eBay

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-19-2023

I'm trying to return to selling after a hiatus of about three years. I've found that eBay now requires me to fill in a bunch of item details that I never paid attention to before, and some of them are baffling.

Example: I'm trying to list an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 ti graphics card. The lister wants me to enter a "Chipset/GPU Model." In other cases I've observed that the "Chipset/GPU Model" is the same as the card's name, but this card's name isn't in the list of accepted values. The closest match is "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9800."

If I go to ebay.com and search the "Graphics/Video Cards" category, though, there it is in the complete list of search filters: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 ti."

eBay is requiring me to enter information that it won't let me enter. What escape is there from this trap?

pennysdream · ‎03-20-2023

Hi I don't know anything about nothing you are selling. However. What I do with the specifics that do not have anything I am listing. Where possible I just put NA. If it is required. (some still are) I leave it blank. Then when it comes up to fix it. I click the ignore box. The item will come back on the list every time it relists.

Just my Two Cents...
Thank you for being here!
Penny

luckythewinner · ‎03-20-2023

@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
eBay is requiring me to enter information that it won't let me enter. What escape is there from this trap?

Many item specifics have a list of value, but you are able to click an option to add your own. I have no idea about what you are selling, but here is how you would add a custom Band name for a record that is not in the list:

m60driver · ‎03-20-2023

You are a returning seller after a long hiatus. Such a seller listing a graphics card will attract scammers. You have been forewarned. Also, Ebay will hold your fund from such a transaction for up to 30 days.

dirk12955 · ‎03-20-2023

Tagging on:

Item specifics draw lookers to your listings by matching your terms with the lookers search terms.

On those pesky items that don't apply, I type in "Does not apply"

If I don't know the info, I type "Unknown"

The more items specifics you use, the more your stuff will be seen.

duffy4444 · ‎03-20-2023

Yes, there are a lot of item specifics that I just roll my eyes at when I see them - and I just ignore those that are not important to a buyer's listing search parameters. The new listing details change happened within the last couple years while you were away from listing, and was forced upon us by a bunch of programmers who really went overboard in wanting us to cross every T and jot every I in our eBay lives, so that essentially every conceivable search detail is covered. Yes, it can be a PITA if you feel it is necessary to fill them all out.

Just fill out the item specifics details that are required. You may ignore any that are recommended, or fill out them if you wish to increase the search terms your buyers may use in order to see your item come up in their search. You may even add others that you think are important in a buyer's search of your particular item.

And remember to put as many important words possible into your item's title, and post it in the correct category... I see that as still the most important part of a buyer's search.

Cheers, Duffy

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-20-2023

I'm rather surprised that graphics cards are now scammer magnets. Can you say why? That was my primary line of business for at least a couple of years before I stopped selling, and I can't recall a single case where I was scammed.

I did have to deal with a probable scammer once, but the item they bought was a power supply.

bitsofsiliconvalley · ‎03-20-2023

To restate something that wasn't clear in my OP, I'm speaking only about item specifics that are required. I'm not concerned about optional ones.

I had a very confusing experience when I went back to add a custom value. There was no "add a custom value" option. (This is in Wonder Lister, but I assume it's programmed to reflect eBay's capabilities. It couldn't possibly reproduce all of this stuff in its own code.) I tried typing the product name directly into the "GPU Name" field, and it let me, but the red field label that Wonder Lister uses to indicate an error did not change color. Later I tried again and discovered that the name "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti" was now in the list; so was "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980," which is also a valid product name, but is not one I tried to enter. It's as if the list of product names "forgot" a few, and when I entered one of them, that reminded it of others. I do not understand what it's doing.

But I discovered another aspect of the problem that's equally serious: I'm also trying to list some books, and eBay requires me to specify each book's author. It gives me a list of "popular" authors like Agatha Christie and Henry David Thoreau. I sell mostly technical books; the likelihood that I'll ever list a book by one of those writers is close to zero. There's no "Add an author" or "Unknown" option. Apparently it's one of eBay's favorite authors or nothing.

I'll ask Wonder Lister about this, but it's hard to believe that they'd release software with a bug like this; still harder to believe that if they did, they'd let it stand for over a month. (Their last release was February 15.)

duffy4444 · ‎03-20-2023

I've never heard of "Wonder Lister". My comments were about listing directly on eBay's site. This 3rd party could be your problem, or exacerbating the listing details situation. I can't help you beyond my previous comment.

- Duffy

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-20-2023

I haven't used wonderlister but when I pretended to list a graphics card using ebay, there were 3 required specifics. When I clicked on 'Brand" there were a list of brands that came up but the very first box was blank and was used to 'search or enter your own' Each required item specific was set up the same way so I suspect that wonderlister must have something similar but perhaps it is a bit less obvious.

Some of the posters suggested using n/a in the recommended specifics fields that weren't pertinent to your product. Please don't do that. Just leave them blank as then they won't be visible to the buyer. The buyer will see each one that you added n/a to which just makes it harder for them to see the relevant specifics.

slippinjimmy · ‎03-20-2023

You should have mentioned Wonder Lister in the first place.

I'll ask Wonder Lister about this, but it's hard to believe that they'd release software with a bug like this; still harder to believe that if they did, they'd let it stand for over a month. (Their last release was February 15.)

I don't find it hard to believe AT ALL! I use SixBit rather than Wonderlister, they are very similar products but SixBit is much more established, likely has many more clients and charges more. The charging more really means they have more staff and are faster to update their program when eBay makes changes.

Most eBay charges only have minimal impacts on third-party tools but Item Specifics changes can be more problematic. Anytime eBay makes major structural changes the third-party providers are always scrambling to get caught up. Wonderlister is a pretty small operation so probably tend to be a bit slower.

In any event, when using third party tools for listing, if you have issues the first place to go is the third-party provider.

In the interim, if you can submit the listing via Wonderlister with some incorrect Item Specifics you could then go to eBay and revise/correct the listing there.

m60driver · ‎03-20-2023

@bitsofsiliconvalley wrote:
I'm rather surprised that graphics cards are now scammer magnets. Can you say why? That was my primary line of business for at least a couple of years before I stopped selling, and I can't recall a single case where I was scammed.

It is beyond my paygrade to know why, although I have me speculations. But there are countless threads here in this forum of new/returning sellers being scammed out of expensive graphics cards.