Combining postage on Best Offers

[cjg92]

Hi,

I am a private seller who, until recently, hasn’t sold on eBay in a long time.

Previously I only did auction style sales so, if a buyer bought more than 1 item, I could send an invoice to combine postage. 
I have had Best Offers on 3 of my items from the same buyer. If I accept them, Ebay takes immediate payment so I won’t be able to send them combined and they will get charged 3 times the postage. 
Is there a way to alter this please so that I only charge them 1 p&p charge and will the postage label and tracking show that they were all sent together?

Many thanks.

[downsizingxs]

In my blurb above the descriptions I make it clear that any excess P&P from combined purchases will be refunded. Seems to work fine.

[cjg92]

Thanks for your reply.

So, for example, if the automatic postage charge was 3 x £3.39 and I managed to get it in one parcel of £3.39, how would I go about refunding the £6.78 overpay?
Divide it over the 3 items and refund £2.26 on each item? 

What happens if an item is returned? (I have a no returns policy and I try to be accurate  in my descriptions so this “should” only occur if the item was damaged in transit). I don’t want to end up out of pocket if that happens.

I was hoping there was a way of holding off their immediate payment so I could invoice them with combined postage.

Also, how do I do the postage label and tracking if combined please? I’ve only ever done individual items so I’m unsure how to link them all to 1 postage label and tracking number.

Thanks for your help.

[cjg92]

Is anyone able to help regarding my query on postage labels for combined orders please?

I haven’t accepted the offers yet until I know I can do it.

Thank you.

[*vyolla*]

Go into your Buyer Requirements (link below) and untick the box that says "Require all buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer".

https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[johnwash1 · Accepted solution]

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@cjg92 wrote:

Is anyone able to help regarding my query on postage labels for combined orders please?

I haven’t accepted the offers yet until I know I can do it.

Thank you.

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You're overthinking this.  It really is simple.  You can do a partial refund afterwards.  Either on one it item or on several.  I do it frequently.  Last week I refunded a buyer 40 quid due to sending all his items in one parcel.

[cjg92]

Lol. Yes an over thinker describes me! 😳

Thanks for your help.

Now I have a problem where by one of their offers which I’ve accepted shows “awaiting payment” my end but shows as a “counter offer” their end and is asking them to check out which they can’t because they’d set it for immediate payment. The other 2 items went through as normal.

I’ve also got this glitch from another buyer and I accepted their Best Offer at around the same time. Hopefully it will rectify itself by morning.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

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@johnwash1 wrote:

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Last week I refunded a buyer 40 quid due to sending all his items in one parcel.

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Just a thought, lets assume that parcel was 10 x £10 item £4.99 postage items (not realistic but bear with me!)

Buyer decides they don't like two of the £10 items.

They ask for a return, you say no.

They do a SNAD, and return the items.

Assume they would then NOT actually get any money back because... you've already refunded them £40 post-sale, rather than pre-payment....? 

OR... when you do a post-sale refund, is there a drop down box and if you put 'postage discount' does it get allocated in a different way...?

[johnwash1]

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@lighting_signs_and_vintage wrote:

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@johnwash1 wrote:

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Last week I refunded a buyer 40 quid due to sending all his items in one parcel.

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Just a thought, lets assume that parcel was 10 x £10 item £4.99 postage items (not realistic but bear with me!)

Buyer decides they don't like two of the £10 items.

They ask for a return, you say no.

They do a SNAD, and return the items.

Assume they would then NOT actually get any money back because... you've already refunded them £40 post-sale, rather than pre-payment....? 

OR... when you do a post-sale refund, is there a drop down box and if you put 'postage discount' does it get allocated in a different way...?

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Sorry, I have no idea.  And I have to add, tongue firmly in cheek, I reckon you're overthinking it too!  🙂

In this case, it was a buyer that I'd previously dealt with some months ago, an absolute gem, with whom I share a common interest and had excellent communication.  I had zero fear of anything going wrong that we couldn't work out together.

My summary would be: know your buyers.

[cjg92]

Thanks.

I messaged the buyer and explained that I’d refund 2 lots of postage upon receipt.

I then copied the tracking number onto the 2 other items so it showed they were all sent together.

Once delivered I refunded her the excess postage.

It’s a shame it can’t be done before they pay but never mind.

[lighting_signs_and_vintage]

I've not let it keep me awake, but I think they would indeed get 'no refund' in my example because in ebay's eyes they've already had one equal or greater in value. Interesting-ish 🙂

[bizzy-lizzy99]

If you send tracked you can only use the tracking number once for one order, even if you combine. There's a very slight risk that buyer's can claim non-delivery for the other items in the combined package as there won't be a tracking number for the other items. I've found it to be a problem also. 

[cjg92]

I managed to paste the tracking number on to the other two items. I did it immediately so perhaps that’s why it accepted it. 
I also didn’t refund until I had a message from the buyer saying that they had received all 3 items and were happy with them.