MASSIVE TECHNICAL PROBLEM. Incorrect Item Descriptions / Product Titles Being Inserted

[theshoedawg]

I just came back to eBay on November 8th of 2018.  Just for reference today is February 4th, 2019.  I am so disappointed as to what is going on with my listing titles/product descriptions.

I had plans to spend a ton of money on inventory and create another very large eBay shoe business as I had done many years ago.  If everything I am reading on these boards is true about eBay not addressing problems with their product catalog and UPC's / GTIN's, then I am going to have to take that business elsewhere.  The issue I am experiencing is a massive technical glitch and is affecting the success of my listings.  Many many others must be experiencing this on a massive scale.  Please read on.

I have listings that are literally having an entirely different product description / title inserted across the top of my listings.  This only seems to be noticeable when viewing the listings on mobile (my iPhone etc).  This is not a 1 time occurrence, I have many of them right now.  Please continue to read down below on exact listings you can view on desktop and then look at on your phone.  This seems to be only happening if you view in a browser on a phone and not on the eBay app.  

The problem with this is as everyone knows, a massive % of all product searches both on eBay and most every other site these days, starts on mobile.  If someone goes to look at one of my listings for a particular SAS shoe in a particular size and width, then goes into the listing and sees conflicting data, they either leave thinking I am an incompetent seller, or maybe worse, they end up buying a listing thinking it is one size and width, when it is another.

Please Please Please look at eBay item # 302988066958.  First look at this item on desktop or on a laptop.  You will see that this listing is for a pair of SAS Free Time shoes in black size 10 Narrow.  That is correct.  I actually work for SAS, so I should know.  NOW, please go on your mobile phone and in a browser (again NOT on the eBay app), look at this listing on your phone and you will see this title below that has been inserted by eBay across the very top of the listing "SAS Women's Shoes Time Black 6.5 Medium Save".  Please see attached screenshot as well which shows this happening with another one of my listings right now.  This is on many of them when looking at them on mobile.

This is happening on so many of my listings.  I have received emails from customers asking what size a listing is really for.  The really bad part is all of the people who do not email me and just move on, lost sale.  THIS IS SO CRAZY!!!!!

This has to be linked to a problem with using UPC #'s and the eBay product catalog.  The only thing I can think of is that the very first time a seller uploads a product with a UPC #, this is what eBay uses??  So basically if a seller previously listed this UPC with the incorrect title/item description, then it is still being used?  If this is the case and this is how UPC #'s and their corresponding descriptions are being populated in the eBay product catalog, then this is wrong on so many levels.  I hope I am very wrong and that there is another reason for this craziness.

Can't eBay subscribe to a feed from the QRS catalog or from the NRF (National Retail Federation) and pay money to make sure their UPC #'s are 100% correct?  

Then I am reading if I remove the UPC #'s from my listings that eBay will eventually remove my listings for missing data.  WHAT THE HECK DO I DO????

theShoeDawg

[dhbookds]

@theshoedawg 

Yes, you are entirely correct........the catalog is a mess,  many product pages titles are incorrect for the items that are then shown.  In the Item 302988066958, shown on the pc.......title shows 6.5 size and yet your Size 10 is included.  This is the PP: 

https://www.ebay.com/p/SAS-Womens-Shoes-Time-Black-6-5-Medium-Save/17007525282?_trksid=p2047675.l264...

A couple of questions before I call in an Ebay employee.......

Approximately how long has that item been listed?.......2 wks, a month, etc.  This kind of thing has been going on and been reported for a year......I'm trying to discern whether this is an old listing/PP that happened before corrections may have been made.    

When you listed since it's a new item,  are you searching for the product and choosing from the ebay suggestions for the catalog?....  I notice that this item does not have a UPC or MPN in your item specifics.  These are what is shown for the 6.5 size

• BRAND
  SAS
• MPN
  0083013

UPC

0728815184745

Does your item have the MPN shown or a different one?  Trying to see if using that as a criteria combines the proper item........

Theoretically  ebay should filter various things to decide which Product page an item appears on......  If  you have no UPC and no MPN in the item specifics, apparently they are just throwing on that page for some unknown reason (to me)....  Even if you choose their product, the filters should still check the pertinent things (size, color, etc) and reject the listing if they don't match........  I have a feeling that's not being done, at least in some cases.....

[theshoedawg]

Hello,

I will attempt to answer all of your questions.  Please let me know if you need more info and I so appreciate any and all help you can provide and maybe garner from an eBay employee.

