Shipping Discount? I didn't ask for it.

[iptechplus]

I recently sold three items that were the same to the same buyer, but for some reason there was a Shipping Discount applied. I checked all my settings and the listing details and didn't see a reason for it. I called eBay and the 3rd rep I spoke to ackowledged the issue was eBay's side but never took care of it. 

Has anyone else had shipping discounts applied for no reason? I would not have had an issue with the discount being applied but ultimately it does NOT cover the actual cost of shipping once applied to the shipping total. 

I'm waiting for a supervisor to follow up with me, but since I already shipped the items eBay has NO CHOICE but to foot the bill (after all they told me to ship it). 

[dmil8030]

Hello 'iptechplus', 

I'm not sure how much stock you should put into anything an ebay telephone attendant says.  They would never say untrue things or give you wrong information but sometimes it appears they are not always in possession of sufficient facts.  From the comments others here make about contacting ebay, it seems you can get as many different responses as there are people answering the phones.  

No matter.  For today, are you sure there is not something you have overlooked when double-checking that you have not inadvertently agreed to discounts,  . . . or somehow mistakenly set the listings up that way?  This here is the ebay page on how to set them up if you want to, - could one of these have sneaked its way in to your selling account?

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/pay/shipping-discounts.html

I looked over your all your listings and every one of them is the same, - the all offer a shipping discount on the purchase of multiples.  Worse, if a buyer wants 3 or 4 of something, right now you list Regular Parcel and Expedited as the choices.  Regular parcel for one item is less expensive, but when choosing multiples, the Regular parcel service is more expensive than Expedited.  

May I make another comment?  It's your return policy.  If you insist you do not take returns and a buyer files a complaint for 'Not As Described', what will most likely happen is that the buyer will be refunded and you will not get the item back.  

Is that what you want?

Most sellers agree to a 14-day money back policy upon return of the item.  You cannot refuse to refund, period.  As the saying goes, if you sell on ebay you take returns, - unless you simply don't want the item back whereupon you refund the buyer and that's an end of it.  

Also, - in the body of your listings, why not say that shipping is done "within 48 hours of cleared payment"?  It sounds more serious than "within a few days" which gives the impression that you'll do it whenever you get round to it.  (Which might be the truth, but best not to say it out loud).

Anyway, go re-check your shipping preferences for anything that might not belong.  I hope you are able to sort that out soon before someone else buys another supply lot of your discounted items. 

[iptechplus]

Ok, this just got stepped up a level......I got a call back from the eBay supervisor stating that because I have a box (which I never checked off: http://frame.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CalculatedShippingPref) checked off on EBAY.COM (NOT .CA) that offers FEDEX shipping discounts it created a CANADA POST discount for XPRESSPOST!

I'm waiting for a followup again but I am losing my mind with these incompetent people.

[iptechplus]

I don't sell that often on eBay, more a buyer than a seller...anyways you're right there is a shipping discount being applied but all my settings are No:
Shipping preferences
Offer combined payments and shipping No Edit
Offer flat shipping No
Offer calculated shipping No
Offer promotional shipping discounts No
Offer this Canada Post shipping rate Retail Edit (Specify a discount on all retail rates for all Domestic and International Services. NOT CHECKED)
Exclude shipping locations from your listings No Edit

I really have NO CLUE where this discount is coming from...

Also thanks for the feedback I was thinking of fixing up the policies, definitely need to add returns.

[momcqueen]

I'm going to gently suggest that whatever well-meaning CSR you spoke with is confused. This has nothing to do with ebay.com or fed ex or anything like that. That is a red herring. If you have a listing with multiple quantities of the same item, it will NEVER combine postage correctly when more than one of those items is bought. Never never never ever. Ebay assumes for whatever reason that it costs the same to ship two as it does one.

When the buyer picks Expedited Shipping on a two-of-the-same-item order, you won't be as far out-of-pocket as you will if they select Xpresspost. Xpresspost is calculated on a different volumetric weight rate than Expedited. There is simply no way to set up your multi-quantity single-item orders that I have ever found, and I reported both of these issues many moons ago. It is a flaw, a site-wide problem and the only solution is literally to list one at a time, and relist when it is sold.

When listing one of a thing at a time isn't feasible, the only other workaround that I know about is to build a buffer into the item price itself or add a handling fee that covers cart miscalculations. If other sellers have better advice, they will be here soon to give it. 

Oh, and don't confuse Regular Parcel with Expedited or Expedited with Xpresspost. Regular is pointless to use. It takes longer, you get no discount, and it isn't insured. Set your two options to Expedited and Xpresspost if you want to offer more than one speed of delivery service. 

[momcqueen]

See my reply. This has nothing to do with that. Eliminate Regular and replace it with Expedited and Xpresspost and you're better off using Calculated shipping with a handling fee than flat-rate.

[iptechplus]

I called eBay AGAIN while I wait for the followup in regard to my current auctions and was told they cannot fix the shipping issue and have sent a ticket to their Technical department.....unreal.

[momcqueen]

The discount problem you've encountered is inherent to multiple-quantities of the same item. (See my other replies for more detail.) I feel your pain but the only way to get around this is to list one item at a time and then relist it when it sells. Or if it's the kind of thing where the buyer might naturally want two, then relist it as an item of two as the bundle. If I'm incorrect or if other sellers have better insight to share, they certainly will do so shortly. In the meantime, if this were me, I'd ship it using the service closest to the actual price the buyer paid. USE TRACKING. The only shipping speed that ebay cares about is whether or not you got your acceptance scan at the post office within your stated handling time. Your postage flat-rate amounts are set up in some weird way that your faster service calculates for cheaper than regular so the buyer probably just picked it for that reason.

[momcqueen]

Again, whoever it is that you spoke to, I'm pretty sure means well but I'm willing to bet this isn't as much a one-time technical error as it is just part of that site-wide all-the-time flaw.

OR maybe try calling a different department and ask if they will grant you permission to cancel the order without a defect because they think this was a result of some error. Take names and make notes of the people to whom you speak, too.

[momcqueen]

I noticed something messed up with your listing when I added three and then four of Kramer TP-122N Twisted Pair Receiver !!NEW PRICE!! to my cart. 

There is a drop-down menu that then lets the buyer select between Regular or Expedited service but it isn't calculating correctly. The price between them doesn't change and it is certainly supposed to change. If there is a technical error to be found anywhere, I think it's that.