eBay

megclectic · ‎04-29-2018

For the second time this month, I have been faced with a situation involving multiple-variation listings that I created last year. I had several pairs of new boots. I created a single listing with variations for the various sizes available. A couple of them sold last fall. What I did not realize is that somehow, those sizes were again available for a customer to purchase, even though I had sold them and they were no longer in stock.

The first instance, I contacted the buyer, they confirmed that another size would not work for them, and I bought another pair for a higher price on Amazon and had them shipped to the buyer, to avoid cancelling the sale. I was, however, subject to a late upload of shipping information as it was a couple of days before Amazon provided that to me. End result, happy customer, I'm out some additional money.

Now, today, I find that a different product for which I had mutliple variations for sizes has had the exact same instance occur. I sold that size last year, it is no longer available, yet somehow a buyer has now purchased that size, and I am out of stock. I would prefer not to scramble to find another of this product and incur additional expense and impact to my shipping metrics.

Any advice or solutions here?

Thank you.

yuzuha · ‎04-29-2018

GTC multi-variation listings will relist with the original quantity for each variation unless you manually delete that variation from the listing. When you sell a particular size, just edit the listing to remove that variation from the options and you should be good.

megclectic · ‎04-29-2018

Thanks for the response! This is quite a surprise to me, as I've had it occur with a single non-mulitple variation item as well in the past, and was lucky enough to catch it before anyone purchased it again the second time. Looks like I have some serious inventory and listing comparisons to do today. Thank you again.

megclectic · ‎04-30-2018

Update, the option to delete these sizes that are no longer in stock is not available. I've attempted to check the boxes for the variations and click the delete button. Nothing occurs. Since that functionality is not responsive after several attempts, I'm ending my listings completly and starting over, as I'd rather not be at risk for another cancellation for having goods not in stock. Is there a setting I can adjust, as the seller, to not have sizes refresh and become available again when using GTC? Until then, I'll be manually managing every 30 days.

fern*wood · ‎04-30-2018

Your item was GTC and had rolled over without ever ending and being relisted?

I just looked at a variation listing I have had listed since last fall. One item sold in December and this listing has rolled several times and it carries over properly without me needing to adjust anything. It shows the sold item being removed from the options.

megclectic · ‎05-01-2018

Interesting, sounds like there is some inconsistency in how this is working. Yes, I've actually had it occur twice on two different listings with multiple variations. I also had a single, non-mulitple variation item re-list without my knowing it and thankfully I caught that one before someone purchased it again.

I see what you're saying, one of my listings had several variations become available again, and on the other, only part of them were displaying again. I'll admit I'm a little confused and concerned as to how to manage this since I've not found a consistent behavior on my listings.

orangehound · ‎05-01-2018

@yuzuha wrote:
GTC multi-variation listings will relist with the original quantity for each variation unless you manually delete that variation from the listing. When you sell a particular size, just edit the listing to remove that variation from the options and you should be good.

Just to be clear, I am assuming this is referring to a manual "relist" or "sell similar". This guidance is NOT true on automatic relistings.

orangehound · ‎05-01-2018

@megclectic wrote:

I'll admit I'm a little confused and concerned as to how to manage this since I've not found a consistent behavior on my listings.

I've never experienced what you are suggesting in this thread, but here is a check-and-balance that I use:

My eBay listed inventory levels are also tallied off-eBay. On your Seller Hub > Listings page, you see a total inventory value number at the top ... I check that about every other day against my local number. I do see descrepancies about 1-2 times a month, and every time it is an inventory accounting error on my side (typically not properly accounting for a return).