Update to USPS Ground Advantage with the Bulk Edit Tool
Starting Sunday, July 9th sellers have 30 days to update their listings, replacing USPS First Class Package and Retail Ground shipping services with the new Ground Advantage. Parcel Select service will be updated automatically. (eBay Announcement)
Unless a seller uses business policies, there is no direct way through eBay to sort listings by shipping services offered. If you have more than a few hundred listings, you may want to consider using business policies and can learn more about that here:
Setting up Business Policies / Update to USPS Ground Advantage
Having said that, there are ways you can sort listings, before pulling them into the bulk edit tool, to make the process more efficient.
SORTING AND FILTERING GROUPS OF LISTINGS:
1. Sellers offering calculated shipping are probably going to see the best results when filtering their active listings by category (store or eBay - whichever applies). Filtering by similar items is often the best way to pull listings into quick-revision groups.
From your seller hub active listings page https://www.ebay.com/sh/lst/active , expand the search section at the top and use the category filters.
2. Sellers offering flat shipping can sort active listings in seller hub by lowest shipping cost. That will generally bring their First Class listings to the top. Sort by clicking on the shipping column header. If you don't see a shipping column, click the customize link on the top right and add it.
3. The ever helpful @shipscript has been working on a tool that generates a spreadsheet of an individual seller's listings and their current shipping services. There are some technical challenges involved with the API and number of requests that can be processed daily, so the tool might not be shared publicly. If a seller is really struggling with these updates and needs more assistance than this discussion offers, they can ask ShipScript about that tool.
HOW TO EDIT USING THE BULK TOOL:
1. Go to your active listings page in seller hub. Use methods above to sort and filter your listings. Check off listings you want to edit in a single batch and pull into the bulk editor using the "Edit" navigation menu at the top of the page.
2. Once the bulk edit tool is open, check all the listings, then pull open the bulk edit menu and select "domestic shipping". A pop up will appear.
3. This part is key: Info you apply through the pop-up will overwrite whatever's currently in your listings. If you currently offer buyers a choice of First Class and Priority, entering Ground Advantage exclusively will replace both shipping options.
If you want to maintain the choice of those 2 shipping services, first select flat or calculated, then enter Ground Advantage as a shipping service. After that click the "additional domestic service" link (easy to miss - it's the light gray text above the Local Pickup field) and fill in Priority. Apply changes in the popup, then on the bulk edit window save the listing edits by clicking the button on the bottom right.
Repeat this process as needed until your listings are up to date.
Don't forget to update drafts and templates. Remember if you relist or sell similar from a listing created before Ground Advantage, you will have to manually update the shipping section to remove old shipping services.
eBay's bulk edit tool help page can be found here:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/bulk-listings?id=4160
FREQUENT QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS:
How many listings can you update at one time with the bulk edit tool?
2,000 although I recommend batches of 500 or less for quicker processing and lesser chance of human error.
What if you have too many listings and are overwhelmed by the amount you have to update and you don't want to use business policies?
The simplest advice I can offer in this situation is to not worry about what service is currently offered. Instead look at your listings fresh and apply bulk edits as if you were creating those listings and setting up shipping methods from scratch. Overwrite existing shipping. Filtering listings by category is a good way to move forward with that method.
What if you are not up to date with eBay listing mandates (category, item specifics, variation changes, etc) so you can't update shipping without fixing the other listing issues?
If you don't have that many listings, get those updates done. If you're in the tens of thousands of listings and can't reasonably manage everything within the next 30 days, start by prioritizing anything with calculated shipping. Listings offering calculated shipping are much more likely to start kicking out errors over time than listings with flat shipping costs. Make a plan to complete those necessary listing updates to avoid tech issues as time passes.
What happens if your listings with First Class Package and Retail Ground are not updated within 30 days?
If you offer flat shipping costs you'll probably be able to skate by for a while. If you offer calculated shipping, eventually the system will start to kick out errors. It can lead to issues with buyer checkout when they don't see a valid shipping cost/service. To avoid running into those issues and losing sales, do your best to get listings updated within the 30 days and before peak holiday selling season begins.
