As we work on building a banner year in 2019 we want to further simplify the listing process and strategically focus effort where we feel it will bring you business and make us more competitive in the e-commerce landscape. Read about the specific changes to listing format and catalogue adoption here and here and let us know your questions below, we’ll be here to address them and work on getting you answers!
G'morning Tyler,
We know as sellers it's almost impossible to keep all the people happy all of the time. Not sure if this thought was ever on the table or even contemplated, but did anyone suggest getting rid of GTC instead of Listing day choices and then checking on sellers backlash? The termination of 30 day and less would just become another important tool that a seller would not have in their toolbox. In a quick view of the petition on eBay dot com it was very difficult to find anything positive in the comments and it's reading the same way on dot ca. This is one update that needs to be rethought before even considering implementing.
Thanks,
-Lotz
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
G'morning Tyler,
We know as sellers it's almost impossible to keep all the people happy all of the time. Not sure if this thought was ever on the table or even contemplated, but did anyone suggest getting rid of GTC instead of Listing day choices and then checking on sellers backlash? The termination of 30 day and less would just become another important tool that a seller would not have in their toolbox. In a quick view of the petition on eBay dot com it was very difficult to find anything positive in the comments and it's reading the same way on dot ca. This is one update that needs to be rethought before even considering implementing.
Thanks,
-Lotz
Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies - I don't believe that was considered as a possibility, as we see a higher rate of conversion on Good Til Cancelled (GTC) listings. We want your items to sell, and broadening that net with more robust search engine optimization helps us get your items to the sites that prefer longer duration data.
The general overall goal of this change is to simplify the management of fixe price listings, specifically to increase the likelihood of conversion.
I realize this is asking many folks to completely re-evaluate the way they list items, as well as how they manage their inventory. I agree that a more middle-tier store level would be a great fix for folks (something between Basic and Premium, or between Premium and Anchor), and I will aboslutely make sure that sentiment is sent to the right people.
Ultimately this is a change we feel is best suited to get your items visible and sold.
@reallynicestamps wrote:
My ambition is to have something opening (Newly Listed ) and something closing (About to Close) every day.
The idea being that if a customer uses one of those Searches, which I believe are also criteria in the Cassini algorithm, she may also click on the link to my Store.
With 1000 listings, that means every day I have 33 listings opening or closing.
So one of my daily tasks is to look at my Active Listings, mostly GTC, to see if there is anything that should be ended, because it has been around too long or has had too many *views.
Here's a question I haven't seen addressed.
Occasionally we get Free Listing promotions, usually over 100 listings which are sometimes Auctions, and unaffected, but just as often Fixed Price.
If those FP listings are going to be GTC, we will really have to pay attention on Day 29 to remove those listings that we have decided not to carry in our normal stock.
Gosh.
Paranoia time. I got a promotion for 1000 listings which ends on March 4 (I think) which would be after the new policy starts.
Now I have been uploading them over the past few days as 30 day listings-- but it would be nice to be assured that they will not automatically relist.
More to the point, I would like to be assured that new Free Listing promotions will be restricted to 30 days, since, in my opinion, many sellers use these promotions to list almost unsaleable junk
Cui bono?
*It's Fixed Price. If 100 customers viewed it and didn't buy it, there is a problem. Ending those listings puts them into my Unsold List for up to 90 days.
Hi @reallynicestamps - Thanks for sharing your process, it sounds thorough, and effective.
When it comes to your current promotion, @ypdc_dennis gave you accurate info. However, I am unclear on the way listing promotions will work when this change takes effect* (if it is a 1 time insertion credit and still listed GTC, or if there will be some sort of 'promotional duration' option that has them end after thier time is up). I'll work on getting more input on this and let you know when I hear back!
*Apologies, grammar question: is there a simple way for me to remember affect v effect?
@ayatcg wrote:
This is very concerning for someone that sells TCG stuff.
Me and all my competition (premium/ anchor stores) will be concerned as well.
The reason is we have products in our unsold inventory, that we cycle through. thus giving us a chance to make a better judgement when to sell them. But if you make all of our products GTC, this does not allow us to cycle through our inventory. Thus created MORE work for us resellers: near the end of the month MANUALLY unlisting all the products, and relisting the ones we may think that will sell. In that case it might not even be worth it to have the store on ebay.
Might as well just sell on a different platform like TCGplayer. It all depends on the card game trend.
Unless you create another 2k or 5k store I dont see a work around.
Hi @ayatcg - thank you for sharing your input on this and how it could impact you. This is definitely going to require a change to the way you manage your inventory and approach your unsold items.
