'seller Does Not Offer Combined Shipping'

I just bought two sets on ebay from a seller in Poland, maybe I shouldn't have but since the note in the shopping cart indicated I could ask for an invoice with combined shipping I committed to buy them then got the zinger as in the title above. His listing ought to say this if indeed he does not. I paid $4 on each item, total of $8. I sent him a note that I will not be buying from him again and he needs to rethink this policy.

Some sellers sort of shot themselves in the foot.

That's one way to turn a profit I guess. Wonder how many repeat customers he gets? Not that I think he cares about that part.

It is best to always read the complete description, if one is provided. Also, the shipping is most important to follow. It is just a part of the equation in figuring out whether or not to do business with a seller.

My guess would be that this seller doesn't care about repeat business. For me, the item prices would have to be awfully good, before I would buy from him/her.

I agree if they do not allow combining then they are using shipping as part of the profit. I get most ebay purchases in #6 envelopes with postage for no more than 2 ounce rate. Now, I know they supposedly can charge for stiffeners (yeah those priority mail envelopes they bought), glassine, a mount (many use approval/dealer cards), and transparent tape.

Fixed costs should be in the item price but then I know this makes them look more expensive than the ones with added charges.

Al

Tell the seller that you expect each item to be shipped separately.

While I don't think it applies in this case, sometimes it is more economical to ship separately because of our weird postal rates. For instance, postage on 2oz. to Canada is $1.15; 4oz. $2.91. Thus, a saving of 61c by shipping two separate items.

I was half expecting a message from him today after mine of last night- nothing.

He sells 'year collections' at what look like very low prices, now I think I know his game. He has feedback of under 50. I am going to await receipt then decide what to do on feedback. If you do not want to offer combined shipping, tell prospective customers right in your listing. Live and learn..

jarnick is correct that shipping individually can actually save the buyer money in certain circumstances. The 4oz. rate to Canada at $2.91 is for the "large flat rate" and shipments cannot be rigid, too thick or uneven otherwise the USPS will charge the parcel rate of $9.50. I've broken shipments into three parts to ship at the letter rates to avoid the higher international parcel rates.

If it doesn't specifically say in the listing that the seller combines shipping than I assume they don't. If I really want multiple lots from the seller I will send them a message asking them if they will combine before I commit to buy anything from them.

Last week I purchased two items, a album binder and a set of blank pages from the same seller. The listing stated, "Save on shipping costs, through multiple purchases!" I wanted the binder, I added on the blank pages to ease the shipping costs. After winning, I sent a note to the seller about combining the shipping cost.

But when he sent me the invoice, he had added the full shipping charges to both items. This gave me the opportunity to argue before I paid but frankly it was easier to simply pay the extra few dollars and add this seller to my 'do not buy' list. The seller name was 'rcaheaven'. I did not leave a negative feedback but will certainly never buy from them again. I hope the extra shipping few dollar was worth it to them.
Don
APS #094826

The seller refunded half of my postage- $4. It was appreciated, although I have to say he seemed a bit put off. I ought to have asked about this first instead of assuming.

There are many horror stories on this topic and here's one of my worst experiences:
I was successful bidder on several varieties, each one listed separately and each one charging for shipping with no mention of combined shipping.
OK, fair enough.
Then, I noticed the seller (who didn't list his real name) lived in my city; so, I sent a note asking if I could pick up my purchases to save on shipping.
I signed my name, gave my address and phone number.
He said "no" and didn't sign his real name.
When the stamps arrived, all in one envelope with minimal postage on it, I found out his name.
I've known him for several years, he's a member of my stamp club AND he lives less than ONE KILOMETRE from me. I can WALK to his house in about 5 minutes.
Our relationship has been a tad frosty since.
On the plus side, I got the stamps at very good prices, around 10% of CV; so, he didn't do all that well on the sales.
Ain't Karma great!

Sometimes it just means that the seller has not ticked the right box. I recently had a similar experience in that the seller said he combined postage so I bought several items. When I clicked the button to ask for a total, I got the message above saying seller does not combine postage. Each of the items was showing separately with postage on each one and ebay wanted me to pay around $30 to post about a dozen stamps. Somewhere in ebay's listing page there is a box that has to be ticked to say that you combine postage. I had to wait for an invoice, which came with postage combined. Once the invoice was sent to me, ebay's algorhythm combined everything on my "to pay" page as well and the sale went through with no further problems.

jjarmstrong47: I know a lot of sellers who do ship items in combined shipments, but in the description they always state to wait for the invoice when buying multiple items. I do that myself, especially since I ship at actual USPS rates and nothing more.

ebay cannot automatically get a correct shipping amount in many cases especially where there are varying sizes and numbers of items per lot. I can mail two covers in two different lots for the same price as one, but not true if both lots had 3 or 4 covers. Stamps might be easier to estimate combined shipping, but forget about it when it comes to covers.

Luckily, most buyers are patient enough to wait for an invoice or send a request. However there's always a few who ignore instruction and pay the overpriced ebay combined shipping and I send a refund for excess postage paid (some don't seem to notice or care while a few are testy about it until I explain things). Then occasional I have someone who decides to pay for each item individually - that's way worse as you can't just refund each payment and then ask for a recombined payment. ebay will lay a strike against the seller and PayPal has a fee for each individual transaction. Usually it's newbies who do the latter.

Delcampe actually has a nice optional feature - a buyer cannot pay until they receive an invoice from the seller. That can save some hassle and misunderstandings.

I agree with Battlestamps, I sell stamps on pages and before I can send an accurate Invoice I have to put all the items for a buyer together and weigh them. Many people pay immediately and we send out 100s of refunds each year and because ebay charges Final Value Fees on shipping I'm paying commissions on these refunds.

Recent postage increases have made people more aware of shipping costs especially overseas. This week I had 2 people pay for their items and ask me to hold the items for a week so they could buy more and save on shipping. The problem with this is ebay will ding me for late shipping on both these items and I will have to watch my performance reports and call ebay and argue with them to have the Late Shipping dings removed. They will remove them if the request is made thru the ebay message system but it is a pain.

I would recommend bidders ask about combined shipping if there is any doubt and then request an Invoice after the auction ends and wait for it before paying.

If I were the seller, I would not allow it either.

Meeting strangers (at this point neither of you knew that you knew one another) for transactions is not safe. Simply not worth it to save you a few dollars/euros/pounds/whatever. In most cases, an in-person meeting is infinitely more inconvenient for the seller than simple shipping.

More importantly, in-person delivery is an absolute no-no if PayPal is used as payment. The seller cannot prove delivery, so it is license for a buyer to file and auto-win an item-not-received claim. Even if the buyer signs a receipt, that will do the seller no good whatsoever.

The only way PayPal should ever be used/accepted for an in-person transaction is if it is a PayPal Gift Payment, which by ebay rules you are not allowed to request. However, even then the buyer could file a claim for unauthorized use of credit card or account and STILL end up with both the money and the goods.

No, in-person delivery is most decidedly NOT a good idea...