A "Ghost Listing" strikes again!
Just when I thought I'd seen the last of the "Ghost Listings" today I had another one. It's been some time since I've had one, I was hoping they were all gone now. I really hate having to cancel a sale for "out of stock" that I wasn't responsible for.
I wish I knew when that ebay glitch happened, I think it was 2017ish.
Have any of you been able to narrow down when the "Ghost Listing" glitch started?
61 comments
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoeBay has recently admitted there are some 'ghost' listing problems and we need to report them.
brightlightbookseller
·2 years agoI didn't have any ghost listings last time I checked, and I have a semi-automated way of checking (a spreadsheet that I can compare our listing titles to what we have on record being listed), but I did have several items I know we listed that weren't showing up. Less of an issue, perhaps, but when a $300 item is sitting on the shelf taking up space and eBay just doesn't have any record of it being listed, that's still a problem! We have experienced the ghost listing phenomenon before, just not this time that I checked.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI won't say that ghost litings DO or DON'T happen, just that it has never has happened to me in 20+ years.
I've also never seen a ghost in real life,
mamabeardsley
·2 years agoI have had two of these in the past week. They happen frequently enough despite eBay's insistence they don't. It's hard to track because the listings that magically reappear are often a year or so in the past. You can't simply search the sold listings to find if the item had been sold previously.
mamabeardsley
·2 years agoWhat exactly is the smarter move when these happen?
deltilogical
·2 years agoWhile I'm sure most of the time it is my own fault, I've seen too much weird stuff and I have some confidence in my work.
I see weird image issues where I loaded up an image in error, I deleted it, but when I see the saved listing, it shows the deleted image in the search results , but when I go into the listing itself, the correct image is retrieved. Considering the multiple layers the platform has to work through, all told it does a decent job these days.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI've never made a typo, ever.
They were all "ghost keystrokes" (or ebay glitches). 😉
flyingmvp
·2 years agoYes, It Happened to us multiple times with multiple accounts, on both One-of-a-kind listings and Multiple options listings.
They can't fix it, it is what it is, eBay.
Don't you love it when you report here on another issue (after selling here for 12-13-14 years) and other sellers tell you you're probably doing something wrong?
Love it.
movieman630
OP2 years agoThat's the human condition. There's always going to be someone telling you you're the one who's wrong. You could pick up a piece of trash on the sidewalk in a crowd and 1 or 2 people will say something negative about it. It's just how people are. Cabin in the mountains looks better and better every day. 😉
Unavailable member
·2 years agoNah, people telling you you are wrong are those that want you to figure out how to prevent these so-called ghost listings. The human condition part would be people that think something going wrong is always someone else’s fault, and they look for a shadowy figure to blame.
I don’t want to get into the math, but it wouldn’t be that hard to demonstrate just how unlikely these ghost listings are. If you have some sellers with hundreds or thousands of items for sale, that have been selling for five, 10, 15, 20, 25 years, without ghost listings, and select sellers that seem to have them every few months or every few weeks, that tells you everything you need to know about the existence of so-called ghost listings.
regardless, let us pretend that ghost listings are a real thing. Perhaps some sellers have a better way to head them off. Does it make more sense and does it really get to a solution to just shake your fist at the sky? Or, does it make sense and would it work to figure out how to avoid getting these so-called ghost listings? Me, I’ll take the path of optimism where we actually control our own destinies.
yuzuha
·2 years agoYeah, this is the reason that makes me think that it's some sort of seller error. Most sellers never get any ghost listings at all, but then others seem to get them on a somewhat regular basis-- if it were really some sort of glitch or database error, it would be happening at random, not to the same people over and over again.
inhawaii
·2 years agoI've never seen a ghost.
I'm told it's because I don't believe in them.
I've never had a ghost listing.
Maybe it's because I don't believe in them either?
