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How to Combine Shipping on eBay in Three Simple Steps

Last updated July 12, 2023 5 min to read
How to Combine Shipping on eBay
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In the past, a product’s price was the primary cost consideration. But in the world of eCommerce, consumers pay close attention to delivery as well. In fact, 52% of consumers surveyed in 2019 said cost-effective delivery was just as important as a product’s price.

eBay combined shipping is a great way to lower costs for you and your buyers. It’s also a smart way to reward multi-purchase customers. Sellers can offer it up front or upon request – whatever you decide, here’s how to combine shipping on eBay.

What is eBay combined shipping?

When someone adds multiple products from your eBay store to their shopping cart, eBay combined shipping allows you to send all their purchases together in one package.

This makes life easier for you and your buyer. You can also reduce your shipping costs and pass on any reduction in fees to the customer.

Some sellers set up their eBay account so this discount takes place automatically within a shopper’s cart. Others do it by manually creating and sending a new invoice with the combined costs of shipping.

If your account doesn’t display combined shipping automatically, eBay shoppers can ask for a combined quote by clicking ‘Request total from seller’ in their cart. Alternatively, they may message a seller directly to request an updated quote.

eBay combined shipping option
Buyers can ask for a quote for combined shipping, if your account doesn’t display it automatically.

How to combine shipping on eBay

In the name of great customer service, we recommend setting up automatic combined shipping on eBay.

Once implemented, it requires less effort from both you and your customers. It may also reduce your store’s chances of experiencing negative feedback and shopping cart abandonment.

Here’s how to combine shipping on eBay in three simple steps!

Step 1: Enable combined payments

In the eBay Seller Hub, go to ‘Combined payments and shipping discounts’.

Alternatively, you can access this page under the Account tab in My eBay, just click ‘Site preferences’ and then ‘Shipping preferences’.

In order to offer customers combined shipping, you also need to offer them combined payments. So, under the ‘Combined payments’ section of this page, you need to click ‘Edit’.

How to set up combined shipping

A pop-up display will then appear. Check the box which will ‘Allow buyers to send one combined payment for all items purchased’.

Setting up eBay combined payments

Step 2: Choose a time period for combined payments

In the same pop-up, you’ll need to pick a time period for combined purchases. This is the number of days over which sales can be combined.

So for example, a three day setting will allow a customer to order an item today, tomorrow and the next day but have all the charges combined in one invoice and payment. After the third day, any additional purchases will come under a new invoice.

The options are 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, 14 days or 30 days. Whatever you choose, you can’t expect payment any sooner. Once you have your choice selected, make sure to click ‘Save’. The pop-up interface will then close.

Step 3: Create shipping rules

Back on the main page, under ‘Combined shipping discounts’, sellers can set rules which will automatically apply when more than one item from your store is added to a shopper’s cart.

Two options are available:

  • Flat shipping rules
  • Calculated shipping rules

Simply click ‘Create’ under whichever suits you best and choose an option from the dropdown menu.

If you’re working off a flat fee system with your shipping provider, you can set a base rate for the first item and then add a discount on shipping for every additional purchase.

Flat shipping rule

Alternatively, you can create calculated shipping rules based on a buyer’s location and the weight of your products. You can simply charge for the combined weights, though some sellers will opt to combine the weight and offer a discount in order to drive multiple purchases.

Calculated shipping rule

You can find out more about the full process and considerations of setting up these discounts here on eBay’s site. It’s worth noting that you can’t set up these rules if you’re already offering shoppers another type of shipping discount.

Once set up, customers will automatically see their combined shipping costs in their shopping cart.

How to manually combine shipping on eBay

Some sellers might not want to offer combined shipping automatically. Maybe your stock is located in several places. Or perhaps some delicate inventory isn’t suitable for eBay combined shipping.

If you want to assess and price combined shipping on a case-by-case basis, you can manually issue invoices from the Seller Hub.

