"Riddle Me This" Why don't eBay add new start dates when rolling over GTC ?

[claude-collectibles]

I used to have over 1,000 listings per my store subscription I only keep about 800 so not to go over and be hit with those TRICKY fees. How does that help either of us. Just the other day over 200 listings got relisted under this head scratching policy when I stepped out for a bit so I had to end and relist them to get a new start date so that = 400 listings WOW ! (Who wants an old start date ~ looks like it has been around forever) Now I am out of my 1,000 listings and can't list any more without paying extra listing fees. (SO TIRED OF HAVING TO MONITOR MY LISTINGS THIS WAY)

I guess I will put all the new ones on a different site how unprofessional ! (They loose out not me)

What a Blessing that this is not the only selling platform out there !

Good Luck to all effected by thees horrible policies.

"They Will Not Stop Me From Making Money Just Making Them Money" 

[disneyshopper]

I added two columns to my Active Listings: END DATE and START DATE.  This way, I can see which listings are approaching the roll-over date, since ebay started the roll-over on the exact day of the listing (instead of 30 days from original listing date).

Right now I have 15 listings that will roll over on September 5.  They were originally relisted on May 5, so approaching 4 months.  I will most likely END those the morning of the 5th, and I won't relist those for another week or so.  When I do relist them, they will have a different start date.

[buyselljack2016]

why?  Because they are not "new".

When they don't sell it is my understanding that they drop lower, and lower in search.

Having them appear as new would defeat eBay's programming that causes that to happen.

[nobody*s_perfect]

If a potential buyer sorts their search results by "Newest first," then indeed the older listings will drop farther and farther down, because that sort uses the listing's original start date.

But if the potential buyer sorts their search results by "Ending soonest" then the GTC listings are sorted according to their next rollover date. So the listing rises higher and higher, until the moment when it rolls over.

Naturally the listing date has no effect when the buyer chooses to sort the results by price.

[nobody*s_perfect]

It's not "tricky" or "head scratching." A GTC listing rolls over each month on the same date that it was originally listed. It's that simple!   If you don't want your listings to show their original starting date, then end them on the day before they roll over, so they don't use up one of your free insertions.  

If you miss the rollover day, then it's your choice whether to (1) wait and let them run for another month since they have used up one of your free insertions; or (2) end and relist them, using up two free insertions for the month and potentially incurring insertion fees.  I suspect that a listing's start date isn't as important as you seem to think it is.

[lacemaker3]

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@claude-collectibles wrote:

I used to have over 1,000 listings per my store subscription I only keep about 800 so not to go over and be hit with those TRICKY fees. ...

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I don't understand what "TRICKY fees" you mean? GTC listings renew exactly once a month, so you would never have one that relisted more than one time in any given month. So I don't understand why you need to keep a buffer of 200 free-insertion-fee listings that you don't use each  month? 

Instead of ending all your listings early, why not decide how many new listings you want to start next month, and figure out from that how many GTC listings you can continue to carry forward. If you want to start a bunch of new ones, then you can identify which of the GTC listings are least likely to sell (old, out of season, whatever) and end enough of those to allow your new listings to be free-insertion-fee ones. Of course, you will be able to start as many new listings as the number of items that sold the previous month as well. This way, if you are too busy to get new listings ready one month, you can just let the GTC ones carry forward, and you will still have about as many active listings as you are able to manage comfortably.

As for a new listing date, that lowers the standing of the listing for off-eBay search engines like google and bing, so as I understand it, it would be not be a benefit overall for your listing's visibility. If a new buyer comes along, who isn't a long-standing buyer who searches eBay regularly, then good placement in an off-eBay search engine is the best way to get their attention.

On eBay, ending and relisting to get a new start date, loses the history of the listing, and it takes it out of potential buyer's watch lists. If the item is in a niche category, then it annoys the long-term buyers in that niche who would put it on their watch list (or other list) if they want to keep track of it for possible purchase later. Maybe after making some comparisons, or when they free up some hobby cash for a new acquisition. Also it annoys those buyers who do a newly-listed search, and only want to see the really-new listings, not ones that have been relisted multiple times. I usually  just tune-out all the old listings that keep popping up in the newly-listed search, when they have been listed before.

Just my thoughts, based on my own experiences. I am primarily a buyer, and there are a number of items that I monitor regularly on eBay. I prefer GTC listings that roll over, because if I want to monitor something for possible purchase later, I can put it in the watch list and it stays there. 

[claude-collectibles]

Once you end a listing the day you relist is your new start date, it is a pain we have to do this.

[claude-collectibles]

Indeed it is not  "tricky" or "head scratching." I am just stating a fact that you have to monitor your listings so not to have them roll over with the bad GTC policy ! and have a old start date it might not matter to you but it does me. Thanks for the input.

[claude-collectibles]

WOW ! That is long winded ! Wasn't looking for an Hour lecture but thanks for your time. 😂

[muskingum_relics]

they dont do it because it would be too helpful to the seller and less work ! I hate GTC and the problem with 30 days listings is it does not give any sense of urgency to buy the item than after awhile they get bored or ebay shows em the same or similar item for cheaper ! what I seen was tons of watchers and barely any buyers !

[claude-collectibles]

I am with you all the way on that, Very annoying when a seller works hard and has all these hurdles. Thanks for your thoughts.

[lacemaker3]

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@claude-collectibles wrote:

WOW ! That is long winded ! Wasn't looking for an Hour lecture but thanks for your time. 😂

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TL:DR

Ending listings early is just wasting listings that you have already paid for. The fees aren't tricky: GTC listings renew once a month, on the same day as they were listed, so you will never get charged listing fees twice in one month for the same listing. Can't be much simpler than that.

Ending listings lowers their visibility in off-eBay search engines, and it hides them in the eBay completed listings search. So ending them early is shooting yourself in the foot.

[onlinecentral]

Every seller should consider the percentage of their inventory sold in a period of time.
You have sold 7.09% of your listings for the past 90 days or 2.36% per month.
At this rate, you have a 42 month supply.
Accept that there is very little demand for rustic country kitchen items for century homes.
Go back to the drawing board and list in demand items in different categories.
Best wishes as you improve your business model with faster selling inventory.

Churning the starting dates of your GTC listings will not increase sales.
eBay will not comply with your wish list for a reversal of GTC, 18 months after it began.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Your-Questions-Answered-Ask-Me-Anything-Jordan-Sweetnam/m-p/30...

Jordan Sweetnam, SVP & GM, Americas Market 12-23-2019
Good Till Cancelled Policy

"We have no plans to reverse the decision here. I’ve heard of a lot of things since I’ve returned that don’t make sense (and will drive to change), but to be clear I haven’t seen (yet) an example where the move on GTC is the wrong one.

GTC listings have better sell thru, the permanent item ID improves how those items appear in SEO (that helps everyone) and a consistent item ID helps search deliver better ranking.

I’m not sympathetic with the strategy of starting/stopping short duration repeatedly to appear at the top of time newly listed (this is bad for buyers and overall search relevance which actually hurts all sellers even if the person doing it wins).

If you’d like to share other use cases I’m certainly willing to listen and discuss."

[muskingum_relics]

maybe Jordan should try to use it himself ! And also try to stay in business with the stupid mangled payment nonsense as well ! Both GTC and mangled payments are a joke just not funny ones !!

[onlinecentral]

Manually ending and then setting new starting dates (new listing numbers):
a) clutters web searches with dead links.
b) effects just 1 of the 6 search criteria the buyer can choose within eBay.
Time: Ending soonest
Time: Newly listed
Price + Shipping: Lowest First
Price + Shipping: Highest First
Distance: Nearest first
Best Match