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoDatabases update and are not infallible - there will be events happening, this is one. It's simply not that hard to understand. 🙄
Unavailable member
·2 years agoMaybe. But why do they fail over and over again on select sellers? Reminds me of a friend that always seems to think that police are targeting him with faulty speed guns. Maybe he’s right - and I can’t prove that he isn’t. But seems to me that if that never happens to me, and we drive in the same areas, maybe that is more about how he drives.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoIt's not 'select sellers' - it's a scattering of sellers throughout many thousands - some here happen to report it, others have not experienced it. It's the nature of the beast. You may never experience it, or you may. But a DB error is not a rare nor is it a complex concept. Back in my corp days I helped run a small server farm for a busy tech documentation company, and one of our most pesky problems was data loss and file duplication. It didn't happen often, but when it did it was frustrating. I'm not even seeing an argument here because I know this kind of thing happens.
robbie31415
·2 years agoDatabase errors do happen.
So does human error.
Probability wise "ghost listings" are most likely due to human error.
"It's simply not that hard to understand 🙄"
artforartsaketoo
·2 years agoProperly coded databases are generally stable and reliable, says me, a 30 year Computer System Manager. How often do you have issues with your bank website? Probably only when you've had your account hacked, or been scammed on the web or in person. Yet, bank account websites, generally and broadly, keep a pretty accurate total of how much money you have on deposit with them. So, this fallibility claim is pure nonsense.
It IS hard to understand why after so many years of Ghost Listings and account defects as a result that eBay has not only been unable (and possibly unwilling) to resolve the coding defect that's caused this problem, why haven't they followed through on their many promises (to me) to fix the coding issue?
I've been with eBay as a Seller since 1997, and now this issue with Ghost Listing induced defects may end up costing me my account and the $40K to $80K income I've been able to live on over those years. Add to that, the the Arbitration Department has not responded to my Arbitration Request after they received it via Certified Mail over a month ago, there has been no response from their legal department, again after sending them a copy of the arbitration request, and nothing from the Office of the President Jamie Iaonne on the same account.
So, explain to me how being stonewalled when following the procedures required to resolve defects as stated in the User Agreement that this is "easy to understand?
trici_2892
·2 years agoSo who loses the money. I do because they relisted a vintage irreplaceable item that already sold 3 months previous and refund had to be sent to buyer.
broto_64
·2 years agoSome people firmly believe the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot are real, too.
Firmly believe, you can not convince them otherwise, they will argue with you to the death.
Same with socks disappearing in the clothes dryer, they don't truly disappear.
Mismatched Tupperware lids and containers, it's not an actual mystery.
To all of that there exists a simple explanation that has nothing to do with any otherworldly goose bump raising stories.
Mental blank spot I'll believe, I get those.
Just a few weeks ago I could NOT remember my password to the password manager, which I've used daily for a good decade... Took me days before it suddenly came back to me, what happened?
Mental blank spot.
Inventory issues, something with quantity 5 only had 4, perhaps (as I sometimes do) a seller actually "used" one of the items for themselves (or sold or gave away one outside of ebay) and never adjusted the quantity for sale. Doesn't remember doing it is a big part of this. Completely oblivious too, such as entering 2 instead of 1 because 1 and 2 are right next to each other (especially on phones, "fat fingered")...
Being unaware of having done it, I had a driver some years ago hit my car, while turning, barely bumped it but still made contact... The driver never knew it, denied it 100%, called me crazy. Then when I showed them the damage (which again was minor) and then showed them on their car oh... They got in their car, put it in gear and sped off (granted that's another story). The point is: People commit mistakes they're never aware of, and yes it can happen time and again.
Some of us who never have ghost listings, and/or those of us who do not believe in the Loch Ness monster and the big foot... Do not argue, it is a waste of time. Is it fabrication or delusion, who knows, but it is reality to those who firmly believe.
I will say this, if I ever have a "ghost listing" it is definitely in my best interest to look at my methods. 100% the fault lies within, or blame it on the mysterious ebay gremlins which will result in it happening again. Which perhaps is the whole reason why it keeps happening to the same people?
A selling "glitch" is something that ultimately must happen to every seller.
This isn't a glitch any more than this conversation resurfacing every so often.
It is easier to blame it on the nameless, faceless, something out there.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoIn much the same way those who claim it's operator error and they've never had one so it doesn't happen are also impossible to convince.
Even though ebay reps have admitted it happens, but can't pin down how or why, and it's a "glitch" that's seemingly impossible to replicate.
robbie31415
·2 years agoIf I ever make a mistake with inventory (which I haven't yet) I will just claim ghost listing.
