New Listing Tool Feedback

[hermies_heirlooms]

Just tried the new listing tool.  Like the idea of adding video (although will likely rarely use it) and the remove background feature, but the layout and functionality is not user friendly.  It looks pretty, but lets be honest, I just want raw data entry not some fancy looking GUI interface that I have to click through to edit (shipping), weights/dimesnions (not automatically pop up have to click through), the +/- feature for promoted listing % that would show you what the fee would be.

eBay...live by the old adage...if it isn't broke, don't fix it.  Not thing wrong with the old format.  they new one takes longer to get a listing done.

Anyone else find the new format frustrating?

[siamjane8]

Yep - I agree the shipping section is one of the worst sections- overcomplicated with so many steps and yet gives us no real usable information.   What good is a range of $9.35-$403.95 when selecting carriers. And you can only see one carrier at a time in a popup so you have to bounce back and forth to select shipping- then more steps to add a second shipping instead of just clicking add like in the classic listing tool. Original tool was effortless to use and made sense- now everything is hidden in secret boxes that we have to figure out and waste time clicking in.

      Hopefully we will see some real change soon- my sales have dropped off considerable and I wonder if its because I have only been able to list a few items in the past 3 weeks instead of 20-30 /day like before....

[mtarctophil]

I use a desktop, and I have listed very little since we have to use the new listing tool.  How can they think it is an improvement.  The shipping category is thoroughly confusing.  How could they make something that worked, so darn confusing.   Also it seems to take far more time to list.  I would love to get through to someone on ebay who really cares, but don't know how to do that.  I also have trouble understanding the accents of the people they hire, and can't figure out what they are saying and wonder if they can understand what I am saying so they will convey to the  ebay  techs that  the new listing tool is NOT an improvement.  It has been a very frustrating week trying to list on ebay.  

[mr_lincoln]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

Yep - I agree the shipping section is one of the worst sections- overcomplicated with so many steps and yet gives us no real usable information.   What good is a range of $9.35-$403.95 when selecting carriers. And you can only see one carrier at a time in a popup so you have to bounce back and forth to select shipping- then more steps to add a second shipping instead of just clicking add like in the classic listing tool. Original tool was effortless to use and made sense- now everything is hidden in secret boxes that we have to figure out and waste time clicking in.

      Hopefully we will see some real change soon- my sales have dropped off considerable and I wonder if its because I have only been able to list a few items in the past 3 weeks instead of 20-30 /day like before....

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@siamjane8   Just curious, WHY would Sellers be selecting shipping costs when all they need to do is add the carrier, method, weight and dimensions? 

[mtarctophil]

I asked an "agent" how to get back to the former listing tool.  I  was told I couldn't do that now.  They allowed us to use it for before, why can't they give the seller an option to use the listing tool they prefer?  Guess they don't realize lots of sellers are so frustrated with the time it takes  to list that the are listing much less and that they are looking for other sites to use for selling.  

[siamjane8]

@mr_lincoln 

    Ebay only show the buyer the first shipping option you select on the listing( at checkout they have the option to change but 99% of buyer do not even see that or change the shipping).  This makes your first option very important because you dont know who or where the buy is.  For example if the item is small and no heavy- it might not make much of a difference because USPS will be the cheapest regardless.   But if it is 2lbs and is 30" long ( such as a poster tube)- now usps surcharges $15 so they are twice as expensive than fedex or ups.   That info helps me to decide up front what is my primary shipping option.     With a heavier item- they might all be similar to the east coast but one carrier will be 2x more if going to California. I need to know that before so I can pick one of the other carriers as my first choice or my listing will show up as having ridiculous shipping charges and then discourage sales.

      As you know- in the classic listing tool, we could see all three carriers AND a shipping price for East Coast, Middle America, & West Coast all at once and just click on the services we wanted to add inthe order we wanted and boom- Done

Now it is click after click after click after submenu after popup box to pick a carrier and then it still only says it will cost between a crazy $ range that makes no sense- It does not cost $400 to ship a 2 lbs item anywhere in the USA but that is the range shown.

   The problem is that with the new tool - its expressed goal was to take away all the exceptional tools that we used for years to make it "look" simpler.  Again- ebay's "one size fits all " policies ruin the listing process by lumping in profession long time sellers who do this for a living and a first time seller who just heard about ebay and wants to try to sell a used pair of shoes.    We have different needs and expectations.

          Bazaar how they made it half as functional and useful but take twice as long to list something. I guess that is an accomplishment in itself. 

[mr_lincoln]

@siamjane8   I picked out one of the most prolific statements from your previous post:

 Bazaar how they made it half as functional and useful but take twice as long to list something. I guess that is an accomplishment in itself. 

This has been the SOP for quite some time ... programming traditionally is supposed to make things easier and faster NOT slower, PERIOD.   I'm considering a specific thread about how eBay does not know who their Sellers are and as others have posted, the "20 something" programmers are clueless on how to make the eBay tools, pages, processes fast and functional opposed to flashy, cool and slow as molasses in January. 

Here's something I hate to even bring up but watching the progression of what eBay has been doing I will not be surprised when they go to a "speaking" process to create listings ... you can "talk texts" already so I am sure some brainchild within the brain trust is thinking out that far, like "how cool would it be to just talk to your phone and have the listing be created?!?"

So this goes back to eBay not knowing who their Sellers are and more importantly what equipment do they use to sell on the venue.  I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of Sellers are using older systems in the 5-10 year range and do not go out and buy new computers - laptops - mobile devices every two years BUT I think THAT is what eBay is designing for ... 

In any case, I really hope they roll the new tool back and work on it further to make it more user friendly and faster ... 

