We are testing a reduced set of item specifics in the listing flow

[selling_team@ebay]

We’ve heard from our sellers that item specifics is one of the most complex parts of our listing experience. 

As a part of simplifying the listing flow, we are testing a reduced set of item specifics, optimized for the selling and buying experience. As a result, in select categories, some sellers may see fewer item specifics to fill out when creating a new listing on web or mobile. We’re actively monitoring performance and taking seller feedback into consideration.    

We’re constantly evaluating how to make listing on eBay easier and will keep you informed about any site-wide listing changes. Feel free to leave feedback in a comment below or via our survey during the listing process.  

As always, thank you for selling on eBay. 

Update as of 10/16/23:

Thank you to all sellers who shared their feedback. We have listened to your concerns and ended the test. We will continue to work on improving item specifics and keep the community informed of any site-wide changes.

The full list of item specifics will automatically reflect on your account for future listings. If you wish to add more item specifics to your previously published listings, the full list of item specifics is available when you revise your listing.

[dhbookds]

just because I'm aggravated..........

these are the IS, I could fill in for

\Collectibles\Kitchen & Home\Dinnerware & Serveware\Trivets

[evelyb30]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

I honestly don't see how you could program a "digital ruler" on photos as it all depends on how far away the item is etc.

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For smaller items, some jewelry etc sellers put a AA battery in the image for scale.  Some folks have no idea of English or Metric measurements, and coins for scale only work in their country of issue. Batteries however are the same size no matter where you are.  

[katbuzzco]

In theory, reducing the number of items, specifics is not a bad idea. However, it does not seem like buyers or sellers who use these categories frequently were consulted. For example, as someone that sells a lot of vintage clothing, high-quality sweaters, and cowboy boots there are lots of items specifics being suppressed that are important when shopping for these items. Certain things within the item specifics are very important to the value of these items, i.e. where it was made, what it is made of, what neckline it has, etc.

One of the thing that differentiates eBay from sites like Poshmark or Depop or Mercari is how granular a shopper can be with their search. If I am looking for an Angora sweater on Depop, I have to depend on the whether the seller typed it into their description. On eBay, i could choose Angora from the materials check box as a filter thus saving me lots of time and making eBay a better place to shop when I want something specific.

EBay also differentiates itself by having the best sold data. Sellers use eBay to research and price their items. When you make it require extra steps (revising) to capture high quality listing data a lot more sellers are just going to skip adding that information all together because they don't realize it's an option. 

Why not display the most searched on item specifics on the listing input screen, but have a plus sign or link to show more for sellers who want to be precise so that it makes their item easy for buyers to find?

Really dislike this update. I thought it was a glitch. 

[ltldpr]

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@siamjane8 wrote:

Unfortunately we are in another ebay test loop that causes more issues and less sales.  

To reiterate- for years ebay said IS are the #1 thing that helps search and conversion. They told their search algorithm teams to design  the whole platform around them....... now they realized what we said all along- they are killing the listing process and 80% of them had nothing to do with what what being listed.

    The problem is- as usual- no doubt nobody told the "algo" team about this test so if you are now listing with the new test tool that gets rid of the item specifics...... then the search determines that your listing is a poor example of listing quality so your listings are shoved down onto page 13 of the results.    Left hand has no idea of what right hand is doing and sellers suffer....again.

    For years - ebay has been built on "bad" ideas and changes so its almost impossible to untangle it to something that works again.    Of course you could just show people what they search for and let them buy the items without all the AI interference and manipulation........just saying- that is how it was was ebay was king and growing month over month instead of the steady decline since Cassini search was implemented and sales started to plummet. I believe the Cassin search engine has already been replaced but the new one is no better- kinda the ebay motto- double down on what is not working becuaese "know better"

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I specifically asked the "selling team" who created this post about the search engine and if getting rid of the IS would affect search results, based on Cassini being designed to specifically use them and basically ignore listings without them. (I had not heard that Cassini was replaced until reading your comment.)

Thus far, just like all the other questions in the post, my question has gone unanswered. 

I agree with neither hand knowing what the other is up to or how it affects the body attached to them. Is eBay purposely trying to go bankrupt by purposefully telling us to use something that directly affects search results, then pulling the rug out from under us by taking it away and tanking sales? That's what it sounds like to me. It's sad, actually.

[valueaddedresource]

For everyone in this thread whose questions have gone unanswered, just a reminder that monthly chat is tomorrow and it is an open topic chat this time.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Monthly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Monthly-Chat-October-11th-at-1-00-pm-PST/...

I don't expect much more than "we'll pass it on to the appropriate team" but if you have time it may at least be worth stopping in and adding your questions there as well - the chats sometimes tend to get more/different eyeballs on them even if they don't get direct, transparent answers at the time.  😉

[a_c_green]

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@ltldpr wrote:
I specifically asked the "selling team" who created this post about the search engine and if getting rid of the IS would affect search results, based on Cassini being designed to specifically use them and basically ignore listings without them. (I had not heard that Cassini was replaced until reading your comment.)

Thus far, just like all the other questions in the post, my question has gone unanswered. 

