Question regarding multiple listings

[cq_tech]

Is it possible when listing multiples of different colours in the one listing for it to be configured so that a buyer can purchase more than just one item without having to add that item to the shopping cart then returning to the listing to choose another colour? If buying that way, postage is charged on each item which is obviously not what I want.

What I want is a buyer to be able to select 'x' number of items of one colour, then 'y' number of items in a different colour, until they've finished selecting their choices, then clicking on "Buy It Now" and being taken to checkout where all of the selected items are waiting for payment, and with only one lot of postage to be paid.

I can't see how it's possible to set up yet it makes no sense for such a function not to be available in multiple choice listings. Is eBay really that far behind the times that each item must be purchased individually? If so, what a bloody joke! 😞

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

Yes and no...

No because every time someone clicks 'add to cart', the cart page is loaded (which infuriates me, TBH).

Yes, if they're willing and able to use a cumbersome workaround. Sometimes, if I know I want to order several items, I open the listing in several tabs and select one per tab, closing them off as I go until the last one has loaded with all items.

Variations within the same listing are treated as separate listings, whether they're in the cart or purchased by just clicking 'buy now' and confirming, so the "each additional item" type postage discount won't work on multiple purchases of different variations (for example 1 blue widget and 1 yellow widget will result in 2 lots of full postage, but 2 blue widgets would calculate 1 full postage, then add whatever was put into the field for additional items - maddening).

The only solution to that is to create a postage discount rule and apply it to that listing, that way the postage will should automatically calculate in the cart or after all purchases have been confirmed, usually without the need for a new invoice and no matter what quantity / variations are bought. (I crossed out will because it's eBay, and not everything works the way it's supposed to). 

[cq_tech]

Thanks Digi, so it's essentialy as I thought. I'm basically restricted by what's currently available which is simply not good enough. Your workaround has merit from my point of view, but trying to explain in my listing what buyers need to do in order to achieve my own ends would be worse than pointless, given that most buyers don't even read listings in their entirety, and even if they do, much of the time they don't comprehend them anyway.

It can't be a difficult end to achieve as I've purchased from other sites which have precisely the feature I require, but I expect that eBay's software coders would be incapable of doing so even if they were required to. A pity, as it only requires the addition of an extra button labelled "Buy Another" plus the relevant code to make it work.

Never mind, I appreciate the verification that what I want is unachievable on eBay at this stage (and probably permanently) and I simply have to accept it, along with all the other shortcomings which are endemic to this site.