This guide helps the eBay buyer to understand his rights and obligations in regards to the shipping prices charged by his seller, especially for combined shipping.  It also offers some options as to what the buyer can do when he finds himself in a shipping dispute with the seller after the item is won.

It's always best to ask ahead about what a seller's shipping fees are when purchasing multiple items from one seller to combine shipping.  There are also many sellers who don't state their shipping charges for single items outright, and ask that you contact them for the shipping charge.  However, at times we may get tired, or stressed out, or not want to go to all that trouble.  Sometimes, we email and the seller doesn't get back.  Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous sellers, many of them new sellers that will attempt to take advantage of a buyer by gouging in the shipping, especially if they lost money on the item or items at auction.

All transactions on eBay are legally binding contracts.   This does not mean that the seller will sue you for breach of contract if you fail to complete the transaction.  It isn't cost effective.  Regardless of the contractual nature of the eBay purchase, when you bid on an item on eBay, or click Buy It Now, you have the right to a fair shipping charge for the items you purchased.  If you feel that a shipping charge is excessive after you made your purchase, you can dispute it.  All sellers are bound by eBay's Excessive Shipping Policy, which states that a seller may charge his reasonable costs for shipping.  He may charge more than his actual cost within the handling, as long as it is not excessive.  Sellers may not pad insurance, tax, or other charges to increase their profits.  

Things become stickier after you purchase an item with an excessive shipping, but it does not deprive you of your rights as a buyer, nor does it absolve the seller of his responsiblity to treat you fairly.  Unfortunately, eBay does not get involved in disputes between buyers and sellers regarding shipping charges.  So in order to defend your rights as a buyer, you must communicate promptly with the seller, and negotiate.  If you blow the seller off, refuse either to communicate with or pay him, he can fairly give you a negative feedback and an unpaid item strike.  Some sellers require payment sooner than seven days after the purchase date, however all sellers must wait seven days to open an unpaid item dispute regardless of their payment policies.  If you respond to the dispute, he may, at his discretion, close it right away and get his final value fee back.  If you don't respond in the dispute thread, he must wait seven days to get his fee, but then you will not be allowed to leave him any feedback.

An unpaid item strike for multiple items from the same seller is generally regarded by eBay as only one strike.  It is rare for eBay to suspend a user over a single strike.  It you receive more unpaid strikes soon after the initial strike, you may become suspended or no longer a registered user.  We do not recommend that you fail or refuse to pay for your item, but rather that you negotiate with your seller for a fairer price.

There is no separate shipping policy for multiple item purchases.  It is unfair for the seller to add all the separate shipping charges together to make one huge fee, and then ship the items together anyway, or only offer a token discount for combined shipping, especially if the item weights are low and the fees quoted are relatively high. 

Unfortunately, many sellers do these sorts of things regularly and get away with it.  If the seller states that he does not combine shipping, you have the right to ask that he ship the items separately.  Often people who drop ship can't combine shipping due to the fact that shipments are sent separately by the dropshipper, and thus he has no control over them; and other sellers who are in business for themselves have to pay labor charges to others to pack and ship their items for them.  Sometimes the items are already separately packaged and ready to ship and the seller doesn't want to repackage them together.  Either way, the seller should be up front about what his costs are and his reasons for not providing a discount.  "Because I don't want to" isn't good enough.  If you've won the item, and you are not satisfied with his expanations, keep negotiating. If you haven't bid yet, go elsewhere.

It's always best to ask in advance what the shipping charges are for your item or items, and to read the full listing description.  If you don't, you will still be obligated to pay the seller's fair shipping charges, even if they seem on the high end.  And you will still be left with a huge headache if an seller decides to hit you with the total shipping amount of all items combined.  You can dispute the charges by email if the seller attempts to gouge in the shipping.  You may also request the weight of the shipment, and check postal rates to see how much handling the seller is charging.  There is no excuse for the seller refusing to provide you with an estimated weight for the shipment.  Remember, the seller is under no obligation to give you shipping at his cost.  However, if the handling fee seems unreasonably high, for example if it is double or triple the total shipping cost of postage and materials, you can protest.  "Normal" handling is usually $2 to $5 over the cost of postage.  It might be higher for unusually large, heavy, or delicate items which require extra effort, care, or materials in packing, or which require expensive or custom-made boxes.  The Postal Service also charges more to ship oversized packages, even if they are the same weight as the smaller package, up to 70 pounds.  Keep in mind handling also covers materials like boxes, tape, glue, ink, paper, and other reasonable packaging costs.  Sellers also sometimes include required delivery confirmation, signature confirmation, and insurance in their handling charge.  This will usually be stated within the listing description.