How would I be proven wrong.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoYou usually know the type of mistake you MIGHT make.
Relisting an item that sold over a year ago doesn't seem like a user error to me.
rockyroadtradingpost
·2 years agoAgree, I'm a hobby seller with few listings -- so my listings are easy to monitor -- and I've had this happen 2-3 times.
movieman630
OP2 years agoMaybe it's related to the Mandela effect.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoEver agree with someone just to end argument? I have, we all have. That’s what eBay did - they couldn’t find a “glitch†or “bug†to fix.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoOr, they know it's a problem but they don't know how to fix it.
It's not hurting them, so I don't think they'll do much to fix it.
yuzuha
·2 years agoHeck, I had one literally just the other day. I got in a box of new crane game prizes and one of them was from a particular series of figures that I already have a couple others of listed. I did a "Sell Similar" from one of said listings, forgetting that I had initially had two of that particular figure and had sold one several months ago. I didn't think to check the quantity before making the new listing go live because I had genuinely forgotten that I had originally had two of the figures that I had done the "Sell Similar" from.
It wasn't until I was looking over the listings I had posted that evening a few hours later that I went "Wait... why is that one saying 'Quantity: 2'?" Oops.
steve_stuff
·2 years agoSorry but the only ghosts that actually exists haunt ebay.
We had 10, 15 on this account over a two year period but none in last two plus years. On other account two or three over same period and then none. Other id's never.
BUT
In 2014 a friend opened an account to sell his records. In 2019 sold the last of them off ebay, cancelled and deleted all active and deleted all unsold and even the stuff on the sold ... I mean ordered list. Signed out of account and never went back. Was going to close account but never did.
In 2022 he got a question about his active listing, a record he sold in 2017 according to the 'your item sold' email [he kept them all]. Ended and this time closed account.
steve_stuff
·2 years agoI knew I shouldn't have temped? angered? the ebay gremlins - Two days ago I posted about our friend's ghost listing and mention that we haven't had one on this id in two plus years ... until today.
This morning I used the scheduled page to get to the message one, then right clicked the left arrow to go back and realized that the count had gone up one. Went thru them one by one and found a relisting of something sold last August that we had two of. After version one sold we changed the photo and the part about 'No cut out hole or writing on label' to 'Has' and 'and', then relisted with the other non sellers from that group five weeks later. Version two has been relisted two/three times since and now both are on scheduled list. So caught it before it went live ... 'funny thing' is the version two listing was the one marked as the duplicate and so wouldn't have been shown - so if the record had sold we didn't have that copy anymore.
Got it all straighten out ... for now.
movieman630
OP2 years agoLooks like it might happen when ebay does something with updates. That's why it comes in waves.
squinkercat59
·2 years agoIt's happened to me a few times also. I do not have multiple listings, all my items are singles only. Every week for years now, I run this handy duplicate finding tool:
https://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/DuplicateListings.htm
I have no duplicate listings, and yet it still does happen occasionally. Something will sell that has been long gone. It's an admitted glitch, has been for years, that they just don't fix.
rockyroadtradingpost
·2 years agoThanks for that link. I don't have many listings, but just ran it because on occasion I've had recent Sales pop up in my Listings again.
I take it "Error: >>" means there are no duplicates?
sumsum70
·2 years agoI would never OOS a ghost listing. There's a much smarter move.
movieman630
OP2 years agoYes, which is?
broto_64
·2 years agoAnd what is that, blame it on the buyer via "problem with address / buyer asked to cancel?"
gamersbaystore
·2 years agoWhy cancel for being out of stock when ebay screwed up? I refuse to do so. If its ebay's error, then its their problem to fix, not ours. No one should be taking hits to their accounts for ebay's mistakes.
movieman630
OP2 years agoYou really don't have any choice when someone buys something and you can't fill the order.
ten_o_nine
·2 years agoMay help explain.
eBay Punishes Sellers for What Are Being Called Ghost Relists (ecommercebytes.com)
Unavailable member
·2 years ago100% seller error. Understandable with a high number of listings. But still just plain old seller inventory management.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoGhost listings are an actual phenomenon and quite a few of us have been hit with them. I even traced one of them and located when it had occurred, and was also able to actually track one from the time it recurred to the time I had to cancel it (period of 10 days). Fortunately, they are not frequent.
