Question about out of stock inventory

[b86fiero]

Does having several active listings with inventory out of stock affect your sell through rate ratio?

Does this affect how eBay shows your fully stocked active listings?  Does the eBay algorithm see active out of stock listings as non-selling listings and you as a seller offering items nobody is viewing?  Does this affect search placement for your fully stocked listings? 

As for effect on your selling account,  is it better to end out of stock listings after a certain amount of time has passed or does it make no difference if they sit with zero inventory?

Sell through rate used to be one of many determining factors in search placement.  Is this still the case?

Thanks for any insights.  

[jda08121]

You should never have an active out of stock item. If a buyer purchases you deserve the negative you'll probably get.

[heckofagame]

Dear @jda08121 , with an eBay store, items can be out of stock and not visible to buyers but are still considered active listings. 

[jda08121]

That is not what most of us consider active. You needed to be more clear.

[heckofagame]

If it's not ended, it's active. Pretty simple.

[b86fiero]

jda08121 - You misunderstood the question and out of stock listings in general.

A multi quantity listing that sells out can remain in your active listings folder in Seller Hub but buyers cannot see the listing.  Therefore, eBay prevents a sale on an out of stock listing.  When inventory is replenished the listing becomes active in search and buyers can once again purchase the item.

[b86fiero]

Sellers with multi quantity listings are able to choose the out of stock option eBay offers specifically for multi quantity listings.  The listing remains active in the sellers account but it does not appear in search until the inventory is replenished.  Very helpful for sellers whose inventory arrival is delayed due to shortages from Covid.

My question(s) were about how a number of out of stock listings might impact the selling ratio and placement of fully stocked listings in Search. 

In past years non-selling listings had a negative affect on sellers.  eBay loves sellers who offering fast moving merchandise.  Sellers offering long-tail merchandise - items that take longer to sell or are unique and must wait for a certain buyer to discover them - often felt that eBay did not show their listings as prominently.

Sorry, I figured most sellers knew about the out of stock listings option available.