MASSIVE issue: Old listings that sat at 0 quantity for a long time remain hidden even when restocked

[therapy_dragon]

This needs to priority #1 for eBay.  

Like many sellers, I have several listings that sit at 0 quantity (out of stock) at any given moment until such time that they can be restocked. Imagine my horror when I try searching for those restocked listings, using their full copy-pasted title, only to find that they can't even be seen.

Ending the listings and relisting them fixes the issue, but I don't have the time or energy to cross-examine all 3000+ of my listings. Additionally, ending the listing wipes out the listing's watchers and sold history, which no seller wants. No sane seller would think that their listings are hidden anyway. 

This issue has been going on for at least a week, probably longer. I imagine there are tens of millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars in item value that eBay is keeping hidden for no good reason at all. Hidden listings mean no sales means no revenue. 

[therapy_dragon]

For example, I will use my listing (#154193798442). This listing sat empty for a long time but was restocked a little over 24 hours ago. Now you can't find it through eBay's search at all, either by its item number or by its title. You can of course find it using Google, so the issue is entirely with eBay search. 

And before anyone asks, it's not just this one listing I noticed. I had another long-emptied listing restocked on Sept 13 but which I also noticed remained hidden. At this point, any medium to large seller using the out-of-stock option will have several hidden listings. 

[the_beezwing]

This might explain why when I am searching a favorite sellers listings some items aren't showing.  If I have the item book marked and it was restocked I can see it then...otherwise its like they never existed...not showing in the count.  I have only noticed this the last couple of days so not sure how long its been going on.  I hope that it gets looked into and fixed soon.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Did item sit longer than 90 days with '0' available? 

If so, probably why they are now gone or not working. 

[therapy_dragon]

Yes, both listings sat zero'd out for over 90 days. 

That's still no excuse for why they would be hidden when restocked. This was never a problem before, and if it was, eBay should have automatically ended them. 

There's also the issue of gaslighting sellers (intentional or otherwise) in letting them have active but hidden listings. 

[the_beezwing]

I checked again on the large seller that I follow and many of their items are not showing at all...but again when I check my purchase history and click on the item some are back in stock.  This is very concerning.  

Since then as a work around I have added my purchases to my watched item list to kind of keep a tab on things coming back in stock but its not a very good fix for the long term.

[public-direct]

Just came here to report the same problem.

I noticed this yesterday and did the same as you mentioned... ended my listing and sold similar. Sure enough its now showing up in search.

So this morning I was restocking a few products and had the same issue. This is the product Resveratrol. I have 3 listings but only one is showing up in my storefront and search.

One of them will show up on low to high search but then disappears with Best match.

-Tried different browsers and mobile.

Maybe this is why my sales have been down about 40% out of no where....the last 5 days.

Something's wrong and it's having a major effect on revenue!

[eburtonlab]

One of them will show up on low to high search but then disappears with Best match.

That is most likely due to your ad blocker blocking sponsored listings. If you use Ad Block, try disabling the Anti-Circumvention Filters under Filter Lists. If you use Ad Block Plus, try disabling the ABP filter.

In most sorts, sponsored listings appear twice (once as a sponsored listing in a preferred location, and once as an organic listing that sorts as it should). Blocking the sponsored version will allow the organic version to still be seen. Under "Best Match" sort, only one of the two versions (sponsored or organic) will appear -- usually whichever is higher sorted. If the organic listing is not shown and your ad blocker blocks the sponsored version, that item will not appear in that particular search.

eBay periodically updates how sponsored listings appear, and ad blockers periodically update their blocking lists; sometimes ad blockers block sponsored listings, and sometimes they don't.

[therapy_dragon]

I just decided to end and relist. Counting on eBay to fix its own incompetence is an exercise in futility. 

[public-direct]

The problem mentioned is only happening on a couple products that I've noticed so far and has never happened before. Not currently doing that with other products when I check.... so it would seem to me this doesn't involve ad blockers.

[eburtonlab]

The problem mentioned is only happening on a couple products that I've noticed so far and has never happened before. Not currently doing that with other products when I check.... so it would seem to me this doesn't involve ad blockers.

Did you try temporarily disabling your ad blocker and running the search again to see if the item appears in a "Best Match" sort? That will tell you definitively if if the problem is related to your ad blocker.

The problem would only occur when a series of individual conditions are each met, so it is not surprising that it only happens for certain promoted listings.

[therapy_dragon]

This is not an adblocker-related issue. Please stop derailing the discussion. 

[Anonymous]

I recently discovered this issue few days ago when I revised few out of stock items, from which some of them have few hundreds of sales and I also have more items coming back on which i have more than a thousand sold, and now seeing it's not showing up in search or anywhere really disappoints me.

I'm really trying to hold on to the ending and relisting them, but not sure if eBay is doing anything to fix it.

Did you contact any eBay representative and present this issue?

I will write up an email right now and send it to a back team and will provide their response asap.

Thanks

[nuclearomen]

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@therapy_dragon wrote:

This needs to priority #1 for eBay.  

Like many sellers, I have several listings that sit at 0 quantity (out of stock) at any given moment until such time that they can be restocked. Imagine my horror when I try searching for those restocked listings, using their full copy-pasted title, only to find that they can't even be seen.

Ending the listings and relisting them fixes the issue, but I don't have the time or energy to cross-examine all 3000+ of my listings. Additionally, ending the listing wipes out the listing's watchers and sold history, which no seller wants. No sane seller would think that their listings are hidden anyway. 

This issue has been going on for at least a week, probably longer. I imagine there are tens of millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars in item value that eBay is keeping hidden for no good reason at all. Hidden listings mean no sales means no revenue. 

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@therapy_dragon I having same issue, but I explain it more and other things in this thread: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Number-of-Items-Refresh-Glitch/m-p/33240325/highlight/true#M20... 

[therapy_dragon]

I let eBay for Business on FB know but all they do is forward issues to their frankly inept IT crew. 

Also I just found out one of my listings isn't appearing after restocking it even though it sold out only 30 days ago. (Therefore, the 90 day threshold isn't the case.)