My theory is a database event. One thing I do know (and verified with my investigations) is that they do NOT show up in one's local listings, only on the site, so unfortunately, doing inventory does nothing to help it.
movieman630
OP2 years agoYes... I knew I wasn't the only one. I've never taken the the time to "investigate" exactly how it happened other than to look back in my records and find when something sold.
The thing that most annoys me is when it counts against our stats. I take a lot of care to try and keep my stats clean and when I have to cancel an order because of a "glitch" it's really a bummer.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI investigated two I had had over time because I couldn't figure out what was going on (it was an actual investigation, I took some time over it - it's the operations manager in me). I'll take responsibility for being stupid and relisting accidentally or not taking down a sold listing from another site, but the last one was a mouse I had sold 10 days previously. It sold on its first listing and I only had the one - there was no other listing I could have duplicated save that sold one, which would not be in my unsolds file. There was no mouse in my store at that time. Then bam - up pops a sale on this same mouse.
Some years back eBay did admit that these listing glitches did happen from time to time.
ten_o_nine
·2 years ago@chapeau-noir
Some years back eBay did admit that these listing glitches did happen from time to time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wonder who admitted? Some CSR? or a credible person.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoIt was one of the mods, called "pinks" in those days. It just stuck in my mind that they said this did happen so I felt somewhat vindicated, even though this ghost listing thing happens to me very seldom. I'm actually not surprised that this *does* happen, either - a system may be 99.9% accurate, but that 0.1% in a DB this big will be noticeable. It's not a "didn't happen to me therefore it does not exist" situation - it's simply periodic and random, and easy to confuse or second guess.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoPlenty have them - no doubt. On occasion, someone will come here to complain about ghost listings, and we can find obvious duplicate listings. Another source is a seller just having the wrong quantity in a listing. Dulpicates are easier to create than some would imagine.
Regardless, sellers with “ghost listings†should ask themselves why so many sellers never have them. A “glitch,†over time and number of listings, is going to be spread out fairly evenly. Those with even occasional - ahem - ghost listings would be better off focusing on what they are doing wrong, not a supposed glitch that affects a minority of sellers.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoSorry, but fixing eBay's database so they don't happen is beyond my pay grade. 🙄
movieman630
OP2 years agoSome of us have been here for decades. Stick around a while longer and you'll eventually find out. I don't think I had my first run in with this until I'd been around for like 10 years and had thousands of listings and sales.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoI’ve been selling for over 20 years. Plenty of ID’s, plenty of listings. Never had a ghost listing. Ever.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI respect your time on here, but just because you haven't experienced it doesn't mean it does not exist.
movieman630
OP2 years agoI've never been mugged, doesn't mean other's haven't.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoIt does happen.
I think I had about 3 of them years ago.
psfhobbies
·2 years agoWonder if its done intentionally to make a persons "performance" lower so no extra benefits can be had?
movieman630
OP2 years agoIt's not though. I only sell on ebay and once a listing sells that's it. I don't ever relist from my sold page. I always run GTC listings and update them once a year. There's NO way I could re-list an item that was sold. And I don't sell these items off ebay.
If it was my fault I would take responsibility, trust me. I've thought about how it could happen and the only way is for it to be a glitch.
This isn't the first time. This has been an on and off again with GTC listings for years. I've seen this happen for the last 8-10 years for sure.
yuzuha
·2 years agoI'm of the same mind. Over 3k listings and I've never had a single one, but I have come close a few times because I've done "Sell Similar" on an old listing and forgotten that the quantity of the old listing was set to more than one. If I hadn't caught it and corrected it, it would be easy to think that it was a "ghost listing" if the item sold more than one.
gamersbaystore
·2 years agoNot seller error, ebay messes up listings like this all the time. I've had situations where literally every item sold was still listed for sale.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoAbsolutely not!
I've had it happen only once but there's no way this was seller error. My sale of the item had been over 2 years prior to the ghost item sale.
mamabeardsley
·2 years agoI don't think so. It;s happened to me on a number of occassions and I did not re-list or double list the items.