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selling_team@ebay : Again, please return and answer the perfectly legitimate questions that have been asked of you. At minimum, if you're not allowed to actually converse with sellers, at least post a reply that says, "Sorry, we are not allowed to converse with sellers." At least that way we know you're paying attention, as you claim to be doing.

devon@ebay : Please rattle whatever cages you can in order to get an actual answer to this problem (i.e. Why the Selling Team cannot have a dialogue with, you know, sellers). Thanks!

[devon@ebay]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@ltldpr wrote:
I specifically asked the "selling team" who created this post about the search engine and if getting rid of the IS would affect search results, based on Cassini being designed to specifically use them and basically ignore listings without them. (I had not heard that Cassini was replaced until reading your comment.)

Thus far, just like all the other questions in the post, my question has gone unanswered. 

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selling_team@ebay : Again, please return and answer the perfectly legitimate questions that have been asked of you. At minimum, if you're not allowed to actually converse with sellers, at least post a reply that says, "Sorry, we are not allowed to converse with sellers." At least that way we know you're paying attention, as you claim to be doing.

devon@ebay : Please rattle whatever cages you can in order to get an actual answer to this problem (i.e. Why the Selling Team cannot have a dialogue with, you know, sellers). Thanks!

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Hey @a_c_green! We have made sure to have all of the feedback and questions shared in this thread shared with the product team that is over seeing this. We do apologize for the delay and hope to have some information to share with everyone soon.

[haute_threads_boutique]

very pleased with the faster listing. noticed it in clothing category. 

[katbuzzco]

I wish eBay would consider creating a group of top sellers for each category that could be consulted when they're contemplating things like this. We know our niches and what things are important to our buyers. Many item specifics that were removed seem to have been ones that were important and useful to both buyers and sellers.

You can see that others in replies are giving examples from their niche about item specifics that they need that are now gone. For me as a sweater seller, I'd like to be able to use the item specifics to tell buyers exactly what a sweater is made of and I'd like for them to be able to check off things like wool, mohair, cashmere, and alpaca as filters as they search.  

I'm all for trimming out the useless item specifics but why take the ones that are regularly being used as search filters by our buyers? This is not the kind of 'magical' experience that we're hoping for eBay.  

[partsdepot_uk]

devon@ebay If not showing the recommended item specifics at the point of creating the listing is supposed to be making the listing process easier, then why when the item is listed do all the missing item specifics reappear and ebay shows them in the 'add recommended specifics' section under active listings?

Surely if they are not needed when creating the listing, then they are not needed when the listing is live?

You may also want to tell your ebay Pro Trader Category Specialists to stop telling sellers that they need to fill out as many specifics as possible to achieve higher search results.

[doubledz-a2z]

Go back and expand the categories Books Postcards Photographic Images among others    Lumping it all together has made selling near impossible.  

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

I can't help thinking about how they decide what should stay and what should go. Really, how do they do it? Maybe picking out of a hat during lunch hour. IDK!

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Same with seasonal ornaments and what has become the 'catch-all' action figures in toys.

[selling_team@ebay]

All,

Thank you for sharing your feedback. Our team is reading your comments and is receptive to all of your feedback. We are constantly checking this thread for your feedback and discussions. Since this is a test, we may modify it as we learn. List your questions and concerns, and we will be sure to review them! 

We are sharing more details on the test to address the concerns posted: 

• Why are we running this test? While item specifics continue to be critical to listing on eBay, we have heard from our sellers that there is an opportunity to optimize them. We are taking into consideration the selling as well as the buying experience.  
• Which listing mode is impacted? Only creating a listing from scratch is impacted. “Sell Similar” / “Sell One Like This” / “Revise” / “Relist” are not a part of the test.    
• Which categories are in the test? The list of categories is constantly evolving as we learn from the test. We are taking your feedback into consideration to add or remove certain categories. 
• Why are item specifics visible in “revise listing”? Since this is a test, we are letting sellers add more item specifics by revising their listing if they desire so.  

We are actively monitoring seller feedback, as well as the impact to our sellers. We will keep the community informed on the status of the test. 

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.

[partsdepot_uk]

Thanks for eventually taking the time to reply and acknowledge seller's concerns.

Surely for something as important as this you would have notified all your worldwide customer service teams and all sellers before implementing such a drastic change?

Instead for weeks we were told that this was another of the many technical glitches that sellers constantly face when listing items on ebay.

Regarding:

Why are item specifics visible in “revise listing”? Since this is a test, we are letting sellers add more item specifics by revising their listing if they desire so.  

This is the part that is causing the most extra work for our business. We pay employees to create listing templates (not list them) and at present these staff are unable to add any of the basic specifics that are usually required. This extra revision at the point of the template being listed is a lot more time consuming.

As an example in many of the car parts categories, basic/vital item specifics such as the ones listed below are missing on the create listing page:

Manufacturer Part Number
Country/Region of Manufacture
Superseded Part Number
Placement on Vehicle

Is it not possible for ebay to trial these 'attempted improvements' with selected sellers first rather than implementing them, unannounced to all sellers?