eBay

dakbat-61 · ‎03-28-2024

Does posting same ad dozens of times on eBay with different pictures for each ad and a different description help with the chances of the ad being seen by visitors and thus the chances of selling it if you want to sell without using the promotion option?

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎03-29-2024

Assuming those duplicate listings do not trigger Ebay policy enforcement, they probably will not help your sales.

Buyers view a limited amount of search results.

The number of listings of yours placed in the top 20 are the biggest predictor of sales opportunity.

You are unlikely to increase your placements in the top 20 unless the search performed is highly specific and the number of offers relatively small. Under those circumstances you do not need such chicanery, and you run the risk of upsetting the buyers with worthless activity.

Your scheme is not novel, and not a substitute for sponsored listings and will not help deal with listing items which are as common as dirt.

redlinear · ‎03-29-2024

@broto_64
Yeah, the cheap aftermarket overseas sellers take things to the extreme.

broto_64 · ‎03-29-2024

@redlinear wrote:
@broto_64
Yeah, the cheap aftermarket overseas sellers take things to the extreme.

It doesn't make me want to buy from them, in fact more the opposite, keep looking and avoid all those.

redlinear · ‎03-29-2024

@tobaccocardyahoo
Common as dirt?
I had 7 engine blocks listed once. Total on eBay was 18.
Only three of mine would show up in a search. I KNEW they were there and couldn't find them all.
Not even sorting Nearest 1st.
3 of them were priced stupid expensive, with 30% promotion.
Only one of those would show up in a search. LOL

But, as they sold? A different one would take it's place in the search results.
On and Off though. Some days you could see three. Some days just one.

gurlcat · ‎03-29-2024

@chariot_badges wrote:
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@gurlcat

Maybe I'm mistaken, but if each listing is for a unique lot of jewelry---that is, none of the lots she is selling contain completely identical items ---then these are not duplicate listings. Am I wrong about that?
No. You're not.
I get occasional accusations of doing this, and it's not true.

I source inventory from commercial operations (body shops, wrecking yards, auto dealerships). If I get a bag of 20 key fobs for late model VWs and they may be differnt quality, color, specs, etc. - but they look identical.
I list all 20 of them at slightly differing prices, shipping options, I'll even put a couple in different but related classifications.
It looks like duplicate listings, but they are all different units of the same make/model/year, sprinkled thinly throughout the site.

Right but the buyer will know exactly which one they'll receive because you INCLUDE those specs in the title and/or description, right? -That is very different from what this seller does.

gurlcat · ‎03-29-2024

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@gurlcat

Maybe I'm mistaken, but if each listing is for a unique lot of jewelry---that is, none of the lots she is selling contain completely identical items ---then these are not duplicate listings. Am I wrong about that?

Ugh this is so saddening and frustrating, because sorry but yes you're mistaken, even after (I thought) I explained it well. Let me try again. Think of it like ordering fruit for delivery from your grocery store -you won't get to pick the pieces, but you can pick the quantity and maybe a choice between regular and organic. -Now picture the fruit page flooded with bananas, regular and organic, in various sized bunches, and some of the same-size bunches have slightly different prices for no discernible reason, and all the photos are random stock images of bananas. And this analogy doesn't even really suffice, because if you know you want strawberries, at least you can refine to only strawberries and not see all those bleeping banana listings, but there's no way to refine this woman's copious listings out of a 'vintage jewelry lot' search results.

So YES, each lot that she actually ships out is unique, because she scoops or picks pieces from huge bins of used jewelry, therefore no two packages will have the exact same pieces. But they are all the same in terms of the buyer not knowing what pieces they'll be. So the only REAL difference is the quantity and the (general) quality, of which she offers 2 types: junk/craft, and "all good" (higher quality, not-broken pieces). I went in and counted the actual different quantity/quality lots she offers, and there are only 10:

All good 5 pieces (and no, you still won't know what pieces you'll get even in such small numbers)
All good 10 pieces
All good 12 pieces
All good 1 pound
Junk/craft 1 pound
Junk/craft 3 pounds
Junk/craft 5 pounds
Junk/craft 7 pounds
Junk/craft 10 pounds
Junk/craft 20 pounds

So she really SHOULD have only 10 listings, with however many lots available according to her stock. In fact, the way eBay enables multiple quantity listing creation, her 151 listings could actually be refined to TWO: junk/craft and all good, with a pull-down menu for quantity amounts.

