eBay

community_team · ‎10-12-2021

--Final Update, October 28--

The category changes announced in our Fall Seller Update have been completed.

Now that all category changes are complete, while you might still see some adjustments to searches, it is okay to update or edit your listings without concerns of losing data or having it moved again.

We appreciate your feedback on this roll-out. We'll continue to adjust the process based on the input we’ve received here, and we'll take all of these suggestions into consideration for future updates.

As this project is now complete the post is being locked from further comments.

Resources and observations

We’ve heard from you that updating your Item Specifics in time for the February 2022 requirement date may be a challenge.

A useful tool that may help is located in the Seller Hub under Listing>Active. There is a drop-down box labeled ‘Download’ which will generate an Excel document for ‘Missing Required or Recommended Item Specifics’. You can read more about this tool here.

Should you come across any inaccuracies within the new Item Specifics we ask that you report those directly to sdsupport@ebay.com so our team can investigate. Outside of that, please share suggestions as to changes you'd like to see going forward here, selecting the Categories and Item Specifics option.

---Update as of October 19th---

We apologize for this delayed update. Thank you for your patience while our teams worked to finalize category changes.

All listings have been moved to their final destination categories. You may now proceed with checking your categories, revising items, and updating item specifics where needed.

Some item specifics have been renamed, and the value you originally provided has been copied over to the new item specific, so you don’t need to re-add these item specifics. We encourage you to update your listings with item specifics that are showing as “Required Soon.” These will become required on February 22, 2022.

All other item specifics are either Recommended or Optional. Learn more about item specifics.

Some categories were retired and replaced by product-based categories. You and your buyers can still find the items you’re looking for. Simply browse to the product category of your choice and use the filters to refine your search.

More information about key category changes:

Dolls & Bears. The categories based on Brand/Material/Theme/Character/Franchise/Product Line/Type of doll have been retired. Former categories have been replaced by left-hand navigation filters in the new Dolls & Doll Playsets category. You can access the filters by browsing to the product category of your choice and using Brand/Vintage/Material/Theme/Character/Franchise/Product Line/Type filters to refine your search.

Pottery & Glass. The categories based on Brand/Origin/Production Style/Production Technique have also been replaced by filters. You and buyers can now filter by the Brand/Origin/Production Style/Production Technique/Time Period Manufactured.
Postcards. The categories based on Location/Theme/Subject have been retired and replaced with two main categories for Topographical and Non-Topographical postcards. The former categories have been replaced by left-hand navigation filters in the two new main categories. For example in Topographical Postcards, you can filter by Country and Region.

Jewelry & Watches. The categories based on Main Stone and Metal Type have been retired and replaced by product-based categories under Fine Jewelry. Use the filters for Main Stone and Metal to refine your search.

---Update as of October 14th---
The work continues on this move and is progressing according to plan. We are on track and anticipate all category changes for your listings to be complete by end of day tomorrow (10.15). Thank you for your patience while our teams implement these changes.

---Update as of October 13th---

We continue to work through this change and thank you for your patience as our teams work through it. We wanted to provide answers to some top concerns and questions:

Why are Gallery Plus fees being charged for items that were previously free?

We determined that a technical issue impacted a small number of listings, which resulted in incorrect charges (including Gallery Plus, subtitles, and insertion fees) for some sellers. The issue has been fixed and we will be crediting impacted sellers as quickly as possible. No calls to Customer Service are necessary as credits will be issued automatically.

The eBay Standard Envelope shipping option is grayed out and I can’t select it. When will the issue be resolved?

The eBay Standard Envelope shipping option issue resulted from the category changes update and has been resolved. eBay Standard Envelope is now available in applicable categories if your item meets the established criteria.

Should I edit my listings if they’re in the wrong category, have been moved to another category, or have wrong or missing item specifics?

No. Recent category changes require updates to many thousands of servers and data changes to nearly every aspect of our platform. This level of adjustment takes time, which is why we asked for your patience while the process runs. We expect most data updates to be completed within 48 hours, but can they take up to a week (i.e., through Oct. 19). After that, if you have an item specific in mind that you think would work well for your listing, please consider adding it as a custom item specific.

Why isn’t my item coming up in search?

The category change update is still in process. We anticipate search issues will resolve when we complete most data updates during the next 24-48 hours.

There are more item specifics now than ever before. Do I need to fill in all of them?

No. Item specifics that you have already filled in will be maintained as the category moves are completed during the next week. In addition, new soon-to-be-required item specifics are being added and will become required by Feb 22, 2022. As always, the more item specifics you fill out, the better visibility your listing has to buyers.

For Parts & Accessories, when will fitment/compatibility charts start working again?

There was an issue with parts compatibility not working properly as the category changes rolled out that has been resolved. You should now be able to see the options to add fitment compatibility when editing your listings.

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We’re updating some of our categories and item specifics to make your listings easier to find.

