eBay combined shipping for card sellers

Two ways shipping gets combined

• Automatically, at checkout. You set up a combined shipping rule and apply it to your listings. When a buyer pays for several items in one checkout, eBay works out the lower shipping for them. This is the one to set up, because most buyers won't ask.
• By invoice. The buyer asks for a total from their cart, and you send an invoice with the shipping you choose.

Step 1: create a combined shipping rule

Go to Shipping Preferences in your eBay account (ebay.com/ship/prf) and select Edit next to the kind of rule you want:

A promotional rule applies to every listing that has a combined shipping discount, and it overrides the other two. Most card sellers charging a flat rate want a flat rule, and many add a promotional rule on top to reward bigger orders.

Step 2: apply the rule to your listings

Creating the rule does nothing on its own. It has to be attached to listings:

• All at once (best): in Business policies, edit your shipping policy, select the rule under Combined shipping rule, and save. Every listing on that policy gets it.
• One listing: revise it and pick the rule under Combined shipping rule in the Shipping section.
• New listings: pick it in the Shipping section as you list, or just use the policy.

If you don't use shipping policies, the listings' shipping services also have to match for the discount to apply. Putting all your raw cards on one shipping policy avoids that problem.

Step 3: allow invoice requests

In Shipping Preferences, select Edit next to Allow invoice requests, set it to Yes, choose how long after a purchase buyers can ask, and save. Then buyers can choose Request combined shipping from their cart.

To send a combined invoice, go to Orders in Seller Hub, tick the orders, choose Send Invoice, adjust the shipping and send it. You can't send an invoice more than 30 days after the listing ended. If the buyer has already paid separately, refund the extra shipping with a partial refund from the order.

What can't be combined

• Cards that go through the Authenticity Guarantee (single cards at $200 or more): eBay says shipping discounts aren't applied to them, and each order ships on its own.
• Items bought with Best Offer.
• Items in the PSA Vault, and local pickup items.
• For invoice requests: items that are already discounted, already ship free, or require immediate payment.

Why combined shipping “doesn't work”

When buyers say they were charged full shipping on every card, it's usually one of these:

• The rule exists but was never applied to the listings or the shipping policy.
• The listings are on different shipping policies, or (without policies) use different shipping services.
• Some items were bought with Best Offer, or are Authenticity Guarantee cards.
• The buyer paid for items in separate checkouts instead of together from the cart.
• Immediate payment is on, which can push buyers into paying item by item. Sellers on eBay's forums report that turning it off helps buyers combine.
• A discount on one item blocks the Request combined shipping option.

Combined orders and Standard Envelope

eBay Standard Envelope works for combined orders of raw cards, within its limits:

• Each card $20 or less, and the combined order $50 or less
• Up to 24 raw cards, with no more than two in top loaders, and no graded cards
• Up to 3 oz, under 0.25 inches thick, and no bigger than 11.5 x 6.125 inches

Past any of those, the order needs a package, usually Ground Advantage. Check the cost for a given order with the shipping calculator. One seller on eBay's forums reports being refused an envelope label on a seven-card order that came to about $47 after a coupon, which suggests the $50 limit may be checked before discounts. eBay hasn't said either way.

If several separate orders from one buyer are going in one package, eBay's bulk shipping tool can print one label for them.

Volume pricing is different

Volume pricing (in Seller Hub, under Marketing, then Discounts, as an order size discount) takes money off the price when a buyer takes more, such as 10% off three or more cards. It's available to eBay Store subscribers and shows in search and on the listing. It changes the item price, not the shipping, so you can use both. Like other discounts, it can stop a buyer requesting a combined shipping total. Coupons and discounts for card sellers covers the options.

A simple setup for card sellers

1. Put raw cards under $20 on one shipping policy using Standard Envelope.
2. Create a flat combined shipping rule with a small charge for each extra card, and select it in that policy.
3. Optionally, add a promotional rule such as free shipping over a set order total.
4. Put graded and higher-value cards on a separate policy with a tracked package service, with its own rule.
5. Allow invoice requests, so buyers can still ask for a total.

Sources

• eBay: shipping discounts
• eBay: offering combined shipping
• eBay: saving with combined shipping (buyers)
• eBay: sending invoices to buyers
• eBay: Standard Envelope
• eBay Seller Center: volume pricing