Will Ground Advantage be considered "Standard" or "Economy" under eBay's generic shipping time frames?
Ground Advantage with its average 2-5 business day transit time is under the "Standard" section, however if you currently offer a generic "Economy" with no service specified, "Standard" is considered an upgrade in service so you don't need to make changes in that area unless you want to. Check your rates to ensure the flat costs you're offering line up with the new rates.
What are the new rates?
Packages 15.999 oz and under will match the current First Class Package Rates. Packages 1 lb (16 oz) and over will see a mix of increases and decreases in rates compared to current Parcel Select rates.
For a full price chart, check the USPS DMM here*: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm
Or use eBay's shipping calculator here*: https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
*Accurate Ground Advantage rates will be reflected on these links beginning tomorrow, Sunday, July 9th.
snowcranebooks
·2 years agoI followed your steps and that was very clear. However I sell yearbooks and have them setup for flat rate $5 USPS Media mail and Priority Mail for expedited. I wanted to change the media mail to $6. When I use the bulk edit only the shipping service comes up. The price does not come up even after I choose flat rate Media mail. Am I missing something?
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoYearbooks that contain advertising are not eligible for Media Mail. Here's a link to a reference chart that USPS put together for their staff, detailing the eligibility for many common items including yearbooks.
https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2013/04apr/Media-Mail-Guidelines.htm
wastingtime101
OP2 years agoTagging @snowcranebooks to make sure they see nobodys-perfect reply above. Yearbooks do not qualify for Media Mail. I suggest changing those listings to Ground Advantage.
Good to hear this guide was helpful with updating your listings!
snowcranebooks
·2 years agoYearbooks do qualify as media mail. I am not sure where you got your info about the yearbooks not qualifying for media mail. I have been shipping them media mail for 10 years. But I am not going to get in a pissing contest with you about that. I was able to use shipping policy to get what I wanted.
liawri-75
·3 years agoWHY? WHY does EB make an easy method so complicated! Everytime they make changes it complicated stuff. You need a road map and textbook to understand it.
ekbforays
·3 years agoThat's where I am. It is not auto-populating with all of the listings.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoHey, sorry I did not see your post sooner @ekbforays .
I'm not sure what you mean by "It is not auto-populating with all of the listings."
ekbforays
·3 years agoMy question is just this part:
"When you first opt in, you will see an overwhelming mess,"
This isn't happening. Nothing is showing in business policies until I go in and relist/sell similar/edit each individual listing. How do I get the policies to auto-update for everything?
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoSounds like you are not on the biz policies mgmt page @ekbforays and are instead looking at individual listings.
Manage and edit your policies on this page.
nickelsanddimes2015
·3 years agoDoesn't work. The light gray area never lights up to click on it.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoIf you're using flat ship @nickelsanddimes2015 then you have to enter the first shipping service and the flat price before you can add another service.
If you're using calculated ship then you should be able to click on it after adding the first service.
hotplatters
·3 years agoSlight problem with bulk edit (which I have)...
I have over 13,000 listings and when I try to use bulk edit to change
first class postage to ground advantage, I'm unable to do so on many of
my listings because a large percentage of them require "item specifics"
which I did not initially add...
I won't live long enough to covert ALL the titles that require item
specifics (over 6,000 titles) in order to change shipping from
first class to ground... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHHH
Any solution to my dilemma ??
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoYou can download a report from your active listings page in seller hub that will show you missing item specifics @hotplatters and upload a file with the edits. I suggest looking into that option.
bodabird
·3 years agoI am really confused. I keep getting lost and cannot find where I go to do bulk editing.
I also recently was invited into ebay's international shipping program where the item is shipped to an ebay site at the same cost as a domestic shipment and then ebay ships to the country.
When I try to ad international shipping the only options are no international shipping or some international rate. What am I to do.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoFrom your seller hub active listings page https://www.ebay.com/sh/lst/active
Then follow the steps in first post above.
It looks like you offer the same flat ship on all of your listings, so you should be able to complete your update quickly and update all 212 of your listings at once.
