She paid for them together in one purchase but surely she should have been charged $2.70?

[bakeandfry]

I looked at a few of your listings that had $2 postage, could not see any post discounts on any of them, so if i brought two items off you i would be charged $4 for postage.
But then again i did not look at all your listings and could of missed the listing you are refering to.

[jellybirddesigns]

Hi Bake,

The item number in question is : 

291834150418

It definitely says $2.00 for the first item and 70c for the second item.

You may have to change the quantity to 2.

It gives me a total of $2.70 which is the way it should be.

Pic attached

[bakeandfry]

Definatly a glitch then, comes up all good on phone

[digital*ghost]

Unfortunately, this is actually "normal" - by which I mean, it will always happen on eBay (or at least, it always did for me, as a buyer and seller), because the way they calculate postage on different variations in the same listing is as if the items were purchased from two completely different listings. 

That means that if they buy 5 of the same variation, the 'per additional item' rule applies and they'll be charged $2 for the first + $2.80 for the other 4.

If they buy 5 different variations in the same listing, they'll be charged $2 for each one.

The only way to ensure each additional item receives the discounted postage rate is to set up combined postage rules independently and implement it on the listings you want it to apply to. 

[jellybirddesigns]

Actually I'm having a bit of a freak out - my postage is completely non-comprehensible.

I just went back and looked at my standard postage for cushion covers which is $2.95 for the first item and $2.00 for the second item (on a standard listing with no variations)

For example item:

291521720964

However, it's only just struck me that a recent buyer was charged $5.35 at checkout for two items. THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

It should either be $5.90 (if Ebay was somehow charging the initial postage twice), OR it should be $4.95, which is the correct amount

Where does the figure of $5.35 come from????

Can anyone figure this out?

[digital*ghost]

Not too sure about the $5.35 calculation, I did test it on the listing above, adding two to my cart, and it calculated postage at $4.95 - are you using business policies (where you set up postage costs, payment methods and return policies independently and apply them to specific listings)?

The only reason I ask that is because I know of another seller who uses business policies and recently found that postage calculations on multiple items became erratic, sometimes using old rules that were no longer in effect (and sometimes still coming up with incorrect totals under either policy). The policies were originally still set up but not applied to any listings, so they were deleted and things seemed to go back to normal, but more recently it started happening again, and there doesn't seem to be any one thing that can be pin-pointed as the cause in order to fix it (aside from eBay site issues and reporting it to them, then hoping they isolate and fix it). 

[jellybirddesigns]

Thanks Digi.

I don't remember setting up specific business policies in the beginning, but I know that as my listings grew over the last 2 years, I was applying the same postage, payments and returns time and time again and I suppose at some point it got turned into a set of business policies. I also set up new postage options as I expanded into other items and over time I have made new ones and deleted others.

I might have to set up a fresh new standard policy and apply it to my listings - I'm dreading to think how much time is going to be involved in this unless I can do a bulk edit. Will have to go and have a look.