The INR claim hits at 11 PM. The buyer says it never arrived. You don't have the tracking number off the top of your head, you're not sure if you insured it, and you can't remember which shipping method you used because it was one of forty packages you shipped last week. You start scrolling through receipts on your kitchen counter.
Every serious eBay seller has this moment. The ones who've been doing it long enough build a database before the next one.
The Financial Architecture Is the Point
SALE TOTAL calculates automatically: QTY SOLD × LIST PRICE (EACH) + SHIPPING COST. That's the gross collected from the buyer.
POCKETED TOTAL (AFTER SHIPPING) runs the parallel formula: QTY SOLD × LIST PRICE (EACH) - SHIPPING COST. That's your net before eBay and PayPal fees — the number that tells you whether the item was actually worth listing.
The difference between those two calc fields is the shipping cost, which sits in the record alongside them. For a seller running fifty active listings with varying shipping rates, the Pocketed Total field immediately surfaces which listings are margin-negative after carrier costs. A $12 item shipping First Class to CA costs $5 — you're working for $7 before fees. That math doesn't always reveal itself until you run it in a structured record rather than estimating it in your head.
Tracking From Label Print to Doorstep
TRACKING # (IF ANY) stores the number as a value. TRACKING # BARCODE SCAN captures it via camera scan from the label — the faster method when you're processing fifteen packages at the Saturday USPS window with a line behind you. The barcode field and the manual entry field are redundant by design: whichever you use first, the other confirms it.
SHIPPING METHOD (USPS, FedEx, UPS, LaserShip, Local Pickup, Seller Delivers) and INSURED (Yes/No) are the two fields that answer the INR claim immediately. If the item was insured via USPS Priority Mail and you have the tracking number in the record, the dispute resolution path is clear. If it shipped First Class without insurance at the buyer's request, that's a different conversation. The fields tell you which conversation you're having.
EXPECTED DELIVERY DATE sets the window. Combined with the tracking number, it's the first thing you check when a buyer opens a case before the expected date has passed.
Buyer and Shipping Address Separation
The dual address structure — Buyer Address and Shipping Address with a SHIPPING ADDRESS SAME AS BUYER ADDRESS radio — handles gift purchases and drop-ship arrangements without ambiguity. When those addresses differ, both are in the record. The BUSINESS NAME field under the shipping section handles B2B buyers who ship to a company address.
BUSINESS/RESIDENCE classification (in both buyer and shipping address sections) matters for carrier pickup scheduling and insurance rate calculations. USPS commercial rates apply differently than residential, and some carriers add residential surcharges that eat into the margin on heavy items.
The EBAY ID field is the cross-reference that lets you pull a buyer's full purchase history when they file their second claim in three months — and it's the field that makes that pattern visible before you ship to them a third time.