[mr_lincoln]

@siamjane8   I picked out one of the most prolific statements from your previous post:

 Bazaar how they made it half as functional and useful but take twice as long to list something. I guess that is an accomplishment in itself. 

This has been the SOP for quite some time ... programming traditionally is supposed to make things easier and faster NOT slower, PERIOD.   I'm considering a specific thread about how eBay does not know who their Sellers are and as others have posted, the "20 something" programmers are clueless on how to make the eBay tools, pages, processes fast and functional opposed to flashy, cool and slow as molasses in January. 

Here's something I hate to even bring up but watching the progression of what eBay has been doing I will not be surprised when they go to a "speaking" process to create listings ... you can "talk texts" already so I am sure some brainchild within the brain trust is thinking out that far, like "how cool would it be to just talk to your phone and have the listing be created?!?"

So this goes back to eBay not knowing who their Sellers are and more importantly what equipment do they use to sell on the venue.  I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of Sellers are using older systems in the 5-10 year range and do not go out and buy new computers - laptops - mobile devices every two years BUT I think THAT is what eBay is designing for ... 

In any case, I really hope they roll the new tool back and work on it further to make it more user friendly and faster ... 

[siamjane8]

@mr_lincoln 

 I am in complete agreement but I highly doubt we will ever see the classic tool again. They are trying to unify not only the GUI look across devises BUT also the coding moving forward. They are trying to make it easier to manage across all sites n the world and make them the same... even thought he vast majority of sales are in the USA for the platform.

     I think that all we can hope for is for them to improve the look of the new tool to actually be viable on a desktop and without all the extra work and confusion and clicks that it has now.  At this point- ebay is on par for a hugely disappointing 2nd quarter if they cant get us listing again.  These terrible changes only hasten the exodus of sellers. If we can list here with ease- we are forced to look else ware.  The last debacle of the rollout of MP got me motivated to sell on two other platforms that I never would of even bothered with if ebay had not forced me to.

    Seller retention is a huge problem for ebay and this does not help

[thebricktank]

I have taken to leaving one star feedback on every listing revision, and there are many, bc I literally have no idea what my shipping costs will be until I hit the list it button.

I list all my items from a iPad.

[mr_lincoln]

@siamjane8   I think the issues with the site extends beyond the new tool  but as you mentioned, that alone may drive Sellers elsewhere ... then merge that issue with other changes they have made in the last year ... I have seen trends in sales shift in the categories I Sell in ... last weekend was one of my worst ones on record and so far, this weekend seems to be shaping up to be the same. 

One indicator is Impressions ... when they get cut in half within a one month period that means items are NOT being found in Search (has nothing to do with how they are listing other they are not listed using the tool)  ... yet I have not done anything different with regard to how I create a listings, title format, item specifics, etc. 

[siamjane8]

@mr_lincoln 

 Your statements on impressions are spot on!- The search is ebay's #1 problem for sure- it is probably at the bottom of the industry without a doubt.  I literally have to conduct 90% of may ebay searches on google to find active ebay listings. It is a complete embarrassment to a tech company.  It has been so overmanipulated with AI and cookies and prediction and promoted listings that it just does not function at all- effectively hiding most relevant results. I have heard many people say its amazing we sell anything at all her because nobody can find our listings.

    It ebay would just show title based organic results with minimal manipulation- people could find what they are looking for and sales would go up. Buyers are frustrated with bad search results and leave the site.

    So I agree that the listing tool is not the biggest issue- just one that is now causing the decline in new product being added to ebay.

[mr_lincoln]

@siamjane8   Here's what I see every time I used the bulk editor ... odd, I have NOT read a single post on The Community where anyone has said the new tool is faster and simpler ... and sadly it states you can switch back any time ... ahhhh, only for so long from what I understand.

                                                  

[siamjane8]

I guess the "cool" features are the "add pictures from your phone" and the video.   NOthing else is new or cool. Just less obvious and more confusing and more complicated to complete a listing. In no way shape or form can it be easier or faster with all the extra steps and clicks it takes to navigate the menus and submenus and see more  popup boxes

I'll give them credit for the import from phone- i imagine that  people take pics with their phones and use them for listing......but the fact that they are then listing on a computer instead of their phone proves that people want a better than mobile listing experience! so why on earth is the desktop version so scaled down and badly formatted to use on a desktop?

Credit again for the video- a fine feature..... probably will not be a game changer in driving sales but hey its not going to hurt anything either. realistically buyers dont even look at all 12 pics or read the description so putting time and effort into a video will not be practical but again- nothing wrong with trying a new feature.

If these two cool features are the cause of needing to destroy the classic listing tool and give us the unified phone app - then they are not worth it at all- the tradeoff is so detrimental to the listing process that the damage to sellers is becoming obvious because it take 3-4 times longer to struggle through one listing on a computer now. How long before ebay cant sustain itself with 1/3 of the new listings being generated. GVM will be down so drastically unless they give us a usable desktop listing tool again.

[siamjane8]

5/25/2002- over a month into this new listing and I wanted to through my computer across the room after the listing tool erased my brand name in item specifics for the 3rd time!!!!! It was my fault I'm sure.... i typed it in the field and hit enter/done. erased.   then typed again and hit done-erased... the only way to add a brand is to type it in the field (at this point you would be done with the classic lister), then highlight and click on the "suggested" brand that you just typed in/ then hit done

pure genius programming - make a simple brand selection take 3 extra steps!

now multiply that by the other item specifics and you will see why this new tool is so frustrating and time consuming

BTW- there is no consistency either because some of the fields allow you to use the enter key to select and move on- nothing more than completely confusing and baffling- nothing unified about the tool