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Is there a way to save listings?
Summary: planepaulc asked about saving listings for seasonal items without losing them over time. gy35-18 suggested keeping seasonal listings as drafts or using listing software with saved templates like 3Dsellers. mam98031 pointed out that drafts last 75 days, while inactive listings can last up to 90 days or 6 months if using certain settings. hartungcards mentioned that revising drafts restarts their 75-day clock.
Is there a way to save my listings for a longer time? If I don't want to use all my listings at once, like seasonal specific items, is there a way to save them without losing them over time? Thanks!
21 comments
mod-paul
·2 weeks agoHi!
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hartungcards
·2 weeks agoI'm glad we're all so full of advice for this 2 year old post.
gy35-18
·2 weeks agoYes, you can keep seasonal listings as drafts instead of publishing them right away. That way you can come back to them when you’re ready without having to recreate everything from scratch.
If you have a lot of seasonal items, another option is using listing software with saved templates or drafts. I’ve used 3Dsellers for this and found it useful for keeping listings organized and reusing them when needed.
For just a few listings, eBay’s own drafts may be enough. For a larger inventory, I’d compare a few options and see which fits your workflow.
mam98031
·2 weeks ago@gy35-18 Yes this is a good way to keep some listings, however it is LESS time than if they are inactive. A draft can be kept for 75 days, an inactive listing is kept for up to 90 days unless you have your Site Preferences for your inventory set to the OOS setting, then inactive listings are kept for up to 6 months.
Templates I use all the time. I set up basic listings for each type and/or category of stuff I sell, then when I get inventory in, I go to the proper template and set up the listing. Templates stick around, but they are NOT meant to be like a Draft listing.
hartungcards
·2 weeks ago · EditedYeah, well not exactly. Drafts restart their 75-day clock whenever they're revised. Inactive listings get 90 days and that's it.
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoI use , as lacemaker suggests, the "out of stock" (OOS) option.
I'm not a "seasonal" seller, but a seller of items that I sell multiples of, and sometimes run out of for a short time, or a long time.
To keep that listing, I use the OOS with a quantity of zero so that I do not lose the listing/selling history. May be just in my head, but I think a buyer is more likely to purchase from me when they see that I have sold 5, 10, 20, 100 of the items, and have good feedback indicating that past buyers have been satisfied.
If it is a long time between sold and restocking another thing that I do is to increase the quantity to (5) for a short time when I am on "time away". Then change it back to (0). My 180 days starts over again.
I have free listings to spare, so the monthly (0) quantity relists do not result in any fees for me.
ethylsgarage
·2 years agoYes. Prepare your listings in listing creation software before you upload them. You will always have the version you created in your local or cloud files. I use Odoo to manage my inventory and listing, there are many other software choices available. I have about 1,000 active listings at any one time but I have about 1,700 prepared listings ready to reuse when items come back into stock after being sold out.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years agoThere are many tools that allow you to do that, but none of them are free anymore. Turbolister is what eBay used to have to allow you to have an inventory management database, but they got rid of it 😞 Despite how buggy it was, I still miss its simplicity.
I use Sixbit, which is the one eBay was reccomending when they got rid of TL, but there are numerous ones. Most both provide an inventory db & also serve as listing software. I like SB's listing software b/c it's very simple & I don't have to use eBay's new listing format. I think Inkfrog, Wonderlister & Auctivia still have tools, in addition to Sixbit. Prices vary & some are subscription based, others are based more on how much you list a month. I pay $15/month for SB, but IDK if they have an option that low still. It's well worth it to me to pay for listing/db mgmt software since I list seasonally, but whichever you choose there will be a learning curve.
inhawaii
·2 years agoYou can save it as a draft.
I don't think it counts as a listing until it goes live.
mcdougle4248
·2 years ago@planepaulc
Once the listings end (you can end them yourself), use Sell Similar and save them to Drafts. Drafts will be saved for 75 days. When the 75-day duration for saving nears expiration, revise the drafts and they will restart the 75-day countdown.
Here is info from the recent Winter Update https://community.ebay.com/t5/2024-Winter-Seller-Update/Keep-your-listing-drafts-longer/m-p/34304570#M39
Something to consider when saving drafts- eBay occasionally has technical issues that cause drafts to vanish. Sometimes the drafts will be restored once the issue is resolved, sometimes not. You may want to consider saving the listing's photos and description in folders on your computer just in case a technical issue affects your drafts causing them to vanish.
mam98031
·2 years agoExcellent advice.
I create Templates for each type of listing I normally carry. All the basics are in my templates. These templates are always saved for as long as I want them to be.
When I create a new listing, I just enter the particulars specifically for the new item. It saves a lot of time having the basic ISB's [item specific boxes], categories, shipping info and my TOS preset up. Then I only change as needed. This has served me well for many years. Since the loss of TurboLister.
rosszonebricks
·2 years agoNo. Say, you have '250 free listings a month': That means if you use 200 one month, you do NOT have 300 the next month, you have ... 250.
OR... do you mean holding out-of-stock items until 'next season'? Also, no. Max you can 'save an old listing' is 45 days in draft, or 90 days in out-of-stock.
planepaulc
OP2 years agoYes, I meant saving my created listings for more than 45 days somewhere so they can be relisted at a later date according to the season. It's too bad they can't be saved. Lots of work goes into making a listing!
lacemaker3
·2 years ago@planepaulc,
Actually, yes, there is a way to save your listings for longer.
If you list them as fixed-price listings, with the out-of-stock option turned on, then if the quantity is revised to zero, the listings will stay active for up to 180 days (6 months). While the quantity is zero, the listing won't show up in item searches, and buyer's can't make any purchases. You will get a credit for the insertion fee for any listing where the quantity is zero for the entire month.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/multiquantity-listings-listings-variations?id=4150#section5
After 180 days with quantity = 0, the listing will be ended, and it should then be available in your ended listings, or by item number, for another 90 days. That extends the time you can save listings for up to about 9 months.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoI keep a desktop file of all my pictures and another of all my descriptions.
While I do this because I am paranoid about letting some robot somewhere control my listings, I do find them useful when I have a repeat listing, such as a new purchase of second hand books some of which I have had in the past.
While I can't reuse pictures (my products are basically always one of a kind) the descriptions make it much faster to make a new listing.
I keep Titles, HTML coding, and Descriptions on file.
ryanrobyn
·2 years agothen you have to use an outside lister like SellerSourcebook. I do and I can keep as many listings and photos as I like for years. There is a cost but it is worth it in my opinion.
planepaulc
OP2 years agoDo you happen to know if there is a limit to how many eBay listings you can store on their Basic - least expensive plan? Thanks!
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years agono limit on Sixbit. No idea on SSB.
hartungcards
·2 years agoDrafts don't expire for 75 days, and their expiration date pushes forward another 75 days every time you open and/or revise them.
rosszonebricks
·2 years agoAlways a moving target with eBay... lol Some days it's 45, some days it's 75, some days it's 90, some days you find eBay has forgotten a few listings and they are pushing 6 months.... *shrug*
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoIt's not eBay being a moving target! It's people who post incorrect information.
Unsold - 90 Days
Out Of Stock - 6 months (will end on the 6th renewal)
Drafts - 75 days (from last edit)
None of these have changed in YEARS (perhaps even never).