How can a seller save a listiing so that it can be reactivated even months later?

[woodjim]

I'm not sure of the way a seller can save an eBay listing intact (all the HTML with photos) once  that listing has expired, so that it can be reactivated up to several months later when that same item becomes available for sale again.  I think that you can bring up an old listing by searching Completed Listings under Advanced Search, but I'm not sure how long eBay keeps them.  Once you find it that way, one might be able to "Sell one like this...", but does that listing populate your screen, or will some (or all) of it need to be re-created?  It would be helpful to be able to download one's own active listing completely as a file so that it can be used again. Is there a way? Thanks in advance for any help!

[stainlessenginecovers]

You can't past 90 days. You would need to relist- raise the price by 100x (so as not to sell while it's up for 1 day) and then end the next day...all on the 89th day to keep it 'another 90'. 

[katzrul15]

3rd party software is the only was I know, past 90 days.

I have created a template before, but for 1-offs.

[inhawaii · Accepted solution]

Use the OOS (out o stock) option.

When the quantity is "0" the listing can sit for up to 90 days.

When you want to re-activate the listing, change the quantity to anything higher than "0".

Right now I have several listings that are OOS just sitting there waiting for me to replenish stock.

Here is one of them...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224100704591

When a item/listing is out of stock, it does not show up in  a search.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

OOS option or 3rd party software, but the OOS option can have a lot of little gotchas.   If you're going to have a lot of them, 3rd party software is the way to go.  I use Sixbit, there's also Inkfrog & many others. 

[femmefan1946]

I have a desktop file with all my Descriptions including HTML going back decades.

And another with all my photos.

[woodjim]

Thanks all for the tips!

@inhawaii, not familiar with the OOS option, but can see how that would work.  When I have a group of identical items to sell, eBay's counter at the top decrements until the last one is sold, then the listing just disappears totally.  I have seen references to the Good Till Cancelled (GTC) feature, and all my listings seem to be in that category.  But when the last of a group is sold, the listing is gone.  How does one bring it back?

I see that I can duplicate an active listing by clicking: "Sell similar," or even bring up a sold listing and click: Relist.  What comes up on the screen in either case looks like a complete listing ready to go live, at which point  I can click: "Save as draft."  Will that remain for the next 90 days?  If so, I suppose it could be 'renewed' at the end of that time the same way.

[mtgraves7984]

"Save as draft."  Will that remain for the next 90 days? 

@woodjim 

I believe you get 60 days on a Draft. Of course, you could 'pretend' to relist and save as a Draft again...

[woodjim]

Do you create your HTMLs from scratch, or is there some way to download them from eBay if you compile them there?  I suppose one could download anything as a text file, then just re-format when relisting.

[my.chic.boutique]

Use the Scheduled listings. I have many things that didn't sell and I want to relist later at a better time (like Halloween costumes).  I go ahead and "relist" but make it a scheduled listing for the longest amount of time - usually 20 days out. So if I set one up today - July 20, I can set it for Aug 10. You are only charged the 10 cent fee if you let the system automatically list it when you have it set to start. 

BUT, I make a note in my calendar to remind me to reschedule the scheduled listing! So before Aug. 10, I will simply reschedule them for another 20 days. I can do that forever if I want to. 

When I am ready to list any of the items, I simply click edit and change it to start immediately. That way I am not charged the 10 cents and I have decided when I want to list it. 

Easy peasy!!

[woodjim]

That sounds like a solid way to approach the situation if 20 days was the approximate interval.  In my situation it's more like 90 days, right on the edge of when the files may well get purged.  But I have only one such listing, and doing it over could actually be beneficial, in that it would have a new 'look' and perhaps attract additional viewers.  It's important to maintain a product/seller identity, but at the same time you don't want to be thought of as "that tired old listing that's been there for months and months."

[slippinjimmy]

My OOS listings seem to stay "active" for at least 6 months, I just checked and I have a few that were last sold in late 2021.

You could probably "reset" the timing by changing the quantity to 1 and then immediately back to 0, I've never tried it but it should work.