Still, many sellers unfairly set their item price low in order to appear high in search, and then set a high shipping charge and refuse to combine shipments, but then ship the items together regardless.  They then use the excess shipping charges to pad their own pockets.  These sellers usually get most of their profit from the shipping.  Generally these are huge auction houses with low feedback ratings.  They have a high total feedback, often in the thousands or tens of thousands, but their percentage is below 99%, and and can sink into the mid nineties or lower before they are kicked off eBay.  These auction houses are not like Amazon.com; they are understaffed businesses who often don't even have the item you purchased in stock.  They are slow to respond to email and often never respond at all.  When you look at these sellers' feedback pages, you will see negatives and neutrals numbering in the hundreds, sometimes even in the thousands.  The important thing to remember when looking at a seller's feedback rating that on eBay, a 90 is not an "A".  If the seller's feedback score has sunk below 98%, it is an indication that something is wrong.  The only exception is for sellers with a fewer than 50 feedback ratings; often only one negative can put them below 90%.  Be sure to check these sellers' negative feedbacks to see if they seem reasonable or justified, whether the buyer or seller has responded, and whether or not the situation has been resolved.

If you select a specific service for shipping and pay for that service, the seller should ship by that service.  He may upgrade your shipment, or use an equivalent service, but he should not downgrade without your express consent.  If he has downgraded your shipment without your consent you should immediately contact the seller and request a refund for the excess he charged for shipping.  It is important to withhold feedback until this situation is resolved.  Be sure to inform the seller that you will leave a negative if he does not provide a refund for the excess shipping charge you paid.  Also be careful never to purchase any item from that seller again. If the seller resolves the situation to your satisfaction, it is up to your discretion whether you still want to leave a negative.  Either way, I recommend that you state in your feedback that the item was shipped by a less expensive service than the one selected and paid for.  A neutral is often a good solution to this problem.  That way, you're not leaving a negative, but you're also not giving the seller a positive he doesn't deserve.  This is the only way that other potential buyers can be forewarned that a seller is dishonest, and really have an opportunity to protect themselves. 

If the seller states clearly within his listing description that he ships within a certain time frame, he is obligated both by the eBay user agreement and by FTC rules to ship within that time frame.  If he doesn't, you can complain.  If he has no express policies, he has 30 days in which to ship your item.  In practice, though, most eBayers will not put up with such an outrageous delay in shipping.  Furthermore, if you pay by PayPal, the seller must ship to your confirmed address within 7 calendar days in order to qualify for the Seller Protection Policy.  

Sellers are encouraged by eBay to state their policies clearly within the listing description.  When the seller has stated his policies clearly , this too is considered a binding contract, even if you fail to read the policies.  Many buyers fail to read the listing description when purchasing items on eBay, and then end up with a nasty surprise when they realize what they agreed to.  In situations like this, eBay encourages the buyer to contact the seller to negotiate.  There are many reasons why a buyer might enter into this sort of a contract in error.  If you have done so, and realize your mistake later, you are not doomed.  There are still options.

Many companies will negotiate a contract after it has been made, and eBay sellers are no exception.  If you feel that you have entered into this sort of contract in error, and do not want to pay the charges associated with it, your responsibility is to get in touch with the seller as soon as possible and try to resolve the situation.  If you don't want to complete the transaction, you may also request that the seller cancel the sale by mutual agreement.  This is done throught the unpaid item process.  The seller must agree to the mutual cancellation, and he must also initate the cancellation.  The buyer cannot initiate a cancellation of a transaction by mutual consent, but he may agree to the cancellation.  If you change your mind later, and decide that you do want to complete the transaction, and have not already agreed, you may then disagree to the cancellation and the seller will still be bound to complete the transaction.  Be sure to contact your seller and let him know what's going on.  If you fail to respond to a mutual agreement message within seven days, then the transaction will be considered cancelled by mutual agreement and the seller will not be obligated to complete the transaction even if you change your mind.  The seller, as always, can block you as a bidder so that you will be unable to ever purchase from him again.