First of all I should point out that I literally just rejoined eBay on November 8th of last year.  So none of my listings ever could be much over 3 months old.  Second of all, at first I was just running 30 day listing and now have switched to mostly good till cancelled.  Therefore the answer to your first question is it actually looks like eBay item # 302988066958 has only been listed for 30 days, as it is ending today.

On this listing I thought the UPC # may actually be what was messing things up and making eBay bring in / insert this fake title across the top of my listing.  Therefore a few hours before I posted in this forum I removed the UPC # from this listing, thinking it may also remove this incorrect title.  It did not.

The SAS Free Time in black manufacturers product number is 0083-013.  The correct UPC # for the SAS Free Time in black size 10 Narrow is 728815184646.  Again I am 100% sure of this as I work for the company.

I do not believe that I chose their product when creating the listing.  If I did it would have been at a very general level like "Clothing, Shoes & Accessories > Women's Shoes > Comfort Shoes".  I would certainly have not chosen a product that was incorrect.

Lastly here are several more item #'s that I do currently have listed with the correct MPN #'s, and UPC #'s, that are again having the incorrect crazy title/product description inserted at the top of the listing.  Again you would need to look at these item #'s on desktop and then view them on mobile in a browser (not on the eBay app).  On mobile you will see the incorrect info that eBay is inserting.

303013091608 = This is for a size 9.5 Medium.  You will see on Mobile that they insert this crazy title "11 Www Extra Wide SAS Time Comfort Oxford Walking Shoes No Insoles".   I mean what is this and where is it coming from?  No Insoles?

302988260736 = This listing is for a pair of SAS Roamer shoes in a size 7.5 Narrow in black.  Again I have the correct MPN #, and the correct UPC #.  On desktop all looks ok.  On mobile phone you will see that eBay is automatically inserting "SAS Shoes Roamer Black 9 N Very".  I mean WHAT???

Then if someone buys these I need to pay the shipping both ways to get the customer taken care of so I do not receive bad feedback etc.  I do not receive credits for these shipping errors that are created by them.

Lastly, the biggest impact here is how many people just click off this and think to themselves "wow this seller has no idea what they are doing".  Lost sales for me and for eBay.

[dhbookds]

Thanks for the info..........that deepens the mystery.......  I don't have access to mobile, so can't see those.......but by the item #''s they are not attached to Product pages, tho the first one in the first message is.  The way you tell is under the category shown at the top of a listing is a "see more (whatever the product is)" which is a link taking you to that page.  The first item # leads to a PP (with an incorrect title), the ones you list on the second message don't.

I did find this PP

https://www.ebay.com/p/SAS-Womens-Shoes-Time-Black-11-5-Medium/22026563116?_trksid=p2047675.l2644

wherein both of the items shown are yours, one truncated title showing size 11.5, the other size 11......... both are 11.5 as indicated in your title. 

@Anonymous........

 lots of questions/problems in this.  Just sending it over to the product guys may get the individual items fixed but won't get whatever is causing the muckups fixed.  These incorrect titles have been going on for a year, yet these are new listings titles problems are still happening.  Someone higher up needs to get some program corrections done.

@theshoedawg 

[theshoedawg]

First of all, thank you very much for even replying to me.  Do you actually work for eBay?

My first and foremost question is why is eBay inserting any sort of title at the top of my eBay listing?  I mean I am the one listing the product, are they saying they are the product experts?  

They need to 100% just strip this out.  It is causing so much confusion.  I really cannot believe a company of this size has this going on.  If I have found this with just my 160 active listings, then just imagine what is going on across the entire marketplace.

What do you think that I should do now?  Do you think I will actually hear from someone at eBay?  I started here because I felt if I called eBay I was just going to be transferred 20 times and no one will ever look at it on mobile nor will they understand what is going on.

theShoeDawg

[dhbookds]

lol, no I don't work for ebay, I'm a seller just like you and try to help when there are problems.  I got interested in the push for a catalog and have watched the progress over time. 

Ebay's goal is to make it easier for buyers to find stuff, rather than the many pages of a search that show some listings not pertinent to the actual item...a laudable goal.  As such they are trying to group the same items into a "page" like Amazon or Walmart do. 

As some have said, making sausage is not pretty........and right now (and for a couple of years) they are struggling with how to achieve the goal.......

As to what to do........wait for Trinton to answer......and see what he says......