First, you’ll need to allow combined payments within your eBay account – as shown in step 1 above.

Then, when the time comes to issue an invoice, you can go to the ‘Sold’ section of your orders. Select one of the items your customer has ordered and eBay will display all of their products.

Check the box beside the products you want to combine in one package and click ‘Send invoice’. You can add your custom shipping charges to the bill, as well as accepted payment methods and an optional message to the buyer.

Finally, you can preview and send your invoice.

Why combine shipping on eBay?

As we noted above, shipping costs are a key consideration for modern consumers. If you want to stay competitive and get more sales, setting up eBay combined shipping makes complete sense.

If you set up shipping rules, the discounted rates will automatically appear on your store’s product pages. This is displayed under the shipping section of your listings. It isn’t hugely visible, but it could drive extra revenue for your eCommerce business by convincing value-seeking buyers to convert.

eBay combined shipping is a particularly good idea for sellers who specialize in a single eCommerce niche, because it can encourage buyers to make multiple purchases. If you can’t offer free shipping, this is the next best thing.

Other advantages of eBay combined shipping

As well as driving conversions, offering eBay combined shipping offers a variety of other benefits to both sellers and buyers. Here are a few more reasons to consider the it for your store:

  • Convenience: Only one package has to be prepared and shipped by the seller. And only one package has to be signed for by the buyer. This saves both parties time.
  • Great customer service: Combined shipping can be confusing but it is a great way to make your customers happy, whether you offer it automatically or on request. This can lead to more repeat purchases, loyal customers and positive feedback.
  • Savings: Yes, customers save money when you pass on combined shipping discounts. But sellers also save on packaging and eBay fees. The smaller the final order amount is, the smaller your Final value fee to eBay is.
  • More visibility on eBay: Offering competitive shipping is a key way to boost visibility in search results and optimize your listings for eBay’s ‘Best Match’ position.

Final thoughts

If you’re unable to offer shoppers free shipping, eBay combined payments and shipping are a great alternative. They offer eBay shoppers value, while also helping you drive conversions.

Did you know that over 60% of US online retail purchases were made through Amazon last year? Amazon’s hold over eCommerce is well established, with 9.1 million active Amazon sellers worldwide and an average of 66 thousand orders per day. Newer sellers may be wondering how they can get more sales on Amazon in such a competitive environment.

The truth is, they absolutely can because with Amazon’s booming market share come many opportunities. We’ve assembled this digestible list of 14 quick wins and strategic moves, to help you up your game and sell more on Amazon.

1. Do keyword research

Having the right keywords can be one of the most important tactics in reaching your target audiences. Using the keywords that are common to searches for your products is the objective, but search engine optimisation (SEO) is a constantly evolving game. That means that keywords used successfully in the past may not be as effective with updated search engine algorithms today.

The terms used by customers to find products change daily and are affected by seasonal, cultural, and economic factors. Hence, it’s important to stay on top of the latest SEO trends and make sure you cast a wide net when implementing keywords for each product listing.

Each product should be optimized with as many relevant keywords as possible – into the hundreds! This gives you the best possible chance of getting your products found by customers, helping you sell more on Amazon.

Amazon keyword research tools like Helium 10, SellerApp, Jungle Scout, and AMZ One can help by generating a list of related keywords with search volume, competition level, and other useful metrics, making it easier for you to choose the best keywords for your product listing

2. Use a repricing tool to get more sales on Amazon

When it comes to sealing the deal and making a sale, price is a main deciding factor for many customers. As an Amazon seller, you always want to make sure you’re pricing your products competitively, but equally, you don’t want to lose your margin! 

This is something that using repricing software can help with. Repricing software automates the pricing process in real-time, ensuring your prices stay in line with those of competitors, and with market fluctuations, while you get more sales on Amazon.

Repricing software also has many customisable features that allow you to set prices at optimal levels to help drive sales, without compromising profit. It’s worth taking a trial to see how it can help lift your sales. 

