OK to set an absurdly high price to "hibernate" my listing?

Is there a way to freeze or hide a listing so nobody can see it, but it'll still be available if I need to reactivate it? Or if it's not possible to hide the listing, is it OK to price the article at an absurd amount, like $5000 for a shirt, so nobody will actually buy it?

Without going into too much detail, this situation arises due to people asking me to sell things for them and later changing their minds. Later they sometimes change their minds again and decide they want me to sell their items after all.

When I'm asked to delist an item, I can delete the listing and it's completely gone. If I'm asked to relist it, then I have to redo everything from scratch except the photos, and it's a pain. It means redoing all the research, writing the description a second time, and filling in all the fields (style, color, composition, etc.). Or if I revert it to draft status, Ebay may have deleted the draft before I'm asked to relist it. Again I have to do everything from scratch except the photos.

Is there any option to do any of these things? I just got asked to delist items again, and before I do anything at all, I would like to know if there's a better way than fully deleting the listing or reverting it to draft status.

pithecanthropus4152

46 View listings

Posted 2 years ago·Last reply 2 years ago

25 comments

reallynicestamps

·2 years ago

2496 View listings

Put the listing on your Unsolds list and explain to your consignor that after 60 days* it will be automatically purged by eBay.

Don't accept any consignment until you have it in your hands.

If the consignor has not confirmed that they want you to make the sale by the 60 day deadline, hand the items back.

This is yet another reason why accepting consignments does not work on eBay.

@inhawaii

The seller will now be reporting those sales on their own income tax. Another reason that consignment is less and less profitable.

* I believe it is actually 90 days, but be conservative.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Put the listing on your Unsolds list and explain to your consignor that after 60 days* it will be automatically purged by eBay.
Don't accept any consignment until you have it in your hands.
If the consignor has not confirmed that they want you to make the sale by the 60 day deadline, hand the items back.

This is yet another reason why accepting consignments does not work on eBay.

* I believe it is actually 90 days, but be conservative.

@reallynicestamps

It is 90 days. But I don't recommend playing this game. Using the OOS option is much better and safer IMHO.

buyselljack2016

·2 years ago

107 View listings

OOS to (0) and then back to (1) is so easy that even I can do it.

I have the OOS function set.

On my "active listings" page all I have to do is hover on the (1) quantity for that item, click on the edit pencil, hit the (0) key, hit submit, and the listing is there waiting for me to repeat the process substituting a (1) rather than a (0) when I want it to be seen again.

Not sure that it can get any easier.

Just have to watch out not to go over the monthly "free listing insertions" and the 180 day OOS deletion.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@buyselljack2016 wrote:
OOS to (0) and then back to (1) is so easy that even I can do it.

I have the OOS function set.

On my "active listings" page all I have to do is hover on the (1) quantity for that item, click on the edit pencil, hit the (0) key, hit submit, and the listing is there waiting for me to repeat the process substituting a (1) rather than a (0) when I want it to be seen again.

Not sure that it can get any easier.

Just have to watch out not to go over the monthly "free listing insertions" and the 180 day OOS deletion.

@buyselljack2016

It can get even easier than that with the Bulk Editor. If you have several or more listings to revive. You can do it in a matter of seconds if the quantity is all the same. Or in sections if the quantity varies.

buyselljack2016

·2 years ago

107 View listings

Yup, bulk edit.

I have done that for all when I was not sure if "time away" would cover the situation. Not something the someone would commonly use.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@buyselljack2016 wrote:
Yup, bulk edit.

I have done that for all when I was not sure if "time away" would cover the situation. Not something the someone would commonly use.

I love the Bulk Editor. I use it for USPS increases too. Changing my handling time to refresh my listings. I bounce back and forth between 1 to 2 days.

I just wish we could get a Bulk Editor for Templates too. I would find that VERY useful.

nobody*s_perfect

·2 years ago

145 View listings

Now that the thread has addressed your "how to save for the future" question, I want to chime in on selling for relatives and friends. Especially ones who change their minds.

I won't agree with the posters who say that you should NEVER sell for others, but especially in your situation where people chronically change their minds, I would strongly recommend that you refuse to sell any item that is not physically in your possession. You have to have it at some point in order to describe, weigh, measure, etc. Either keep it or refuse to list it. Unless there is some very special underlying situation, these folks are seriously taking advantage of you.

I was surprised to read "if I'm asked to relist it, then I have to redo everything from scratch except the photos, and it's a pain. It means redoing all the research, writing the description a second time" since you could avoid this by saving the Description as a text document. As noted, you can resurrect a listing that ended less than 90 days ago if you don't literally delete it (and IIRC there's even a way to access those again).

lux.ra_14

·2 years ago

0 View listings

It's never worth dealing with consignors -- friends, family, or otherwise.

Don't do it, and you won't have to worry about workarounds.

adamcartwright

·2 years ago

46 View listings

@lux.ra_14

Selling on consignment has been very worth it for me. So worth it, at times, that I almost felt guilty.

