NOTICE TO ALL Ebay Motors Sellers there is a MAJOR ISSUE that affects your sales
I have about had with the incompetence of those running ebay motors and I will explain.
There needs to be a movement to get this Compatibility Chart REMOVED and scrapped..Why you ask.
Follow along...ebay techs you might do well to pay attention here...and as your tech phone agents have said unless they get a lot of complaints little if anything will ever be done..so you ask for it, buckle up because the complaints will start real soon.
Sellers - Dealerships - OEM Factory Parts sellers etc : when you begin and list a new item..you get to the "Compat Chart" section where you if the vehicle your part fit is actually listed correctly (example 1967 Dodge Charger R/T - Chrysler never made a 67 Charger R/T PERIOD, and I can site 100's of this type of inaccurate vehicle listings) so for example you have a 70 Dodge Challenger and a 70 Plymouth Barracuda of which both would use the same 318 Head gasket and you checked the appropriate boxes on both the Plymouth and Dodge sides and you move on and finish the listing and make it live in your store figuring you are all set and the only thing you will need to do is revise it when inventory runs low and add to the number count available...NOPE YOU are now going to have to go back and check EVERY listing and look at your compat charts...ebay has wiped out in the case example I listed above...every listing on the Dodge side as if it was never check in the first place...GONE without a trace! AND on the Plymouth side if it fit say 1970 1971 1972 and the boxes were checked...that side has become spotty missing the 1971 year that was check initially...SO for the past 6+ months I have been revising them...I went back and double checked some that were revised early fixing the boxes that ebay tampered with...only to find they are screwed up again....Now I can only speak for the Chrysler side, and can tell you nearly every vehicle choice boxes are a mess with vehicles that were never made or with the wrong engine information....you could not get a 426 hemi in a base Charger in 1969 (R/T 500 and Daytona ONLY) nor could you get a 318 in a 69 Charger R/T (440 4bbl 426 HEMI only) But if you sell parts for Ford GM etc I would go check your listings as well...Keep in mind if those boxes are no longer there or have been unchecked by ebay...the search engine cannot pick it up and no sales will be generated...which is why we are all here in the first place....to sell items....and ebay loses fee(a deserved self induced injury) So with all of ebays inaccurate listings (which for most whom are not well versed as either a buyer or seller, common sense would dictate that since it is shown as a choice that the information is correct....it is NOT correct) So please tell me how one can force a fitment guarantee and then add seller has to pay for returns enforced policy....? YOU CANNOT! especially after ebay has altered the information you initially entered! This entire marketing ploy is bogus...and is impossible to generate an accurate chart for every vehicle for every part for every year worldwide....as NO such information exists nor ever will, A Hollander Salvage Yard guide is fairly good but is not the gospel as those who use it are professionals who know that the only way to be 100% certain is comparing the the pulled part with the customers part...In doing so ebay has wiped out years worth of work of which will take months if not years to repair the damage and build sales back up....Ebay need to have a crew set down and begin repairing sellers listings or undo the damage that has been done....If you keep wondering why sales are dropping this is one major reason as one cannot sell a part that cannot be found by the search engines...No ebay is not going to tell you as they know it is going to cause a firestorm...they were told in the beginning by many sellers that this was a bad idea and not going to work...but they thought they knew better and plowed ahead blindly...
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoEbay has dealt with the auto parts fit problem by revamping their returns policies to make it easier for the buyer to return.
Auto parts have a long history of high returns, much of which is fit problems/
Those who sell in the category need to allow for the cost of returns in their profit margins. This is really tough for low volume sellers and those who are living out of the inventory in their local parts store.
This issue comes up all of the time on the forums for all marketplace sites where auto parts are sold, and no site's solution makes it acceptable to sellers who cannot make a profit.
projektauto
·10 months agoI agree that eBay's fitment situation and Guaranteed Fit rollout are a complete disaster.
I do mostly BMW parts, and even in this one brand, the mess is massive.
Beyond the bugs you are experiencing, They are trying to create an all-in-one solution for every make. They don't seem to be consulting many actual automotive experts or sources on a per-brand basis. Instead, they seem to be hiring a bunch of tech bros who still don't grasp the scope of knowledge and accuracy required to offer something like "Guaranteed Fit." eBay's attempt at autogenerated fitment list from third-party companies is laughable. Don't even bother with "myFitment" or "Fitment Plus". Garbage.
They are also allowing sellers to manipulate their search results by including tons of extra compatibility just to get more visibility and the Guaranteed Fit badge. I've found a number of sellers who quite literally output every possible vehicle in the eBay fitment list on all of their listings. eBay incentivizes this behavior by subsidizing the return label cost when something doesn't fit.Here are some things I learned the hard way when getting started with compatibility:
Sending the right data:
I generate fitment data based on my own knowledge and data, like you do. This is sent with all of the other item specifics for each of my parts in an XML file to eBay's listing API. All of my listings are created by this method. This allows a seller to send an additional "CompatibilityNotes" field with the fitment list. This is where I explicitly specify manufacturer-specific engine codes, chassis codes, or production date ranges that eBay will never know or have. It displays at the end of the compatibility rows on eBay. You’ve probably seen a few sellers who use this as well. You can also do it by uploading a CSV to Seller Hub after your listing has been created.
eBay maintains its own catalog of what they consider to be "valid" year/make/model/trim combinations. It’s called the MVL. Tons of their data for BMW is wrong or makes no sense. I see many trim levels that don't exist, along with discrepancies in the engine size and body style fields, or incorrect model years. It is what it is. I’m sure you’re seeing the same thing for your brands.
The best bet is to map your internal known fitment data as closely as you can to the eBay Master Vehicle List. You are constrained by this MVL. If the year/make/model/trim you want to enter is not in the eBay MVL, it will not populate on your listing. You can't provide external fitment combinations, even if you know you are correct.
Changes to the MVL may also be a problem for you: if they realize they are wrong about the Dodge/Chrysler mixups and they make a change, your old selections may become N/A. They do update this list. The last update was 09/2025. See: eBay MVL
If eBay breaks your fitment mapping or changes values, you might have to fix a few here and there. But once they are mapped out, it's easy to just send the whole fitment list for a part again by XML or CSV. You can basically save an XML or CSV fitment list for a given part you sell so you aren't relying on eBay to hold onto your fitment data.
Fitment enabled categories:
Many eBay Motors categories still aren't fitment-enabled. Sellers will set up fitment for a listing and send all the data over API or CSV to Seller Hub, only to find that nothing is displaying. You have to map all of your internal item categories to known fitment-enabled categories on eBay. This is also a great way to lose all of your fitment data when trying to sell similar items or copy an old listing to a new category.
This category list hasn't been updated since 2022. You can see which category IDs are fitment-enabled here: Compatibility Enabled Categories
loose_goose_garage
·10 months agoAnd now there is a new General Manager with this claim to fame:
"I joined eBay in 2013 and have worked in many roles across eBay. Most recently, I was the General Manager of our US Collectibles category, where I launched new enthusiast experiences such as Grading Add-On services for trading cards. Prior to that, I served as General Manager for our US Parts & Accessories category (P&A) where I helped release our Guaranteed Fit program and launch several marketing campaigns. "
I would not hold my breath on this issue being fixed, or even looked at, anytime soon. And I can vouch for it happening to me as well, especially in the Motorcycle Parts Categories.