combining postage after purchase

[davidc4430]

ok, had a guy buy 3 items overnight, has not paid as yet but i'm expecting a message for combined postage.

is there a way of working out combined postage acuratly after purchase?

or do i tell him to pay for the 3 items + postage, post them together, then refund the excess? this seems to me the easiest for me.

[kopenhagen5]

Some sellers keep small scales and calculate postage rates before going to the PO.

But you could explain to the buyer that the PO is not nearby and will refund any excess once posted.

[davidc4430]

i do have scales and in the past have used the australia posts calculator thing but it never ends up being the same amout when i get to the post office, nearly allways to my detriment.

[davidc4430]

also i cant find his post code to work out postage

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

also i cant find his post code to work out postage

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His address should appear when you select send invoice.

But of course he could want it sent to another having not completed checkout yet.

[davidc4430]

ok, i think i have it sorted, thanks for your help Kopes.

[eol-products]

My best advice would be to either use the ebay postage service so you can add the parcel dimensions and weight and pay so you only need to drop it off at the PO. Or use the MYPost Business postage service which is mostly the same but offers email updates for the buyer.

Both allow you to work out the postage cost before paying and eliminates sloppy parcel measuring at the PO. They don't always like being told to reset the scales when they are showing a few grams over.  I used to send a third party to post my parcels and many times errors where made that they did not pick up on. 

[davidc4430]

my local post office guy is great, never measures boxes and often resets scales if i'm a few grams over.

cant complain.

[shoppingbag* · Accepted solution]

I do it the easy way.  I have a good set of scales from Officeworks. For combined postage.  I repack the items in a new box, weigh and measure.  I have a link to Australia Post on my desktop, go there put in my postcode, the buyers postcode, the size and weight and get the price. I check everything twice to make sure there are no mistakes, then I go send an invoice to the buyer adjusting the postage cost from the original. After payment, I print out the label via eBay, which is always correct to the price I have sent the invoice for, and then Australia Post gives me a discount on postage for doing it this way. (on all parcels except the lowest one ($7.95))  So I get the discount which helps offset the eBay fees on postage.  The tracking number gets automatically uploaded to the listing, and any family member can just drop it in to the post office for me and they just scan it and give a receipt (proof of postage) The cost of the postage is added to my eBay fees, which I pay when due with my final value fees.

You say you can't find the buyers postcode.  The drop down arrow at the right of the sale, gives you transaction details and their name and address and postcode is there.

I used to do things the hard way, go to the post office, pay over the counter, upload the ridiculously long tracking number to eBay, etc. 

The way I do it now, is just so easy, so convenient, and I get a discount on most of them as well. 

[davidc4430]

all good, the invoice system has been improved since the last time i needed to do a combind invoice, dont sell mulitiple items very often. last time once a purchase was made the invoice was automatically sent for each item and trying to re-do it as one was like pulling teeth. id get blocked at every step.

this time it all worked as it should, choose the 'send invoice' get all the items there together, go parcel up the items and weigh and measure, get the AP calculator up, get the quote, change the price in the ebay invoice and send.

great.