As you point out, you would need to manually choose to end items and relist others from your unsold section. @reallynicestamps shared a strategy they use that may be something you could adapt for your business.
You're the expert when it comes to your category: with the TCG market is as volatile as you say I'm wondering if it may be worth reviewing and identifying consistent sellers and keeping those up all the time. Not only will that reduce the number of items you're having to review, but as they become more established and get picked up by external search engines you could see a marked uptick in views and sales. With those listings set you could then work on getting the more seasonal cards posted as their demand spikes.
I've grabbed your thoughts on a different store tier and will make sure that gets sent on. Thanks!
@momcqueen wrote:
Send Offers to Watchers bears deeper consideration. That’s interesting.
When will ebay start telling us how many users have our items in their carts like other marketplaces?
Hi @momcqueen - I don't have an update on number of items in carts (though there is some efforts being made to get that to your attention, though it seems to be in a weekly email from us and not live). A good question though, thanks!
@msmaggie060 wrote:
I am concerned that this is going to cost me more money. GTC listings turn over every 30 days, but some months are 31 days and that means that once or twice a year I will have to pay for extra months listings.
i would love it if store costs were lower or at least if there was a choice of being able to use the 250 auction listings as GTC since I very rarely use auctions. They just don’t work any more, at least for my items.
Hi @msmaggie060 - thanks for the idea on store listings, I've made sure it gets shared.
From our estimates, we expect to see fewer insertion fees charged with this, but as the new format is adopted we anticipate much more traffic from sites like Google as your items are fully indexed with them. The intent is to get more eyes on your products and increase the likelihood that they sell (which means more money for you, and a larger amount in Final Value Fees for us).
I do see your point about the the 30 days vs 31 days in a month. I will get that concern passed on. At this point, I think you could consider the day you listed something (the 2nd or 3rd) to help. Avoiding the 1st of the month as a listing day could help reduce the number of times you see this happen, though as you point out it will happen inevitably. Thanks!
@reallynicestamps wrote:
The listing duration for all fixed price listings will be Good 'Til Cancelled
This seems to be causing a lot of angst and anguish on the dotCOM Boards.
Since I tend to use GTC anyway I don't see the problems.
I'm not clear how this is any advantage:
If your listing reaches a quantity of zero, we will show it as out-of-stock to buyers.
Why show anything at all that is out of stock and therefore cannot be purchased? Just close it. It's plugging up Search and eating bits and bytes on the browser farm.
Hi @reallynicestamps - I'm also confused by the wording on this, mainly because that's not how it works. With this feature if a listing hits 0 quantity it remains active but is actively removed from search until it is ended, the quantity is revised or it goes 3 cycles without being updated.
The only way that sentence makes sense is if it's referring to watchers of that item. They would still be able to view it from their watchlist, but would be blocked from purchase (because we would say the item was out of stock).
Thanks!
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
2019 Early Seller Update
"With Good 'Til Cancelled listings you can take advantage of the out of stock feature. If your listing reaches a quantity of zero, we will show it as out-of-stock to buyers. By using out-of-sock, your listing will retain its purchase and search history, so that when you replenish your stock, buyers can easily find your listing. Learn more about the out-of-stock feature."
How does this affect people that don't sell socks?
My apologies to anyone offended with my attempt to add a touch of humour but that's pasted directly from the eBay page. I did not make it up!!
-Lotz
Thanks for the chuckle this morning. 🙂
@forester_studios wrote:
The listing duration for all fixed price listings will be Good 'Til Cancelled.
This is a really bad idea! I like the flexibility of having listings on the number of days I choose. Sometimes I list items at 5 or 10 days to motivate buyers to make a purchase. Often 30 day listings attract watchers, but not necessarily timely sales.
Taking control away from sellers on how long to list an item is just wrong! If I pay the insertion fee - I should be able to choose how long the listing runs. Choice is GOOD and fundamental in a Democracy.
Having listings automatically roll over with a new set of listing fees appears to be nothing more than a cash grab by ebay. I'm a senior on a fixed income and can't always afford to relist everything every month. So now I will be forced to manualy end listings every 29 days to manage my ebay budget.
This is a BAD idea. I enjoy selling here, but now it will be more time managing relists and less time listing new items.
Hi @forester_studios - we want your items to sell too! In our experience, Good Til Cancelled items have a higher rate of selling (conversion) than other selling formats. Combined with the extra exposure that external search engines give longer-listed items our intent is to make sure that your items are seen by more people and sell more.
With existing tools like markdown manager, and new tools like the ability to make proactive offers to watchers we're hoping to see you have a higher conversion rate and having to make fewer tough choices about whether or not to list something at all. Thanks!
