c!~~_7.JPG "kalvin@ebay.com"){kind=avatar}
w~~_7.JPG "pjcdn2005"){kind=avatar}
@around_again_records wrote:
From what I have read eBay Canada does not have the "Add to Cart" Button. That really sucks, because based on the INFORMATION in the eBay Canada Customer Support Learning Centre I've set my BIN listings up requesting anyone wanting to make multiple purchases to use the Cart so they don't get separate invoices.
Here's a quote from the eBay CANADA CUSTOMER SUPPORT PAGE
"Purchasing items using Buy It Now
To purchase a Buy It Now item:
1.Look for items with a Buy It Now price by clicking the Buy It Now tab on search results or browse pages.2.Check the Buy It Now price of the item. This is the price you'll pay for the item. Also check the shipping cost and any additional costs that might be listed in the item description to determine the total cost for the item.
3.To purchase the item immediately, click the Buy It Now button in the listing. To put the item in your eBay shopping cart to purchase later, click the Add to cart button. You may need to sign in.
Note: Items in your eBay shopping cart are still available on eBay until you checkout and pay for them.
4.On the next page, click the Commit to buy button.
5.Review your purchase information, and then click the Pay now button."
This is so annoying, now my adds are all wrong, and customers I'm sure will be confused - I know I am.
Great, like the possibility of loosing the item if payment isn't instantaneous, and trying to make multiple purchases and get the right amount on the invoice so someone can pay immediately isn't confusing enough. Now they can't even post the correct rules.
Is it just me? If eBay Canada has different processes than eBay.com shouldn't Customer Support be aware of that? I get angrier every day trying to figure out how to make things work with the rules that have been initiated to weed out the few dishonest people. I mean seriously I know there are bad sellers/buyers, but for the most part people are honest. The way things are set up with Immediate Payment required on BIN items, does nothing for me as a seller, and makes it soooooo easy for an honest buyer to loose an item or items especially when making multiple purchases and waiting for the combined shipping invoice.
How does one get around this. Maybe I am being dense. The shopping cart was sort of a help, but even with that, buyers could loose out. What if I'm sleeping when the request for a new invoice comes in, and low and behold someone else grabs up the item. An honest buyer gets burned, and it doesn't do me any good as a seller to tell that customer, that I went and sold the item from under his nose. Seriously, there has to be a way around this.
Basically, I'm just ranting, but if anyone has any ideas.... let me know
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
That's a great point, thanks for the head's up. I'll have our team take a look & make changes.
"I'm sure there must be an easy solution, because there are so many BIN transactions, perhaps I am misunderstanding or missing something."
Wendy
OK, I'm really confused now. I think I must have misunderstood something somewhere because I just sold a BIN item last night. It hasn't been paid yet and the listing is gone from my items for sale.
Not a problem, that's how I wanted it to work... but somewhere along the line I read somewhere that BIN items stayed listed until the item was paid for. I will have to go back and re-read and see where I messed up. Also will have to change my adds, but that's not a big problem, and I'll be much happier not having to explain to my cusomers what might happen to their purchase if they don't pay right away.... I hope they do pay though
Anyway, My apologies for the original post. Seems I am a little mixed up. What else is new?
Wendy
@around_again_records wrote:Anyway, My apologies for the original post. Seems I am a little mixed up.
Actually, you're not mixed up. EBay is. I've found that many of the "help" pages and policy pages (at least on eBay.ca), are not properly updated to reflect what is actually happening on the site. It's extremely confusing and annoying, but it seems to be a pattern.
The fact is that carts aren't here in Canada yet. Experienced US buyers probably understand that, and will just hit the "Commit to Buy" button for each item, which will add the item(s) to their purchase history.
I frequently have multiple purchases, so I've put a note in my listings asking buyers to email me if they are making a multiple purchase over a period of, say, a few days, so I can send them a combined invoice with reduced shipping. The majority of them never email me, but I think they see the note and understand the concept. When I see that a buyer has made a few purchases at the same time, I usually wait a few hours to be sure there isn't anything more they wanted to purchase, then send the invoice.
The only time I've really had a problem with multiple purchases was when a customer bought one item with "Immediate Payment Required" and the others that did not - the eBay system in that case won't combined everything into one invoice. I simply emailed the buyer and said that I'd calculate the shipping on the entire order and refund any difference.
There is of course eBay's new policy of leaving items available until actually paid for (which you referred to). This could cause havoc if a buyer wants to make multiple purchases over, say, a few days. It's very problematic in a number of ways, not just in terms of invoicing, and personally I am totally opposed to it. However, that policy doesn't seem to have been fully implemented in Canada yet (thank goodness). It seems, at least in the categories I'm selling, that purchased items are still showing as sold and the listings end - as they should, once a buyer hits the "Commit to Buy" button.
I agree that you should probably remove any reference to "cart" in your listings to avoid confusing buyers. And hopefully Kalvin (or someone at eBay.ca) will see that the help information on eBay.ca is updated. 
