shipping is not included in the offer price.

[canadian.tree]

does "shipping is not included in the offer price." mean the person did not want to pay shipping so it is not in their offer or there is no option for them and it's automatic where if i make shipping cost it is included in the best offer? thanks

the thing i'm selling is 5$ shipping so i'm not doing free shipping if that's anymore help to anyone answering this question.

[maggiebvintage2010 · Accepted solution]

The seller has completed the listing and given details about the shipping charges, a price for Buy It Now, and indicated that s/he will accept offers.  eBay places the "shipping is not included in the offer price" in a prominent position on the Best Offer information so that the would-be purchaser understands that the offer they make DOES NOT include any shipping charges the seller put in the listing.  The "Best Offer" amount is for the item only. 

If you have included a $5.00 shipping charge in the correct location on your listing, then if you accept a "Best Offer", the buyer will receive a notification from eBay to pay the accepted offer price + shipping.  You can check this for yourself if you want to make sure this is working by sending an invoice to the purchaser, and reviewing the shipping amount in it before you send it.

[decal-fx · Accepted solution]

Further to what Maggie has posted, a buyer can also enter terms in the "Terms Box" when making an offer to specify "free shipping" or anything else they want to include in their offer.

[rose-dee]

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@decal-fx wrote:

Further to what Maggie has posted, a buyer can also enter terms in the "Terms Box" when making an offer to specify "free shipping" or anything else they want to include in their offer.

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Strictly speaking, a buyer isn't allowed to stipulate that the offer includes shipping unless the seller has not specified shipping in the listing (see below). 

However, the practical problem is -- and I've had this happen to me -- that if you get a buyer making, say an offer of $250 "including shipping" on a $300 item that has $30 shipping shown, you have to decide whether to "educate" the buyer and thereby possibly irritate him (and/or lose the sale), or accept the offer as it stands, forget that the form of the offer is incorrect, and just eat the shipping. 

You can of course counter-offer with a price that's somewhere in between and tell the buyer you're contributing towards his/her shipping costs.  The fact is, that when the buyer gets the invoice, unless you manually revise it before sending as 'maggie' mentioned, it will show the shipping cost originally set out in the listing. 

So, really, the answer to the OPs question is, as with a lot of things on eBay, yes and no.  If you really need the sale, are you going to quibble over the terms of an offer, even if it isn't exactly eBay perfect?   In my example above, I decided to bite my tongue, forget the shipping, and take the sale. 

Here's the relevant text from the help page on offers and shipping costs:

"For listings in which the seller has specified shipping costs for the item, the Best Offer price includes only the listed item. For listings in which the shipping costs aren't specified, the buyer can choose to include shipping costs in their offer."

[decal-fx]

Thanks Rose-Dee, I didn't know they(buyers) were not allow enter "free shipping" terms if the seller specifies a shipping cost in the listing. I offer free shipping to both USA & Canada on all my items, and still get a lot of offers from both specifying free shipping in the terms .

[rose-dee]

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@decal-fx wrote:

Thanks Rose-Dee, I didn't know they(buyers) were not allow enter "free shipping" terms if the seller specifies a shipping cost in the listing. I offer free shipping to both USA & Canada on all my items, and still get a lot of offers from both specifying free shipping in the terms .

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Well, as I said, that's the theory, and supposedly it's eBay policy.  But honestly, an offer is an offer is an offer, and ultimately it's up to the seller to either ignore the details and take the sale, or be a stickler about rules and possibly lose the sale.

I suppose it will depend on what sort of offer (with "free shipping") the buyer makes. 

By the way, as far as I know, there is no risk of eBay punishment to either party if a seller accepts an offer based on free shipping even when the shipping is shown in the listing.  However, if you do accept such an offer, make sure you send an adjusted invoice to reflect no shipping charge or you may have a confused and upset buyer as well as a refund situation to deal with (not to mention loss of FVFs on shipping that you won't be able to recoup).

[lowpricegeneralstore]

Well its 2016 and we still get confused and nervous every time we see this message.