EIS is set up at the account level, not the listing level. If you want to ship through EIS then you do not add international shipping to your listings. When you add international shipping at the listing level that means you are shipping direct to the buyer.
bodabird
·3 years agoThank you so much. I really appreciate your expertise and taking the time to help other sellers with these problems.
journeymagnetica
·3 years agoI always use Priority for items 16 oz and up. Is that still the best choice as far as cost for the buyer?
Thanks in advance!
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoGenerally speaking, Ground Advantage is going to cost less than Priority and has an overall transit time of 2-5 biz days.
One exception is for items over a certain weight that fit in Priority Flat Rate packaging, but you'd have to look up based on weight to see which is the right option for you. USPS price chart is linked at the bottom of the first post in this discussion.
You might also consider when shipping heavy items to places like HI/AK that Ground Advantage might be a lot slower than Priority.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoLatest updates from eBay:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-introduces-the-new-consolidated-ground-shipping-service/ba-p/33860819
We are asking sellers to update listings to Ground Advantage over the next 30 days to ensure buyers see the most accurate shipping details. We realize this may take longer for some sellers and we will continue to support First-Class on existing listings for a longer period of time. We will update you as more information becomes available.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Updating-to-USPS-Ground-Advantage/m-p/33860975#M452052
The Shipping team is in the process of updating Ground Advantage service name and rates in listing flows, we expect updates to be completed over the next day. In the mean time you may experience the following in listing flows:
Service name
Shipping service reflected as Parcel Select Ground/Ground Advantage. If you select Parcel Select Ground/Ground Advantage shipping service, the service name will automatically be updated to Ground Advantage once the Shipping updates are completed over the next day. No further action will be required by you.
Rates
Ground Advantage retail rates are currently being updated from Parcel Select rates in listing flows and will be updated to Ground Advantage retail rates over the next day. Calculated shipping quotes in active listings have been updated to Ground Advantage rates.
fern*wood
·3 years agoAnother little tip which may or may not be helpful. If you have recently sent offers out, the blasted listing won't update to GA, so don't pull your hair out like I just did before realizing that's the reason.
fern*wood
·3 years agoI have a little tip for those of you out there working to bulk edit your flat rate listings. I was getting twisted in a knot trying to update a mix of free to multi-quantity with two amounts to enter, so I finally started updating the amounts to a dollar figure I never use to signal I had completed that one. For instance, as I updated all my $4.95 flat rates, and skipped ones I'll have to look at individually like multi-quantity, I changed them to $4.98. That way when I look back for the ones that needed individual attention, I could easily spot the $4.95 ones.
sapphire_studio
·3 years agoFor those of you that are concerned about your descriptions saying "First Class" you can bulk edit the descriptions and use the find and replace feature. So for example all my descriptions said I will ship by "USPS First Class or Priority Mail" so I replaced "First Class or Priority Mail" to "Ground Advantage".
Right after you update all your listing to replace a phrase a pop up will ask if you want to review the listings that did not get changed. If you click that quickly before it disappears you can see your other listings that maybe used a different phrasing (a few of mine were more specific and only said Priority for example). You can keep hitting that pop up each batch of changes until all your listings are changed.
I have a question. Is there a good reason to use Priority Mail (besides having it as a second option they pay more for) if Ground Advantage is insured for $100?
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoFree boxes and allegedly faster shipping time. And buyer perceptions, which are so subjective.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoPrecisely. I have a few lines of product that rely on Priority boxes. I haven't switched those listings over to Ground because I'll have to either up my prices or tack on a handling fee for the added box cost. I'm still deciding what to do for those items.
sapphire_studio
·3 years agoSo if you use calculated shipping, If you give them the option of either Priority Mail or Ground Advantage with an added handling charge for the Box, they will still save a lot of money total for choosing Ground Advantage (even with a box fee), and that could make the difference of making the sale or not. It seems like once buyers have full understanding of the new Ground Advantage system they won't like listings that restrict them to Priority only if they are the ones paying the calculated shipping.
