eBay

revenue-collector · ‎10-16-2019

Within the last 24 hours all sorts of mandatory fields were rolled out across eBay, including in collectibles, where they make ZERO sense.

Certification

Place of Origin

Grade

Quality

All now MANDATORY fields??? In stamps, coins, and other collectibles... WHY?

This makes it abundantly clear that the people making decisions at the top have never sold anything on the platform in their lives.

Buyers of used, vintage, collectibles, and antiques DO NOT USE ITEM SPECIFICS LIKE THIS! It's fine for all the Chinese widget commodities flooding eBay, and people buying off-the-shelf consumer items, but it doesn't work with collectibles. This isn't how collectors browse and buy. I've bought and sold on eBay for 21 years, almost exclusively within the collectibles categories.

Maybe I missed the memo, but WHEN exactly was it announced that these mandatory category specifics were being forced on collectibles rather than being constrained to consumer item categories? I don't recall a mention of specific mandatory fields in collectibles.

Or is this just the latest eBay effort to drive away collectibles buyers and sellers in their futile pursuit of becoming the next Aliexpress or Amazon?

lamber9347 · ‎10-16-2019

Hmmm, I sell 95% of my items in collectibles and I haven't received a single mandatory field such as you indicate. I suspect these mandatory fields are not in collectibles in general but are specific to stamps or coins, neither of which I sell.

Perhaps if you specify the correct categories that these mandatory fields are popping up in maybe you will be better directed? Maybe other stamp sellers will be able to provide you with more direction. Best of luck to you....

revenue-collector · ‎10-16-2019

Allrightythen.

In the "Stamps" category, eBay "recommends" a selection for the field "Country/Region of Manufacture" based upon the subcategory you select. Fine. Spiffy.

However, as of today it also now requires the mandatory "Place of Origin" field.

Why?

Those are two utterly redundant fields.... unless by Place of Origin they mean where it's shipping from (which makes even less sense), but they could pull that from my shipping information.

On its face, the two fields mean the same thing, and even if they don't mean the same thing they are so close that no buyer will ever be able to meaningfully differentiate between them.

Even worse, unlike all of the other new mandatory fields, eBay's listing templates will NOT accept a default for the Place of Origin field. It blanks out whenever you create a listing with the template, so you are forced to MANUALLY type or select something.

It's yet another ridiculous hurdle when selling.

Almost as bad, the now mandatory "Certification" field applies to well under 10% of the items in the "Stamps" category, and the mandatory "Graded" field applies to even fewer items. I would posit that less than 1% of the listings in "Stamps" are graded, as it is a passing fad and one that ONLY the U.S. collecting market even recognizes. Outside of the U.S., graded stamps don't exist.

I wonder if the Certification and Graded fields are something that ASDA is pushing since they've gotten into bed with eBay...

Absolutely ludicrous.

modernrat1 · ‎10-17-2019

@lamber9347 wrote:

Perhaps if you specify the correct categories that these mandatory fields are popping up in maybe you will be better directed? Maybe other stamp sellers will be able to provide you with more direction. Best of luck to you....

I relisted an autographed baseball last night. Two omissions HAD to be taken care of first.

1. Original or reprint.

2. Product. (The answer suggested was “ball.”)

wbarr · ‎10-17-2019

It was not announced and is blocking the use of file exchange.
EBay has no idea what they are doing or how to do it....
It effects STAMPS and that is the where my listings belong....

wbarr · ‎10-17-2019

totally agree with you except the grading thing. I will bet less than .001 % of US listings on ebay are graded, and it is a passing fad that does not belong in the hobby.....

400 lots waiting to be listed.....but ebay will not accept.

NO DOCUMENTATION on these crazy changes has been published by ebay as yet.

twnpopcards · ‎10-17-2019

@wbarr wrote:
totally agree with you except the grading thing. I will bet less than .001 % of US listings on ebay are graded, and it is a passing fad that does not belong in the hobby.....
400 lots waiting to be listed.....but ebay will not accept.
NO DOCUMENTATION on these crazy changes has been published by ebay as yet.

Unfortunately in the baseball card industry grading is going absolutely crazy, so much so that the 2 largest graders now take up to a year to grade a card unless you have paid a lot more money to have guaranteed delivery within a couple of days or so. I have no interest in grading my cards nor buying graded cards as the fees are around $40-$50 per card for quick turn around and if you do not happen to get the grade that you thought the card would get you just lost money because it probably will not sell for enough to cover the grading fees. I may be losing some money by not grading items, but I do notice that most of my items are starting to move, especially on Social media, both as BIN and auctions, which Ebay has hidden unless you are one of the 3 special sellers.

go-bad-chicken · ‎10-17-2019

@revenue-collector wrote:
Within the last 24 hours all sorts of mandatory fields were rolled out across eBay, including in collectibles, where they make ZERO sense.

