Gen Z ebay lister does NOT like the new unified listing tool- this tool is too mobile for a desktop

[siamjane8]

Yesterday i heard a groan from upstairs.... my 19 year old son who has a very successful ebay business- had just sat down at his computer to list. He just took over 450 pictures and was ready to get to work.......until it turns out his account was now stuck with the new listing tool!

He had been making fun of me for months because for 8 months this account has been stifled by the new listing tool for all of the same reasons you probably have experienced or read about on the boards already.

He tried it for 2 listings and came down discouraged at how ridiculous it was to use and time consuming.   Now he knows what his father has been going through just trying to list every day on a computer with a scaled down inferior mobile app of a listing tool.

Again he is 19 years old and what ebay would consider the "future of ebay", and the pain points are universal!- this tool does NOT work well or meet the needs of ebay sellers that use a desktop to list with           ( from polling people everywhere it seems like the majority of serious or full time ebay sellers use computers, not phone to list and run our businesses)

His thoughts:

1. we should never have to leave the main page to input data( ie. popup boxes

2.advanced edit tool NEED to be available without 2 extra clicks/confirmations

3.the classic ebay shipping calculator was 100% better way to add shipping options- this one stinks    (although i would note that the shipping section has gotten better to be fair- it was unusable 5 months ago)

4. Item specifics are confusing and awkward- hates extra clicks to hit + sign to add data- 

5. no cancel button at the end??? makes not sense

6. frustrated that you cannot leave immediate payment required selected- you must do extra 3 clicks on every listing for something that should be remembered for you account

He just purchased $3000 worth of new inventory and has been excited to list, but the new tool has stopped him cold.  He quit after two listings yesterday- this morning he said he would rather do something else today.......         This tool is discouraging your sellers from listing on ebay!      How much longer to we have to wait until you redesign it to work well on a desktop?

He has been selling between $9,000.00 - $13,000.00 a month on ebay for almost 2 years now - a kid just out of high school- with ambition and good work ethic.   Ebay - DO NOT SCREW THIS UP FOR YOUR SELLERS- he is gen z- and he thinks the tool is far inferior to the classic on a computer.  Even he says that you cant run a full scale business on a phone- the listing tool needs to be optimized to work on a computer with a keyboard!

[red*stars]

Yes! I remember back before many companies had phone apps, going to their desktop sites on my phone, expanding and pinching, scrolling in every direction to get signed in and accomplish whatever it was I needed to do. Ok once in a while if I had to, but what a difference once actual made-to-be phone apps became common. Using the new listing tool feels like that in reverse, like I'm clunkily using the phone app on my desktop. 

[siamjane8]

@coolections why did you assume that esg was talking about you?..... that is kind of telling.

[siamjane8]

@red*stars thanks for the write-up. we share your dismay in the new tool.    Another feature missing in the photo editor is the auto brightness correct. that was a feature that worked well and we used it almost every listing. now its gone. The new listing tool is causing users to find work-a-rounds to list now. discouraging for sure.  

[siamjane8]

@red*stars   Your take on the role reversal of the mobile apps is deadly accurate lol... many others have made similar comparisons of how forcing this mobile only design onto our desktops is like going backward 5-10 years in technology lol!

It is clunky and awkward to use now, and i am 20 years younger than you so it has nothing to do with age- just poor design for the device.

[quicksilverdiecast]

I am one of the dinosaurs who has been here for 27 years back when meg used to run it before it went public, with that being said I have seen lunacy at its best....this latest round with the new listing tool took me a few rounds to figure out...somewhat. as once I did figure out what they were trying to pull I had a stack of jacking instructions to list so once I got the first one down and corrected all the mistakes I simply used it as a template for the next one to list using sell similar and then only had to change minor things to reflect the item, rather than start from scratch over and over which is NOT productive, now I will run groups of "like items" and again with repeated experience you will get the hang of it, at least until they decide to screw something else up...for those who have to list many non similar items I do feel sorry for you, as if you do not stay focused you will easily lose track and have to start over....please please remember to proof read once you list it so you catch the mistakes, before a buyer has a chance to buy it and then cause you grief over the listing being accurate! Other platforms pretty much leaves things alone once they get it dialed in as they know that changing the game only serves to upset sellers and loss of sales....not so here, each day is a challenge to see what still works right. They still have not got the system to function completely right with a desktop muchless using a variety of phone apps LOL

[monster-deals]

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@esg-enterprises wrote:

FYI, you are communicating with an ebay employee who is being paid to tell you that ebay is amazing and they are leading ecommerce innovation . It's a lesson in futility.   

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No I'm not.

I know who the blues are and they have all but abandoned this forum for quite some time.

...but essentially yes, futility because there are many forum posters in here who love to try to argue the color of orange juice

[coolections]

@siamjane8   I never assumed ESG was talking about me. ESG was giving false information on the boards telling the OP many posters are Ebay employees. I just want to set the record straight that people who post here are not Ebay employees. Why did you assume I thought ESG was talking about me?..... that is kind of telling.

[liawrig.nq8rdwqa3]

Ebay requires a lot of labor, which is unnecessary when you compare it to other alternative sites.  I can list at M* and P* in a minute, but it takes me 3  times the time to list on EB.  They just don't make it easy.  too many fields to fill in, even if you do it by bulk, you have to check every little box.

And I agree with your son, sellers do best with a full-size computer or laptop listing items.  I don't use the mobile device.   My fingers are too big for those little keys.  I don't think any platform has perfected how to list with a cell phone.

My rant is the process of payouts.  I can't determine if EB is giving me the correct amount of "net" revenue or not.  I won't know until the end of the year and the 1099.  It's exasperating.

Because of the above I've decided to list on those alternative platforms first and leave EB as the last one I list on.

[liawrig.nq8rdwqa3]

Everything about Ebay needs streamlining.

[partfinds]

It is difficult to use and glitchy. I don’t like that font sizing is hidden and most of the time adjusting size doesn’t work. I had to use MS word to size the font and then paste it to ebay description. That is how it is made better.

[chapeau-noir]

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@esg-enterprises wrote:

FYI, you are communicating with an ebay employee who is being paid to tell you that ebay is amazing and they are leading ecommerce innovation . It's a lesson in futility.   

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Nah - we don't get paid to take abuse around here, we do it for free.

(How dumb are we for doing it, anyway?)

[lakefor94]

The new tool is not as hard to get familiar with as many iterate here. Having listed many thousands of items with the old tool, it only took a few dozen listings with the new tool to get used to it.  At this point I do not believe it is costing me any time.  Onward. 

Your son will have it down in no time.  

[siamjane8]

I understand what you are saying and yes- it is still usable. it just always feels like the the first time lol. its just off enough to always keep you guessing. things are just hidden enough that you are always second guessing whether or not you filled something in or clicked on a certain toggle because they are not just shown simply on a main page- they are in popup boxes out of sight.    Of course if you list the same items in the same category and your listings are almost all identical- the process is probably simple enough...... but if you list thousands of unique individual items- the process is now more laborious than with the classic.

The new unified listing tool, while we all know is here to stay, needs allot more work before it can be counted as a benefit to sellers. 

[gregmm]

You say "Ultimately, believe it or not, the goal IS to make listing easier, because that translates into more sales and fees for ebay." I have been a seller from 1997 so have used ebay from almost the start this form is counter intuitive  and aggravating when I click that I want use a function I have to click two times more just to get to it in some cases. Poor setup at best

[bauble-babes]

Once again (and again and again...) eBay:

If it ain't broke, DON'T BREAK IT!!!