Neither eBay nor the seller has the ability to force you as a buyer to complete the transaction, or to abide by the terms in the listing description.  However, the seller does have certain recourse if you choose not to purchase the item you agreed to purchase, even if the terms seem unfair.  He can still leave negative feedback or give an unpaid item strike.  He may even do so unfairly.  Nobody as yet has found a way to make the eBay system perfectly fair or error free.  There are plenty of loopholes bad sellers can take advantage of.  However, as a buyer, if you feel that you have received an unfair negative feedback or an unfair unpaid item strike, you still have recourse. 

First, you may respond to feedback left by the seller on your feedback page.  This page can be difficult to find on My eBay.  So go to the Help pages and search on "Respond Feedback" and that will turn up the link.  If you are signed in, the feedback page will come up and you will have a place where you may respond to the feedback left by the seller.  You may respond to both positive and negative feedback.  The seller may also respond to your feedback.

When responding to feedback, be sure to keep it factual, rational and reasonable.  This is not the time to indulge in angry rants, insults, or unfair accusations.  You are also limited as to how many characters you have to express your opinion as to what happened in the transaction, so use them wisely.  It is also very important to always abide by eBay's Feedback Policies.  If you do a good job here it will have a significant impact on how sellers and potential buyers view you as an eBayer. 

You may request from the seller that negative feedback be mutually removed.  In this instance, the negative feedback rating would be removed but the comments, responses and follow-ups will remain.  Both the seller and you must agree to mutual feedback removal.

You may contact a mediator and ask that they mediate the dispute.  In some cases, however, this can be rather expensive, and some people feel it's not worth the cost.  It's probably only going to be worth it if you purchased an expensive item, and the seller violated the terms of sale, or when you received it it was not as described, or you never received it at all and did not select insurance for the package.

You may also leave a negative for the seller.  In this case, it is extremely important not to leave feedback prematurely.  If you do, whether the feedback is positive or negative, you lose your leverage.  Again, be sure to be factual, and state as simply and as clearly as possible in the small space allowed what happened.  Use caution and abide by eBay's Feedback Policy at all times.  If you've left feedback prematurely, you may go back and post a follow-up later, but that will not make the feedback appear higher in the seller's page.

If the seller never shipped your item, or the item is not as described, and you paid the agreed price in full by PayPal, you may dispute the purchase through PayPal, and, if you paid with a credit card, you may initiate a chargeback.  PayPal purchase protection is only provided for sellers with a feedback rating of 50 or higher.  This refers to the total number of unique users that left a positive for the seller, minus the total number of unique users who left a negative, both buyers and sellers.  It is not the percentage rate, which should be 98% or higher.  If the seller's feedback rating is below 50, you are only protected if you paid by PayPal with a credit card.  If you feel at all uncertain about the transaction, you should definitely use the credit card option.  Many unscrupulous new sellers with a low feedback rating are working with a personal PayPal account.  He must pay a fee to process your credit card payment.  If he refuses to accept your PayPal credit card payment, he is in violation of both the eBay user agreement and the PayPal user agreement and you are not obligated to complete the transaction. 

If you have a balance in your PayPal account, the credit card option will not appear, even if you have a valid credit card in your account.  Transfer the funds to your bank account, or withdraw them by another method you prefer, and then go back to pay.  The credit card option will now be available. 