3. Get more Amazon reviews

Online reviews are important to spread confidence through word of month and for building credibility for your brand. It’s also a fact that 72% of shoppers won’t buy until they’ve read reviews of a product from people like themselves – people they trust. 

Even a strong product with great marketing behind it still has to overcome the fear of the unknown if there’s no social proof. Plus, positive reviews are a significant factor in deciding which products win the Amazon Buy Box.

Get more Amazon reviews by encouraging feedback from your customers. The best way to do this is by utilizing feedback software to automate the process.

4. Provide great customer service

Customer service is absolutely essential in eCommerce. Offering top-quality customer service not only adds value, but helps retain customers. A big part of making a sale is assuring the customer that they can trust you to deliver, and that trust is hard earned but easily lost. Providing good eCommerce customer service is critical, and committing to providing great customer service is all the more so!

As an Amazon seller, you need to be on top of your customer service. Responsiveness, a friendly manner and quick and easy resolution processes are all ingredients that make for a winning approach to great customer service. 

But it can be confusing trying to streamline it all. Thankfully, there are all sorts of tools available to make this job easier, like helpdesk software to keep all your customer interactions in one place. This helps you to respond quickly and accurately to customer inquiries when they come in, so that your customers always know you’ve got their back.

5. Leverage Amazon seller tools

The best part about being an Amazon seller is that you don’t have to go it alone. There are numerous tools available to help you maximize your business and get the most out of selling on Amazon, whether third-party or FBA. 

From repricing tools, to help desk software, to review software and even shipping assistance, many tools exist on the market today that specifically help Amazon sellers optimize their listings, prices, feedback, shipping, customer service and even their taxes. 

There are many different seller tools available, so it’s worth reading about options and making an informed decision about the right ones to choose for your business. With the right tools, you can grow your business more than you ever thought possible. 

6. Get more sales on Amazon with ads

Running ads is almost guaranteed to help you get more sales on Amazon, but it’s easy to just throw money at them and hope for the best. You can do better! Pay attention to your advertising cost of sales (ACOS) metric, the figure for how much ad spend you need in order to make a sale.

By advertising more efficiently, you lower your ACOS and ensure you get more bang for your buck. Over time, you’ll learn what works and you can employ a strategy with regards to how you run your ads. Taking an insight-driven approach to Amazon ads results in a more profitable Amazon business!

7. Optimise your product pages

The old saying goes that 80% of readers never make it past the headline of any piece of content. That means once you’ve written your product title, you’ve effectively spent 80 cents of your dollar.

When writing product titles, stick to the formula of:

  • Brand name
  • Product name
  • Features (size, colour, gender etc). 

This lets you include the right keywords in the right order to immediately tell shoppers that this is the product for them.

Moreover, making sure to visually design your product pages so that they’re clean, simple and easy to read will also help win over shoppers. No one wants to read through a cluttered page. The more straightforward (yet informative) and the cleaner you make your design, the more likely you’ll be to win over those elusive eyeballs!

8. Win the Amazon Buy Box

The quickest way to get more sales on Amazon is by ensuring that your products show up consistently in the Amazon Buy Box (the area in the top right of a product page, where shoppers can ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Buy Now’). This is because over 82% of sales happen through this highly sought after space.

Although the exact formula to win the Buy Box is unknown, there are a few things that we know are essential. These are mainly metrics that prove the seller is providing a good customer experience. Customer reviews play a big role here. The more positive reviews a seller can amass, the likelihood of winning the Buy Box increases. 

In addition to reviews, something else that’s obviously very important to Amazon shoppers is price! By using repricing software, you can automatically set your prices at the optimal level to win the Buy Box and maximize profit, even if you’ve got an enormous inventory.

9. Amazon account health rating

The Amazon account health rating (AHR) is a new feature that helps you monitor your account health based on its adherence to Amazon seller policies. 