But I only do it for relatives and close friends, and they know I don't accept everything.

lux.ra_14

·2 years ago

0 View listings

@adamcartwright wrote:
@lux.ra_14
Selling on consignment has been very worth it for me. So worth it, at times, that I almost felt guilty.
But I only do it for relatives and close friends, and they know I don't accept everything.

In the glory days of eBay, I made $6,000+ in short order for an elderly woman I knew, and that failed to make her sufficiently happy. Her husband left behind a significant book collection that she had literally put out with the trash. I rescued the books off her lawn just before a downpour and told her I would sell them for her. She was skeptical that anyone would want them.

Fast forward about three months, and some of her friends, who knew nothing about books and less about that new Internet thing, convinced her that maybe she could do even better. Mind you, she was going to landfill the books, and I was taking only a relatively small cut. I returned the remaining books to her and heard later that she shopped them around to other booksellers but had developed wildly unrealistic notions of what they should pay for the lot.

She died with all the books about a year later. Her daughter called me and said come get them for free. I told her they had value and offered to pay a fair price, but she refused. She was sick of hearing about the big payday Mom was always sure was just around the corner, and she just wanted the books gone for good. They were still neatly packed in the same bankers boxes I had used.

Such are the whims of people who can't sell their own stuff, but somehow know better. It cured me of consignment, no matter how good the items are. (The first of her books I had sold was a signed, limited Faulkner, and the collection was full of books like that.)

inhawaii

·2 years ago

Ebay's most handsome seller.4976 View listings

@lux.ra_14 wrote:
@adamcartwright wrote:
@lux.ra_14
Selling on consignment has been very worth it for me. So worth it, at times, that I almost felt guilty.
But I only do it for relatives and close friends, and they know I don't accept everything.
In the glory days of eBay, I made $6,000+ in short order for an elderly woman I knew, and that failed to make her sufficiently happy. Her husband left behind a significant book collection that she had literally put out with the trash. I rescued the books off her lawn just before a downpour and told her I would sell them for her. She was skeptical that anyone would want them.

Fast forward about three months, and some of her friends, who knew nothing about books and less about that new Internet thing, convinced her that maybe she could do even better. Mind you, she was going to landfill the books, and I was taking only a relatively small cut. I returned the remaining books to her and heard later that she shopped them around to other booksellers but had developed wildly unrealistic notions of what they should pay for the lot.

She died with all the books about a year later. Her daughter called me and said come get them for free. I told her they had value and offered to pay a fair price, but she refused. She was sick of hearing about the big payday Mom was always sure was just around the corner, and she just wanted the books gone for good. They were still neatly packed in the same bankers boxes I had used.

Such are the whims of people who can't sell their own stuff, but somehow know better. It cured me of consignment, no matter how good the items are. (The first of her books I had sold was a signed, limited Faulkner, and the collection was full of books like that.)

Great story.

I rarely do it, but IF I sell something for friends or family, I figure out the the net profit is after all expenses, then minus 25% for taxes, then split what's left. They are often surprised at how little it is.

chapeau-noir

·2 years ago

Klaatu barada nikto6589 View listings

@lux.ra_14 wrote:
@adamcartwright wrote:
@lux.ra_14
Selling on consignment has been very worth it for me. So worth it, at times, that I almost felt guilty.
But I only do it for relatives and close friends, and they know I don't accept everything.
In the glory days of eBay, I made $6,000+ in short order for an elderly woman I knew, and that failed to make her sufficiently happy. Her husband left behind a significant book collection that she had literally put out with the trash. I rescued the books off her lawn just before a downpour and told her I would sell them for her. She was skeptical that anyone would want them.

Fast forward about three months, and some of her friends, who knew nothing about books and less about that new Internet thing, convinced her that maybe she could do even better. Mind you, she was going to landfill the books, and I was taking only a relatively small cut. I returned the remaining books to her and heard later that she shopped them around to other booksellers but had developed wildly unrealistic notions of what they should pay for the lot.

She died with all the books about a year later. Her daughter called me and said come get them for free. I told her they had value and offered to pay a fair price, but she refused. She was sick of hearing about the big payday Mom was always sure was just around the corner, and she just wanted the books gone for good. They were still neatly packed in the same bankers boxes I had used.

Such are the whims of people who can't sell their own stuff, but somehow know better. It cured me of consignment, no matter how good the items are. (The first of her books I had sold was a signed, limited Faulkner, and the collection was full of books like that.)

I preempted this entire process by telling my partner that if he didn't like what I sold his old stuff for, then I would assist him in starting his own selling account. Oops...he didn't like that. That has unfailingly worked for any complaints, including lugging his 'stuff' back into his office and saying "if you don't trust my 20 years in the business, do it yourself, I will even help you."

This goes for consignment (which I used to do a lot until the pandemic).

soh.maryl

·2 years ago

111 View listings

Why would you even put up with this?

If you are selling for friends and relatives, neither of you are making a fortune. (Looked at your listings.) Either state firmly that they get only ONE bite of the apple or have them sign a contract. You need to put more value on your time. This is not a flea market where you can just put the item under the table if the seller changes their mind.

nobody*s_perfect

·2 years ago

145 View listings

@pithecanthropus4152 wrote:
Is there a way to freeze or hide a listing so nobody can see it, but it'll still be available if I need to reactivate it? ... I would like to know if there's a better way than fully deleting the listing or reverting it to draft status.

