"Recommended" Descriptions

[no1of2]

Why is ebay forcing certain "recommended" descriptions on us sellers and some of the descriptions have NOTHING to do with the item I am selling. (ie: selling a Blue glass vase and a recommended description is "Character: Smurf" ) No character just a dang flower vase. UGH!!! Then wants me to fill out 100% of the description portion of my listing. They send emails asking to fill it out and on my Listing page columns says "6 recommended, add recommended".

Is this affecting my sales? I can't say it's a Smurf if it isn't a Smurf 😞

[reallynicestamps]

If you ignore them they will not appear on your listing.

My personal favourite is that every "Antiquarian and Vintage "book for some reason asks for Item Specifics covering cuisine  and culture.

It's a book on Indigenous Farming in Rhodesia published in 1927.  There is no cuisine involved beyond some suggestions for cattle feed.

[chapeau-noir]

I ignore a great deal of this because of eBay's very poor tech.   It is NOT affecting your sales because the people who want what you sell will FIND what you sell if you use your own good SEO.  They certainly won't if the listing is packed with a bunch of ridiculous item specifics and incorrect specs.

[anjie234]

Yeah! I was wondering the same thing! 

Can't figure it out. I've been trying to fill in as many item specifics as I possibly can 

(more than I used to)... and now I feel they are hounding me, as if I'm not being thorough

enough.  But what's weird is that most of the time when I see those "recommended item specifics",

I go into the listing and there isn't anything actually recommended!  ???

What the heck is up with that?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

ebay has discussed this. If it asks for "Character" and there is no character, ignore it. (I think there's also a way to indicate "don't show me this again", but I haven't tried that.)  Yes, ebay wants you to use IS. Yes, ebay has screwy IS sometimes. Just don't use them if they don't apply.  

IS is important for general search, but don't let yourself get bogged down with this stuff. It is most important for buyers using search filters. So, if there is a filter in glass for "character" and your glass has no character, don't worry about it. But if your glass DOES have a character (Smurf, for example), you DO want to fill it in, because if you don't, and the buyer uses the filter, your glass will NOT show up in the filtered search results.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I think many IS are determined by the category, not a sub category or the specific item you are listing. This is why "cuisine" will show up in books....it is because a LOT of book buyers are looking for cookbooks, and the type of cuisine is one of the search terms they'll use...so, if you are selling a Thai cookbook, you definitely want to fill it in. But if you are selling a book on house building, obviously, no need. To create IS, ebay looks at the search terms buyers actually use. 

[coolections]

There are many sellers who won't write descriptions and many that do leave out important info. I assume Ebay wants everyone to write one as that is what attracts buyers. Ignore the specific suggestions but go ahead a nd write yourself a good description including any flaws.

[dwtrading2015]

It isn't working.  I have now had a few items fall into the catagories for item specifics and sales collapse.  Most of the options to fill in are of no relevance and it is very difficult to second guess what a buyer might be thinking when searching.  The whole point of open ended search with pictures in the results is that the buyer, who doesn't actual know what the correct description of the item is, can identify from the inital set of results what they are trying to find.  Even 'shoes' means many different things to different people.  The specifics limit listings which means buyers can no longer be tempted by a colour, shape or product that they didn't intend on in the first place.  I am actually finding it difficult to find what should be simple items now.  This attempt to catagories everything flies in the face of how an open interface should work.  It is failing and quite badely according to many posts from 2016 onwards as far as I can see.

[zamo-zuan]

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@coolections wrote:

There are many sellers who won't write descriptions and many that do leave out important info. I assume Ebay wants everyone to write one as that is what attracts buyers. Ignore the specific suggestions but go ahead a nd write yourself a good description including any flaws.

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This is poor advice. I would expect more from someone who constantly trying to correct others in the community on how search works. 

Relevant item specifics are the key to eBay's SEO.

Descriptions themselves add almost nothing. EBay visited on site and showed us statistics mentioning that > 50% of buyers don't even check the description, which is why by default description is NOT included in search, and they have added other areas in listings for sellers to add the important information. You will also NOT be protected if you mention anything about the condition in the description.

Of course as a seller you want to give an accurate description, but in no way will a description add more than accurate item specifics. 

The majority of eBay's search is determined by the title and item specifics. The key here is determining which item specifics are most important for your product line, and which are not. 

[coolections]

@zamo-zuan 

Very poor advice. Descriptions and pictures are the two most important info a buyer needs. Item specifics are mainly just for search results.

[wesk_36]

(ie: selling a Blue glass vase and a recommended description is "Character: Smurf")

That's hilarious!

Ebay's artificial intelligence is not arising from natural growth or characterized by vital processes, it is the result of programming by not so intelligent human units.

🤖

[zamo-zuan]

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@coolections wrote:

@zamo-zuan 

Very poor advice. Descriptions and pictures are the two most important info a buyer needs. Item specifics are mainly just for search results.

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Search results are KEY for SEO. It literally stands for Search Engine Optimization. 

Likewise, SEO is the key to eCommerce. You need impressions to get clicks and conversion rate. As long as you have those initial impressions, then raising your sales becomes statistics. As with even sub-par click and conversions rates, you will be able to get sales.

If you speak to the most experienced Sellers Health team members, they even say descriptions should be summarized, quick, and detailed, and recommend only text and NOT all the photos/bells and whistles.

Furthermore, as of 2019, eBay has given advice that RATHER than including necessary information in your descriptions, it's better to include them in images, as far more buyers check images than descriptions; especially considering mobile is > 50% of buyers.

EBay in 2020 is not the same eBay of earlier years. Descriptions stopped being key to the problem in 2018. EBay has actively worked to remove necessity of descriptions, often does not even show them to customers without additional clicks, added other areas to add necessary information, removed it from search unless you click a box that very few sellers know about, removed the ability of adding many styles to descriptions, and caused a penalty in search for listings that do not load quickly.

They could not be any more clear in their intent to de-emphasize descriptions.

Your information is going to hurt sellers rather than help them. Please research how selling on eBay works nowadays, and consult with eBay support as they will confirm everything mentioned.

[coolections]

@zamo-zuan 

Haah, I am giving very good advice. My sell through is at around 67% monthly and has been there very very long time. People need to write good descriptions so please don't give more bad advice.

[chapeau-noir]

Agree with @zamo-zuan .  The Item Specifics that I suggest ignoring are the ones not relevant to what you're selling - they will do no good because they'll simply frustrate search. "Character" has no meaning in 99% of adult clothing, for instance.  Simply focus on the specifics relevant to your item.

Good title SEO is important, though.  Too many relevant, searchable details are missing (or incorrect) in item specifics - I have to supply them in the title.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Here's ebay's take on it: