I listed an item and it has already had 182 hits why?

[musicyouneed]

I listed a Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD, and it has had 182 hits in about 1/2 or so.  How is that happening?  

[silverpinups]

Very unusual..... there must be a lot of Harry Connick Jr. fans....

I've had an Original Adam Hughes Art of Pam Grier as Foxy Brown listed since Jun.8, 2015.

It currently sits at 8071 hits and is still getting 1 view per hour! Now that's mindblowing!!

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ADAM-HUGHES-Original-Art-Signed-by-PAM-GRIER-Foxy-Brown-Sketch-/261920180201?...

[momcqueen]

Maybe it got picked up as a New Listing by an Affiliate link. Is it the only one around? 

[musicyouneed]

No, there are 65 on ebay right now and the hits for mine are up to 650 after 8 hours.  Just funny why that would happen.  It is not a popular item, just wanted to know why.

[momcqueen]

Very interesting. If it was me, I'd want to know too. I had that happen with my diecasts but it's always been due to relative scarcity.

[rose-dee]

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@musicyouneed wrote:

I listed a Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD, and it has had 182 hits in about 1/2 or so.  How is that happening?  

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Don't fret!  The most likely explanation would be that you have an item that is particularly hot at the moment.  That's also good for the rest of your listings -- more hits on one item, more potential browsers.  

Harry Connick Jr. has been very prominent in the media lately in the U.S., as he's been giving concerts and appearances in aid of the devastating Louisiana floods (he's a New Orleans native, if I recall correctly).  He's wildly popular in the southern States anyway, but these recent appearances may have boosted his popularity.  It could very well be that a lot of U.S. sellers have sold out of many of his CDs, and buyers are looking for Canadian sources.  

You could check on this assumption by searching the same CD in some of your U.S. competitors' listings.  Check a few of the larger U.S. music CD sellers and see how many of Harry Connick Jr.'s CDs are currently listed, and how many have sold in the past month or so.  

[momcqueen]

Very true. If you have one item with 850 hits, it will easily translate to higher visibility on your seller profile with more potential views for other items, more followers, everything. Now is the time to run some sweet promotions and/or markdowns!

[mr.elmwood]

Hits mean nothing.

I have seen the odd listing of mine, and, trust me, they are all odd, get around 150 hits. Who searches for a 1989 Blue Toyota Corolla Glove Box Latch?

[ricarmic]

I have long believed that the ever present glitches also show up in counts.

When I list a new item, it immediately has somewhere between 1 and 10 views. The normal number is 3 to 5. Certainly anything above 2 is not likely accurate as this is moments after it is listed.

Perhaps the count's glitched is another possible explanation....

[momcqueen]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Hits mean nothing.

I have seen the odd listing of mine, and, trust me, they are all odd, get around 150 hits. Who searches for a 1989 Blue Toyota Corolla Glove Box Latch?

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A Blue Toyota Corolla Glove Box Latch from 1989! Where have you been all my life?!?

I think the question should be: who doesn't need one of those? Or two. At least. 

[ypdc_dennis]

Harry Connick Jr. is currently #8 on the Google trend list based on top searches.

[mcrlmn]

Another glitch.

[musicyouneed]

Well whatever caused it has stopped at 650 views.  It is not a big seller and the other Harry that I have has a normal amount of views, it was just this one that went crazy and I wanted to know why.  I think it is a glitch too.  Maybe I should ask Raphael on Wed, what do you think?  I just would like to know.  

[momcqueen]

I'd ask for insight, yes. It would be interesting to learn the reason. All those views have to be good for something.

[momcqueen]

When you go to look at your own items as a buyer might see them (like not through Selling Manager) does it rank top in Best Match? Although I suppose it would regardless of whether they were real views or glitch views.

[musicyouneed]

Hi mj, I am number 9 on best match on .ca and number 11 on best match on .com out of 84 listings, so not that great either.  

[rose-dee]

musicyouneed wrote:

I listed a Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD, and it has had 182 hits in about 1/2 or so.  How is that happening?  

