Click to view entire descripton??? What the heck???

[kates-of-mequon]

Has anyone seen this new layout for listings? I have a button on my last listing called 'click button to view entire description'.

There is a completely blank screen unless one clicks that button. There is NO description of the item for sale until you click this button and then the description opens in a separate window.

What is this all about - an I in a test group?

[d-k_treasures]

This test has not affected my sales at all.  I was prepared because it is what the market is demanding.  You may not like this post but I pray you take it to heart.  You have to adept every day (especially in this environment) or else you will quickly become a dinosaur faster than you can say extinction.

It may be "demanding" it for new stuff that you can get anywhere, but A/C or Used buyers aren't demanding it.

But it doesn't matter to ebay, because they have that big blue RETURN THIS ITEM plastered everywhere.

[marthca938]

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@marthca938 wrote:

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@marthca938 wrote:

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@holidayshopper201 wrote:

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@kcskorner wrote:

I can tell you that when I was opted it, my pop up blocker blocked the description from coming up.  I had to disable it for Ebay.  How many buyers do you think are going to bother with that or even know how to do that?

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Not sure why/how that could happen. It's not a real pop-up. It doesn't open in a new window or tab. It's an overlay which is more than annoying in itself.

I have pop-up blockers on all of my browsers and am opted into this ridiculous test. Never once have I had to disable my pop-up blocker to see the description.

Edit: Please don't take my post as any sort of defense or support for this debacle. 

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Well, one thing I have learned is what goes on on my PC doesn't necessarily go on in a friend or relatives!  I don't know if you have the pleasure of having Windows 8 like I do, but that's a whole different story of frustration.

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This post was meant to be in response to Holidayshopper

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Oops, never mind.  I thought I responded to wrong post but I didnt.

[waywardben]

I have definiately let ebay know "what i think" about it. I didn't know about it until a buyer asked as question about an item's condition that was directly addressed in the EBAY HIDDEN "full description".

[nyxmuse]

((Just replying to last post, not aimed at anyone))

Jeff says 50% of sales were "touched by mobile" and that needs clarification.

1. That doesn't say whether they used the mobile app or just a mobile device, like an ipad, with a browser and no ebay app involved.

2. Are these sales on mobile leaning toward high end purchases or impulse buys of cheap stuff? My guess is the latter, ie, this is another move to cater to junk sellers at the expense of collectors.

3. That statistic does not speak to preference or the simple fact that many people, such as myself, browse on the desktop and use a mobile device later on to make a purchase from a watch list. The heavy lifting is done on the desktop, the mobile platform isn't good for much besides checking your watch list later in the evening to see if something you had your eye on is ending. That alone makes it a bad idea to emulate the limited use of the mobile app. If I didn't have my ipad with me I'd just put in my high bid and walk away, check back later to see if I won the auction. That's not what they want. They want you to sit there and peruse page after page of stuff, like a catalog; they want you to "go shopping" on the site, not just bid on a collectible and walk away. There are better sites for catalog shopping so this move is clearly catering to a cheaper crowd of impulse buyers with these changes.

[thebaglady-2016]

Which would appear to fit in with what they have mentioned that they want. And which would appear to cater to the china sellers, that do NOT ABIDE BY THE EBAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE, but seem to have the benefit of it fraudulently displayed on their listings. It is fraud. If the listing is not covered, and does not state, IF THE SELLER CHOOSES TO ABIDE BY IT, then it should not tell a buyer that they are covered, because THEY ARE NOT.

[marthca938]

I'm not really replying to your post, just posting.  I thought I would take a look at the "EBAY CHAT" that took place yesterday because I assumed the main topic of discussion would be the "hidden description" test, and was anxious to see if any new and helpful information was forthcoming.  I have to ask:  Are all of these so-called chats as much of a waste of time as this was?  I really think Jeff should go into politics because he certainly has been well coached on the art of how to answer direct questions by not answering direct questions and just doing a dance-around.  I can't help myself, of course, and I just must comment on a response of Jeff's that had me laughing out loud.  Here is Jeff's comment:  "...One of the goals is to have a consistent experience across all devices and screens.  A buyer shouldn't have to 'learn' a new way to shop on eBay just because they are using one device or screen instead of another." 

Jeff, you may have to eat your words because you have just validated every concern about the "hidden descriptions" that have been posted on this thread for nearly a week now because that's exactly what eBay IS making buyers do: "LEARN" a new way to shop on eBay on their PCs!  I know the intent of his statement was just the opposite, that somehow people who use mobile apps would have to "learn" how to shop on their PCs!  LOL!  What's to learn?  You see a listing you want to look at, you click on it, there's pictures and a full description right there.  Give people some credit eBay.  Does eBay seriously, seriously think people are too stupid or inept to handle using different devices and screens without having "consistent" experiences?  Really?  One thing I did agree with Jeff about, this test is testing the "buyer's experience," not the sellers.  And that's just what is scaring us, for crying out loud!  We know the buyers are not having a pleasant experience and we're going to lose them.  Why the heck do you think we have such strong feelings against this idiotic test? 

[art_dealer_cal]

Just imagine what our listings will look like on the new Apple Watch. I hope it comes with a nice magnifying glass.

[Anonymous]

I agree wholeheartedly!