Starting October 12th, you’ll see updates to the following categories. Learn more about category changes →

Collectibles & Art

Jewelry

Musical Instruments

Parts & Accessories

Sporting Goods

As these updates go into effect, you may see temporary impacts to your listing experience or to the visibility of listings in the affected categories.

This is a result of listings transitioning to the updated item specifics and category structures. Your affected listings should return to normal within 48 hours, though you may see irregularities on some listings for up to a week. We recommend checking your item specifics and categories in affected listings after these updates are complete.

These updates also include new item specifics in the above categories, which will be required February 22, 2022. Starting today, these item specifics will be available as you list, with the “Required Soon” tag. Learn more →

Keep an eye on this page over the coming days—we’ll be sharing up-to-date information on affected categories and listings, and answering any questions you have.

xvoodoomanx · ‎10-21-2021

These postcard changes have been really tough. Irrelevant categorization etc and when listing postcards in the eBay App, the Ebay Standard Envelope is missing from Delivery Options.

egnatz1 · ‎10-21-2021

Always wanted a parking meter no wonder I could never find one they are considered topographical Pennsylvania postcards . lol

valeries_trunk · ‎10-21-2021

Aannndd... Oct. 21 & I STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED CREDIT FOR MY GALLERY PLUS FEES! Way to go eBay. This change is a world class disaster!

newlifeforoldstuff2 · ‎10-21-2021

Items I once sold easily on ebay do not sell here anymore. However they are doing GREAT on that other site that starts with the letter E. Better prices and no drama either.

newlifeforoldstuff2 · ‎10-21-2021

"CS rep and she said they are tracking these calls and that they are being “escalated” up." lol

Standard cs response. That and "we're working on it".

wrong66 · ‎10-21-2021

I think the CS rep you talked to was just blowing smoke to get you off the phone. It's likely they had no idea what you were even talking about. Wasn't in their "script".

krys888 · ‎10-21-2021

Oh. So, it was a total waste of my time to bother calling them and posting their response here? Wow. Ya’ll a tough crowd. Noted. What is the purpose of this community forum, just to complain? Doesn’t sound very helpful. I can get that on facebook.

vintagebarbies · ‎10-21-2021

The new category changes are still not working!

I have sold in the vintage pre-1973 Barbie category for almost 20 years. Buyers still can't look up vintage Barbies after the new changes have been completed.

If you go to ebay main page and click on Shop by Category / click on the Dolls & Bears / click on the Barbie Vintage Dolls photo / click on the Barbie in the box selection / you will get 1.3million listings, there is not that many vintage Barbie items on ebay. If you then click the Vintage box and click Yes you get 128k items. When you scroll down you see: Cabbage Patch, Strawberry Shortcake and many other random dolls. Also the Barbies you see are not vintage, they are new, not vintage.

Please ask the people in charge of these category changes to try looking up items in the categories they retired. Ebay said the changes will make it easier to find items, they will find the opposite is true. I am sure they will become just as frustrated as the other millions of buyers that are not able to find what they are looking for on ebay. My traffic is down more than 50% since 10/12/21, the only reason is because people can't find my items.

dollaround · ‎10-21-2021

So true, no clue about categories, vintage or new, character or item or more. People who have no idea about vintage items whether it be antiques, toys, trains, collectibles that are old, dolls, antique, vintage and modern and the varieties that one use to be able to easily find and browse, make changes to a system that apparently was working smoothly for most in buying and selling. Not to miss trying to sell and get exposure in the right area instead mixed with thousands of other mix-matched items. Forget about Barbie, what a mess it is to try to hunt for a vintage item such as holiday and then the specific holidays. Maybe they should allow one to put in the title of a listing a lot more so that if someone doesn't have a category specific area to look they can put in a variety of search names and hope that the area one is looking for is not filled with items that are unrelated which even with that you have to plow thru tons of unrelated items due to the new layout. For a time when life needs to be less complicated and enjoyable let's change things to be more complicated, bring down sales and business so people loose interest? In the end they hurt sellers as well as themselves. Ebay loves to make money thru various fees, etc. This is not the way to keep or draw new sellers. Whether they want to believe it or not, majority who are buyers and sellers of vintage items and new who use to have category specifics they could list under, have now lost sales and not just because of the economy. Many seem to find a way to balance buying to just capture something they enjoy from their past or something new. Save on gas, stay home and browse, enjoy and buy and sell on Ebay? Well, that has just fell by the wayside for many. Too bad, keep ruining things for everyone both in selling and buying which has been evident from this new Ebay dream of making things easier.

