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valis2Being gone for a week usually means I skip an auction. However, with events progressing as they are, I didn't feel we could afford to, so I enlisted Husband to help me with shipping while I was gone.
I am now trying to sort through all of the eBay woe, and package the shipments, and all I can say is, woe.
The customer who made me crazy two weeks ago has done it again, in the same exact manner. She's paid for some stuff and then turned around and bid on new stuff the very next day. Ethically, I don't feel right charging her for two separate packages, and I want to combine them. However, I don't want this to be taken advantage of! On the last shipment, I paid $4 out of my own pocket because it hit the magical Parcel Post weight instead of First Class. (If she had waited, I could have used the Shipping Calculator, which would have given a combined shipping price. Instead, as I usually do, I sent her a second invoice with no shipping, not realizing that the weight was so high.)
So she's done it again, only with much heavier stuff. Damnit! I'm trying to figure out how best to address this with her without sounding nasty, because she's buying a lot and clearly is rather new. But I hate having to rely on my very faulty memory cells to catch these double orders...
Also, the eBay Shipping Calculator, while adequate for most transactions, still cannot seem to charge the correct rate when someone buys things from my eBay store and my auctions. Case in point? Recently it calculated that a shipment would cost $17.36 for First Class. Uh, no. $2.50. And Parcel Post was calculated at $42. *headdesk*
But today's debacle takes the cake. An international buyer (and, yes, I do not say ANYWHERE that I accept international buyers, so this makes me fume) bid on something and won. I apparently didn't notice as I was sending out invoices. So I sent an invoice for the customer--who is in NORWAY, damnit--for $2.17 First Class. Now, normally, when one has an international customer, the invoice prep screen will show a completely blank field and you have to type in an amount. Let me just mention that $2.17 is my default shipping for First Class--if I type something in myself, I always round up to the nearest ten cents. So yes. EBay has just totally screwed me over. The item cost was barely $3. I only just broke even on it. And now I will have to send to a higher-expense country on top of it. I mean, if it were Great Britain it might not be so bad, but this will cost me oodles, I can already tell. So I'm going to get the cost from the PO and send the customer a note, but honestly, they've already paid, and it was my invoice they paid from, so I do not have much of a choice here. *gnashes teeth*
I am now trying to sort through all of the eBay woe, and package the shipments, and all I can say is, woe.
The customer who made me crazy two weeks ago has done it again, in the same exact manner. She's paid for some stuff and then turned around and bid on new stuff the very next day. Ethically, I don't feel right charging her for two separate packages, and I want to combine them. However, I don't want this to be taken advantage of! On the last shipment, I paid $4 out of my own pocket because it hit the magical Parcel Post weight instead of First Class. (If she had waited, I could have used the Shipping Calculator, which would have given a combined shipping price. Instead, as I usually do, I sent her a second invoice with no shipping, not realizing that the weight was so high.)
So she's done it again, only with much heavier stuff. Damnit! I'm trying to figure out how best to address this with her without sounding nasty, because she's buying a lot and clearly is rather new. But I hate having to rely on my very faulty memory cells to catch these double orders...
Also, the eBay Shipping Calculator, while adequate for most transactions, still cannot seem to charge the correct rate when someone buys things from my eBay store and my auctions. Case in point? Recently it calculated that a shipment would cost $17.36 for First Class. Uh, no. $2.50. And Parcel Post was calculated at $42. *headdesk*
But today's debacle takes the cake. An international buyer (and, yes, I do not say ANYWHERE that I accept international buyers, so this makes me fume) bid on something and won. I apparently didn't notice as I was sending out invoices. So I sent an invoice for the customer--who is in NORWAY, damnit--for $2.17 First Class. Now, normally, when one has an international customer, the invoice prep screen will show a completely blank field and you have to type in an amount. Let me just mention that $2.17 is my default shipping for First Class--if I type something in myself, I always round up to the nearest ten cents. So yes. EBay has just totally screwed me over. The item cost was barely $3. I only just broke even on it. And now I will have to send to a higher-expense country on top of it. I mean, if it were Great Britain it might not be so bad, but this will cost me oodles, I can already tell. So I'm going to get the cost from the PO and send the customer a note, but honestly, they've already paid, and it was my invoice they paid from, so I do not have much of a choice here. *gnashes teeth*
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-03 08:34 pm (UTC)As far as the newbie not waiting to combine shipping: you should just send her *one* nicely worded note stating that if she wants to wait to pay until she is done shopping and pay for it all together and receive combined shipping, that she has 'x' number of days (I usually see it as five or seven days, but sometimes three) to buy everything and receive combined shipping. If she does not pay attention to it and continues what she's doing, then let her overpay.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-03 08:43 pm (UTC)As far as the newbie not waiting to combine shipping: you should just send her *one* nicely worded note stating that if she wants to wait to pay until she is done shopping and pay for it all together and receive combined shipping, that she has 'x' number of days (I usually see it as five or seven days, but sometimes three) to buy everything and receive combined shipping. If she does not pay attention to it and continues what she's doing, then let her overpay.
Yeah, I have this scary thing in my auctions about paying in three days, but I also say something about how if you've made arrangements then it's fine. I think she's just freaked out about the pay NOW damnit thing and she's not reading the rest, where I explain about combined shipping. :(
I just hate to see people overpay, and I hate to use more packing materials and boxes and stuff. I'm such a wuss, too--I should have written her after the first time, but I thought, well, she's figured it out now. Duh.
;) *hugs* Thanks for the comment, I'm feeling better.
Though my eye will not stop twitching. argh.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-04 01:53 am (UTC)As far as the person who won't wait for a combined invoice, I'd probably send her a note and tell her that if she'd like to have combined shipping she really does have to wait for a combined invoice to get an accurate price. It's been my experience that when people learn that they could pay less or all at once, they will. =)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-04 02:00 am (UTC)And guess what happened a couple hours ago? Someone asked me to send them a new invoice for an item that they wanted added to her original order. I checked, and noticed that they had already bid and paid for an item. So I thought, okay, and then I looked it up.
She hasn't bid on the new item. So I sent her an email saying, please bid, and then I will send you a revised invoice.
She replies, I can't bid, because then it will charge me shipping!
*pulls out hair* I emailed her, you CAN bid and not pay! Argh!!
And yes, she has not bid as of this moment.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-04 08:52 pm (UTC)Why does the world have to be so big?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-04 10:36 pm (UTC)Fortunately in this case, it didn't cost as much as I was afraid of, but still...