Books - change in item specifics?

[keziak]

I went to create a listing under Nonfiction and the SYI form came up with dozens of item specifics I haven't seen before. Are they actual item specifics or keywords? Confused by the whole system to be honest.

[cornersbumped]

Clarification on ISBN: like others, I don’t actually _permit_ eBay to fill the ISBN/“bar code” field unless I’ve verified that the item and number are a match, but until recently it was a good key to use for catalog lookups. That’s all I use it for. 

Indeed, all the “category changed” problems go away if the ISBN field is empty, even when the catalog entry is used, so I almost always delete the auto-filled field in the listing manager we use. 

Now that the field is being populated with an ISBN-13 that doesn’t appear on the actual book in hand, I _always_ delete it. 

[ittybitnot]

Now that the field is being populated with an ISBN-13 that doesn’t appear on the actual book in hand, I _always_ delete it. 

A while back in some eBay "update" they were pushing real hard for catalog use be it via ISBN,  MPC, etc. and said that the "does not apply"  would not be a choice, and any and all items that did not include the specific number in the item specifics would not be allowed to "go live". 

Subsequently, I think ebay has backed off on that mandate.  A person I know sells OEM auto parts.  They have been in business for over 20 years, and know their stuff better than any eBay catalog.  They provided a "compatibly" chart in each listing and they found a marked increase in sales once they were able to 'remove' themselves from the category  restraints even under eBay's threat of suppression of search visibility. 

Of course, this is purely anecdotal evidence.  Your results may vary.  

[shipscript]

@keziak 

I downloaded the Books > Nonfiction category specifics at this tool:

https://developer.ebay.com/tools/item-specifics

and loaded the list into this tool to make it easier to read.

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ItemSpecificsEditor.htm

I do see quite a few specifics that can be used, but you will only need to select the ones that apply to your book.  Interestingly, there aren't any mandatory specifics in that book category.

When you get to option lists, like author, you can add your own if your author is not on the list. eBay supplies some default names in an effort to maintain consistent spelling. Use the option list if your specific is in the list. If not add your own.

There are a few specifics where you are not allowed to make up your own (like country of manufacture) and may only choose from existing values. In those cases, you would choose from the list or not use the list.

I see a mashup of travalogue countries and cookbook terminology, so obviously, you would only select from those groups if they applied.

You're probably wondering why so many specifics. eBay has given up forcing sellers into the "catalog" structure and will be grouping listings based on similar data supplied through item specifics. Eventually, many of these details will dictate search results. But the only way to make that work is to structure the data so that similar items reference similar features using the same terminology. That is why the item specifics are so structured.  The structured list of recommended phrases may morph over time as sellers enter their own phrases and others use the same phrases. Popular usages will win a place on the "default" list, but that default list may change over time.

With eBay placing more weight on Item Specifics for returning search results, it would be wise to supply as many relevant entries as you can for better search placement.

[keziak]

I will have to look at those links more later. At first glance I do not understand what I'm seeing. 

Some subjects are simply gone...such as gardening.  The only option is "leisure, hobbies and lifestyle" yuck.

[shipscript]

@keziak 

"Leisure" looks like the best place to start for gardening unless this is for a commercial "growing" operation. Then under "Topic", there are "Gardening", "Gardens", "Garden Flowers", "Bonzai", and similar attributes that you can multi-select if more than one apply.

[keziak]

Not seeing. Why make something so simple more complicated??

[shipscript]

@keziak 

The "Topic" attribute shows a few checkmark options at the beginning of the alphabet, but you'll need to click the down arrow below to open the full list.  See attached screenshot.

[keziak]

thanks! never would have noticed that. sigh

[shipscript]

@keziak   I agree that the navigation in the listing creation form is not very intuitive for those of us unaccustomed to what is being displayed. Because I had already downloaded the Specs file from eBay and loaded into the spreadsheet viewer, I know what I was looking for and then found it on the listing form. 

I think we are going to see a lot of misses on those specs that have a handful of checkboxes where there is an expectation that we'll know to then open a drop list. 

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

I still say that mashing all the "bowls" "plates" etc as "types" in PGP is going to be an unholy mess.

[wastingtime101]

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@shipscript wrote:

I think we are going to see a lot of misses on those specs that have a handful of checkboxes where there is an expectation that we'll know to then open a drop list. 

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This isn't the first time I've seen people not understand the set-up, however I do understand why they chose to combine both the checkboxes and the drop-down.

Item specifics that offer both are ones where you can a) select multiple choices and b) the pre-filled choices are too many to list out with checkboxes.

[iart]

It's a mess. Apparently they had a person who's never read a book design it. And then had it approved by someone who couldn't read at all.

Another joke ebay is playing on it's sellers! Haha on us!