I normally don't even post or look on the forums - but THIS BS got me, so I had to see what other sellers were saying. I'm happy to see we're all in agreement that this is the most asinine thing ebay has done of late.

Hmmm: We're rated on "Item As Described", people don't read to begin with, and want things RIGHT NOW, so lets make the descriptions hidden, force them to read unnecessarily, and also add another step to the process of them purchasing.

WOW. Per logic there! BRILLIANT EBAY!

Sigh, the truth is ebay has no real competitor and they know it. I believe in rolling with it, complaining to ebay-yes (they need to hear it from all of us), but with life in general, just finding a solution within OUR control is doable.

SO...instead of wallowing in self-pity and whining (well not anymore for the day, anyway) as I am choosing to stay selling here, I'll make the best of it and share what I have done. Feel free to copy/paste, and alter as you wish. In the (CONDITION DESCRIPTION), I revised the ones that have it, to include this: 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ FULL DESCRIPTION BELOW⬇︎🀫 I've also added (ADD YOUR OWN ITEM SPECIFIC.) to say: 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ BELOW⬇︎🀫, and 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ FULL DESCRIPTION BELOW⬇︎🀫. If you're like me, and have multiple items, you can bulk edit them per category to make it go a little faster. Unfortunately, ebay's HTML conversion changed the ( 🀫⬇︎) to three (???). Which is fine.

Hopefully that will help direct peoples attention until they're done "testing" *clears throat and coughs - being asshats!* I'm thinking of adding an additional photo as well that directs people to click on the link? Not sure yet, as I am hoping this stupidness resolves and disappears. I hope this helps. I just came back to ebay after a year off (I was a Power Seller/Top-Rated), so I feel everyones pain and sympathise. Good luck.

[marthca938]

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@girlgamegeek wrote:

I agree wholeheartedly!

I normally don't even post or look on the forums - but THIS BS got me, so I had to see what other sellers were saying. I'm happy to see we're all in agreement that this is the most asinine thing ebay has done of late.

Hmmm: We're rated on "Item As Described", people don't read to begin with, and want things RIGHT NOW, so lets make the descriptions hidden, force them to read unnecessarily, and also add another step to the process of them purchasing.

WOW. Per logic there! BRILLIANT EBAY!

Sigh, the truth is ebay has no real competitor and they know it. I believe in rolling with it, complaining to ebay-yes (they need to hear it from all of us), but with life in general, just finding a solution within OUR control is doable.

SO...instead of wallowing in self-pity and whining (well not anymore for the day, anyway) as I am choosing to stay selling here, I'll make the best of it and share what I have done. Feel free to copy/paste, and alter as you wish. In the (CONDITION DESCRIPTION), I revised the ones that have it, to include this: 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ FULL DESCRIPTION BELOW⬇︎🀫 I've also added (ADD YOUR OWN ITEM SPECIFIC.) to say: 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ BELOW⬇︎🀫, and 🀫⬇︎CLICK: READ FULL DESCRIPTION BELOW⬇︎🀫. If you're like me, and have multiple items, you can bulk edit them per category to make it go a little faster. Unfortunately, ebay's HTML conversion changed the ( 🀫⬇︎) to three (???). Which is fine.

Hopefully that will help direct peoples attention until they're done "testing" *clears throat and coughs - being asshats!* I'm thinking of adding an additional photo as well that directs people to click on the link? Not sure yet, as I am hoping this stupidness resolves and disappears. I hope this helps. I just came back to ebay after a year off (I was a Power Seller/Top-Rated), so I feel everyones pain and sympathise. Good luck.

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May I ask how you found out about this "test"?  Because the majority of us only found out about it by looking at forum topics.  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I "found out" about it because clicking on my listings, I noticed my descriptions had disappeared. So being irritated, I went to the forums to see what was going on. I read on another post that eBay is testing this, as she called them and was told it was a test.
Many sellers are posting about this. I don't blame them. This is very stupid and will cause a lot of issues for sellers AND buyers.

[marthca938]

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@girlgamegeek wrote:
I "found out" about it because clicking on my listings, I noticed my descriptions had disappeared. So being irritated, I went to the forums to see what was going on. I read on another post that eBay is testing this, as she called them and was told it was a test.
Many sellers are posting about this. I don't blame them. This is very stupid and will cause a lot of issues for sellers AND buyers.

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Many of us look at our listings and they look normal, but other members sent me pics of my listings and the descriptions were gone.  Plus I've had questions from sellers asking me for condition descriptions and measurements!  If I hadn't known what was going on, I would have been really baffled!

[tripp_the_lab]

"The description is still part of the listing, even during this test. The same protections apply."

The same protection applies which basically means none.

[thebaglady-2016]

Those protections have never existed up until now, so this makes it different?  How many times have you called in with a case where a buyer opened it for a reason clearly stated in your description, only to have ebay tell you too bad, so sad.  MANY. 

[art_dealer_cal]

I even pointed out during the Live Chat that buyers have told me that they never saw the full description because it was so far down the page.

[tripp_the_lab]

Hey d-k!

I buy off my iPhone all the time. I'll run out of something on my truck and buy right then so I don't forget.

I ALWAYS switch to classic from mobile before searching. I would bet ebay counts that as part of the 50% mobile use.