MC018 Please make sure your listings follow eBay guidelines: Brand Name Misuse

[what-sales-direct]

eBay sent me a message, I am not sure if it was automated or if I was targeted.

We appreciate that you have selected eBay to list your item; however, please understand that you've mentioned "iphone 5 SE / iphone 6 / iphone 7 iphone 8 / Plus / X" in the title of the listing. A listing with variations of models mentioned in the title is not allowed because those models would be searchable in title even if any of model variation sold out. We understand that it was unintentional, hence we kindly request you to relist the item accordingly.

Please make sure that your current and future listings follow these guidelines. If they don't, they'll be removed, and your fees won't be refunded. It could also result in additional actions, including loss of buying and selling privileges on eBay.

For more information about our rules for sellers, please go to:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/policies.html

Here is what I find odd, this would potentially be keyword spamming, but it's not as all the items in the title are available for sale. Also, the eBay policy page does not state that this is against there rules under keyword spamming or under tiles. unless I am missing something.

I tried changing my listing title and eBay search engine started to rank me in 6-9 place instead of second. What should I do? 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

If I am understanding correctly you have a product(s) that works for multiple items. Technically it's not a product with variations. With variations when applicable you can specify available quantities and define differences. I think this is a misinterpretation by the bots. There are a very large number of sellers that have items that work for multiple versions. Your best bet would be call first thing and try to speak with a product expert and explain your situation. See if they have an actual procedure that will work in your situation. Hope that works as a starting point?

-CM

PS. Possibly bot related or could have been a competitors report. Hard to know for sure.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

You could ask if you Added "Works with" in your listings would that be acceptable.

-CM

[electronicifycanada]

This is just sad honestly. I sell lots of items that have different colors, sizes, types, etc. There is absolutely no chance I could have the time to go through each listing when it runs out of a colour to change it. It's just simply not going to happen. The thing that is upsetting is you can't even search price lowest to highest on eBay because there is so many China sellers that break listing policies to get their listing better search results and eBay isn't saying anything to them.

[femmefan1946]

and eBay isn't saying anything to them.

Well actually.. while that is the general belief, there is no proof that eBay doesn't eliminate those listings.

Hmmm-- except when we see complaints from buyers who have paid these scammers only to be told by eBay that the seller is NARU.

If five people go through a red  light and one is caught, does that mean that no one was caught?

[femmefan1946]

There is absolutely no chance I could have the time to go through each listing when it runs out of a colour to change it.

But that is what is expected.

And that is yet another reason why dropshipping is a Bad Idea.

If the seller can't keep track of his stock, he will have unhappy customers and get Out Of Stock Defects.

[electronicifycanada]

Okay so if I list a item that has 2 colours, and 1 colour sells out. The buyer can't purchase the sold out colour to begin with. So there would be no reason to even get a out of stock defect to. The reason dropshippers get out of stock defects is because they list stuff they can't track on other websites. I only list things I own so I have never had a out of stock defect.

As for OP's listing I think what happened was they could of been reported for search manipulation. If a buyer is searching for a iPhone X and your listing has "iPhone X" in the title but it's sold out. They will see a iPhone X in the title for the price of a much cheaper one when they click the link. Technically this is search manipulation and I didn't really see it like that.

In order to combat it I edited lots of listings to completely get rid of any variations in the title or description. So now if it has multiple colours it says pick your own colour in description and nothing about colour in titles.  I guess that's a way to sort of beat the system without having to edit each listing all the time. If more sellers follow it would inevitably make eBay search even worse for buyers because they would need to rely on pictures only to guess what variations the listing has prior to clicking it. I guess it's maybe better that way but to each their own.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

f aTo add to this insanity I have an item that I was able to add 1 of 3 color variations into the catalog database. When I attempt to add the other colors as a separate listing it suggests that I use the listing that is already approved to the catalog. It's like a neverending loop you can't ever escape from. To have to go through the process of getting approval each time you find an item that is not in the catalog makes it more work than it should be. And once eBay has created the new item, there are no guarantees it was created correctly or that you will able to get it updated. We were much better off when we were in control of our item descriptions and search titles. Is it really the sellers that are manipulating item visibility or eBay????

-CM

[tizzys_attic]

I also had a listing removed for listing more than one model of iPhone in the title. I've been listing this way for years without any problem and always carry adequate stock so no cases run out for each model of iPhone. I pointed out to Customer Service Rep that hundreds, if not thousands, of the listings for iPhone cases and accessories list several models in the title.

To be fair, if they remove my listing for this reason, they should remove all of the other listings with similar titles as well.