potentially dumb ebay question

[Crimebuster]

Okay, so I realize asking for help in the general forums is basically like strapping a steak to my chest and jumping into a shark tank, but here goes.

 

On ebay, when using the "Buy It Now" options, in some instances the seller apparently has it set up so that I can't claim the book without actually paying for it. The message is something like "the items can still be purchased by other eBay members until you complete your purchase." The items instead just go into my shopping cart.

 

Here's the issue I am running into. I am trying to buy six or seven issues from the same dealer. The dealer offers combined shipping. However, this combined shipping price is not automatically calculated by eBay. So when I add them all to my cart, the shipping is like $35. But since I haven't actually purchased the issues yet - they are just in my cart until I complete the transaction - it also won't allow me to request a total from the seller.

 

I'm kind of at a loss here. I certainly don't want to pay the huge shipping cost and then just hope the seller gives me a refund. By eBay won't let me complete the transaction any other way.

 

Is there some kind of workaround for this? This is not the first time I have run into this issue. Am I just missing something obvious? I just want to buy the comics and get the combined shipping the dealer is offering in the listings.

 

[slym2none]

There is some trick to finding the combined shipping button, but you have to be done shopping.

 

Sorry, there was a recent thread about this somewhere, but I don't remember much from it.

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Bills Comics]

I would contact the seller and explain the situation to him . He may even offer a better price for everything , if you complete the transaction only thru Paypal. Email him and ask him to change the items you are after from "require immediate payment " .

[Buzzetta]

Actually, that's a pretty good question.

[Bosco685]

Actually, that's a pretty good question.

 

Exactly!

 

I had to email a seller recently about the same situation, as he was offering $5.95 combined shipping no matter how many books you ordered. Unfortunately, every listing was setup incorrectly, requiring immediate payment.

 

He had to go back and change his settings universally, as he had no idea this had been done during listing books.

[ChrisInBaltimore]

Is this a new thing on eBay? I just noticed a similar issue the other day too. The only thing working in my favor was he had a lot of issues listed available so I didn't worry about waiting for a response.

[DeliBebek]

The problem is that the button to request a total doesn't show up if your cursor is not hovering over the top line of the top listing in your shopping cart. Kind of a stupid thing, to hide it like that, but it's there. Explore with the arrow a little bit and it should show up.

 

Sometimes, I have seen that the shipping is subtracted at the bottom of the listings, so that you end up not paying the sum of each individual item, even without requesting the total.

 

I've actually gotten in the habit of just putting things in the cart when I expect to combine shipping. A few times, when I have only found one or two items I wanted, I dump them, because $5.00 shipping on two $1.00 books isn't reasonable to me.

[Crimebuster]

Okay, short and very weird update.

 

I ended up going to the "request total from seller" page again and this time - don't know if I didn't notice it before or not - I realized that if you send a message to the seller asking about the total, it commits you to buy the issues!

 

I might have just missed this before, because this is... pretty damn weird. But it shows the list of shopping cart items and has the box to type your message into. Then down at the bottom, the send button for the message says something like "commit to buy and send message." You can't send a message without committing to buy, just like you apparently can't commit to buy without sending a message.

 

This is about as counter-intuitive as I think I've ever seen from ebay (or... anywhere else). I guess I've found that work-around I was asking for, but honestly. What?!

[Pete Marino]

I have not played with it yet. But apparently you're supposed to add items to your "cart" instead of clicking "BIN" and that will allow you to combine shipping if they have their rules setup (or request a total)

 

From reading the updates, all BIN's are going to require immediate payment by the end of the year. So using the cart is the only way to combine shipping.

 

And you may lose out on your item if someone snags it before you get your combined shipping invoice....

[CKB]

If you are dealing with a reputable seller, buy the items and pay the excess combined shipping, then send a message and ask for a refund of the difference.

 

[Aweandlorder]

This is a direct quote from the other thread slym referred to:

 

In your cart, if you go to the line where the seller's name I.D. and feedback rating is shown, move your cursor directly to the right side of that line and you will see "request total from seller" when you hover. It will be just above the selling price of the top item in your cart

[Chaseman210]

I just had the same situation. Take all of them out of your cart. Then go use the BIN separately for each comic you want to purchase. Using BIN, you don't have to pay immediately. Once you click BIN, the auctions will end. Then go to your my eBay, and then all those comics will show up. Then there is a button to click to request a total from the seller.

[Stumptown]

Dumb Ebay. Now making it harder for buyers too.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=4&Number=6697545&Searchpage=1&Main=299428&Words=&topic=0&Search=true#Post6697545

[Buzzetta]

They just sent me a "how are we doing?" email.

 

I let them know.... in length.

 

 

[vaillant]

This has never happened to me, is that a modification to the eBay functions?

 

I always bought items with "BUY IT NOW" or through auctions and if the pages weren’t correctly set up for combined shipping I mailed the seller after I bought them and waited for his response before paying.