Then of course in the other scenerio where you have free shipping then I don't think you would need to worry too much about the cost of a box based on how much the ground Advantage would save you.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoThere is no way to set up a listing with a handling fee that applies to one service but not another.
sapphire_studio
·3 years agoI didn't know that...interesting.
I guess if I used calculating shipping I would just raise my prices by the cost of a box ($1 should cover it if you buy packs of 25 boxes and shop around) and give them both choices for shipping. It probably won't matter as much right now but in the future I feel like buyers will expect the ground Advantage option on the calculated shipping items and not be forced to pay priority. This will probably matter less for flat rate bubble mailers but would matter more when you start to get heavier and bigger.
Ps. Don't forget about pirate ship. I'm shipping a 20 pound 12"x9"x9" box to my friends tomorrow. The price went down from slightly under $13 for parcel select ground cubic to slightly under $11 for the new ground Advantage cubic.
fern*wood
·3 years agoI hope this isn't a way for USPS to faze out Priority. Maybe they want to stop offering those boxes.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoAs said above, that's not systematically possible though I wish it was because I'd love to tack on a handling fee to cover UPS pickups when I offer UPS Ground. Instead I have to build that into my overall price structure.
In most cases, the savings would not be significant for this line of products - maybe $1-2 max once I tack on the box fee, and negligible for closest zones. So I'm fine leaving Priority on those items for the time being.
mtgraves7984
·3 years ago@wastingtime101
I'm skeert.
fern*wood
·3 years agoI needed that!!ðŸ˜
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoYou have about 200 listings @mtgraves7984 . If you update 14 listings every other day you'll be done within 30 days. You won't have to update listings that don't have First Class or Retail Ground so that might cut down your numbers. Definitely manageable if bulk edit is too intimidating. But I have faith in you guys. You can make bulk edit work if you want.
downsizing704
·3 years agoYour making an assumption that the bulk editor will actually work like it is supposed to do. I am finding multiple listings that I have already fixed, I go back a few hours later and they are back to showing standard shipping....in fact, I'm getting messages when I start on my next grouping about working on previous, all of which SHOULD have already been saved...
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoSounds like you're applying changes in the shipping pop up, but not following through with submitting the listing revisions.
As mentioned in the tutorial above, apply changes in the popup, then on the bulk edit window save the listing edits by clicking the submit button on the bottom right.
kds99
·3 years agoWasting time - I appreciate the documentation you have been able to create to guide us through this. I find though that I cannot gain any advantage from the bulk edits. I can't find the "light gray text above the Local Pickup field" that you said would allow for adding a shipping service. What am I missing? Also I need on each listing to add free shipping since it gets deleted by the bulk editor when replacing the shipping method, such as first class. I don't see a way to do that in the bulk editor. For those two reasons, it seems I have to change each listing one at a time.
kds99
·3 years agoWait a minute - I see where the tools are now so there is hope!
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoIt's circled in green on the screenshot in the first post.
Are you selecting flat shipping instead of calculated?
metropolismarketplace
·3 years agoI had a similar issue, I would bulk edit 50 at a time, no error messages---yet when I went to look at the listings I just edited, about 30% of them would still have first class! I had to bulk edit the same listings 2-3 times to get it all to take. At least I hope they all took, I don't have time to look at every single listing.
shipscript
·3 years ago@metropolismarketplace
I scanned your 900 listings, and found these four that are still First Class Mail
metropolismarketplace — domestic shipping 2023-jul-21 at 04:13 am
metropolismarketplace
·3 years agoThanks so much! I actually had those plus one more on my list to update. They had offers in play, so they could not be edited. I am glad it looks like everything else is updated. I was worried yesterday when they were not all going through for some reason.
shipscript
·3 years agoThe reason would be your "Offers in play", and it is good that you have reminded others that those offers will lock a listing until the offer expires. 🙂
Other reasons can include unmet listing mandates, bids on auctions, and the time limit for editing auctions.
shipscript
·3 years ago@mtgraves7984
Yours look easy because you offer only a single shipping service for each item and because most of your items are First Class with flat rate shipping.