It considers both negative factors (such as the number of unresolved policy violations on your account) as well as positive factors (how your account positively impacts the customer experience through its selling activities). 

Each account will be given a rating, which is regularly reviewed as Amazon monitors the performance of its sellers. If your account is off-target, you will be notified so that you can improve your performance. Conversely, a good AHR rating will work in your favor, helping assure customers that they’re doing business with a compliant seller. 

10. Maintain your Amazon SLA

A big part of being a seller is cultivating trust with your customers. That means showing them that you operate in an above-board manner and that you’ll make good on your promise of fulfillment to them. One way of doing that is by making sure your Amazon store has a Service Level Agreement (SLA). This is a promise to your customers that they’ll receive their orders on time. When it comes to fulfillment, the SLA is based on the capacity to fulfill open orders and on-time shipping and delivery. 

SLAs help manage customer expectations by defining standards and outlining circumstances under which you as the seller won’t be liable for unfulfilled promises (e.g., natural disasters preventing shipping, etc). 

eDesk’s customer service solution is designed to alert you when your SLA is expiring, so your business is never caught without one. Having a current SLA helps you maintain transparency with customers, thereby building trust which helps ensure customer loyalty.  

11. Focus on products that already sell

Most ambitious business owners want to try new streams of revenue, but it’s important not to lose sight of the things that are making you money now. 

By doubling down on the products that already provide your Amazon store with a reliable revenue stream, you not only deliver to market demand but ensure that you have the financial runway required to take risks on innovative new products, if need be. 

Review your financial statements every quarter and look at the items that are performing best in your store. Think about how you can continue to market these with ads, SEO keywords and upgraded images to maximize their selling potential in your online store. 

12. Sync your inventory

Inventory can be a delicate balancing act. Hold too much inventory for too long and you need to pay over the odds to store it. But hold too little inventory and you lose out on vital sales, or even customers, due to an inability to fulfill. Amazon can also penalize you if your inventory performance isn’t up to standard.

Stock control is something every seller needs to understand and have the capability to manage for optimal results. Smart inventory management is an under-appreciated way to increase your Amazon sales and profit margin. Fortunately, there are tools that can help. Investing in the right tools and software can help sellers take the stress out of balancing supply and demand.

13. Expand into new Amazon marketplaces 

Amazon currently has 20 marketplaces around the world, which include the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Australia and more. 

You can scale your brand by moving into some of these marketplaces. This can involve doing market research to find out which products are popular in each market and then uplevelling your shipping operations in order to be able to ship globally.  

But expanding into new markets also means you’ll need to take language into consideration and localize your listings so that they feature each marketplace’s local language and SEO keywords in the appropriate language. Multilingual customer service is also needed in order to be able to service customers across various marketplaces in their local language. 

Sounds complicated? It doesn’t have to be. eDesk’s help desk solution is designed to support customer service and workflow in multiple languages, so you can expand your business without investing in the overhead of hiring a global team. 

14. Spy on your competitors

Ok, maybe “spy” is a bit of an exaggeration, but profitable sellers are always on the lookout for what their competitors are doing. You want to make sure you’re offering the right inventory for your market at the right prices. Repricing software will monitor this for you, taking the guesswork out of pricing at the right levels. 

Using data gleaned from helpdesk reporting can also help you gather valuable insights and feedback from your customers, which will help you to better understand what customers want and need. Acting on analytics-driven insights from easy-to-read reports means you’re always one step ahead of the competition. 

Final thoughts

The quest to increase your store’s Amazon sales doesn’t need to be an uphill struggle. There are many resources available to Amazon sellers today to help them optimize their store and develop a healthy sales pipeline. 

By staying in touch with how the Amazon platform grows and using the right tech tools to drive your business, you can continue to do what you do best: building a great brand, winning customers, retaining existing customers and improving your bottom line. 

Looking for more great content like this? We’ve curated a list of related resources for you down below 

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