Why are the categories still so messed up?

[decadeslostvintage]

I am so confused by the way the categories are categorized. Mainly why is everything lumped into a few general categories. I just updated a very nice art glass sculpture with it being listed in the categories Art-Sculptures and Pottery & Glass-Decor Pottery & Glassware Sculpture but when I look at the listing it shows Home & Garden-Home Decor as the main category. Why lead people on thinking they are listing in their chosen category? Get it straight and fix the categories so what we see when we are listing an item and what a customer sees when they are searching match. The categories now have so many  inconsistencies . For example the Art-Sculpture category I chose is NOT SHOWN anywhere in the Home & Garden or Home Decor categories. Pottery & Glass is but only when you click the down arrow to show the categories included on Home & Garden's main page. Once you click see all in Home Decor and go to it's designated page guess what category is MIA. It doesn't make sense. I know this is your platform to change and re-arrange how you see fit but do it so it is uniform across the entire site with no grey areas. It makes the web site seem undone. And lastly can you please change the Pottery & Glassware Sculpture to Pottery & Glass Sculpture. Glassware is primarily used for drinking, eating etc. and are not sculptures. 

[katzrul15]

@decadeslostvintage 

Great post, btw.

Unfortunately, no one at e-Bay is here on the forums to "read" what you post.  If only......

Last monthly "general" chat was in March 

Monthly Discussion with eBay Staff - The eBay Community

This month 's not a general one coming up

velvet@ebay 

How best could these category suggestions get shared with that e-Bay team?

[completepuzzle]

Toys & Hobbbies is in Toys & Hobbies. Been like that for months.

[luckythewinner]

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@decadeslostvintage wrote:

I am so confused by the way the categories are categorized. Mainly why is everything lumped into a few general categories.

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I suspect it is because eBay wants sellers and buyer to rely on item specifics for searches rather than categories. 

[tealt]

@decadeslostvintage 

I noticed the same thing happening to me in June.

I went to one of my listings, and the categories’ bread crumb trail at the top of the listing page was like nothing I’ve ever seen—particularly when I listed the item. It had been listed in Antiques but moved into Home & Garden and was declared to be American in origin.  Unfortunately, it was a piece of English silver plate. I had specified England as the country of manufacture in IS when I listed.

Like you, I checked the category structure on the listing page for Home & Garden, and there was nothing even remotely close to what I was seeing on my listing.

But, it was summertime, and I went on vacation. I’ll sort this mess out in August.

if eBay is going to use IS to create categories invisible when items are listed, it would be nice of them to warn us sellers.

[mam98031]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

@decadeslostvintage 

Great post, btw.

Unfortunately, no one at e-Bay is here on the forums to "read" what you post.  If only......

Last monthly "general" chat was in March 

Monthly Discussion with eBay Staff - The eBay Community

This month 's not a general one coming up

velvet@ebay 

How best could these category suggestions get shared with that e-Bay team?

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The OP can't post this to the Monthly Chat until there is one on the topic of Categories.  The Monthly chats are now subject specific, so other questions are not suppose to be posted.  

We currently have no way to present these kinds of questions other than tagging someone from the Community team like you did above.

I miss the open Weekly Chats a great deal as I'm sure others do as well.

[velvet@ebay]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

@decadeslostvintage 

Great post, btw.

Unfortunately, no one at e-Bay is here on the forums to "read" what you post.  If only......

Last monthly "general" chat was in March 

Monthly Discussion with eBay Staff - The eBay Community

This month 's not a general one coming up

velvet@ebay 

How best could these category suggestions get shared with that e-Bay team?

---

Hey @katzrul15! While we aren't doing the weekly general chats anymore, the monthly one is always going to be themed. In the meantime, asking any question and tagging one of us is the best way to get help, rather than waiting around for a chat. 😊

I've passed @decadeslostvintage and @tealt's concern on to the relevant team and will follow-up with whatever I hear back from them. Thanks!

[velvet@ebay]

 Hi @decadeslostvintage and @tealt! I've been asked for a few examples of listings that were created in one Category and then moved to Home & Garden. If you don't mind sharing item numbers and/or links to where you are seeing the strange bread crumbs for categories here, that would be fantastic. 

[moo*cow*corner]

velvet@ebay 

I have some examples for you. ALL of my listings were created in Pottery & Glass.

Here's what I see on a draft listing, using the Advanced Listing Form.

Here's a live listing that was just started using that very same draft-

As you can see, the listing is clearly showing up as being in the Home & Garden category. You can look at any of my listings and get all of the items numbers that you'd like.

ALL of my listings show the same thing, but were created in Pottery & Glass. It matters because I do use Gallery Plus, which is free in P&G. Gallery Plus has a $1 charge when used in H&G. So far, I haven't been charged for that, but I'm keeping close watch, and I'm gonna be mad if they move my listings and then charge me for Gallery Plus.

Hope this helps, and I'm looking forward to hearing what ebay has to say about this change.

Than you for your time and effort in looking into this for us!

[tealt]

velvet@ebay 

my item number was 394039043191

In item specifics the item was designated as English Victorian.

it was originally listed in antiques: silver: silver plate.

When I went to print out the closed listing, I saw a breadcrumb trail that began in home & garden, had several sub categories, and included  an American sub category.

When I went to print the closed listing I was working on my laptop at home. I am currently on vacation in a rural area with only my cell phone and the ap, and can’t seem to pick up a category breadcrumb trail at all, so I can’t produce that entire weird breadcrumb trail for you.

[tealt]

velvet@ebay 

using Explorer rather than the app, I was able to view the very strange breadcrumb trail. It is:

Home & garden: Home decor: antiques: silver-plate: Silver antiques: US silver plated antiques: antique US silver plated baskets

trust me, no such category choice existed in home and garden when I listed this basket.

[velvet@ebay]

Thanks for those examples @moo*cow*corner and @tealt! I've passed them back on and will follow-up with anything I get back. 

[tealt]

velvet@ebay 

Thank you very much for following up on this.

I sincerely hope that strange category mutations will not occur when I start listing again in August.

Maybe my silver plated basket listing was caught in one of those double secret betas that sometimes occur unannounced on eBay?

[toysaver]

"I am so confused by the way the categories are categorized. Mainly why is everything lumped into a few general categories."

The only thing that makes sense to me is it must be cheaper for eBay to have fewer categories.   It's always about money.  

[tealt]

volsen@ebay.com 

velvet@ebay 

Thank you very much for researching this issue.

I am glad to hear that it is only a breadcrumb display issue.

It was quite unnerving to see that display and think that such a breadcrumb trail would affect buyers who were drilling down to search for an item within a particular category.

I can’t imagine why something like that would display on purpose. [Actually, I can imagine, but I won’t go into that here.]  So, it would be good if it were fixed.