Why would someone place 4 orders with 4 different IDs?

[charmony]

Someone ordered 4 items in quick succession, using 4 different IDs (same name and address), all of which are nonsense letter-strings and have 0 feedback.

I sent the items with registered mail, but because they paid in 4 separate transactions ebay only lets me add the tracking number to one of the orders.

Is there a valid reason someone would buy items this way?

[lyndal1838]

If they paid in 4 separate payments then you should have sent 4 separate packages.

As it is now, if the buyer raises a dispute you can only prove you sent one package.

There may be any number of reasons for the buyer to act as they have but 4 payments mean you should have sent 4 items.

[*tippy*toes*]

It sounds like they purchased as a guest. They don't have an eBay account. That's why it would have just been a string of nonsensical letters and numbers.

I don't think they can leave you feedback and I'm not sure they can open a dispute in the event of a problem.

Edit: I've had buyers pay in separate transactions and I've sent together (repeat buyers) and been able to upload the tracking number to all transactions. Maybe you couldn't because the ID's were different?

[imastawka]

I'm betting that they're a guest id and didn't know what they were doing.

I reckon they only wanted one

[englishrosegardens]

I may be wrong but I think once a guest registers properly they can open a dispute on previous purchases.  

If  they're low value items that wouldn't normally be sent reg'd, you're no worse off having no tracking number on the other three than if you'd sent them separately without tracking, and if they did indeed only want one and they want to return the other three you're better off having only paid one lot of postage.

They definitely would have bought as a guest, as others have said, and as stawks said, they may not have realised that it actually went through the first three times.  Either that or they don't know how to buy more than one item (assuming the four items were all the same thing from one listing).  I've had buyers who don't know they can change the 1 to a 4 in the quantity box.

[charmony]

These were four separate and completely different items, so there was no error in the purchases.

I didn't realize you could purchase without an account, so I guess that explains it. I've been able to add the same tracking number to different orders in the past, so the different IDs must be the explanation. Thanks for all the info.

But... hang on. Doesn't that mean someone I've banned from buying can still buy from me, by purchasing as a guest? That's a bit worrying.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@charmony wrote:

These were four separate and completely different items, so there was no error in the purchases.

I didn't realize you could purchase without an account, so I guess that explains it. I've been able to add the same tracking number to different orders in the past, so the different IDs must be the explanation. Thanks for all the info.

But... hang on. Doesn't that mean someone I've banned from buying can still buy from me, by purchasing as a guest? That's a bit worrying.

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Not if you have blocks in place to stop buyers with less than 1 2 3 4 or 5 feedback from buying who haven't been phone verified.

[charmony]

I've got that block on one of my items that was getting multiple non-payers for some reason, but is there a way to bulk-edit that change for the rest of my listings? I don't see any "buyer requirements" options to change in the bulk edit tool.

EDIT - just found it in my account settings.

[*tippy*toes*]

As long as you remember to tick the box referring to apply to current and future listings, it should add it to all of them. I haven't had any guests buy since adding that block, so it does work. I've had a few show up on my buyer requirements activity log, so they have tried. Chances are they'd be fine and do the right thing, but they can create an account if they want to buy from me.