The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: Dragonflitter on September 28, 2020, 01:59:48 PM
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I had a feeling I would get into some sticky trouble if I went back to selling on ebay, but I didn't think it would happen on my third sale. -_-
I haven't sold on ebay for many years, but I'm cleaning out my toy closets so I put up some auctions. One person bid on 3 of my auctions and won last night, which I was happy about! But now I'm in trouble because ebay does things different now than they did years ago...
My auction page states that I am happy to combine shipping, so if you win multiple auctions from me, wait for me to send you a new invoice with combined shipping. So, my buyer won three auctions with $7 shipping on each. I weighed the box with the three items and determined the shipping would be $13.50. So I went to ebay to make an invoice showing the combined shipping.
HOWEVER, it turns out the person who won my three auctions lives in Canada. When I went to My Ebay page to generate the invoice, it turns out I'm not allowed to make an invoice because the item was sold through ebay's "Global Shipping Program" (which I didn't even know what that was! But apparently I accidentally turned it on when I created the auction).
Ebay does not allow me to combine auctions when they're sold through the Global Shipping Program. So now I'm not sure what to do. Should I message the seller and tell them unfortunately I can't combine the shipping for the three items, and ask if they still want the items? Should I ask them to pay the three invoices and I will send them a refund of the difference in shipping?
Alternately I could just mail the items straight to the seller rather than going through the Global Shipping Program, even though ebay advises me not to do that.
I'm just not sure what to do, but I don't want to have to relist the auctions again if I can avoid it. It would mean another week and there's no guarantee anyone would bid on them.
Sigh. Has anyone had this happen before? Any advice would be appreciated.
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Has the buyer paid for the items yet?
Since the buyer has not paid for the transaction yet, there is a way to have GSP removed. The buyer will need to take steps to request a new invoice from you for this to happen. As the seller, please send them an eBay Message and provide the instructions below.
Steps for the buyer to request a new invoice:
1. Go to My eBay.
2. Click “Purchase History”
3. From the "More Actions" menu next to the item, select "Request total"
4. Enter message details to clarify why you're requesting the total
5. Click "Continue" to send the request
This will send you an official request through eBay Messages. You can reply to that request with a new invoice and this will remove it out of the program. These steps will allow you and the buyer to conduct the transaction and establish a shipping cost you both agree on. Also, once these steps have been taken we cannot place the transaction back into GSP.
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yes ebay has changed a bit from a few years ago :(
Hope you can get this all settled soon, follow the directions for your buyer to request an invoice!
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Oh that's perfect! Thanks so much! I just knew if I asked around someone would have an answer. :D
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Also, go into your preferences and find the box to turn off the GSP option . . . It's probably in the Shipping section. eBay automatically opts sellers in, which is so annoying! And yeah, the GSP doesn't allow any combined shipping.
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I would normally not say this because I hate GSP but...
With COVID, it is worth checking whether there are delays in normal post between your location and theirs and whether that might cause further issues down the line. GSP goes via a courier somewhere along the line and so bypasses most of those problems - ironically, because it's otherwise one of Ebay's less smart decisions.
If nothing else being prepared for any potential delays up front is probably a good idea, and making the buyer aware if they are amenable to the changes you suggest.
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I had this happen a long time ago. I just cancelled the sales and put them into one auction. It's a big hassle but that was the best work around I could find.
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Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it. :)
It turns out that shipping to Canada was actually more than the combined shipping for the three auctions (Yikes! Shipping to other countries is so expensive these days), so I talked to the buyer and explained why I couldn't combine the shipping. We agreed to just use the GPS. The buyer paid for all three auctions and I mailed it off to GPS, so hopefully it makes it to the buyer quickly and this can all be done with. Lesson learned!
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yay for communication!
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Glad to hear it worked out in some way! ^.^
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I use eBay's new version of international first class shipping. It comes with $100 of insurance. FYI.
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Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it. :)
It turns out that shipping to Canada was actually more than the combined shipping for the three auctions (Yikes! Shipping to other countries is so expensive these days), so I talked to the buyer and explained why I couldn't combine the shipping. We agreed to just use the GPS. The buyer paid for all three auctions and I mailed it off to GPS, so hopefully it makes it to the buyer quickly and this can all be done with. Lesson learned!
Sounds like you had a good buyer! Glad it seems to have worked out so far.