[theshoedawg]

Again, thanks so much.  Very cool of you to just try and help out where you can.

If eBay is trying to achieve this then why not just subscribe to a UPC service like the QRS catalog etc?  This way UPC info would be pulled from a reputable and reliable source.  When a seller goes to sell an item and they enter the UPC #, it would automatically group the item under the parent listing of all of the other exact same products.  This is exactly how Amazon works.  I sell wholesale to them and deal with these issues every day with them.

I also think this is what makes eBay different and gives it its' own luster.  If they want to just copy eBay, then what will be the difference?  I always liked looking through multiple listings and scrolling through a few pages.  Just my opinion.  Seems strange just to want to be like everyone else.

Thanks again.

[carlqsportscards]

tyler@ebay 

Just paging a second ebay employee in case trinton isn't in today.

[Anonymous]

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@dhbookds wrote:

Thanks for the info..........that deepens the mystery.......  I don't have access to mobile, so can't see those.......but by the item #''s they are not attached to Product pages, tho the first one in the first message is.  The way you tell is under the category shown at the top of a listing is a "see more (whatever the product is)" which is a link taking you to that page.  The first item # leads to a PP (with an incorrect title), the ones you list on the second message don't.

I did find this PP

https://www.ebay.com/p/SAS-Womens-Shoes-Time-Black-11-5-Medium/22026563116?_trksid=p2047675.l2644

wherein both of the items shown are yours, one truncated title showing size 11.5, the other size 11......... both are 11.5 as indicated in your title. 

@Anonymous........

 lots of questions/problems in this.  Just sending it over to the product guys may get the individual items fixed but won't get whatever is causing the muckups fixed.  These incorrect titles have been going on for a year, yet these are new listings titles problems are still happening.  Someone higher up needs to get some program corrections done.

@theshoedawg 

---

Hi @dhbookds, the title issue is something that would need to be reported for each instance. The title of the item in our product catalog is most often the title of the first listing added to our catalog. While we will work to review and correct issues proactively, if you see a strange format or incorrect information in the title we can review a report submitted for that product. We are working to improve our catalog information, but this is a current side effect of how product titles are determined.

[dhbookds]

@Anonymous 

did you see what mobile is showing?  Why is there a difference between PC and that.........  so you have to check not only PC but Mobile?...........that's a heck of a lot of work for some sellers........for a problem that ebay has had, known about, and failed to fix for a year.........

[Anonymous]

---

@dhbookds wrote:

@Anonymous 

did you see what mobile is showing?  Why is there a difference between PC and that.........  so you have to check not only PC but Mobile?...........that's a heck of a lot of work for some sellers........for a problem that ebay has had, known about, and failed to fix for a year.........

---

Hi @dhbookds & @theshoedawg, I checked the example provide at the start of this thread and don't see an issue with the title between the mobile web view, the desktop site or the app. All three locations provide the same information and title. I also am not seeing the "Our Pick: Brand New" section that is pictured earlier in this thread. 

I do want to clarify that this issue would not be considered a technical issue. A technical issue is when the site is not operating as it is designed or intended to function. The product page in our catalog does contain a specific size in the example you provided, and this would be related to the specific size of that product being displayed on the catalog page. When I am looking at the product page (here) for the product identifier you provided, the top pick item is a size 10 X-wide. This is what would be purchased if the buyer clicked Buy It Now. If they wanted to buy a different size, they would either need to select See details to the right of the photo or review all the listings by choosing See all ## brand new listings to see what other sizes are available. While you are selling only the 10 narrow size, the MPN associates with the shoe overall and the product page will present a specific size to the buyer for consideration. 

Though you are correct that the title used for the product page is often times related to the first listing that added the product to our catalog, we can review this if there is an error and make adjustments. This would not apply to the example you have given, as the title of the product is directly related to the size that the buyer would purchase if they clicked Buy It Now on the product page and is accurate. For other examples where the title is inaccurate for the item that would be purchased from the Product Page, our catalog team is happy to review and make adjustments.

Again, while I understand that there is some confusion about the catalog and what is displayed, and have taken your feedback on how you would like the catalog to display products, this is not a technical issue from the details I've been able to review. The catalog is displaying products as it is designed to.

Lastly, I do want to recommend the multi-variation style listing format for some of the shoes you have with multiple sizes. This would minimize the questions you receive about sizing. You would of course want to remove the size from the listing title, but it would be included in search results for buyers who are looking for a specific size because the variation sizes are looked at when we provide search results.