Thanks Rose-dee, It's good to know I'm not completely gone. Sometimes it seems the seniors moments are becoming seniors hours and days.
Also glad you mentioned that New Policy of Immediate Payment required is not yet working here on .ca. I won't have to go back and re read everything. Sounds like I read it right in the first place. Hope it stays broken. It's a really bad idea to sell something out from under someone. I'd rather deal with an unpaid item than have a buyer loose an item through no fault of his/her own.
And yes, Kalvin... if you're reading this perhaps it might be a good project for someone to Canadianize the Help files. I've seen references to pounds and ounces in our help files and if you're like me when you're new you try to follow instructions to the tee. If you do as the help file says and enter ounces in your package weight you are going to have serious issues with the shipping calculator.
Thanks again
This is what I put in the Payment Instructions field.
To qualify for multiple item shipping discounts please wait for a combined invoice before making payment
Seems to work, I have MANY multi item buyers and it's exceptionally rare that they don't wait. When they don't , oh well, you snooze, you lose and I make more money!
Truthfully, in most of these rare situations I do issue a refund for the overpayment but it's less than the discount they would have received if they followed the instructions and waited.
As far as telling buyers how to buy/pay for multiple items, I wouldn't worry about putting in any or much of an explanation as I think that few customers read that area anyway. Plus, because the sites aren't all identical (they could also be buying on the uk, australia site etc) it is impossible to be accurate in your instructions. The most I would probably put would be to please ask for an invoice before paying for multiple purchases. That won't always work either and some won't read it, but it doesn't hurt to put in a short explanation.
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Good point pjcdn - I think the next post has a nice example of how they word it. I know I didn't like what I was doing with my ads, but of course I went and posted them anyway. Now they are just confusing
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OP, you don't have a lot of different shipping costs so why not set up some calculated shipping rules...at least in Canada.
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That's a good idea, and I've been checking into that, working on a way to set it up. When I have a basic idea of how I want to apply the rule I will certainly check back and run it by you all to make sure I'm not out in la la land again. 
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Also, you are missing shipping prices to the U.S. on some of your items. To see what I mean, change your location to the U.S., click on see other items, and then see which items don't have a price. You may have to refresh that page first.
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Thanks a lot for the heads up on this. I will make some time tonight and get all these problems sorted out.
W
This is what I put in the Payment Instructions field.
To qualify for multiple item shipping discounts please wait for a combined invoice before making payment
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That sounds perfect recped - short sweet and to the point. 
W
They see it in the listing (maybe) and they see it in the You Won email from eBay and they see it if I send an invoice myself.
Another seller I know in a similar situation, quite a few multiple item buyers, has the following in their payment instructions, their buyers also seem to get the message.
Multiple item purchasers, please wait to receive the invoice before making payment. Payment is required within 4 days of purchase. I accept all forms of PayPal whether funded by instant transfer, PayPal balance, credit card, or eCheck. I will ship only to the address on file with PayPal. No exceptions.
@around_again_records wrote:This is what I put in the Payment Instructions field.
To qualify for multiple item shipping discounts please wait for a combined invoice before making payment
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
That sounds perfect recped - short sweet and to the point.
W
Wendy, I should mention, in case you're interested, that you can specify pre-set shipping discounts that should work regardless of whether buyers "get" the "wait for invoice" message.
Although I find the shipping discount settings aren't very flexible, you can, for example specify a % reduction for a certain dollar amount purchased, or a dollar value reduction for a specified number of items purchased. The problem is that it can't be adjusted for particular shipping areas, so you could end up with a problem where international shipping is involved (I take my chances, and figure the once-in-a-while international sale is worth the shipping subsidy).
This is under your Seller Preferences tab, Shipping Discounts I believe they call it. I just thought I'd mention it in case you really want to get fancy with discounts. 
Thanks rose-dee. I'll be looking into setting up some kind of discounts in the next week or so. I don't know if I'll end up using anything, but it can't hurt to know how it's done.
Right now I just have a 10% discount set up for all Domestic shipping. Thanks to reading this forum, I finally got it through my head ( and looked back at my old invoices to confirm) that the fvf on international shipping is charged for the first shipping choice in my adds - makes sense 
NOT Anyway, it seems to be true... so now I'm back to Worldwide sales as it ends up being the same difference to me, and if someone in China wants to spend outrageous amounts of money to ship a record who am I to argue.
Well now I'm babbling, the point I was trying to make is that based on what I've read here it's a good thing to keep domestic (my first shipping choice) rates as low as possible, which I do not mind at all because I would like to sell mostly in Canada, so that the final value fee on all sales is based on that rate. Jeez even as I type that, I think that must be wrong, it doesn't make sense at all but..... I think it's time for a break, and to take some time to absorb what I've leaned in the past couple days
Thanks again everyone, this is a good forum. I'm surprised it's not busier.
W