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I took a look at your item just now, and it shows "8 viewed per hour", so something is going on in the background that can only be good for you! 

By the way, if you don't mind a suggestion from a long-time store owner, from a buyer's point of view it might be good to organize your items by main category, then sub-category, to make browsing easier.  Having a very long list of individual categories that goes way down the page is harder for a buyer to access than a quick click on a few main categories to get to specifics.  

You could have, say, 7 to 10 main categories, with the specifics of each category in its sub-category.  For example, "CDs by Era", with "1950's", "1960's", "1970s" etc. as sub-categories, "CDs by Artist", with sub-categories of the artists' names alphabetically, "CDs by Title", "CDs by Genre", etc. etc., each with its alphabetical sub-category underneath.  

This would mean some work and time initially to re-organize your categories, but in the end I think it would be great for your buyers (and for you too).  You can also have sub-sub-categories if you need them, although that can get a little complex when you're listing an item, and personally I don't think they're necessary.  

One thing I especially like about using sub-categories is that, when listing an item, eBay allows you to specify two sub-categories.  So, for example, one of my vintage patterns might be listed by era (say, 1980's), but also by size.  This means there are always 2 specific places a buyer can locate your item, potentially linked to 2 separate main categories (if you wish).  

Keep in mind that you can specify when setting up your sub-categories whether you want them to be displayed initially or not.  I choose not to have them displayed so that my buyers see at a glance just the main types of items I currently have listed.  It keeps things simple an uncluttered for the buyer's first view of my store.  Once they click on a main category, the sub-category list appears under it.  

To see one example of sub-categories, click on my store icon and click on any main category to see the drop-down sub-category. 

Sorry to go off-topic, but you have a great-looking store and I think using sub-categories well would really enhance it. 

[musicyouneed]

Hi Rose, I would like to thank you for your suggestions regarding my store.   I was trying to do like you said but thought there might be a shortcut by moving the categories, can you take a look at what I did and see if there is an easy fix, or do I have to go through each listing and fix it.  

[momcqueen]

You can move them in chunks but you have to proceed carefully or they may go places you don't intend. Also, it takes time to migrate from one folder to another, and it only allows one folder move at a time.

[rose-dee]

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@musicyouneed wrote:

Hi Rose, I would like to thank you for your suggestions regarding my store.   I was trying to do like you said but thought there might be a shortcut by moving the categories, can you take a look at what I did and see if there is an easy fix, or do I have to go through each listing and fix it.  

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I think (but am not sure) you may be able to use the Bulk Edit feature to change categories.  But it's been quite a while since I've had to do that so I really can't be certain my recall is correct.  Someone who has done so more recently might be able to confirm. 

Once you have your subcategories set up, what I'd suggest is to just do a few listings at a time manually, whenever you have a moment, by using the "Revise Listing" function.  Then you can ensure you have things categorized in the right places (I find it does take care and concentration).  You can just start at the top of your listed items in Selling Manager and work your way down.  

By the way, once you've set the category(ies) for an item, those categories will follow the listing when it renews, when you use Sell Similar, and if you relist an unsold item, so you don't have to go through the exercise again (unless you're changing the categories).  Just a head's-up though -- be sure when you use "Sell Similar" that you do actually want the new item in the same category(ies).  I've caught myself putting a red necktie in the "blues and greens" category by using Sell Similar and forgetting to change the categories on the new item. 

Oh yes, and one other tip if you want to try it: you can use the "Add Note" feature in Selling Manager to make a note of the category(ies) the item has been listed in if you want to be able to see that info at a glance in your active items list.  This is a bit tedious, but I find it saves a lot of wasted time checking on categories later.   I've made up my own short-forms for my categories so my notes aren't more than one-liners.  

Otherwise, the only way to verify the category an item is in is to go to your store, click on the category you expect it to be in, and check that it's actually listed in the category.  Or use "Revise Listing" until you get to the screen that includes the category drop-down boxes -- which is a rather awkward way to check.  

I think you'll find that although it's a bit time-consuming to do initially, having sub-categories will serve your buyers (and you) well.  Best of luck!