How to Invoice a Customer on eBay (Step by Step)

Sending an invoice on eBay is straightforward once you know where the option lives. It is most useful for unpaid items, combined shipping scenarios, and situations where you need to adjust the price or shipping before the buyer checks out.

Why You Would Send an eBay Invoice

eBay buyers can check out and pay directly after purchasing, so invoices are not always necessary. But there are four common situations where sending an invoice makes sense:

1. The buyer has not paid. After a sale, buyers have 4 days to complete payment (unless you use immediate payment required). If they have not checked out, sending an invoice is a prompt.

2. Combined shipping. A buyer won multiple auctions or purchased several items and wants to pay one shipping charge. Send a combined invoice to merge everything and adjust the shipping total.

3. Correcting the shipping cost. If the listed shipping was estimated and the actual cost is different, an invoice lets you update the amount before the buyer pays.

4. Applying a discount. If you agreed to offer a buyer a discount outside the listing, the invoice is where you apply it.

Step-by-Step: Sending an Invoice on eBay

From My eBay (Classic View):

1. Log in to your eBay account
2. Go to My eBay → Selling → Sold
3. Find the item you want to invoice
4. Click the dropdown arrow next to the buyer’s username
5. Select Send Invoice
6. On the invoice page:
   • Adjust the shipping and handling amount if needed
   • Add any discount in the “Discount” field
   • Update the payment method if necessary
   • Add a personal message to the buyer (optional)
7. Click Send Invoice

eBay sends the invoice to the buyer’s email address and it also appears in their My eBay messages.

From Seller Hub:

1. Go to Seller Hub → Orders
2. Find the order (filter by “Awaiting payment” if needed)
3. Click the three-dot menu or the order dropdown
4. Select Send Invoice
5. Follow the same adjustment steps as above

Sending a Combined Shipping Invoice

If a buyer has won multiple auctions or bought multiple Buy It Now items and wants combined shipping:

1. Go to Sold items
2. Check the boxes next to all items from the same buyer
3. Click Send Invoice (it will appear as a batch action when multiple items are selected)
4. Adjust the total shipping to reflect combined shipping
5. Send

The buyer receives one invoice showing all items with a single shipping charge. This is especially important for buyers who paid separately by mistake — contact eBay support to reconcile in that case.

Sending a combined invoice before a buyer pays is the cleanest way to handle multiple-item sales. Once a buyer pays separately for each item, refunding and re-billing the shipping is a more complicated process.

What You Can and Cannot Modify on an eBay Invoice

You can change:

• Shipping and handling amount
• Discount or additional charge
• Personal message to the buyer
• Payment methods accepted

You cannot change:

• The item price (after a sale, the price is fixed)
• The item itself
• The buyer’s identity

If you made a pricing error and need to cancel and relist, that is a separate process from invoicing.

When the Invoice Option Is Not Available

The “Send Invoice” option may not appear in certain situations:

• The buyer has already paid — no invoice needed
• The listing used “immediate payment required” — buyers are forced to pay at checkout
• The sale is through a Promoted Listings or promoted channel with eBay-managed payments

For managed payments listings (which is now standard on eBay), invoicing still works the same way — the payment just routes through eBay’s managed payment system.

Following Up on an Unpaid eBay Sale

If a buyer has not paid and has not responded to your invoice, eBay’s process for non-payment is:

1. Wait until 4 days after the sale
2. Open an “Unpaid item case” through the Resolution Center
3. Wait 4 more days for the buyer to respond or pay
4. If no payment or response, close the case — eBay issues you a Final Value Fee credit and the buyer may receive an unpaid item strike

Do not leave negative feedback or communicate hostilely. eBay’s dispute process handles it, and the final value fee refund is the practical resolution for most non-paying bidders.

eBay Invoicing vs. Professional Services Invoicing

eBay’s invoice system is designed for product transactions on its platform — it only works within eBay’s ecosystem and only for completed sales.

If you sell services or run a business separate from eBay that involves custom quotes, proposals, or invoicing outside eBay’s system, you will need a separate invoicing tool for that work. Tools like Waco3 handle the full professional services workflow — from proposal to invoice — for freelance and service-based work that lives outside any marketplace.

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