Certification
Place of Origin
Grade
Quality

All now MANDATORY fields??? In stamps, coins, and other collectibles... WHY?

This makes it abundantly clear that the people making decisions at the top have never sold anything on the platform in their lives.

Buyers of used, vintage, collectibles, and antiques DO NOT USE ITEM SPECIFICS LIKE THIS! It's fine for all the Chinese widget commodities flooding eBay, and people buying off-the-shelf consumer items, but it doesn't work with collectibles. This isn't how collectors browse and buy. I've bought and sold on eBay for 21 years, almost exclusively within the collectibles categories.

Maybe I missed the memo, but WHEN exactly was it announced that these mandatory category specifics were being forced on collectibles rather than being constrained to consumer item categories? I don't recall a mention of specific mandatory fields in collectibles.

Or is this just the latest eBay effort to drive away collectibles buyers and sellers in their futile pursuit of becoming the next Aliexpress or Amazon?

This was apart of the Fall seller update announced on 09-04-19. The item specifics requirements information is located under the "Inventory Optimization" section of the update.

Here is a link to the item specifics portion of the Fall seller update.

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2019-fall/inventory-optimization.html

Also the link below titled Affected Categories is a PDF which shows all of the categories that now have required item specifics and what those item specifics are.

For sure the Stamps category appears to have the most required added items specifics.

Item specifics updates that help buyers find your listings

We’re continuing to make it easier for buyers to find your listings quickly and easily by providing you with targeted guidance about item specifics that matter most to buyers. Item specifics describe the item you are selling, such as brand, make, model, size, color, and style. If you do not include item specifics when you list, your listings may not appear in natural and filtered search results.

We’re adding hundreds of new item specifics across several categories. Item specifics are surfaced in order of importance (e.g., frequency of use by buyers in search). Some item specifics are already required when you create a new listing or revise an existing listing in the Home & Gardencategory. Starting October 15, 2019, additional item specifics will be required. If you do not fill out the required item specifics, your listings will not successfully publish. Affected categories include Toys, Fashion, Home & Garden, Collectibles, and Media & Gift Cards . In early 2020, we’ll introduce new requirements in Electronics, Home & Garden, and Fashion.

We strongly encourage you to fill out the recommended item specifics. Complete and accurate item specifics can increase the visibility of your listing in eBay search results, Google search, and Google Shopping, and help your buyers find exactly what they are looking for.

In addition, we’ve enhanced our listing tools to help you derive the most benefit from using item specifics. Now when you create a new listing, you will see recommendations for trending item specifics and search terms frequently used by buyers. Starting in October, we’ll add indicators that will make it easier for you to identify listings that could benefit from additional item specifics. We will also provide single and bulk capabilities on the Active listings page in Seller Hub to help you add them.

pink.fish.rule · ‎10-17-2019

By the time they're finished the listing form will be 3 or more screens long to accomodate all these (mostly unneeded and/or irrelevant fields)

revenue-collector · ‎10-17-2019

But Stamps is not a category listed above, nor is it included in any of those categories, so why did they make these fields mandatory? Is this a result of the recent eBay-ASDA collaboration, similar to the way the ANA influenced the category requirements in coins several years ago?

The Stamps category isn't listed in any of the web pages you reference.

I still would like someone to explain to me the difference between the following two fields, the first being pre-recommended based upon your listing category selection, and the second being mandatory:

1. Country/Region of Manufacture

2. Place of Origin

If I can't tell the difference, how are buyers supposed to differentiate between them when shopping?

papermoneyforme · ‎10-17-2019

What happens if you list them on a different site, Canada UK, etc?

ekbustad · ‎10-17-2019

Actually, I do see Stamps in the PDF listing the categories that are included. I agree, I have no idea what "Place of Origin" is supposed to mean. It is not showing up as an option when I search. Nor is "Grade" and "Certification".

petestunes2112 · ‎10-19-2019

blah blah blah.... still means when I have 100 or more to relist all have to be done separately take hours and hours to change item specifics for each ,can't use bulk relisting, won't work. thanks ebay.

buyer-topia · ‎10-19-2019

I had "fun" (not so much!) listing some sewing fabric yesterday (10-18-19).
It suggested I declare shoe width.
It didn't demand it, I was able to skip down but wth?

It's ALWAYS something.

oldwestgold · ‎10-19-2019

I would have to agree. eBay appears to have hired a new batch of programmers that live in a sheltered closet with no real-world experience. This from a retired IT Mgr 25 years. I now have to fill ing a required field for uncirculated or circulated when I already put in the numeric grade from the certification company amoung other things. We hear you but eBay doesn't. Have a good one!