Sort your Seller Hub list by shipping cost, lowest to highest.
Select the first 135, and exclude the remainder that appear to cost 8.50 and up.
When sorted by shipping, this listing appears to be the beginning of the ParcelSelect group that you don't need to edit, so you don't select this one or anything beyond:
233568737451 DC Comics-Justice League T-Shirt-Men's S-Flash/Batman
Then, within your selected group of 135, deselect these item numbers:
The remaining listings are all First Class and can be sent to eBay's bulk editor.
mtgraves7984
·3 years ago@shipscript, @wastingtime101
Thanks to you both for the help! I've gone in and started to revise (using editor, not biz policies) and what I'm seeing looks okay. Check out one of my ballcap listings (Johnny Majors Tourney-Tony Dorsett Auto-Golf Hat-Ball Cap-33 HOF-Lake Tansi 2018 | eBay) and see if it looks right to y'all, please...
And assure me that if I sold that listing (or the others I've revised), I'll get the 'under $5' cost (that I'm used to paying for FC) when I go to print my 8 oz. G label. 🙂 🤞
wastingtime101
OP3 years ago@mtgraves7984 I'm seeing you entered a flat rate of $7.50 so that's what your buyer will pay.
For an 8 oz package, purchased online, that label will cost between $3.99 to $4.44
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoLooks good. Yes, the price for 8 ounces will be $3.99 - $4.44.
martin2001
·3 years agoYour effort is appreciated but you should have waited until there is an actual option to change whatever service to GA. As of right now, it is not there. Some people who don't bulk edit often, will just get confused more.
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoeBay created confusion by naming the service Parcel Select / Ground Advantage instead of straight up naming it Ground Advantage.
Despite that, any seller can update their listings today. There's an issue with the listing form where it's showing incorrect rates for PS/GA, but that issue is exclusive to the listing form. Once the listing is live correct rates are shown. You can also get correct rates from the eBay shipping calculator. https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
So any seller that wants to make updates today can select Parcel Select / Ground Advantage
I asked eBay on another discussion thread to confirm they'll eventually be dropping Parcel Select from the name and to let us know when First Class Package and Retail Ground will be removed from the shipping options. My assumption on the latter is after the 30 days, but the name change on the former I hope they'll get done this week. 🤷
shado-x
·3 years agoDon't know why the USPS just couldn't name it First Class Ground Advantage? I hope American Airlines makes claim to their AAdvantage Frequent Flyer program over this USPS stuff later on, it really is confusing to their trademark.
ekbforays
·3 years agoWow, wish I would have seen this on the 9th. 😞 I've been trying to update my listings, but it's taking forever. I finally switched to business policies, but it's only updating items with a policy after I edit each one. Am I doing something wrong? I thought it would pull everything in with whichever current shipping options they have so I could bulk change the policy.
Thanks!
EKB Vintage
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoHey @ekbforays - check the link in my signature below for tips on business policies. Should save you tons of time if you follow the tips provided and if you have questions on biz policies just post to that discussion. 🙂
downsizing704
·3 years agoIt's there now, it's just not changing it on multiple listings after I have edited it...
marcman2
·3 years agoHi, I don't get the domestic shipping pop up. I think I may have opted in to business policies a long time ago and forgot about it. Could that be the case? Should I opt out of business policies since this bulk editing seems fairly straight forward?
wastingtime101
OP3 years agoBiz policies are much faster and easier to update @marcman2. Go to this page and edit any policy that currently offers First Class Package and/or Retail Ground:
https://www.bizpolicy.ebay.com/businesspolicy/manage
Any listing tied to the policy will be updated automatically.
If you never organized your policies, check the link near the top of my original post above for tips on getting that done.
fern*wood
·3 years agoThank you ebay...I mean wastingtime101 for this awesome amount of help!!! Clear and concise directions for what to do. Maybe the ebay shipping crew can copy and paste this into the help pages.
Also thanks to shipscript and nobodys*perfect for all their shipping help. Many of us would be lost without you guys.