Mandatory Item Specifics??

[meme6253]

If item specifics are suppose to be Mandatory, Then why have i found TONS of listings that have little to none, Including sell one like this & The Big Shots on here as well??

[pburn]

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@meme6253 wrote:

. . .  The Big Shots on here as well??

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I don't understand this phrase . . . who are "The Big Shots on here?"

[yuzuha]

Only SOME item specifics are mandatory. You'll know which ones they are because they are marked with a red asterisk in the listing form.

Aside from the required ones, sellers don't need to enter any item specifics if they don't want to.

[divwido · Accepted solution]

Not every single line has an answer.  And some questions may have been asked once or twice already and the seller may not be in a mood to answer for the third time.  And some 'specifics' make zero sense, so  we feel no need to answer.  

Seems obvious to me, but if I tell them I don't know who made it, why do they keep asking what year it was made?   Then what?  Leave it blank or lie?  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Some categories have very few REQUIRED specifics.  Others have a ton. 

[meme6253]

The Larger Companies who sell here

[bashort]

I have noticed that if you do not drill down so far in the category tree there are a lot less specifics to fill out.

For Instance  "Business & Industrial > Electrical Equipment & Supplies > Other Electrical Equipment & Supplies" Has only 3  Item specifics and a UPC .

But if you use "Business & Industrial > Electrical Equipment & Supplies > Circuit Breakers & Disconnectors > Circuit Breakers"  You will have a whole bunch of them.

More item specifics would be a good idea but it does not appear to be working that well.

I was recently looking for some #12 24 x 1/2" Hex head machine screws which is sort of a odd size and I checked all the boxes, screw size #12, screw pitch 24,  Head type Hex, length 1/2". Should of been easy but I never did find them and search returned all kinds of things outside the listed parameters.

I tried Amazon and same result

[meme6253]

I Agree they are a Mess that needs to be fixed, & I don't believe in the leave it blank or Lie either, What I am mainly talking about is the ones I have spent numerous hours completing, That can be Completed, & other sellers doing nothing for the same Item, WHY do I do all this work & other's get to skate by??

[pjcdn2005]

You may have completed them but they may have been suggested or recommended specifics, not required specifics.  If they are not required then other sellers may choose not to fill them out.

[coolections]

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@meme6253 wrote:

WHY do I do all this work & other's get to skate by??

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Because those that skated by decided since they where not mandatory, or important enough to fill those in, they would just leave those blank.

[onlinecentral]

In 2014, I multiplied the number of listings I had by so many minutes apiece. It would have taken me almost 40 hours, a week of unpaid labor, to revise the item specifics.

If I had done this once a year, every year since then, it would be 9 weeks of unpaid labor. At twice a year, 18 weeks.

If you are running Fixed Price listings with Buy-It-Now, just let them roll, as is. Any new listings you create will have excellent Item Specifics, going forward.

Since 2014 I have managed to sell thousands of products. Somehow the buyers were able to find the items with less than perfect Item Specifics. 

[katzrul15]

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@meme6253 wrote:

If item specifics are suppose to be Mandatory, Then why have i found TONS of listings that have little to none, Including sell one like this & The Big Shots on here as well??

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Might be older listings where they just keep changing the quantity, etc.

Just because e-Bay says to update the Item Specifics, does not mean Sellers do.  And yes, the deadline date has came and gone, but that was for "REQUIRED" item specifics - the recommended can stay blank all a Seller wants if they so wish.  ymmv