I'm furious - Ebay changed my categories and sales have plummeted!

[jellybirddesigns]

Since the middle of June, my sales have dropped off dramatically. My store had been growing every year and then suddenly crashed. The only thing I did in June was to change my store subscription to a lower level, but then I saw the sales drop off in the first week, so I changed it back up again. 

Yesterday, I went to another browser to search for my items and see if it was a visibility issue. The vast majority of my stuff is in the "Home Decor - Decorative Cushions/Pillows" section. Anyway, I could only see about half my items and was getting rather annoyed that many were not showing up as expected.

This morning, I happen to be doing a bulk edit of some stuff and I notice that many of my cushion covers are somehow now listed in the "Home Decor - CHILDRENS HOME AND FURNITURE - Cushions and Covers"!

LIKE, WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK EBAY!

I'm thinking that when I did the store change in June, it has somehow re-catogorised my items.

I am so upset by this, as I have been struggling to work out why my sales have been down by up to 60%!

[*tippy*toes*]

Well now you know, you'll be able to change them back. Never trust eBay. You have to stay one step ahead of them.

Spoiler

I had a tea cup that was sent to a mineral specimen category. Go figure! Both collectables, but nah.

Spoiler

I will check mine by going to a listing and clicking on the show other items link (or whatever it says). Then everything comes up and I can easily check the categories on the left.

[twyngwyn]

No...there were category changes....did you get the email? They've 'moved' a lot of my stuff as well....more work to do.....grrr

[jellybirddesigns]

Thanks Twyngwyn - the only emails I've been getting are about the upcoming item specifics that need to be in place by the end of September. I've looked back over my emails from Ebay and don't see anything about Category changes.

I have no idea why they would take my listings from the general Home Decor - Cushion Covers and put them into the Home Decor - Childrens Cushion Covers. It's bizarre! Surely us sellers know which category our items belong to.

[curraone]

Stuff like that happens when they change categories - the time before last most of my books ended up in "Audio Books".

A quick bulk edit will fix it up.

They did a fiddle with categories in June which mucked things up a bit.

https://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/SU19-1/Inventory-Optimisation#content-3

[jellybirddesigns]

Thanks Curraone - yes a bulk edit will fix the category, but once a category has changed, its item specifics also change. Every single listing has to be checked for the right item specifics as many of them are now "undefined" due to the category change. As I go through them, some now also have random item specifics assigned to them which I had never put there in the first place. It's a total jumble!

[jellybirddesigns]

Since I never got the message about the category changes - can someone share that info please so I can see what was emailed out.

[curraone]

I think it most of us would have deleted it by now - it was in January or May - I don't how to read the date

Autumn 2019 Seller Update

by au_news_team on ‎05-01-2019 10:25 AM

The Autumn 2019 Seller Update is here. We remain committed to delivering an outstanding experience on eBay, and partnering with you to help you succeed and grow your business on our platform.

Read more...

[jellybirddesigns]

Thank you so much - From the information about category changes it says:

To help buyers find your products faster and more easily, we encourage you to list your item in the single most relevant category rather than multiple categories. This will ensure that the most accurate and helpful search results are returned in buyers’ searches.

Well, my items were already IN the the most relevant category - which means they should never have been moved. It's not like the category was merged or discontinued - it's still there as a suitable and valid category!

[imastawka]

I'm surprised.  

Even if you missed the email, there was a thread about it on here in May/June.

Started by Twyngwyn and warning others.

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Autumn-2019-Seller-Update/m-p/2234950/highlight/true#M18434...