Look at those three listings^ I posted -in all of them, you can expect to receive 3 pounds of junk/craft jewelry, totally random, not the jewelry in the photos. The slightly different prices are just part of making the listings appear unique, so the bots don't flag them as duplicates. If you take the time to do the math, you can pick which of the 3 has the lowest price + shipping total, but I guarantee she will still scoop out 3 pounds just as blindly as if you bought the highest-price one; it's only a buck or two difference to her, well worth it for the insane visibility she gets.

As I said, she is not the only 'mystery' lot seller. But all the others COMPLY with the policy. And by the way, this woman's name is all over the vintage jewelry social media sites, in a bad way.

gurlcat · ‎03-29-2024

Ooo, here's another way to answer your question. What makes her lots unique is only their random selection, and THAT is consistent. If a listing is for something SPECIFIALLY unique, then you couldn't RE-list it after you sold it. But that's what she does, relist these same listings (of which there is already 15x duplication) and I'm pretty sure she doesn't just let unsolds auto-relist every 30 days; she must end/relist them more frequently than that, to keep them in Newly Listed as much as possible. -Nothing wrong that (I do it), but paired with the 15x duplication, it's just ridiculous.

chariot_badges · ‎03-29-2024

@broto_64 wrote:
@tsme35 wrote:
And ebay won't do anything about it. I've reported duplicate listings, nothing, called in and the rep was WOW that's against the rules, nothing.
I could give you a list of at least a dozen duplicate listings or just put a #1,#2,#3 at the end. I don't mean just one or two, some have 8-10 listings. I guessing their too stupid to understand supply and demand, flood the market, prices drop.
Yes, it's all over automotive too...
Some silly item that fits whatever cars like a fuse...

20a FUSE fits Ford
20a FUSE fits Chevrolet
20a FUSE fits Chrysler

I'll stop here but there's more and if you really want to duplicate you can start listing models too.

Yea, I've seen that. And, I KIND of do that.

Difference is ... I have a hundred of that 20a fuse. They're all used. And they're all different. These five .... the glass is a little yellow. These ten, the silver metal parts are scratched.

These over here ... not tested and not guaranteed to work and no warranty.

They're all worth different amounts of money. And I list them separately and for different prices.

I've seen listings of used stuff, and there's five of them available. Really? And they look exactly the same? Same wear patterns? Same scratches & blems? I think THAT is dishonest to list like that.

"Used SF Giants Baseball Cap. Slight wear. Ten available." Is the one I see in the pix the one I'm gonna get? Does the one I'm going to get look different?

In MY listings, what you see in that pix is the EXACT unit that gets shipped.

That's cheating? Or is that - customer service.

chariot_badges · ‎03-29-2024

@gurlcat
I list all 20 of them at slightly differing prices, shipping options, I'll even put a couple in different but related classifications.
It looks like duplicate listings, but they are all different units of the same make/model/year, sprinkled thinly throughout the site.
Right but the buyer will know exactly which one they'll receive because you INCLUDE those specs in the title and/or description, right? -That is very different from what this seller does.

Yea, sorta. I believe that people don't read the descriptions. Only the AI bots do. People look at the pictures. I need to communicate to buyers by pictures, first grade level. Everybody speaks "First Grade". I kind of pride myself in my pictures. I take amazing pictures. I also back it up with an 'any reason or no reason' 30 day return policy. Biggest problem is that I my buyers won't read that policy!

Maybe I should come with some Pictionary for our return policy ... hmmm, an idea.

But yea, I'd rather that they not buy if there's any chance they won't be happy.

I'm selling real small numbers of real small numbers so ... who needs a lot of grief?

For pennies ...

Not me.

eburtonlab · ‎03-29-2024

All good 5 pieces (and no, you still won't know what pieces you'll get even in such small numbers)
All good 10 pieces
All good 12 pieces
All good 1 pound
Junk/craft 1 pound
Junk/craft 3 pounds
Junk/craft 5 pounds
Junk/craft 7 pounds
Junk/craft 10 pounds
Junk/craft 20 pounds

That certainly would annoy me... for all of five seconds -- or however long it took me recognize what that seller was doing, go to the Advanced Search page and paste the seller's username into the excluded seller list, and save or bookmark the new search.

