Turbo Lister vs Seller Hub and File Exchange

[shipscript]

In the community, brian_burke@ebay asked for a list of Turbo Lister features that are missing from Seller Hub, but the thread locked. I don't know if Brian can receive messages, so I'm posting here for @Anonymous as well and for others to supply input.

File Exchange and Seller Hub are given as the two eBay alternatives to Turbo Lister, but the differences between all three are significant. I'll compare the three of them in broad strokes.

• File Exchange accepts a spreadsheet of data as an upload. That spreadsheet can be created offline on the desktop.
   
• Seller Hub is an online tool, so must be managed while online.
   
• Turbo Lister is a desktop database tool that can be used offline.

The most notable difference between the two offline tools, File Exchange and Turbo Lister, is that Turbo Lister accepts photos from the local device, while File Exchange requires an external image host. External hosting is beyond most small sellers. File Exchange can accept EPS (ebay hosted) photos, but will not reassign those photos, so they would expire 90 days after their original listing expires instead of continuing with the new listing. Allowing File Exchange to rehost EPS photos could help many.

The most notable difference between Seller Hub and Turbo Lister is that the hub does not store ended listings beyond 90 days of expiration. This is a killer for annual seasonal items. Seller Hub won't hold drafts beyond 30-45 days.  Turbo Lister holds both indefinitely.

The listing creation process is the most time consuming for most sellers and is becoming ever more complex.  Sellers are asking for methods to store dormant/draft/ended listings for at least 12 months.  That is the feature of Seller Hub that is most needed.  One seller wanted to create all of her summer listings in the spring while the kids were in school, to launch them later in the summer, but the drafts don't last that long. Turbo would have been the perfect solution.

Retrieving data from File Exchange, Selling Manager, or the Hub will not return the item description or photos. So even after a seller has created listings for the first season, there is no useful method for downloading from eBay to save until next season.

All of these issues are currently solved within Turbo Lister.

[vintagenorth]

Hi shipscript, just wanted to add that I don’t believe it is possible to store hundreds of listings on the Seller Hub. I currently have over 1000 listings stored on one of my IDs in Turbo Lister. It’s also very important for some sellers on dial-up or in rural communities to be able to work off-line.

[brian_burke@ebay]

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@shipscript wrote:

In the community, brian_burke@ebay asked for a list of Turbo Lister features that are missing from Seller Hub, but the thread locked. I don't know if Brian can receive messages, so I'm posting here for @Anonymous as well and for others to supply input.

File Exchange and Seller Hub are given as the two eBay alternatives to Turbo Lister, but the differences between all three are significant. I'll compare the three of them in broad strokes.

• File Exchange accepts a spreadsheet of data as an upload. That spreadsheet can be created offline on the desktop.
   
• Seller Hub is an online tool, so must be managed while online.
   
• Turbo Lister is a desktop database tool that can be used offline.

The most notable difference between the two offline tools, File Exchange and Turbo Lister, is that Turbo Lister accepts photos from the local device, while File Exchange requires an external image host. External hosting is beyond most small sellers. File Exchange can accept EPS (ebay hosted) photos, but will not reassign those photos, so they would expire 90 days after their original listing expires instead of continuing with the new listing. Allowing File Exchange to rehost EPS photos could help many.

The most notable difference between Seller Hub and Turbo Lister is that the hub does not store ended listings beyond 90 days of expiration. This is a killer for annual seasonal items. Seller Hub won't hold drafts beyond 30-45 days.  Turbo Lister holds both indefinitely.

The listing creation process is the most time consuming for most sellers and is becoming ever more complex.  Sellers are asking for methods to store dormant/draft/ended listings for at least 12 months.  That is the feature of Seller Hub that is most needed.  One seller wanted to create all of her summer listings in the spring while the kids were in school, to launch them later in the summer, but the drafts don't last that long. Turbo would have been the perfect solution.

Retrieving data from File Exchange, Selling Manager, or the Hub will not return the item description or photos. So even after a seller has created listings for the first season, there is no useful method for downloading from eBay to save until next season.

All of these issues are currently solved within Turbo Lister.

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@shipscript  Thanks for starting this thread. Very helpful post and I will share with our Product team.  And you can always email me at bburke@ebay.com if you need to reach me 1:1. 

Thanks for selling (and helping sellers for years!) on eBay. 

Brian

[dollybeauty]

@shipscript 

brian_burke@ebay 

With the depreciation of TurboLister imminent, it would be useful for eBay to create a utility to extract images from the Turbo database or external Turbo image folders. Users need to be able to match these images to either the item id or, better, to a custom label number (inventory records do not always have an item number).

This would be extremely helpful to Turbo users.

[tkmops]

I would just like to add, that I, too, am looking to have Turbo Lister continued, or the introduction of something like it.

I've spent 5 years loading up my Turbo Lister with 55,314 items, and 'rotate' through 12 categories of stock, each month of the year. Having to re-create, and re-upload  all my listings every month would be an insane amount of work. If eBay is reading this...please reconsider not retiring Turbo Lister .  

