Revising Item Specifics in File Exchange

[shipscript]

I apparently don't have the newest File Exchange instructions....

When revising the "item specifics" for a listing, it is my understanding that all specifics must be included in the revision file or the unmentioned ones will be dropped. Is this correct?

The question is one of labeling. I know these headings will be required as a pair and the data can be provided.

        Product:Brand
        Product:MPN

What would be the heading structure to include other specifics like:

        Country/Region of Manufacture:

        Warranty:
        Surface Finish:
        Horse Power:

Thanks

@dollybeauty??

[dollybeauty]

You are correct. Any use of Item Specifics, in a upload template, must be accompanied by all such Item Specifics for the item listing.

These are all defined with the C: prefix to the field name you wish to use...

C:Country/Region of Manufacture <- this is included on most templates

C:Warranty
C:Surface Finish
C:Horse Power

Note: this is the only place you can use spaces, or some special characters, like '/', in the template headings, as these fields are displayable and user defined.

To have the Brand/MPN/UPC show in the Item Specifics...

C:Brand

C:MPN

C:UPC

I have never tried a lowercase c, but since the FileExchange Instructions are meant to be exact, I would use the uppercase.

The Product: fields are for access to the eBay Product Catalog. You would specify Either the column headings, Product:UPC, or Product:Brand and Product:MPN (these must be paired), or Product:EAN, or Product:ISBN. There are several other Product: fields that can be used in the template to access the catalog image, and other catalog info.

I always use only the Product:UPC in my templates and repeat C:UPC in my Item Specifics.

[shipscript]

@dollybeauty

Thank you for the excellent clarification.  Since these items are not in eBay's catalog, I'll reference the C: fields for all the Item Specific terms. 

If the item is not in eBay's catalog and I use the "Product:Brand" and "Product:MPN" with custom content, would FE trigger an error? Or should I just include "Product:UPC" with "Does not apply".

If I want the full phrase to display in the details, it seems that would mean using

"C:Manufacturer Part Number"

instead of

"C:MPN"

@mypaymentstest

Not sure if this is in your realm...eBay has a method where manufacturers can submit their non-UPC product lines to eBay's catalog. Where can I find that landing page or access that portal? Is there a FE method to submit new catalog product? After product is added, would it be accessed from EPID or from Brand/MPN?

[dollybeauty]

"Or should I just include "Product:UPC" with "Does not apply"." <- Yes, this

If I want the full phrase to display in the details, it seems that would mean using

"C:Manufacturer Part Number"

instead of in addition to <- this.

"C:MPN""

The rest of this is narrative. LOL, you can probably skip it without loss. My best practices are near the end.

Sorry, for the delay. I was waiting for a FE Product identifier report on our listings. We list in many different categories (not on the report) and needed to match to our sku identifiers (also not on the report). I wanted to see if I could do any correlations about the various category requirements (with no real luck).

You may remember one of the eBay seasonal updates, stated that the minimum requirement would be the Brand/MPN pair. I do not know if eBay has made this requirement complete yet.

We have homemade items that we have used our account name, as the Brand, with no MPN and no UPC. These are in the Jewelry categories that do not require UPCs. For those, we specified 'Does not apply', for UPC and left the MPN blank. We do some sales of these items, so I am unsure whether eBay is showing these in search, or if buyers see them from browsing our store.

We have some other items that we have specified as 'Unbranded', which seems to do the same function as 'Does not apply', for the Brand identifier.

We have items where we have specified the Brand as 'Bulk buys', in some cases, with a MPN and some not.

We even have a few that do not have Brand, MPN, or UPC. Again, probably a non requirement of the category.

The above is confusing, yes. With differing categories with different requirements, it is impossible to know in advance, what will work, where. Best to find a method that works for a particular item, in a particular category, then do other items in the same manner. Then, as stated above, it is unclear what the search metrics are/will be.

The above is the bad news. Now for the really bad news...If you specify Product:Brand and Product:MPN, you may have a situation where multiple products match that pair and eBay expects you to choose which product you wish to use. Very confusing.

My best practices...

I use the field Product:UPC with a valid UPC, or 'Does not apply' (only if I do not have a UPC). <- does not work in all categories.

I use the C:Brand and C:MPN in each listing, with 'Unbranded', if I have no brand available. I use a MPN if I have one, or just leave it blank. 'Does not apply' may work in the C:MPN. <- may not work, in some categories, if no UPC is specified.

You can use C:Manufacturers Part Number, as the Item Specific fields are user defined. However, in some categories, C:MPN may be required (along with C:Brand).

Your question to Mykal is a good one. I have been watching for any info on this since it was announced.

[shipscript]

@dollybeauty

Thank you for the useful info. I wanted to see if the difference in methodology would also be apparent in the listing. As you can see from a snip of eBay's item specifics code, the predefined properties are assigned more significance in the code (marked red), whereas the user-supplied custom attributes are withn generic code labels.  Brand name is extra special in scope.

	<td class="attrLabels">
		Copyrights/Trademarks: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<span>These are the property of their respective organizations.</span></td>
</tr><tr>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		Model: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<h2 itemprop="model">NAXNAB4003</h2></td>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		Brand: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<h2 itemprop="brand" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Brand"><span itemprop="name">NAXA</span></h2></td>
</tr><tr>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		MPN: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<h2 itemprop="mpn">NAXNAB4003</h2></td>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		Canadian Friends: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<span>Orders shipped on Thursday, Tracking available on next Monday.</span></td>
</tr><tr>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		Custom Fees: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<span>Are the responsibility of the buyer.</span></td>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		UPC: </td> 
	<td width="50.0%">
		<h2 itemprop="gtin13">840005008416</h2></td>
</tr><tr>
	<td class="attrLabels">
		Questions?/Problems?: </td>
	<td width="50.0%">
		<span>Please contact us!</span></td>
</tr>

eBay is pushing in the direction of inventory-based listings, and that means building a significant product catalog with a wealth of item specifics based on product identifiers. Their entire new API suite is inventory-centric with this in mind.  The idea is that, instead of creating listings, sellers would create inventories and then just surface that inventory on the site, much the same as most eCommerce sites. Used goods, services, and custom items would not necessarily benefit from that approach since those are usually one item per one description.

Searching out more info on product identifiers, I started here.

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/springupdate2015/product-identifiers.html#FAQ1-12

And after an extensive google search, found a link at the bottom of this page to contact the Catalog support team.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/product-details.html

So I sent an email and got back an unsatisfying response from the eBay Structured Data Support Team, and I'll need to go at it again.