Question.

[inhawaii]

I've sold a candy that was quite popular.

I sold 400+ of them.

I just found out they have been discontinued.

Will ebay let me keep the same item number and let me change the product to a similar product?

 I would be changing the title, the pictures , the description; etc.

[inhawaii]

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@gurlcat wrote:

THIS POST HAS EVERYTHING.  I can't love it any more, LOL!  
On the one hand, you may have cracked a code on using eBay's algorithms to a brilliant advantage.  On the other, you could potentially kill somebody.  I mean we are talking about a FOOD, particularly an allergy-rife category of foods.  

I would just say if you're going to do this, DON'T replace the macadamia nuts with anything 'similar' enough that a previous buyer could accidentally re-purchase, thinking they'll get the same thing as before.   Replace with something different enough that the image thumbnail alone would alert them that this listing is no longer the same product.  

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@gurlcat 

Just wanted to clear something up.

I wasn't planning on passing off one food for another.

Peanuts as macadamia nuts. Pineapple as papaya.

The "updated" listing would have all the correct info, the correct name, the correct size/weight, the correct ingredients, the correct pictures.

Customers would know exactly what they are getting.

The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

[luckythewinner]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I've sold a candy that was quite popular.

I sold 400+ of them.

I just found out they have been discontinued.

Will ebay let me keep the same item number and let me change the product to a similar product?

 I would be changing the title, the pictures , the description; etc.

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So you are asking whether you can re-use the sales history from one item for a different item?

I certainly hope you can't.

[fbusoni]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

No need to bother Devon. 

This comes down to simple honest business practices and what I call Karma. Karma will get those who cheat, lie, and steal. It may take time, but it will happen. 

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Indeed, it seems no one from eBay with whom we are asked to communicate here -- regarding for example the much-ballyhooed Ask Me About series -- can be relied upon to answer SIMPLE technical questions.

Can you imagine the struggle that would be had with rendering actual judgments?  😁

And I'm glad you brought up karma.   I'm closing in on 65 and I KNOW that Karma is a real thing.   It's about the order of the universe, the Golden Rule, the forces of nature that are at work all around us even though they may not be apparent to us.

[inhawaii]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I've sold a candy that was quite popular.

I sold 400+ of them.

I just found out they have been discontinued.

Will ebay let me keep the same item number and let me change the product to a similar product?

 I would be changing the title, the pictures , the description; etc.

---

So you are asking whether you can re-use the sales history from one item for a different item?

I certainly hope you can't.

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That's exactly what i'm asking ... and it sounds like you can.

No that i'm going to do it.

The opinions of my fellow sellers means a lot to me (especially yours). 😉

[mam98031]

This is a Community of Ebay members, I know you are aware of this.  Asking someone from Ebay to stop into any given thread by just saying their name will never have any success.  Unless you think that they are constantly scanning threads for the mention of their names.  Again, I'm sure you know that too.

The OP is coming to their own decision on how to handle the question they brought to the threads.  They've received some great feedback and advice as well as some very hostile undeserved remarks.  The OP is a long standing seller and a long standing regular visitor of the threads.  

[gurlcat]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

I've sold a candy that was quite popular.

I sold 400+ of them.

I just found out they have been discontinued.

Will ebay let me keep the same item number and let me change the product to a similar product?

 I would be changing the title, the pictures , the description; etc.

---

So you are asking whether you can re-use the sales history from one item for a different item?

I certainly hope you can't.

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"Can't" as in "be able to", or as in "be able to without repercussions" ?   You can do a revision on any listing and change basically everything in it, as long as it isn't an auction item with bids, or a BIN with offers pending.   As to whether there is an eBay policy against it, I think someone would have posted it here by now.  

[itsjustasprain]

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@inhawaii wrote:
The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

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Why do you feel the need to deceive your buyers?

[gurlcat]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@gurlcat 

Just wanted to clear something up.

I wasn't planning on passing off one food for another.

Peanuts as macadamia nuts. Pineapple as papaya.

The "updated" listing would have all the correct info, the correct name, the correct size/weight, the correct ingredients, the correct pictures.

Customers would know exactly what they are getting.

The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

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No I totally got that; you would just be doing a revision and honestly changing everything to match the new item.   But besides 'number sold' it would also still have the same item number. 
So this makes me curious -say you did this already (today), and someone who purchased the macadamia nuts a couple weeks ago loved them so much they wanted to buy another box tonight.  If they went to their Purchases to find the listing, as they scroll down would they find the title/thumbnail of the macadamia nuts, or the title/thumbnail of what the listing now offers?  -I suspect neither you nor anyone could answer that, but I'm super curious now.  

