Scheduling an item?

[pianoplayerjohn]

I just posted a new item and when I go to schedule it, the scheduled tab is faded out and it won't let me schedule the item. What's up with that?

[itsjustasprain]

---

@pianoplayerjohn wrote:

I just posted a new item and when I go to schedule it, the scheduled tab is faded out and it won't let me schedule the item. What's up with that?

---

The listing is already live - I can see it. You have to set the schedule time before you complete the listing or else it will go live immediately.

PS - If you were using the new listing form and did not see an option for scheduling a time you need to go into the Pricing section and click on the options symbol in the upper left corner to find a scheduled time listing form. Sometime the start immediately/schedule time link is on the main form and sometimes it is buried in the Pricing section. It seems like there are 2 versions of the new listing form being tested.

[tdrake]

Just this morning I took an item off BIN and tried to relist as an auction. I wanted it to start tonight but there was no way to do it. So I saved it as a draft and maybe I'll be around to list it tonight or try tomorrow evening.  I have been using the new Beta lister and had this same problem a couple weeks ago when I went to relist an auction that didn't sell... no way to do it.    

I've been at this since 1997 and know how to schedule auction, done it thousands of times.  If there is some trick to do it with the new - wonky at best - lister, please enlighten me.

I've been trying to give it a fair try for a couple months but several things irritate me.

[itsjustasprain]

---

@tdrake wrote:

Just this morning I took an item off BIN and tried to relist as an auction. I wanted it to start tonight but there was no way to do it. So I saved it as a draft and maybe I'll be around to list it tonight or try tomorrow evening.  I have been using the new Beta lister and had this same problem a couple weeks ago when I went to relist an auction that didn't sell... no way to do it.    

I've been at this since 1997 and know how to schedule auction, done it thousands of times.  If there is some trick to do it with the new - wonky at best - lister, please enlighten me.

---

If you see a link in the new listing form for Start Immediately then click on that and it will lead you to a popup to set a future start time.

If you do NOT see a link on the main form for Start Immediately then go into the Pricing section and open that. There is an option link in the upper left corner that looks like 3 little slide bar controls. Click on that and one of the options there will be a slide switch to activate a Scheduled start. (I know - this is a ridiculous long path to follow.) Once you click on that slide switch to turn it On then you should get the option for setting a start time.

[a_c_green]

---

@pianoplayerjohn wrote:

I just posted a new item and when I go to schedule it, the scheduled tab is faded out and it won't let me schedule the item. What's up with that?

---

In addition to the replies above, I'm doing scheduled listings myself this afternoon, so I made a few screenshots to show the (slightly ridiculous) chain of steps to follow for scheduling a listing.

On the main form, look under the Pricing subtitle to see if there is a "Start immediately" link, such as here: 

If you see that link above, click on it to jump to the scheduling menu. If you do not see that link above, click on the "Edit all options" in the upper right corner of that same section, and you should see this:

Next, click on that icon in the upper left corner that looks like three horizontal slide buttons. You should see this popup appear: 

Now click on the icon next to "Scheduled start time" as I have already done above, and you should see a new setting appear in the underlying popup (visible above), reading "Specify the day and time you want your listing to first appear..."

Next, click out of that popup and select the option that you just activated: 

Click on the relevant settings to work your way down, and each of the three fields at the bottom will open into a pulldown menu to set your desired starting time.

Easy, right? I know, I know, don't answer that. I cannot fathom how anyone could think this was easy, quick or intuitive, especially when it's hidden below the irrelevant topic of Pricing. Hopefully this form will eventually get reviewed by enough sellers that it can be streamlined into something more user-friendly, though I don't know how quickly that will happen. I have been sending in my own comments on this form via the link for it, but have had absolutely no response or any sign that improvements have been made yet. (I thought I saw some changes in this area, but they seem to have vanished again.)

[tdrake]

I don't see the option...

[tdrake]

---

@itsjustasprain wrote:

If you do NOT see a link on the main form for Start Immediately then go into the Pricing section and open that. There is an option link in the upper left corner that looks like 3 little slide bar controls. Click on that and one of the options there will be a slide switch to activate a Scheduled start. (I know - this is a ridiculous long path to follow.) Once you click on that slide switch to turn it On then you should get the option for setting a start time.

---

This worked...  Thanks!   Who'd have thought....  however, there are other things annoying with the new listing format hopefully they'll straighten out.  I have been using it since the 1st week or so it was available to try, figuring that sooner or later it won't be an "option"  and really want it to work, but in all this time I've not seen any change at all in it.

Thanks again!

 

[a_c_green]

---

@tdrake wrote:

---

@itsjustasprain wrote:

If you do NOT see a link on the main form for Start Immediately then go into the Pricing section and open that. There is an option link in the upper left corner that looks like 3 little slide bar controls. Click on that and one of the options there will be a slide switch to activate a Scheduled start. (I know - this is a ridiculous long path to follow.) Once you click on that slide switch to turn it On then you should get the option for setting a start time.

---

This worked...  Thanks!   Who'd have thought.... 

---

It's like the old joke about the sign in the optometrist's window: "IF YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT YOU WANT, YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE."

The inverted, bass-ackwards logic at work here appears to be turning optional features On or Off via a submenu that renders them invisible from above if they're not already activated. That is, they're not just Off; they're nowhere to be seen.

If you're not using the Schedule option already, there is no indication from above about where it is. (Certainly if I was looking for a Scheduled Start Time, I would not be digging around in the Pricing section.) That and the other options in that submenu (all of which are Default Off) seem intended as a Need To Know basis.

tyler@ebay : I know you're off for the weekend, but whenever you're catching up, can you please point the Engineering people to this thread? We're already doing the whole Comment thing via links off the new Listing form itself, but there's no indication of anyone actually reading them or replying in any way. I know they're supposed to anyway, but it would help if someone on that side of the wall would at least wave back once in a while. Thanks!

[jtzvwbug]

Next time you need to schedule a listing....

Go to the Pricing section of the New listing tool. Find the Edit all options link on the right side of the pricing section and click on the link.

Look at the "Icon" on the top left side of the Pricing section. Click on the Icon:

Make sure the Scheduled start time option is in the "ON" position and click Done. Now look at your draft listing and click on the Start immediately link that has been added to your draft. Change the setting here from "Start immediately" to "Schedule a start time" and add the day/time information. Be sure to click on Done.

Last thing: Your draft listing should now reflect the day/time that you selected.

@a_c_green 

Tyler is no longer available. His last day was 4-19-22.

[a_c_green]

---

@jtzvwbug wrote:

Tyler is no longer available. His last day was 4-19-22.

---

Oh! That's news to me (obviously). I must have missed his signoff.

[jtzvwbug]

Here's a link to  Tyler's Announcement  on the Discussion Boards.

[wrong66]

He probably took one look at the new listing form and decided it was time to change careers. I would have. To make something so important as a listing form so convoluted simply staggers the imagination.