After that I would never have to think about (or see) any of those listings again in that search, or any subsequent search that started with that saved search.

strugglinlikeyou · ‎03-29-2024

How about listing items that are in demand instead of trying some tricky stuff.

gurlcat · ‎03-29-2024

@chariot_badges wrote:
@broto_64 wrote:
@tsme35 wrote:
And ebay won't do anything about it. I've reported duplicate listings, nothing, called in and the rep was WOW that's against the rules, nothing.
I could give you a list of at least a dozen duplicate listings or just put a #1,#2,#3 at the end. I don't mean just one or two, some have 8-10 listings. I guessing their too stupid to understand supply and demand, flood the market, prices drop.
Yes, it's all over automotive too...
Some silly item that fits whatever cars like a fuse...

20a FUSE fits Ford
20a FUSE fits Chevrolet
20a FUSE fits Chrysler

I'll stop here but there's more and if you really want to duplicate you can start listing models too.
Yea, I've seen that. And, I KIND of do that.

Difference is ... I have a hundred of that 20a fuse. They're all used. And they're all different. These five .... the glass is a little yellow. These ten, the silver metal parts are scratched.
These over here ... not tested and not guaranteed to work and no warranty.
They're all worth different amounts of money. And I list them separately and for different prices.

I've seen listings of used stuff, and there's five of them available. Really? And they look exactly the same? Same wear patterns? Same scratches & blems? I think THAT is dishonest to list like that.
"Used SF Giants Baseball Cap. Slight wear. Ten available." Is the one I see in the pix the one I'm gonna get? Does the one I'm going to get look different?

In MY listings, what you see in that pix is the EXACT unit that gets shipped.
That's cheating? Or is that - customer service.

Exact photos of the item the buyer will receive: NO HARM, NO FOUL, TRUE UNIQUE LISTING.

gurlcat · ‎03-29-2024

@eburtonlab wrote:
All good 5 pieces (and no, you still won't know what pieces you'll get even in such small numbers)
All good 10 pieces
All good 12 pieces
All good 1 pound
Junk/craft 1 pound
Junk/craft 3 pounds
Junk/craft 5 pounds
Junk/craft 7 pounds
Junk/craft 10 pounds
Junk/craft 20 pounds

That certainly would annoy me... for all of five seconds -- or however long it took me recognize what that seller was doing, go to the Advanced Search page and paste the seller's username into the excluded seller list, and save or bookmark the new search.

After that I would never have to think about (or see) any of those listings again in that search, or any subsequent search that started with that saved search.

But how many buyers do you think know how to do that? Remember, I'm not just talking about my annoyance as a buyer. Her flagrant disregard of the policy also diminishes the visibility of my and other sellers' listings in the category. I wish you could see how bad her listings dominate the search results. The sponsored spots -that's fine, that's her money working for her. But the main pages of search results are also flooded by her. -After a year or so I learned how to identify her listings without clicking on them, but your average buyer would not be able to do that, because each one looks different and really good.

eburtonlab · ‎03-29-2024

But how many buyers do you think know how to do that?

No idea. But if some buyers care enough, they can find ways to avoid those listings -- if not blocking the seller by username, then by excluding some other keyword combination like junk/craft or doing a different kind of search or using a different kind of sort.

And if those listings do not bother them enough to do anything about it, then that is fine, too.

Different users will search in different ways -- and will be annoyed by different things. Users get to decide for themselves which things annoy them enough to actually do something about, whether that means ignoring, avoiding, filtering, reporting, complaining or shopping elsewhere.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what strategy works best for them; whether it makes more sense to just go through all the results that turn up, or spend a few minutes crafting a more targeted search that will filter those listings out, or to search for a specific piece by name rather than going through an entire category listing by listing.

gurlcat · ‎03-30-2024

But I think you still missed my point. It's not just about buyers' experiences. -Sellers who violate the duplication policy COMPETE UNFAIRLY with sellers who don't violate it. They not only get more visiblity but MORE SALES, taking them from sellers who follow the rules. And if eBay doesn't enforce this policy when violators get reported, then the message is bound to be "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" and more and more sellers will do this, and each actual item for sale will appear as many times more listings. I mean what's the point of answering this OP's question in the negative, if it's just a matter of 'Well technically it's against the rules but you might as well do it, and if buyers don't like it they can try to search harder or just shop somewhere else' ? I thought that's exactly what eBay intended to prevent when they made policies but maybe they really don't care anymore.