[shipscript]

@theshoedawg 

I wanted to clarify something that may be throwing us off.

Your single product listing page that you are probably seeing on desktop is

https://www.ebay.com/itm/302988066958

The page you are showing in your mobile screenshot is a "grouped listing" page where your item is shown in the "hero", or "our pick", position in the group. Thus, you are comparing two entirely different pages, so there is no monstrous mixup between the platforms. Were you able to capture the actual URL from the mobile view?

The problem you are reporting lies squarely in the catalog page that is used to create that "grouped" listing. For all the reasons you have identified, there is a problem with the catalog.

As I recall, when you create a listing against eBay's catalog, there is a link right there in the listing creation form to report problems with the catalog. If I were in your position, I would be pursuing a relationship with the catalog team to make bulk repairs.

They do have an automated method for updating the catalog, but that may be out of your reach.

https://developer.ebay.com/api-docs/sell/static/inventory/updating-catalog.html

Since @Anonymous  has responded to this thread, perhaps he can privately point you to the catalog team for verification of all the UPCs associated with your company's product line.  The catalog team should welcome the input, since they don't have the in-house expertise to verify all product lines.

[joesoucie22012]

You are right about a seller making a listing on Ebay that is a completely new listing to eBay and putting in wrong info.  Then all the other listings that are listed for same item are wrong also. It can't be changed. It's the catalog and incompetent moronic idiot sellers, usually mega listers. 

[theshoedawg]

Hello,

Ok this is theShoeDawg who originally started this thread with the first post.  I really appreciate all the feedback this has gotten.  Bottom line is it sounds like I will have to try and get this worked on 1 item at a time.  I just listed quite a few more items and unfortunately I had to resort to stripping out the UPC # and the MPN # as I am finding this solved this problem.  However, the side effect to this is now when someone scans a UPC for a product somewhere in the world and searches Google for it, more than likely my searches will not appear in Google shopping feed.  However, if it helps by getting rid of this terrible inserted title on mobile then so be it.

I did not quite follow everything the two gentlemen said from eBay about it being an entirely different listing etc.  

Bottom line is eBay is inserting incorrect titles across my listings on mobile versus desktop experience.  Here are multiple eBay item #'s that you can look at on desktop and then look at on mobile (not in app but in a browser) and see exactly what I am talking about.

I do not care what explanation you give to me on why this is being inserted across the top.  This is wrong and is confusing to the customer.  If your catalog system is not working then why not take this out of the equation until you have a better system.  I am now having to figure this out myself and the problem is with the UPC # and MPN #.  I do not choose an incorrect product when starting a listing.  I simply put the item into Women's Shoes, then comfort shoes.  I also do not see any sort of easy link to just submit incorrect items.  Also why should I have to spend the time to fix your guys catalog??  You can easily go out and find a service to provide you all the UPC's you could ever need with the correct title info.

303016222578 = This is for a size 8.5 Medium in the SAS Liberty.  You will see on mobile that this is added across the top "SAS Women's Shoes Liberty Slip-resistant Black 8.5 Narrow".  

303013091608 = This is for a size 9.5 Medium in the SAS Free Time in black.  You will see on mobile that this is added across the top "Women's 11 Www Extra Wide SAS Time Comfort Oxford Walking Shoes No Insoles"....I mean what???  This is absolute gibberish that needs to be removed, it is making me look incompetent, yet has noting to do with me.

303013123405 = This is for a size 10.5 Medium in the SAS Free Time in Charcoal.  You will see on mobile that this is added across the top "SAS Women's Shoes Time Charcoal Black 11.5 Medium"

**There are many more.  There are also many more that have stuff added across the top that is not mine but I can at least live with because it at least does not have the incorrect size.

The fix seems to be to strip out the UPC and MPN # as none of my new listings have this problem.  I have also looked at other large sellers online with other shoe lines and have found this same problem for them.  I have no doubt that the large majority of these sellers have no idea that this is going on.

You should take to someone and see what is driving these false titles to be inserted on mobile and strip this out of the code for now.

[theshoedawg]

Hello again,

I did not know if when I replied to the eBay's employee's post if you would get a notification.  I just wanted to ping you and let you know that I had replied again after reading everyone's replies.  I can find this on many products and it seems pretty ridiculous.  I can tell you that it is more than likely hurting sales on those items also.  

Thanks for your help.

theShoeDawg