eBay policy on views

[pinkneysa]

Before, I was able to keep track of what items were being viewed on a daily basis. That way I could make any changes necessary. Now I have no idea what items are being viewed because of the changes made by eBay. Items that have been viewed every day appear to not have any views at all. I hope eBay changes back to the previous system . I am sure that other sellers are having this same issue.

[natoman777]

On my laptop I am able to see views easily.  Have you checked that?

[ckimodog]

@pinkneysa 

 Ebay sets views and watchers every 30 days now. In the past it just kept accumulating.  However, if you click on views (if you're on your laptop or PC) you can set your views from 30 days up to 2 years. It's the same on your phone.  So you call it. I have mine set on 90 days.  Try and see if that works for you. 

[soh.maryl]

Just curious:  What changes would you make that would be related to views? 

[ci1000]

Apparently they've eliminated all bot views and are only showing what eBay considers "real" views.  I'm not clear and don't understand what eBay considers a real view.  I do know that if I check my listings, which I do to make sure they are correct, that view (my view) is not counted as a real view.

What is the purpose of bot views? Are the bots scouting for other websites and search engines?  Why wouldn't those views be relevant?

Also, removing views and watchers on a 30 day basis is making me think that it will probably be a good idea to end my GTC listings on a 30 day basis and list as NEW (not allow rollover relisting)

Really doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially removing all of your watchers every 30 days.

[comicscauldron]

If you see many views in one item that means there's interest ... if the item has many views and no watchers that means you need to change something in the listing (description, pics, price) . When you have many watchers in one item you can send offers .

[inhawaii]

Why not "improve" your listings regardless if it has few views or many views?

[mr_lincoln]

@pinkneysa   Some of eBay's SOP is to take away tools that actually help Sellers and the ability to sort the Views column on the Active list is one of those.  You have made the same point I and others have made ... based on Views Sellers can see what items need some help or simply need to be taken down and sold elsewhere.

There is a lot going on right now and the new listing tool is one of the hot topics ... this next statement may or may not be related to the Views issue ... in the back of my mind I am wondering if listings created with the new tool are getting more visibility then those created with the older tool?

Mr. L

[ci1000]

It does relate to views as a visibility issue.  My question is what if you don't use eBay's listing tools at all?  I use SixBit.  So is my visibility going to tank because I use outside listing software?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ci1000  

The "bot" views are not potential buyers, so ebay has removed them. It doesn't mean bots aren't viewing your items, they are, and they will continue to do so. It means ebay is not including them in the view count they provide to you....this gives you a more accurate count, since it is showing you the views that could turn into buyers. 

The view count now includes only non-bot views from the past trailing 30 days.  There is NO reason to end GTCs early because of this, there would be no benefit in that. (and, as others have said, if you want to see views for longer periods, such as, say, 90 days, you have that option.)

This has NOTHING to do with the watcher count. If someone put your item on their watch list a year ago (and they haven't removed it from their watch list) that person is still counted as watcher. 

Also, 

[iamonourside]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

 ... in the back of my mind I am wondering if listings created with the new tool are getting more visibility then those created with the older tool?

Mr. L

---

To that point, I wonder if the bias of visibility is listings created with their new tool as to listings that have nothing but 14pt Arial font. 

[mr_lincoln]

---

@iamonourside wrote:

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

 ... in the back of my mind I am wondering if listings created with the new tool are getting more visibility then those created with the older tool?

Mr. L

---

To that point, I wonder if the bias of visibility is listings created with their new tool as to listings that have nothing but 14pt Arial font. 

---

@iamonourside   Oh, do you mean the official Font that is "Mobile friendly"?  THAT Font?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@mr_lincoln 

I see no reason to believe that listings created with the new listing tool are getting more visibility because they are created with the new listing tool. I also can't see any reason why ebay would want to do that. To incentivize people to use the new tool? It will eventually be the only choice anyway , the old tool is going away regardless.   and ebay doesn't charge an additional fee to use the new tool, so no direct financial benefit for ebay. 

As far as the view count goes, I welcome the change, but I think people are seeing a double whammy here....taking the bot views out reduced the number of views somewhat, but then you also take out all the views from the period prior to the last 30 days, and for older listings in particular, that can be a huge drop off.

Why do I welcome the change? Well, for one thing, I still have the option to see the number of views for longer periods if I want to. But I will say (assuming the numbers are accurate, and not the result of a "transition glitch"), this has been a real eye opener for me. Most of my items are long tail (or very long tail) and many of my listings are quite old---it seems pretty clear that that combination translates into very few views in the past 30 days. This ---combined with a recent thread I had posted in which posters provided some good advice abut my store---is a real wake up call for me. I will gradually be making a number of changes going forward.

So, this is one change that I think will benefit me because it really highlights a weakness in my business, and does so in a way the old view count never did.

[mr_lincoln]

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

@mr_lincoln 

I see no reason to believe that listings created with the new listing tool are getting more visibility because they are created with the new listing tool. I also can't see any reason why ebay would want to do that. To incentivize people to use the new tool? It will eventually be the only choice anyway , the old tool is going away regardless.   and ebay doesn't charge an additional fee to use the new tool, so no direct financial benefit for ebay. 

As far as the view count goes, I welcome the change, but I think people are seeing a double whammy here....taking the bot views out reduced the number of views somewhat, but then you also take out all the views from the period prior to the last 30 days, and for older listings in particular, that can be a huge drop off.

Why do I welcome the change? Well, for one thing, I still have the option to see the number of views for longer periods if I want to. But I will say (assuming the numbers are accurate, and not the result of a "transition glitch"), this has been a real eye opener for me. Most of my items are long tail (or very long tail) and many of my listings are quite old---it seems pretty clear that that combination translates into very few views in the past 30 days. This ---combined with a recent thread I had posted in which posters provided some good advice abut my store---is a real wake up call for me. I will gradually be making a number of changes going forward.

So, this is one change that I think will benefit me because it really highlights a weakness in my business, and does so in a way the old view count never did.

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques   I have no issue with eBay changing the Views count method, what I do and have always objected to when Seller Hub was born is the loss of Sorting by Views on the Active list.  They focused all this effort on modifying the Views count yet took away the ability to utilize that column AND more importantly, the data that column presented Sellers with.  

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@mr_lincoln  Just looked and I see what you mean....I can sort by watchers but not views. This might be a good time to try to convince ebay to add the sort ability to the views column...now that the views provide  more accurate data, the ability to sort seems even more useful. So I agree with you, it would be nice to have that ability.