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What is "show original title"?

I ended a listing and then created a new listing via sell similar. On the new listing page the listing title is followed with "-show original title". When mouse hovering over it it displays "Original text, the exact same title". I then edited the listing title and "-show original title" is still there it displays "Original text, the updated title". 

 

I've never seen this before. Does anyone know its purpose?

"What do we live for, if it's not to make life less difficult for each other?" — G Eliot
Message 1 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

This also happened to me today.  No idea what this is.  Anyone else?

Message 2 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

Sounds like a coding error.

Message 3 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

Yeah. Saw this today too. It's random though. Not every new listing got it.

Message 4 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

I revised a title an hour or two after listing an item last night.   Today, search results show the revised title; however the item page still shows the original title.   More strange, when I hover over "Show Original Title," it shows me my revised title.   

Message 5 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

I listed a totally New item with absolutely No editing and my listing shows it too!

What is up eBay?

 

 

Message 6 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

I just noticed this "new feature" on my listings. Hovering or clicking on "-show original title" shows my items title without any changes.

 

Seems like a total waste of space and a distraction for buyers.

 

It would cause me to waste time looking and trying to discover what is being left out of the title. When is eBay going to make changes based on what sellers want? We just have to accept eBay knows what is best for us, even when we have no idea what is going on. 

 

Help for eBay programmers:

If (trim$(CurrentTitle$) = trim$(PreviousTitle$)) or trim$(PreviousTitle$) = "" Then

     ShowOriginalTitlePopup = FALSE

Else

     ShowOriginalTitlePopUp = TRUE

End If

 

eBay: Convert to language you are using. Credit my account $75 for consulting fee - Thanks.

 

 

 

Message 7 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

devon@ebay  velvet@ebay  - 

 

A lot of people are seeing this come up on listings that have had no change in the title, which I agree with @mybigsale is distracting/confusing and might cause buyers to go looking for changes that don't actually exist. I've been seeing multiple reports of this across Twitter and Reddit as well.

 

Plus @intuitive reporting in this thread that they're seeing the original title and revised title apparently swapped in position from where they should be - it definitely sounds like something here isn't working as intended.

 

Can you see what you can find out for us about this test and get these issues reported, please?

Message 8 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

I started seeing it yesterday when posting new items. Its still there today coming up when posting. Ha...I thought it was just me. I am sure it is happening to a lot of people. Not everyone reads these platforms here.

Message 9 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

Back in the day, any programmer would suppress the message if both title versions were the same (no difference in previous and current title).

 

I don' see any reason I would want a buyer to see the title was "Red Ball" and now it has been corrected to "Black Ball" - then come the messages... Do you have that "Red Ball" for sale? No, it's a "Black Ball".

 

If it's not broken, fixit - eBay 

I am sure sellers could keep eBay busy with problems that actually need to be fixed.

Message 10 of 51
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What is "show original title"?


@mybigsale wrote:

Back in the day, any programmer would suppress the message if both title versions were the same (no difference in previous and current title).

 

I don' see any reason I would want a buyer to see the title was "Red Ball" and now it has been corrected to "Black Ball" - then come the messages... Do you have that "Red Ball" for sale? No, it's a "Black Ball".

 

If it's not broken, fixit - eBay 

I am sure sellers could keep eBay busy with problems that actually need to be fixed.


@mybigsale - definitely agree there are bigger problems that need attention and resources and that it's not a good idea for it to show when both versions are the same.

 

My totally off the cuff guess is that eBay may be trying to discourage the practice of reusing listings for different items and/or at least trying to bring buyer attention to it when it happens.

 

Your example of a red ball vs black ball may not be too far apart to cause an issue but some sellers will take it to the extreme and change a listing to a completely different item altogether (for example original listing was for an in demand gaming system and updated listing is for a cellphone case).

 

Sales history, reviews, links from offsite ads and more are all linked to the listing ID and if users find a completely different product on the page than they were expecting, that can cause confusion and damage trust in the platform.

 

Piggybacking/changing listings like that can be a form of search manipulation as well. Since things like views and sales history factor into the algorithm for search placement, reusing a listing for different items may game the system.

 

And last but not least, it could be to eBay's advantage financially to discourage this activity - some sellers may use the piggybacking method to change out inventory without having to pay extra listing fees or upgrade to a more expensive store subscription.

Message 11 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

I've never seen this before. Does anyone know its purpose?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, it's purpose is to confuse the buyer. Why would you display original titles to a buyer, do they care?

Message 12 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

OK... I think I am following you.

 

Believe eBay would be better served adding Shipping Cost (Free Shipping / Paid Shipping) and Item Description to the Item Sell History.  If sellers were playing these games, they would jump out if the Sell History included the Item title (or only show item title if there are different sold titles for the current listing).

 

Don't know why eBay doesn't already have bots that could quickly identify these types of items for review.

 

 

 

Message 13 of 51
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What is "show original title"?

eBay does, but they don't bother sellers with details that affect their business.

Message 14 of 51
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What is "show original title"?


@mybigsale wrote:

Don't know why eBay doesn't already have bots that could quickly identify these types of items for review.


@mybigsale eBay likely does have bots that can identify these items for review, or at least the capability to do that if they wanted to.

 

What interests me is the changing of the buyer experience in this test - showing a visual indicator to signal there was a change and providing info about what changed (again assuming it's working right).

 

That makes me think it's possibly more about testing trust signals, what impact it has on buyers when there has been a change and/or whether buyers are more likely to convert or stay on site with that info displayed.

 

Not saying I agree with eBay's thinking on this one, just thinking out loud trying to figure out what it is they might be trying to get at here.

Message 15 of 51
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