Targeted Listing Indexing Issues (Patrick Mahomes)

[864_cards]

As a longtime eBay seller who focuses on sports cards, I've experienced the eBay indexing delay for the first time in the last week. Curiously, I've found the indexing issue seems to be specific to one player. 

I discovered this when I listed a fairly high-value Patrick Mahomes card several days ago, and it didn't immediately appear in my store. I contacted eBay and it was explained to me that it was an issue with indexing. 

At first I thought the listing price might have flagged the item, so I let it go, and it took several days to get the card in the store. But in the interim, I discovered the more than ten other Mahomes cards I had listed had completely disappeared from my inventory. When I asked eBay about this, I was told there was no explanation because I couldn't provide an item ID (which I couldn't provide).

Meanwhile, every other item I list shows up within a couple of minutes in search and in the store. 

So tonight, I decided to relist all the cards that had disappeared from my inventory, and sure enough, none of them are indexing immediately. As a test, I listed a Freddie Freeman card, and it showed up immediately. 

It feels fairly obvious there is something in the eBay system that is, for lack of a better word, throttling Mahomes cards (and maybe others, but I have no evidence of that). 

I will accept that since the NFL season is starting and Mahomes is among the most popular players that many sellers are probably listing their Mahomes cards at the same time. And I suppose I can accept that indexing delays happen when many people are trying to list similar items or similarly-titled items. 

Nevertheless, I've not ever experienced something just like this, and I'm curious if anyone else has received any better explanation than the one I've just created for myself, since eBay basically offered little more than a shrug emoji. 

I will say that this issue does significantly alter selling strategies, and I wonder if there is an indexing queue and if it's first-come first served or if other sellers get priority. 

Any info much appreciated!

[khetzel]

I can only offer my field report.  I clicked on your listings directly from your post above and saw a Mahomes card as the second item.

I clicked on filter and searched within your listings for "Mahomes" and got nada zilch nothing not even the authenticated one I saw at first.

So you are correct, but I don't know the workaround to find anything.

[wastingtime101]

I've seen delays with items that have a higher chance of counterfeits, especially when high value. Could be something with the market that's flagging that player and causing eBay to do a more thorough review before letting listings go live.

I've also seen delays based on dollar amount, seller performance, new sellers, etc. There are a lot of criteria involved.

Bottom line: as long as your listings are getting through within the 24 hour index time stated in the policy pages I wouldn't worry about it.

[864_cards]

Appreciate you taking the time to field test it for me. It's sort of frustrating, and having dealt with a lot of things that don't make sense within the system, I know I'll run into these from time to time. It's still sort of crazy to me, but I'm glad it's not just me realizing something is slightly off-normal. 

[wastingtime101]

I see 2 of your listings come up when I search Mahomes.

This Germaine Pratt card has 4 player names in the item specifics including Mahomes so it's erroneously coming up in search: 115846082474

@864_cards 

[864_cards]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, and I hear you all the way. As a longtime seller (and one who has ramped up a lot in the last three years), I've jumped a lot of different hurdles. I keep thinking I've jumped the last one and learned the last lesson, but I guess, a lot like life, there is always going to be another hurdle in the eBay system. 

If it had just been my one semi-pricey item (it's relatively low to the market), I would've let it go entirely, but when it became all items with the Mahomes name in them, it threw me a little bit. So, I think your explanation about a high-volume name hitting the marketplace at one time probably makes the most sense. 

I just wish eBay would say that rather than all of us having to read between the lines. 

Regardless, thanks for taking the time to reply and make me feel less crazy. 

[864_cards]

Thanks for that heads-up. That was clearly me using an existing listing and failing to check the item specifics at some point. 

I'll be curious to see how quickly the ten Mahomes cards I listed earlier tonight show up compared to the immediate listing/indexing of everything else I put up. 

Thanks for looking out for me!

[wastingtime101]

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@864_cards wrote:

I just wish eBay would say that rather than all of us having to read between the lines. 

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They have a blanket statement in the policy pages saying it can take 24 hours for listings to index, so they really don't need to explain why some listings appear in 10 min and others 10 hours as long as it's all within that 24 hours. It's only a red flag if your listings aren't appearing beyond that timeframe.

[wastingtime101]

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@864_cards wrote:

Thanks for looking out for me!

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Any time, man. Thanks for realizing I was looking out for you and not criticizing you. 👍

[midwestkollectibles]

They are doing the same thing with Tom Brady cards.  I would call ebay and demand some sort of CREDIT for every minute this card is suppressed.  Sellers are losing money because ebay wants to give an excuse about indexing, when it has to do with supposed counterfeit cards being sold on the platform.  DEMAND SOME SORT OF CREDIT. 

[brightlightbookseller]

That's...not going to happen.  eBay covers themselves with a 24 hour time limit to begin showing listings, as has been noted, and none of these are taking longer than that that I can see.

[sabrecards]

You are definitely not the only person experiencing this.  I have started a live chat 3 different times and been told the same 24-48hr indexing delays.  I have only experienced these delays with Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady cards.  All other listings seem to go live immediately.  It's not a huge deal when they are Buy It Now listings, but when you have 7 day auctions that are really now only 5 day auctions , it can be very frustrating.

[thatseventiescardstore]

They shouldn't claim the listings are live when they are not. When they actually appear in your store is when you should get the email saying they are live. Not when they list.

[wastingtime101]

Tagging @ossay-8884 : I saw your post on the mentor board here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Patrick-Mahomes-card-listings/m-p/34087965#M542758

Read above discussion for more info.

[thelongball]

Add another name to the list as I had some $3.00 Micheal Jordan cards go into index mode last week. They weren't even High dollar cards.