Item specifics

[laurabell616]

So...I mostly sell collectibles and vintage jewelry. Creating a template for item specifics in these categories is near impossible. I listed some 'costume' jewelry recently and counted over 40 item specifics. Fully half did not even pertain to vintage costume jewelry...theme, department, carat, number of stones even though I already checked the 'no stone' specifics and etc.. Is it me or does it seem like it takes forever to put up a listing anymore? I am leaving eBay this month around the 20th. Figure that should close me out by the end of the year. I will be glad to go as eBay's platform has just gotten so ridiculous. Remember the 'classic view'. Everything was so easy. All I needed to see was on one page. No scrolling all over creation to accomplish a simple task. They tell me all these changes are making things better for me but I now spend 20 minutes doing what used to take me 10. It's tiring and disappointing because it has become work instead of fun. And I still can't leave negative feedback for the buyers who have not paid or tried to scam me. I guess that's what eBay calls progress. To the folks who make their living selling here, I wish you well and good fortune. To the people like me who sell for the thrill and make a buck or two in the process, hang in there and don't take any wooden nickels.

[kelekt]

"t's tiring and disappointing" - yes. and annoying and aggravating, too!

I HATE the items specifics RIDICULOUS list for jewelry...omg...forget it. I fill out NA to a million specifics that in no way apply to what I am selling.

HUGE waste of time and to top it off I have the hideous constant reminder on some items to fill in more specifics. how about NO 😒

[jek-treasures]

The truth is, I’m selling less on eBay and more in local Vintage Market events. Lots more fun to set up a booth for a day or two outdoors and enjoy talking to real customers. No returns, no hassle. 
As a hobbyist and collector it’s a good way to pare down my collections and inherited antiques. 
yes, it’s a lot of physical work but I do like my “pop up store” better than online. 

I’ll still keep a few things on eBay where they are often a better fit. But I’m completely fed up with selling vintage books on Amazon.  Don’t get me started on that one….

jek-treasures

[luxgoods]

Ebay did the same ridiculous item specifics to clothing awhile back and now it is a mess. The item specifics they added did nothing but clog up the listing with useless information.  Ebay loves to make these ridiculous changes in the 4th quarter with out any regard for the sellers.  

[winterpalace25]

Don't fill in any IS that doesn't apply. That just cloggs up your listing. Leave them blank unless they are Required IS. Then the first time the listing pops up on your To Do list, check the box that says "Don't remind me again." That will take care of it. Unfortunately, you can't accomplish this at the time of listing.

[femmefan1946]

Can you enter N/A as an Item Specific?

And as @winterpalace25  says, you can ignore the IS Recommended .

As I understand it, Item Specifics are not aimed at the buyer, but at SEOs (basically Google Search) for buyers searching there, rather than at buyers who have already found eBay.

This is most apparent when the IS for Books asks for the Book Title and the Author, both of which are normally already in the listing title.  I guess SEOs don't read our titles.

I have my hopes of Don't Remind Me, but there are so many changes (my experience is mostly with books) that it remains hope rather than confidence.

[gloryglorygifts]

Good luck to you with the market events! That's how I started my biz 13 years ago and it was really awesome meeting people and chatting up the other vendors. I'm a little jealous. LOL.  Enjoy!

[gloryglorygifts]

Well I just finished updating a listing for the umpteenth time and I'm pretty sure that it now states that it's an ornament 4 times. I feel your pain..

I wish you well whether you decide to stay or go.

[winterpalace25]

I was advised on this board to not use "does not apply" for Recommended Item Specifics" because a bunch of them look bad on the listing. A knowledgeable person here advised me about the near invisible check box for "don't remind me again." I successfully used it on over 100 listings. But I did notice you have to place the checkmark last after all other revisions or it doesn't take. Also, you can't do this from the listing page. It must be done in a second step from your Item Specifics Tasks in Seller Central.  I wish ebay would make this clear instead of leading sellers to believe they must fill in every IS with something.

[placeintimepostcards]

Just closed my vintage jewelry store and am also leaving eBay.  The idea of all these changes, the postal slow downs and the Christmas season all at the same time made me run screaming from the room.  I will not miss it.

[lindyslucky]

Yes, we quit too. We did it for the $$. I have never understood how selling on eBay could be “fun” or a hobby.

There were diminishing returns. The ebay grab for fees on taxes & shipping, especially as shipping has just gotten almost prohibitive.

Many small items were costing as much to ship as the item itself.

We had gotten so we promoted everything, it was about the only way to sell things. Now I read there is a bigger grab for fees on each view.

Then adjusting to managed payments, added to the loss of classic view… the universe was telling us to quit selling on eBay. 

Best of luck to you. I’m sort of amazed there hasn’t been an opening of an online site for smalls & collectibles. Maybe shipping costs have killed it altogether.

[lindyslucky]

Totally lost my post, got “tell us what you think” then “an unexpected error has occurred “. Typical eBay stuff. 

I don’t miss it either. I check back to see if things are better, particularly changes with seller hub, hoping for more user friendly. It seems eBay was a habit, maybe not a good one.

we used a lot of what we made to buy on eBay, so don’t do that much anymore either.

Things change.

[luckythewinner]

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@laurabell616 wrote:

Creating a template for item specifics in these categories is near impossible.

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Can you create a template that has 'NA' (or whatever is the equivalent) for all the item specifics, and then just replace the ones that actually apply?