cadmium24 · ‎10-21-2021

I contacted eBay on October 7, after I noticed the Prints ('Art Prints') category was basically gone. That's all lithographs, etchings, silkscreens, etc. That was before the 12th, so eBay started changing the system or retiring categories before the Update day. The CS rep said she was seeing the same thing on her personal account - the Prints category was not as it should be. She said she was "escalating" the issue. She said I was the first to call about that and it wasn't a known issue that other users had reported up to that date. I agree with you that everybody should call (actually, you file for help on the site and an agent will call you), make their voice heard, and at least try to point out the problems. The agent can't fix the problems, but if eBay is flooded with complaints, maybe it'll get to the point where they can't ignore the situation. If eBay won't correct things, I think they should at least come up with Instruction Manuals as to how to find items that were once easily found. This is a serious problem. ~Chris

jamsionline · ‎10-21-2021

When are they going to fix the problems with multi-variation listings? Ever since the category changes we have been unable to edit the variations in our multi-variation listings. This is not due to receiving an error message or page - the link and page to edit variations is simply gone. We cannot change prices and we cannot change inventory levels. Already we have had items that we needed to mark as out of stock but couldn't that subsequently sold. Our suppliers have also increased prices, but we are unable to adjust the prices of these items. At best, we are making a fraction of the profit we should be making on these sales. At worst, we are losing a significant amount of money. And again, our hands are tied because it isn't even as though we can put these listings out of stock because we cannot edit them!

I have contacted customer service by phone and by chat multiple times in the last 10 days. Each time they insist that the problem will be fixed soon and yet here we are. I have been told that the volume of complaints is what will determine when this will be fixed. If anyone else is experiencing issues with multi-variation listings, please send customer service a chat or give them a call and let them know including a listing number. I know it may not make any difference, but it is the only thing we can do at this point.

dhbookds · ‎10-21-2021

@jamsionline wrote:
When are they going to fix the problems with multi-variation listings? Ever since the category changes we have been unable to edit the variations in our multi-variation listings. This is not due to receiving an error message or page - the link and page to edit variations is simply gone. We cannot change prices and we cannot change inventory levels. Already we have had items that we needed to mark as out of stock but couldn't that subsequently sold. Our suppliers have also increased prices, but we are unable to adjust the prices of these items. At best, we are making a fraction of the profit we should be making on these sales. At worst, we are losing a significant amount of money. And again, our hands are tied because it isn't even as though we can put these listings out of stock because we cannot edit them!

I have contacted customer service by phone and by chat multiple times in the last 10 days. Each time they insist that the problem will be fixed soon and yet here we are. I have been told that the volume of complaints is what will determine when this will be fixed. If anyone else is experiencing issues with multi-variation listings, please send customer service a chat or give them a call and let them know including a listing number. I know it may not make any difference, but it is the only thing we can do at this point.

velvet@ebay

We are getting more than a few "problems" like this one reported........could we get a pinned thread for Revision Problems to see how widespread stuff is? I started to start one.......but Khoros will move it to the Tech board.......and the traffic there is minuscule compared to the selling board.........and sellers are the ones who will encounter the problems........

mightymouse · ‎10-21-2021

Easiest fix is to list in just 2 or 3 category's only and when they get over run with not related items maybe they will fix them them

yesterfun · ‎10-21-2021

Vintagebarbies, you are so right about vintage Barbie items being harder for Ebay buyers to find. On the "Ebay for Business" Facebook page, an Ebay employee posted a response a few days ago to complaints about not being able to easily browse the vintage Barbie pre-1973 category. She said that in the new system we can find the vintage Barbie items by using the left hand margin to filter the search results. She said, to narrow it down, perhaps you can try clicking on the time period "1960-69". But in real practice it takes A LOT of extra time to do that. You have to scroll far down on the left hand margin, and then you cannot even direct click on "1960-69" . Instead, you have to click on "More Refinements" at the bottom of the filters, then that takes you another screen, where you will find "time period" near the bottom of a list of more filters.

And oh, before you click on "More Refinements" you can click on "Vintage -- Yes". Of course I'll click on that, but then I have to wait for the search results from that click before I can do anything else. (At least on my Windows PC.) So to get to "1960-69" I think it's at least 4 clicks, and waiting for search results from those 4 clicks.

Before, all you had to do was to search in the "vintage Barbie pre-1973" category, or Francie category, or Ken, Skipper, etc. It definitely takes more time to do it the new way. Most buyers will not want to spend extra time waiting for all these clicks.

The views are way down on my vintage Barbie listings too. One of my rare items only has 4 views since Monday. Just confirming what everyone else is saying!

fern*wood · ‎10-21-2021

@yesterfun wrote:
So to get to "1960-69" I think it's at least 4 clicks, and waiting for search results from those 4 clicks.

Before, all you had to do was to search in the "vintage Barbie pre-1973" category, or Francie category, or Ken, Skipper, etc. It definitely takes more time to do it the new way. Most buyers will not want to spend extra time waiting for all these clicks.

The views are way down on my vintage Barbie listings too. One of my rare items only has 4 views since Monday. Just confirming what everyone else is saying!

Ebay loves clicks. Most changes over the last few years have proven that. Just look at the seller hub. They feel if it is in there somewhere (regardless of how many clicks it takes to find) then all is well.