[a_c_green]

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@gurlcat wrote:
If they went to their Purchases to find the listing, as they scroll down would they find the title/thumbnail of the macadamia nuts, or the title/thumbnail of what the listing now offers?  -I suspect neither you nor anyone could answer that, but I'm super curious now.  

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They would find the title/thumbnail of what the listing now offers. The appearance of the listing at the time the purchase was made is not retained. If it's a multi-item listing that is still live for further purchases, then anyone (including a past buyer) who views item #123456789 will see it in its current form, not a previous version.

[redlinear]

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@robbie31415 wrote:

You use out of stock option to keep listings active regardless of how much quantity you have.

But for the OPs situation I think it's wrong and a form of manipulation to try and pass a different product off with different sales history.

I know Amazon has gotten hit with sellers doing similar perseving their ASIN with a different product once it's discontinued to pass over their established product reviews.

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Gotcha.
OR, It is possible that an item number associated with 400 sales, might stay more toward the top of a search result simply due to sales activity.  And the item itself is of little or no importance.
With no intent to fool a buyer.  
With intent just to keep a good search result placement.
If no rules are being broken, the intent is irrelevant 
    

[gurlcat]

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:
The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

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Why do you feel the need to deceive your buyers?

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To whatever degree popularity motivates consumers, industry marketers clearly view deception as fair game.  If you read that 400 people jumped off a bridge, you don't have to.  And unlike a bridge-jump injury, if an eBay item sucks you can return it.  

@inhawaii this thread is striking all my impish dissident tendencies like a bell.  The more finger wagging I see you getting for the idea, the more I hope you do it.  Seriously, DO IT. 🤣. 

[redlinear]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:
The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

---

Why do you feel the need to deceive your buyers?

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To whatever degree popularity motivates consumers, industry marketers clearly view deception as fair game.  If you read that 400 people jumped off a bridge, you don't have to.  And unlike a bridge-jump injury, if an eBay item sucks you can return it.  

@inhawaii this thread is striking all my impish dissident tendencies like a bell.  The more finger wagging I see you getting for the idea, the more I hope you do it.  Seriously, DO IT. 🤣. 

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I agree.
I don't think there's intent to fool buyers.
I think the number of previous sales would simply keep that item "number" higher in search results. Regardless of the actual item.
And if you can trick an algorithm that's manipulating search results based on previous sales (without breaking any rules)?  More power to ya!  

[gurlcat]

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@redlinear wrote:

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To whatever degree popularity motivates consumers, industry marketers clearly view deception as fair game.  If you read that 400 people jumped off a bridge, you don't have to.  And unlike a bridge-jump injury, if an eBay item sucks you can return it.  

@inhawaii this thread is striking all my impish dissident tendencies like a bell.  The more finger wagging I see you getting for the idea, the more I hope you do it.  Seriously, DO IT. 🤣. 

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I agree.
I don't think there's intent to fool buyers.
I think the number of previous sales would simply keep that item "number" higher in search results. Regardless of the actual item.  

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Exactly, and it's not like eBay doesn't manipulate THAT according to arbitrary factors.  I say with as much difficulty as this system stacks against us, if you have the means to buck it, for goodness sake, BUCK IT. 

[a_c_green]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@itsjustasprain wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:
The only "deceiving" part would be the number sold.

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Why do you feel the need to deceive your buyers?

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To whatever degree popularity motivates consumers, industry marketers clearly view deception as fair game. 

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God, yes. Marketing people, in my observations over, um, several decades in business tended to be the dumbest people in the office. We'd be presented with all kinds of ideas that were supposed to be novel and out-there in terms of ways to drum up business, and have to explain to them why this idea would give the wrong impression, that idea would fly in the face of what the product is supposed to do, that other idea breaks about five laws, and so on. After a couple of years, they'd move on to another company and a new batch would arrive. They were fun to talk about at parties, but otherwise we kept them at a safe distance.

[gurlcat]

Well I was talking strictly about popularity (and in that I would include popularity among admired individuals, like if Pepsi makes Cindy Crawford's eyes close and mouth open in ecstasy, it must be amazing 🤣).  

But now I want story time!!!  What's the wildest one you can remember?