eBay

needsome12vbasics · ‎26-07-2014

Hi, I am trying to figure out if something is going wrong with my holiday settings.

Twice I have put my store on holiday for a couple of days, and twice all my listings totally dissappear from my store and in search results, and don't come back into my store, even AFTER I take the holiday settings off, until I select all listings and edit, then submit edit with no changes.

Now that alone seems strange, but what I don't understand at all is that when you block people from buying, it says a message will be displayed 'On your listings' , either 'This seller is currently away, and is not processing orders at this time. You can add this item to your watch list to purchase later.' or 'This seller is currently away until <dd/mm/yyyy>, and is not processing orders at this time. You can add this item to your watch list to purchase later.'

This indicates that my listings should still be visible in search results and on my store, but have either of these notices on them and no facility to purchase now, only to add to buyer's watch list.

So why do my listings dissappear totally and leave my store empty?? Not happy.

digital*ghost · ‎26-07-2014

When you use the holiday settings, you can either keep your listings visible, so that anyone can find them in search results and still purchase the item (that one will have the notice at the top of listings mentioning the delay and date of return), or you can make the listings invisible on eBay - they can't be found in search results and can't be purchased, but they can still be viewed on site if someone already has it on their watch list or has the item number, I have some items in my watch list currently and while I can still click on and view the listing from my watch list, I can not purchase it or add it to my cart, and if I provided the item title, you wouldn't be able to find it from a general search.

I am not sure what would be causing your listings to remain invisible after the holiday settings are removed, other than perhaps, without revision, it would take a while longer for them to re-index or reappear.

needsome12vbasics · ‎26-07-2014

Yes, that is what happens. But that does not explain why Ebay says they will display notices on listings suggesting you "Add the listing to you watch list", when the only people who can view them are the people who already have them on their watch list!

That is contradictory.

Surely, seeing as you are still made to pay for your store and listings and everything, they should actually still appear everywhere, if you choose them to, and ONLY block people from buying. I can remember once years ago trying to buy something on Ebay, and it blocked me from buying with a note to that effect. I can't imagine any store being happy to keep paying all the fees, and not even get items displayed so buyers can put on watch lists to buy on your return date.

It seems that they need 3 options - Hide, or Block from buying, or Buy while on holiday and expect delay.

digital*ghost · ‎26-07-2014

@needsome12vbasics wrote:
Yes, that is what happens. But that does not explain why Ebay says they will display notices on listings suggesting you "Add the listing to you watch list", when the only people who can view them are the people who already have them on their watch list!

Well, there are other ways to find a listing - google search may still return a listing that's invisible on eBay, someone who has bought an item previously may search the item number or still have a direct link either from an email or on their eBay page. People can also share links to listings, eg on Facebook and other social media sites, so there are still a number of different ways someone can ultimately arrive at a listing that's otherwise not directly searchable on eBay.

To be honest, I think having them invisible on eBay while they can't be purchased is the better option, I can imagine the alternative would be more frustrating for buyers, i.e. having items in search results that can't be purchased until a later date. Most people really only want to see current options when they're looking to purchase - I'm sure there are others who wouldn't mind and/or be happy to see possible future options, but I'm guessing they'd be in the minority.

I do run a store on another ID, and I have to say there are a number of circumstances where I'd be prepared to continue paying the store fee while my items couldn't be viewed or purchased - to maintain sales history and stock quantity for one, to minimise admin when I return to my selling activities for another.

needsome12vbasics · ‎26-07-2014

Thank you - that's all good and well, BUT why do Ebay say they will display a notice on your listings saying you are away and to add the listing to your watch list?

Also, I think you might be mistaken about the majority of stores wanting listings to dissappear altogether. Could be something to do a pole on? I regularly to to 1 day events selling my goods, and have to put my store on 'holiday' for only 8 hours and block buying, just in case someone buys something that I only have 1 left of, and I sell it at my event too. But I don't want the listings to dissappear! Ebay should offer a choice - after all, we are they ones who pay them.

digital*ghost · ‎26-07-2014

@needsome12vbasics wrote:
Thank you - that's all good and well, BUT why do Ebay say they will display a notice on your listings saying you are away and to add the listing to your watch list?

Because eBay do display a notice on listings saying that.

If the seller has kept their listings visible, so that they can still be purchased, the notice will say that the buyer can still purchase the item, but there may be a delay in processing the order, then it gives the date the seller will return.

If the listing is invisible, and can't be purchased, it says they can add the item to a watch list because that's the only option there is - it can't be added to a cart, and it can't be bought.

