Updates are happening to some item specifics and category structures

[community_team]

We announced in our most recent Seller Update that we’ve revised some categories and item specifics to help make your listings easier to find on eBay and by external search engines. 

Starting today, you’ll see updates to the following categories:

Business & Industrial (Sinks)

Collectibles & Toys 

Electronics (Cameras)

Health & Beauty (Covid tests)

Home & Garden

Parts & Accessories (Wheels & Tires)

Sporting Goods (Golf & Cycling)

Watches

During this transition, your listing experience could be temporarily impacted, as well as the visibility of your listings.  You may notice some item specifics changing names, listings moved to different categories, or some listings temporarily not appearing in searches. 

Any affected listings should return to normal within a week, though some effects to listings’ visibility in searches may continue for up to three weeks. 

Once these changes are complete, we recommend checking your listings in the above categories to see if any were affected.  Learn more about category changes → please scroll down the page to see the links for the specific category changes.

We understand these updates will take extra time and may cause some frustration, but our goal is to help you increase your listings’ visibility and sales. 

Keep an eye on this page over the coming days—we’ll be sharing up-to-date information on affected categories and listings, and answering any questions you have. 

[b86fiero]

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@community_team wrote:

We announced in our most recent Seller Update that we’ve revised some categories and item specifics to help make your listings easier to find on eBay and by external search engines. 

Starting today, you’ll see updates to the following categories:

Business & Industrial (Sinks)

Collectibles & Toys 

Electronics (Cameras)

Health & Beauty (Covid tests)

Home & Garden

Parts & Accessories (Wheels & Tires)

Sporting Goods (Golf & Cycling)

Watches

During this transition, your listing experience could be temporarily impacted, as well as the visibility of your listings.  You may notice some item specifics changing names, listings moved to different categories, or some listings temporarily not appearing in searches. 

Any affected listings should return to normal within a week, though some effects to listings’ visibility in searches may continue for up to three weeks. 

 Learn more about category changes →

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Three weeks?  Why so long?  Affecting search visibility for up to three weeks can be an eternity in online selling.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here. 

[partfinds]

Do those changes affect sales as well? Most sellers on boards say they got 0 sales in the past week or so. I am in car parts but not wheels and tires.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here. 

[wrong66]

I hear you. What category change could possibly affect visibility for up to THREE weeks? Here we go again. I'm sure it's a much better "experience" for the sellers involved. 

[klhmdg]

Will sellers be notified as to which of their listings were changed?

Last time the only way we knew, was to go through and check each and every listing to be sure eBay moved it to the correct category.

It was a complete mess... 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here. 

[worldwide_ship]

No wonder I'm not getting any sales or questions on my active listings today. Thanks for letting us know!

[ckimodog]

@b86fiero 

My guess is the updates are not quite finished yet or whom ever is updating has no clue as to what they're doing.  Only making it harder for sellers to receive views/sales.  The notice is more a less a cheery announcement that they're still in the process of working on that cluster of a mess after almost a year of the initial update from hell.  smh. 🙄

[donsdetour]

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@klhmdg wrote:

Will sellers be notified as to which of their listings were changed?

Last time the only way we knew, was to go through and check each and every listing to be sure eBay moved it to the correct category.

It was a complete mess... 

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Expect what it was:  were you have to check and see where it goes...

[dhbookds]

Thanks for the notification.........while we may not be happy during the transition........it will certainly help to be updated on the progress and be able to ask questions...........

[toomuchstuffagain35]

And remember to check if the 'new' category charges for Gallery Plus or not. (again)

[ten_o_nine]

Would that also show my store categories in Chinese?

[southern*sweet*tea]

::sigh::

I guess I needed more busy work ☹️

[momdadsstash]

I thought computer programs worked with the speed of  light?

Of course, that presumes that the entire program is written before being unleashed.

[luxgoods]

Here we go again! Everytime they mess with Item specifics everything goes haywire.  

[bitbeat]

ALL categories seem to be affected - clothing has been DEAD!!!!!