If the seller never shipped your item, or the item is not as described, and you paid, you may also file seller non-performance or "Item Significantly Not as Described" with eBay. You may also file the report if the seller refused to accept your payment. (Please note that if you don't pay the seller's invoice in full, or if you make a late payment, or pay by a method not permitted, the seller may accept, reject or refund your payment at his discretion.) If you file this report, the seller will be subject to disciplinary action by eBay and may even be turned over to law enforcement authorities.

eBay sellers run into several problems when quoting shipping to the buyer within the listing description.  It can be prohibitively time consuming and difficult to weigh each item separately in its intended packaging and get an exact quote.  Many sellers use flat rate shipping estimates and the shipping calculator to compensate for this problem.  If the seller ships worldwide, and offers multiple shipping options, then they usually must estimate a little high on the weight and add a handling fee to avoid having to take a hit on the shipping when the transaction completes.  This is because the seller may only charge a fee up to and including the one quoted in the listing.  He may, at his own discretion, charge less but he may not charge more.  This can cause some rates to seem higher than normal.  For example, if the seller quotes Priority, Parcel, and Media in the shipping calculator, the same weight and handling charge must apply to all three services.  The seller can't remove the handling from the Priority quote simply because he gets a free box.  If it isn't excessive, he may still charge handling for Priority Mail.  Furthermore if the weight of the Priority Mail package goes even a fraction of a pound over the pound mark, for example 1 pound, .1 ounces, the seller gets charged the full rate for the next full pound by the Post Office.  Sellers are much more likely to take a hit on international shipping than on domestic, due to the fact that the rates are higher.  Also some shipping costs are notoriously difficult to calculate, such as ink jet cartridges and wear and tear on the printer.  For this reason attempting to calculate an exact cost for shipping is almost impossible, and almost sure to result in a hit, so most sellers will try to give themselves a little room for error.  Also, the shipping calculator requires that the shipping weight be the same for both domestic and international shipments, although the handling fee can be different.

So if the shipping seems high, the best course of action is to contact the seller in advance of the purchase to negotiate a lower rate or request a service not offered.  Many sellers will gladly agree to this.  It is very unfair to an honest seller who is abiding by the Excessive Shipping Policy and charging fair rates for a buyer to attempt to negotiate shipping after the point of sale.  Basically by doing this you are attempting to force an honest seller into a settlement he never agreed to, and which places an unnecessary hardship upon him. 

Sellers are not obligated to ship by a service not offered in the listing description.  For example, if you purchase a book and the seller has only quoted Priority Mail shipping, and you don't request Media Mail or First Class prior to purchase, he is not obligated to provide these services.  It is not excessive shipping if the seller only offers more expensive services.  

The shipping calculator does not do a good job of calculating multiple item shipping discounts.  So if you don't wait for your seller's combined invoice, the calculator will likely quote a higher rate than what your seller would offer you.  If you don't want to wait for invoicing, and go ahead and pay, then the seller may take the initiative and offer you a refund of the excess at his discretion, but he is not obligated to do so.  You may, however request a refund; many sellers will be happy to oblige, but I can't guarantee that you will get a refund.  If a discount is that important to you, you should wait for invoicing before you pay, or request a total.  To request a total, click the "Pay Now" button, but instead of paying, click, "Request Total."

Always be sure to warn a seller who is treating you unfairly that you will leave negative feedback for him, but be careful not to cross the line into feedback extortion.  Feedback extortion is when you threaten to leave a negative (or to get others to leave a negative) if the seller doesn't provide a product or service that wasn't included within the listing description.  So never tell your seller that if they're going to charge that much they'd better give you free insurance or you'll leave a negative; if you do, they can report you. 

eBay unfortunately doesn't mediate disputes between buyer and seller regarding shipping.  They will only remove listings which have been reported for excessive shipping, and usually will only do so if it is excessive in the extreme.  Ultimately, sellers are accountable buyers for their shipping practices.  And we as buyers are the ones who will keep them honest, with our buying practices and feedback.

Anyway, it's just bad business practice to gouge in the shipping, whether for one item or for many.  Any seller who does this isn't likely to be a seller on eBay for very much longer.  Before long he'll have a huge splash of red on his feedback rating and no return buyers.  He may even be suspended as a user, or kicked off eBay entirely.  The smart way is to offer fair shipping totals, both singly and combined, because that results in happy customers, positive feedback and repeat business.

In summary, it's always important to read the description in full before committing to your purchase.  If the seller explicitly states his policies, and you don't like those policies, it's best to go elsewhere rather than purchase the item and get in a fight with the seller.  If the seller does not explicitly state his policies, he effectively has no policies, but that won't save you in the instance of a dispute.  The safe route is to be knowledgable about eBay's policies, the seller's policies, and the postal rates, and when in doubt, ask questions.