Heads up - eBay's got a new AI tool in the wild and this one could have some interesting impacts on sellers!
I first saw it when browsing the UK site (which is why these screenshots are for UK), but even though there is not a yet a link in the navigation on the .com home page, I was able to extrapolate the link structure and find it is live on the US site as well and it works pretty much the same way there as in UK.
First, you choose an interest to personalize your feed - for now only clothing categories are available, but eBay says new interests across Home Decor, Collectibles and more are coming soon.
Once you've selected an interest, eBay populates a page with items discovered using AI.
Notice there are no titles or seller details shown, only a price and in some cases a brand name. 👀
It's not entirely clear what would cause the brand name to appear for some items and not others, as all the examples I looked at had the brand name item specific filled in on the listing page.
None of the results shown during this testing were labeled as "sponsored" so it would seem eBay is not yet including Promoted Listings ads in the feature, or if they are, they are not properly designated as such as legally required.
If you click on an item, it does not take you to the item page - it displays a quick view pop up window instead. (Side note - also interesting to note that in the UK, the quick view pop up only has a view details button and does not allow the buyer to go directly to checkout without looking at the listing, unlike the US...maybe a regulatory requirement difference?)
All of the thumbnails displayed in eBay Explore also have the "search visually similar" icon in the lower left corner, and clicking that icon will display more results that also do not show any titles or seller details.
So what do y'all think about the lack of title and seller info and the Quick View pop up?
I can see how this might potentially be useful for buyers to browse and discover items but I have to admit I personally don't really like that it pretty much strips sellers of the benefits of brand recognition for their stores or the ability to stand out with good titles or feedback rating showing in results. 😒
Interesting observation - today all items I'm seeing on both the US and UK versions are showing the brand in the main results (or unbranded/unknown/handmade if that's what is designated in item specifics).
So maybe yesterday it was still "learning" or I just caught it mid roll out.
Also played with choosing more than 1 interest.
And discovered something that might be of particular interest to clothing/accessories sellers who use mannequins - the "visually similar" functionality is obviously zeroing in on that somewhat unique bust and the result is all of these suggestions are from the same seller....do with that information what you will. 😉
I had a little time this morning, so I did some more exploring. I also see the brand displayed in the main results.
I successfully added and removed interests several times without getting the Oops error for the entire duration of time spent looking. Also worth noting, there were significantly fewer puffer jackets and heavy sweaters displayed. Maybe AI learned that my location and/or previous clicks showed that I am not interested in these items. I also saw more of the specific brand of item that I clicked on several times yesterday (Reformation).
Unfortunately, clicking on a different Reformation dress than the one I saw yesterday, I found it to be also out of stock.
I may have missed it, however, I did not see anywhere on the main (first) page a place to indicate the sizes I am interested in. So, the results show a variety of sizes that will not work for me. Have you found a way to indicate the sizes you are interested in?
