Posting 2 items in 1 package, Paypal implications?

[bobbiegower]

Hi, a buyer has bought 2 items and has paid for them separately (including individual postage) but has asked for both items to be posted in the same package. It was my understanding that where items were paid for individually that I had to send them each with their own unique tracking number to be eligible for Paypal protection. Am I still protected if I post 2 items in the one package as per the buyers request? Thanks for your help.

[black*poppy]

Can you use click and send without the special white packages?  If the OP doesn't have them on hand, it will take a few days to organise getting some, you can only buy them online.

My apologies, I've tried in the past to manually put in the same tracking number and it didn't work (some message about already in use).  That was awhile ago.  Just tried it now and it was fine.  

[bobbiegower]

Thanks everyone. In the end I just decided to send them separately but refund one of the postage amounts, got a decent price so it doesn't hurt too much! Just a bit gun shy as I had my first scam attempt a couple of weeks ago, I'm sure this buyer is honest but a few bucks extra is worth it for peace of mind 🙂

[clarry100]

We have had mixed results when adding the same tracking number to two different items like this.

Sometimes it will accept it and yet other times not. If not then we get the error message about already in use or something like that.

So I don't know just exactly what the enabler is.

I'm thinking that perhaps underneath somewhere it checks the mailing address for a match and if it exactly matches then it will be allowed.

[bakeandfry]

 digital*ghost Community Member
12:54 PM
The main issue with being able to prove that you sent items paid for separately in a single package (via combining items and tracking information), is that you then prove to PayPal you don't qualify for seller protection.
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When i sold i had a person buy two things off me and they sent a message asking can i post both in the same box, i did, and to think i thought i was covered for seller protection, i could of easily lost $360!!!

[phorum_junkie*]

I make no bones about it, my listings say that combined postage discounts are only given on items paid for on the same invoice and if separate payments are made they will be sent individually with no discount.

[digital*ghost]

It's probably worth mentioning that I have heard some seller's have successfully defended INR disputes with the same tracking number over multiple (separate) orders. I don't know if this is because PayPal didn't notice the tracking numbers were identical or not, but I also think there is a slight difference  between qualifying for seller protection and a buyer's claim being unsuccessful, in that if a claim is unsuccessful, the original payment is retained by the seller and the buyer doesn't get a refund, whereas if seller protection comes into play, the payment is retained by the seller and the buyer is still refunded (so it's PayPal who loses out, and therefore they are presumably more stringent with their policies). 

In other words, while combining items does compromise protection, there's still a chance, even if small, you can defend an INR, but probably no chance you can defend a chargeback.