Seller does not offer combined shipping discounts..

As for the original seller, he has the right to refuse to combine shipping, and we have the right not to buy from him.

I've several times encountered sellers who explicitly (even loudly) proclaim that they WILL NOT combine shipping on their auctions. Usually, it was someone trying to sell (say) individual silver quarters below spot, with (say) a $3 shipping fee per coin. "Too bad", I think to myself, as I move on to the next auction; "if you weren't boneheaded about shipping, I'd buy several of them, and you'd end up with more money in your pocket, as opposed to a bunch of items that never sell."

The funny thing is, this also applies to "free shipping". I sometimes see someone listing (say) silver dimes at a BIN of $2 with "free shipping". They don't move very quickly. If the seller would list them at $1 each + $1 shipping, with additional items shipping free, we could do business; he'd save time and effort, and we'd both end up with more money (at the post office's expense).

 

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I have to offer my $0.02 on eBay buying. Establish relationships. Don't be "slutty", cavorting with every coin seller you see. Expect a "getting to know each other" phase with each new seller where you get to know them, and they get to know you. And PLEASE, whatever you do, do NOT expect any seller to do what any other seller has done for you. Ask, don't presume. Volume sellers can be overwhelmed to the point that combining shipments may be just plain physically difficult for them to do. A 1:1 system of lots to shipments may be the best they can do. It literally may INCREASE their costs to combine shipments, depending on their help, their software and the items involved.

I once had a seller tell me he could combine on lots near each other in the order, but not widely dispersed. It made sense.

Just because you are a buyer, do not expect to be that seller's be all and end all. Sellers pay out the wazoo in fees and commissions to do business on eBay. The marginally good deal you get buying can easily turn into a seller's loss. Have a little compassion. eBay has "moved the goalposts" on sellers several times over, and not in the seller's favor.

 

Your logic escapes me!

Chris

 

I'm not surprised; looking back at what I wrote, the logic was fairly well camouflaged.

Your point, I think, was that a seller who sends multiple lots in one package might run into a buyer who claims not all lots were included, and in that case, the seller would have a hard time "proving delivery" to eBay (since there isn't a separate tracked shipment for each lot).

My point, well-concealed though it was, is this: even if a seller sends each lot in a separately-tracked package, the buyer can still claim that some or all of those packages were empty, or contained something not as described.

In both cases, it's possible to get into a "buyer said/seller said" dispute. It's my understanding that eBay generally resolves those in favor of the buyer, although I suppose they sometimes resolve in favor of both sides (and eat the loss themselves). I would hope that buyers or sellers who display a pattern of such incidents would be flagged and shut down.

 

Zackly!

Chris

 

I realize this is just crazy talk, but why not contact the seller to explain your situation and concerns, including a polite mention of your expectation that if charged for individual shipping you expect individual packages, and wait for his response before concerning yourself with the ifs, ands, or buts? At this point the only person who can answer your questions or put your mind at ease is the seller himself, and not the cointalk crew with their varied responses or talk of leaving, possibly multiple, negatives before you've even paid for or received your purchases. It is not that many fine points haven't been made, but it's too early to consider such things. This is simply an issue to address when it actually becomes an issue.

 

Your point of view is appreciated. I have tried contacting the seller but he seems to be hiding. He doesn't seem too busy as he's only had a few sales this week. And he has found time to leave some feedback for a couple of buyers. I received a generated response from ebay when I made my second request for a combined invoice. Its not the amount of money nor even the fact that he doesn't want to combine shipping.. Its the fact that he is ignoring my personal contact asking that he verify the automated notice from ebay.
If I had bought a hundred separate coins would he have demanded $300 shipping?

 

Ask for combined shipping before you buy

 

Yes, taking photos are certainly not full-proof, but better than nothing, especially for insurance purposes. A lot of course depends on trust and people's honesty and integrity. If that is lacking in a person, it is relatively easy to abuse systems and live a life earmarked by criminality.

 

Negative perhaps, but not neutral feedback. There is no need for the buyer to compliment the unreasonableness of a seller, whether the seller is legally in the right or not.

 

the time to ask for any accommodation is before the deal is done.

you bid on items based on the sellers terms. Too even think of leaving a negative or neutral over shipping charges you agreed too when you placed the bid is unfortunate. Ask any questions prior to a bid a contract you enter into when placing your bid. If you don't have time or do not get a response do not buy unless you agree to the stated terms that are within ebay policy.

I myself think he should combine shipping and respond to your request , however you bid on the items with the terms in the auction. If something is not specifically agreed to it is not a term of sale. Ebay allows a seller to set shipping and handling cost in most cases and in this case it was disclosed in advance.

 

According to eBay policy:

"Unreasonable shipping or handling costs - The seller may add a reasonable shipping and handling fee to the final price of the item, but may not charge excessive shipping and handling fees, excessive required insurance fees, or excessive (or not applicable) taxes in an effort to make the item appear artificially inexpensive, to avoid eBay fees, or for any other purposes. A shipping and handling fee may cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the item."

It's not a question of there being a terms of sale that didn't specify combined shipping. Setting up auctions to automatically combine shipping is complex and most sellers do not bother doing it. Most sellers will still combine shipping if you request a combined shipping total (there is even a mechanism for buyers to do just that).

Here's what it comes down to. If the seller does not combine shipping then he must, by eBay policy, still ship the items in a way that justifies the fees charged for shipping. This could be accomplished by shipping each item individually, or it could be accomplished by shipping it with a higher level of service (overnight, insured, tracking, etc.) as long as it gets up to around the actual shipping charged. What the seller cannot do, is ship the items combined, save money on shipping for himself, and pocket the difference. That is a violation of the seller policy that he agreed to.