Don't delete the listing; just end it. As noted in other posts, it will be available to relist for 90 days.

Or re-set your site preferences to activate the "Out of stock" option, so listings with a quantity of zero do not end, they remain available for reactivation. This would make relisting easy: just adjust the quantity back to one. BUT activating this option in your site preferences affects all of your listings, so for items that actually sell out you would have the extra step of ending them so they don't remain in OOS status. Listings with zero quantity and OOS status do not show up anywhere, including not in your Sold listings, which can make it look like you don't sell much. eBay will delete OOS listings after 180 days.

na_833338

·2 years ago

0 View listings

Yikes! I can see where that could be exhausting to have to do over and over again. These items must have long 'tails' for that type of problem.

Drafts have an expiration date, but templates are 'forever' and are amazingly easy to create from any existing active listing. You might want to take a look at that option. I believe your pictures, description, etc. are ready to be made active again with a couple of clicks from your saved templates.

albertabrightalberta

·2 years ago

PROFILE SIGNATURE! NOT DIRECTED TO YOU: I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104 View listings

Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.

chapeau-noir

·2 years ago

Klaatu barada nikto6589 View listings

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.

That's what I would do. No need to go into a lot of extra hassle, just end the listing. It will remain in your ended listings folder for almost three months.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@chapeau-noir wrote:
@albertabrightalberta wrote:
Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.
That's what I would do. No need to go into a lot of extra hassle, just end the listing. It will remain in your ended listings folder for almost three months.

What is the "extra hassle" to zero the quantity on the listing. And if they have the OOS inventory setting, set. They are done. What else is there to do except when it is time to list it again, then you just add a quantity.

chapeau-noir

·2 years ago

Klaatu barada nikto6589 View listings

@mam98031 wrote:
@chapeau-noir wrote:
@albertabrightalberta wrote:
Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.
That's what I would do. No need to go into a lot of extra hassle, just end the listing. It will remain in your ended listings folder for almost three months.
What is the "extra hassle" to zero the quantity on the listing. And if they have the OOS inventory setting, set. They are done. What else is there to do except when it is time to list it again, then you just add a quantity.

See post #11.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@chapeau-noir wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@chapeau-noir wrote:
@albertabrightalberta wrote:
Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.
That's what I would do. No need to go into a lot of extra hassle, just end the listing. It will remain in your ended listings folder for almost three months.
What is the "extra hassle" to zero the quantity on the listing. And if they have the OOS inventory setting, set. They are done. What else is there to do except when it is time to list it again, then you just add a quantity.
See post #11.

IDK, I don't see the "extra hassle". But that can carry different meanings for different people. Zeroing the quantity on a listings is about the same work as ending a listing. Bringing the listing back to life is about the same amount of work as well.. So I don't see the "extra hassle". The difference between the two actions is ending the listing has a 90 day life span on that listing being available to relist. The OOS program is six months.

With that said, each of us have to decide what is best for our own little business. Both actions have value.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
Another option is to go to your active listings and in the dropdown box, click "end listing."

The listing will remain in your unsold/ended listings if you don't delete it. You can relist or sell similar when you're ready to list it again.

To my knowledge, if my memory is serving me, when you go and do a sell similar from that closed listing, the sales only follow it for about 90 days. I don't have any proof of that. it was a conversation I had, I think with Kyle, a long time ago.

janet9988

·2 years ago

127 View listings

@pithecanthropus4152 wrote:

When I'm asked to delist an item, I can delete the listing and it's completely gone. If I'm asked to relist it, then I have to redo everything from scratch except the photos, and it's a pain. It means redoing all the research, writing the description a second time, and filling in all the fields (style, color, composition, etc.). Or if I revert it to draft status, Ebay may have deleted the draft before I'm asked to relist it. Again I have to do everything from scratch except the photos.

Charge the "not sure if i want to sell it client" an extra fee for doing so.

itscalledapostingid

·2 years ago

169 View listings

In my opinion there is a much better way:

If you enable the "Listings stay active when you're out of stock" option in seller settings you can set the quantity to zero and the listing will stay active but hidden until you revise the quantity.

Selling preferences (ebay.com)

Note: with that setting enabled you have to manually END sold out listings if you aren't getting more of that item. Also ebay may end listings that are out of stock after like six months. That can be avoided by setting quantity to one for a few seconds every couple months.

inhawaii

·2 years ago

Ebay's most handsome seller.4976 View listings

You need to activate your OOS (out of stock) option. Then all you do is set ypur quantity to 0. The listing will still be there but nobody can buy it.

mam98031

·2 years ago

Owner / Operator19752 View listings

@inhawaii wrote:
You need to activate your OOS (out of stock) option. Then all you do is set ypur quantity to 0. The listing will still be there but nobody can buy it.

@pithecanthropus4152

What @inhawaii has shared with you is the best way to do this.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/bulk-listings?id=4150#outofstock

Second section, First Option.

https://www.ebay.com/uas/selling-pref