[grandmesasuoemparts0]

Works for me. Keep up the GREAT work.

-Dillon

[ms.rodriguez*]

Besides screwing sellers, why would ebay get rid of turbo lister?

[blueridgegirls]

I would like to see Turbolister stay! I have limited time and this was a lifesaver for me.

[minimum_56]

Hi from Australia

I would also love for TL to stay.
TL AU stopped working for us last month (feb 20).
Seems like us poor Aussies are the 'test' subjects before they roll out changes in US

We couldn't upload or edit any live listings & received the following error message.
This happened overnight without warning...well I suppose we all knew that TL was slated to be discontinued - but still...a little warning might have been nice.

TL (AU) still Synchronizes with ended & sold items

Error: TurboLister is no longer supported. Learn more about alternative tools you can use to manage your business on eBay: https://pages.ebay.com.au/turbo_lister/

Well I invite you all to have check the alternative tools that ebay have made available to AU sellers...
https://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/Turbo-Lister

Totally blank with absolutely NO info under any of the topic headings...

I recently had to edit the shipping details on my listings (over 1300 listings).
What a painful experience with Seller Hub bulk edit 'tool'. Quick - it's not!!

I created listing templates in Seller Hub - again it not a quick process when finally listing items.
I'm currently using the Scheduled listings for 'storage' of new items - making sure to check & reschedule the starting time until I eventually want to upload.

I've resorted to creating the listings in TL - then exporting to excel CSV then using that file to list in Seller Hub from the templates...again - not a fast process.

I've never had much success with FE - but to be honest I wasn't really trying very hard.
Having a single image which requires external hosting is a pain. I suppose I'll have to 'revisit' FE & try to make it work for me.

I totally agree that TL is the best listing tool in regards to saving listings for future/seasonal use.
Plus the ease of making & uploading listings was unparalleled. I miss my TL
Listing on ebay has now become a very lengthy, time consuming process.

[dollybeauty]

@minimum_56 

Thanks for posting on the US community! We will be going through the same thing. Probably very soon.

Here are some resources you may already be aware of - https://community.ebay.com/t5/Tools-Apps/File-Exchange-Resources/td-p/29630234/jump-to/first-unread-...

If you need any help with FileExchange, there are several members here who can help. Post to this board and someone will answer.

Two more things. Any tips you could relay about your process, the SellerHub template, uploading Turbo listings using the template etc, could help others here.

Images.  Yes, images must come from a https protocol site. However, there are several sites you can use. Most have restrictions in their user agreements about using their sites for commercial image use.

Here is a tip from me...If you are inserting images into the description of the item listing, the above restrictions will apply, as the image must be available 24/7 for display by eBay.  These services do not want to be overrun by constant eBay requests for images.

However, with FileExchange, you specify images to be uploaded to eBay, one time.

This will not work for embedded description images, but will work for the standard images eBay displays in the top left area of item listings.

In this case, you could use a online image site to host the images, while you upload/create the listings with FileExchange. Then when the item listings have been created, you delete the images from the online image server. I do this with a VPS, but there is no reason you could not do the same with another online image service.

Technically, this is contrary to the online image service's agreement, but the images are accessed one time, then deleted. I doubt that this would be a big issue for them.

[tiger7eye]

The Seller Hub is inadequate to manage drafts and listings; Ebay's claim that it replaces TurboLister is an example of traditional Silicon Valley vaporware disingenuousness. Of course it doesn't replace TurboLister.

Since File Exchange handles images so poorly, can it upload to Ebay drafts, where we might have a shot at adding photos? (If Ebay doesn't arbitrarily delete the draft, as has happened to me recently.)

[shipscript]

@tiger7eye 

File Exchange can not designate a "draft" listing, although it does have the ability to set a future listing date using the scheduled listing feature. Scheduled listings can be edited during the scheduling period and can be ended (without incurring fees) instead of going live. However, the "schedule" does not improve on the "draft" duration (as I recall, I think you can only schedule up to three weeks out).

To get around the image limitations of File Exchange, you might be able to use scheduling on File Exchange uploads where the spreadsheet contains an online placeholder image and where the scheduled listing can then be manually updated to add real images before the schedule goes live.

Once the listing is on eBay, however, you will still have time limitations. So the File Exchange scenario would only become a benefit in allowing offline preparation and archiving prior to sending the spreadsheet to eBay and subsequently adding your photos manually.

[tiger7eye]

Can Ebay pull images from links to Google Drive, if I put those links in File Exchange? (Since I hate MS Excel, I'd probably keep the spreadsheet in Google Sheets.)

Seriously, in 2019 we should not be discussing duct-taping spreadsheets and Google Drive in order to retain drafts for listings on Ebay. This demonstrates how antiquated Ebay is.

[shipscript]

@tiger7eye 

I believe members have successfully pulled images from Google drive using eBay's "web hosted images" option (or by  adding the URLs to File Exchange). Be sure all the permissions are applied to share images from Google drive, and that image URLS, not page URLs, are provided.

[tiger7eye]

Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge, shipscript.