 

If he's selling a small cheap item and charging $4 shipping, then it's easy to see he is expecting to make money off the shipping. In fact, the shipping would be the bulk of his profit. So there's no reason to assume combined shipping.

 

Not too busy selling in no way means he is not busy in general. Ebay is, for all sense and purposes, a massive flea market, and as with most venues ofsaid type, not all vendors are full-time, but with that said, if he has had time to leave feedback, he also should have had time to respond to your questions. At this point I am not sure what else you can do other than sending one last message before paying. I would, however, in a round-about way (without comming out and saying it) make it clear that since you will have paid for X number of packages to be shipped individually, this is exactly what you expect him to do. Make it clear without actually say so that you will not be pleased if paying for a service you do not receive, and let him read between the lines that there could be consequences. While I agree with a few others in that you went into this knowing the associated costs and cannot rightfully be upset because of them, I am also sure you didn't intended to give the seller a "shipping charge gift" worth much more than the coins themselves. Just make your expectations clear, hold up your end of the deal, and let the cards fall where they may. I am sure he will get the idea.

 

It has been interesting reading each of your responses. Some are obviously from sellers and some from buyers, while others.. well, its hard to tell just who you are.

Most have read my postings, yet some obviously did not. Before asking for your thoughts I had already made my decision as to what I would do. As some of you pointed out... Yes, I did bid on each and every item with the knowledge that each had a shipping charge associated with that item. I therefore made my bid, as I always do, taking that amount into consideration of the total amount I would have in each coin. If I had been Guaranteed combined shipping I would have bought many more cheep coins, and he would probably have made even more money, because 1) I would have bid more and 2) other bidders would have bid higher.

Although I am aware that the seller sets the shipping and I can take it or leave it, I can honestly say that in 16 years of buying on ebay this is the FIRST time that a seller has refused to reduce the shipping if only by a small percentage. That said, my main concern with him is that he has refused to directly acknowledge my messages. Zero! Not a peep!

Anyway, as I said, I already knew what I would do before asking for your thoughts. And yes, I do value each response. You succeeded in making me feel good about my decision. BTW, I paid for the coins last night. That gave him two days to respond to me. That the longest I have ever waited to make payment. As of this writing I have still not heard from him. Not even an acknowledgement of my payment. Notta! Also, he has listed two new items in the last two days.

Thanks again. I will keep you posted.

 

Sadly there are posters on coin talk that are too important to have time to read the posts prior to responding but important enough that we need to have their opinion voiced even if they have no idea what is being discussed.

 

Please do keep us posted. I have found this thread extremely informative. Not warm and fuzzy, but informative. Some dealers seem to be very angry people. If I was in a business that made me that angry, I'd get out.

OP, I believe that the message that came from eBay about the seller not offering combined shipping was where I might have given up. If he went to the trouble to set that up, that says something. I say it makes him a solid candidate for the ANA Harry S. Foreman Dealer of the Year.

After all, both Minshull and Heller won it.

 

Update:
To recap: I won 8 individual items. Seller did not state if he did or did not combine shipping. I know that assuming is a bad thing, however, through 16 yrs on ebay every dealer I have had dealings with has made at least some effort to reduce shipping chgs.
Anyway, after auctions ended, and through ebay checkout, I asked for a combined shipping invoice. After not hearing back for 10 hrs I requested once again. This time I received an ebay generated notice that seller Does Not offer combined shipping. So, to confirm this I sent the seller a direct message asking if that was indeed his policy. I heard nothing from him. So, after 24 hrs I paid for the auctions. Within and hour he had left me positive feedback. I received the order yesterday and to this minute I Have Not heard from the seller.
Yes, each of the 8 auctions came in One package with less than $4 shipping charge. I paid almost $24.
He overcharged for shipping. He sent all in one package. And, he likely made more off shipping than he did sell the 8 coins.

OK, I understand that dealers can have their own shipping rules.. not a problem. And the fact that he wanted 8 different shipping charges is his business. I can decide if I want to do business with him again.
My biggest grip is the fact that he hid from my messages. Not man enough to reply to my direct message.
Yet, I have a hard time leaving bad feedback. His feedback is 100% however, his shipping chgs is only 4.5

One more time... I got the better of the deal. If he had to purchase these coins before listing them he likely lost money.
No, I don't like overpaying this much for shipping. I'm really only complaining that he ignored me.

Who would leave negative feedback. Who would leave neutral, and who would leave positive? Would anyone ignore feedback?

 

I would be tempted to leave neutral, but I'm not sure whether I would. With 8 auctions, I guess you could do something like leaving some neutral and some positive. Leaving neutral feedback doesn't affect his displayed 100% feedback rating, but does affect his "Top-Rated Seller" status.

I would definitely one-star him on shipping charges, though. That will affect his status as well, especially if he does this to other buyers.

I can see both sides of the issue, but yeah, it would rankle me that he made so much more off me than he would have off eight individual buyers, and he didn't see fit to share the windfall.

 

I would leave a positive if you like the coins. If you asked before time and the seller did not answer you, you should have not bidded on the coins. You cannot assume anything with people on ebay. A lot of sellers on ebay put in their description no combined shipping or we do not answer any questions on cost for shipping. You knew before bidding that there was a chance you were going to pay $24. Another thing with the shipping: there's a lot more that goes into shipping than the cost of postage. So because something is sent to you that cost $2 in postage that was not the whole cost for the person to send it.