eBay is resuming plans to require Item Specifics in additional categories beginning September 9th, and it touted two tools to help sellers make their listings compliant.
In February as part of its 2020 Spring Seller Update, eBay announced plans to institute required attributes in listings in the Electronics and Home and Garden categories on March 31st, but weeks later announced it was postponing the rollout.
The plans are back on, and even more categories will be impacted. In addition to Electronics and Home & Garden, other categories with required Item Specifics will include Watches, Business & Industrial, and Sporting Goods.
Sellers will need to update their listings as described in PDF files available on the eBay website:
New item specifics for Electronics: Download details
New item specifics for Home & Garden Winter: Download details
New item specifics for Watches: Download details
New item specifics for Business & Industrial: Download details
New item specifics for Sporting Goods: Download details
New item specifics for Home & Garden Summer: Download details
eBay had begun making certain Item Specifics required in some categories last year, but it was a disaster by all accounts, particularly in the clothing category.
In this week’s post, eBay described two tools that could help sellers update Item Specifics in their listings.
Optiseller Aspect Finder+: eBay is making this third-party tool available to sellers at no charge through the end of the year. It noted that sellers who use third-party selling tools should check with their provider before using Optiseller – and be sure to read the terms and conditions.
Item specifics Download/Upload file: “Available on the Seller Hub Active Listings page, this tool will allow you to download an Excel file containing all your active listings that are missing required, soon-to-be-required, or recommended item specifics, edit your item specifics in bulk, then upload your listings back to eBay,” eBay explained.
Find the full announcement on the eBay Announcement Board.
Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She’s a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
