This is not a plea for advice, just sharing an experience and wondering what sellers' thoughts are, or if you've encountered this before.
Occasionally I have gotten an alert upon hitting 'List' -usually because I forgot an I.S. or maybe had something like "Native American" in the title, and the alert just required me to affirm that the item really was authentically N.A. I think MAYBE I have even had it question whether I chose the correct category for an item or two based on the title (not even sure if I recall that) ....
................ but I definitely don't recall it ever BLOCKING me from listing anything as titled.
But that's exactly what's happening with this listing. There's no "I acknowledge" box to check or anything like that, only the choice to remove the word 'clock' or change the category to clocks.
Now you can see why I included 'Clock' -because it looks like a tiny old school bedside alarm clock. I'm actually willing to pay the 25 cents fee to list this piece in both 'Watches' and 'Necklaces' because it is both of those. But I am not trying to pass off a watch as a clock, to pay a cheaper FVF or trick buyers (I even clarified in the description that this is not really an alarm clock, in case it wasn't obvious to the stupidest imaginable person).
Obviously it's not vital that I include the word 'clock' in the title, but it does disturb me that I literally CANNOT. Since when did sellers not have the discretion to title listings as we see fit, knowing that they could be taken down by eBay employees based on THEIR discretion? Are we now at the mercy of very stupid software to judge whether a non-vulgar word is even allowed to be used in the first place?
-If hard wall listing blockage based on crappily-"trained" bot criteria is the new norm, it's going to cause major problems. There are countless "things" that look like other "things" or just include those other things as descriptors. Table lamp. Bed skirt. Nail gun. Let your imagination run wild.
@wastingtime101 wrote:Have you tried listing in the necklace category exclusively, then adding the secondary watch category as an edit after it's live?
I had not tried that, but you know I'll do anything for science, so I end/SS'd the listing and gave it a whirl.
Step 1 ('alarm clock' back in the title and only 'Necklace' category) - WORKED
Step 2 (editing to add the 'Watch' category) -NOPE, blocked again.
Now, one interesting thing to note is the difference between which category you choose as the 'primary' and 'secondary' categories, because the I.S.'s are based only on the primary one, which in this case was Necklaces. Also, there is no sitewide sub-category for "necklace watches;" it's only an I.S. (a required one) for the sub-category of 'Other Watches' (other than wrist or pocket watches, that is).
So I decided to see what would happen if I swapped the primary and secondary categories, or rather just starting with the Watch category only, no secondary category.
And that experiment stopped there, because it got the listing block.
@abethkap wrote:It's a really cute pendant/watch- I've never seen one like it.
Here's another one by the same company, made as a brooch instead of necklace. But they're both really flawed in a way I've never seen before. -Most of these 'body jewelry' watches are made upside-down, so that the wearer can easily glance down to see the time. But these are better suited for giving someone else the time, LOL.
@abethkap wrote:OK, if you are not going to die on the alarm clock hill, I guess that leaves me to do it. Check out the completed price on this listing: Vintage Montreluxe Pendant Necklace Watch Women Alarm Clock Shape Manual Wind.
Whoa, STELLAR sleuthing, holy cow! Hey @wastingtime101 @valueaddedresource check this out.
This is the Sold item referenced. And it was listed in Jewelry and Watches > Watches & Parts> Watches> Other watches (just like I tried to list mine)
So, seeing as that was March 17, this would be the perfect chance to see if the bot scrutiny I faced was newer than that. I plugged that^ exact title into a brand new listing from scratch, with the same category choice. And check it out: LISTED it, no hiccups.
So apparently just tacking the word 'Shape' after 'Clock' calls off the dogs, ha. Maybe they're not so stupid after all.
@abethkapNow the question is, did that other watch pendant sell for such a nice price because 'Alarm Clock Shape' was in the title, or because of other factors (brand, seller having loyal followers, who knows?). Also I'd be curious to know how long it took to sell. I'm a very impatient seller, lol. I can't explain why but I just get sick of seeing old listings in my account. By "old" I mean, well it depends on the item, but I guess around 6 months virtually any item starts to get a bit stinky to me.
BUT because you went to the trouble and made such an interesting contribution to science, I'm honoring it by editing my title to include 'Shape' and jacking up my price, so we'll see if 'Alarm Clock' fetches some joy.
Thank you.
@gurlcat wrote:
@abethkap wrote:OK, if you are not going to die on the alarm clock hill, I guess that leaves me to do it. Check out the completed price on this listing: Vintage Montreluxe Pendant Necklace Watch Women Alarm Clock Shape Manual Wind.
Whoa, STELLAR sleuthing, holy cow! Hey @wastingtime101 @valueaddedresource check this out.
This is the Sold item referenced. And it was listed in Jewelry and Watches > Watches & Parts> Watches> Other watches (just like I tried to list mine)
Dude, when is everybody going to start listening to me when I say use Product Research, not Search when determining sold prices for comps? It sold with a Seller Initiated Offer.
@wastingtime101 wrote:Dude, when is everybody going to start listening to me when I say use Product Research, not Search when determining sold prices for comps? It sold with a Seller Initiated Offer.
@gurlcat wrote:
@abethkap wrote:OK, if you are not going to die on the alarm clock hill, I guess that leaves me to do it. Check out the completed price on this listing: Vintage Montreluxe Pendant Necklace Watch Women Alarm Clock Shape Manual Wind.
Whoa, STELLAR sleuthing, holy cow! Hey @wastingtime101 @valueaddedresource check this out.
This is the Sold item referenced. And it was listed in Jewelry and Watches > Watches & Parts> Watches> Other watches (just like I tried to list mine)
I'm so confused (shocking, I know) lol.
Are you being sarcastic? Search > Sold gave a higher sold price by $100 and some change than Product Research returned. I'm obviously missing something.