There is an option via some third party listing management services whereby you can set a listing's quantity to 0 without ending it so that a seller can maintain sales history when they are out of stock or the item is otherwise temporarily unavailable, but that too will hide it from view on eBay (but it is listing specific, rather than affecting every item in store). Hopefully this will become a fully functioning option available to everyone sometime in the future, as I personally do have occasion where I would like to withdraw an item from sale but not end the listing - I don't want such items visible, though.

The simple reason for this is that if an item is listed as available on eBay, it has to be available on eBay. If it has to be temporaily unavailable, there's no point making them visible during that time (one of eBay's policies is that if an item is listed on eBay, it can not be offered for sale anywhere else). I honeslty don't think ebay will ever allow listings that can't be purchased to be visible to buyers searching on ebay - it isn't about what a seller wants buyers to see, it's about what buyers want to see, and that's typically things that are available to them.

needsome12vbasics · ‎26-07-2014

Sorry, but you are missing the point - why does Ebay tell me that they will display a notice telling buyers that they can 'add my listing to their watch list' when it is INVISIBLE? It can't be seen, it can't be found - nothing! They should just say your listing will dissappear - end of story.

Yes, I know if you go on 'holiday' and let people still buy things that the listings are visible and there is a notice - that is NOT what I am referring to, nor have referred to at all.

And there is a point to having listing appear on Ebay - more sales when you return from holiday! You don't get any advertising if no listings appear, but YOU are paying for it!

I for one would like to know if someone has something listed that I want to buy, and be given a return date when I can buy, rather than think I can't find this on Ebay, and go buy elsewhere and pay more money. Sorry, but Ebay could be missing out on sales and customers could be missing out on bargains. Ultimately, it is the customer's choice whether they wait to purchase or go elsewhere, but with the way it is, there is no choice.

digital*ghost · ‎26-07-2014

I am not missing the point at all, I mentioned previously that there are numerous other ways that a potential buyer can arrive at a listing, despite it not being searchable on eBay.

You don't have to keep your listings active if you go on holidays, people do it (and pay the cost) still because there's other benefits to it aside from being visible to buyers. I mentioned a couple of those reasons already, too.

And like I said, while there may be some out there that would be cool with their search results, already full with a variety of choices for them, containing results they can look at but not purchase, most would rather eliminate such listings, and I suspect it would be even more annoying if it was less a case of "This item will be available to purchase after X date", and more "This item might be available to purchase after X date, or it might not, depends what happens", such as would be the case when you take it elsewhere to try and sell.

needsome12vbasics · ‎26-07-2014

You quote: "And like I said, while there may be some out there that would be cool with their search results, already full with a variety of choices for them, containing results they can look at but not purchase, most would rather eliminate such listings,"

How do you know this? Have you asked everyone else? Why not let the buyers decide if they want to watch an item and wait or not?

So, if I have 50 listings that I know I will not run out of stock of, and can supply with the next day post, if I put on holiday on a Saturday or Sunday, but half a dozen items that may need to wait for restocking for a few days IF I run out, or I have to reduce the number available from say 5 to 2, you still think buyers should not be given the choice to wait a few hours to buy any of them? Sorry, I don't agree.

It boils down to the point that we PAY Ebay to advertise our products, and there wouldn't be many businesses that don't also sell outside ebay.

Again, I say that you need 3 choices - let the people who pay make the choice. And they need to change their wording when you hide listings, to say that the notice that buyers can 'add to watch list' will only be visible when found in searches outside of Ebay.

Or better still, to be able to choose which listings to leave as available while on holdiay to post on return, and others to make invisible, so you don't loose the sale history.

digital*ghost · ‎26-07-2014

@needsome12vbasics wrote:
You quote: "And like I said, while there may be some out there that would be cool with their search results, already full with a variety of choices for them, containing results they can look at but not purchase, most would rather eliminate such listings,"

How do you know this? Have you asked everyone else? Why not let the buyers decide if they want to watch an item and wait or not?

No, I haven't asked everyone else, but I do pay attention to how frustrated buyers get with clogged search results, trying to refine them, contending with out of stock items and the like.

I suggest, if you would rather a different point of view, taking the proposal to the buyer's board. You can outline your suggestion, provide the ways it might benefit buyers, and let them tell you whether they would be welcoming of such a feature. If a higher percentage would be, perhaps you can send the suggestion to eBay.

Link to Buying forum: http://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/bd-p/2500000009