why is ebay allowing multiple listings in the one item? deceptive advertising....

[robneil56]

Do not understand why multiple listings are allowed. Item description & listing price state one thing, then suddenly become far more expensive when you go to purchase. extremely deceptive advertisng.

[phoenix-ck]

I too have been burnt by this. Though the seller had not intentionally gone out of his way to mislead, it is none the less extremely annoying (and costly) when the item we thought we purchase turned out to be the wrong item / variation / model / etc.

Some multi listings actually shows the picture of the appropriate product when you select the different model / item (and hopefully details and specs as well as the updated price !). However, in my case, I got caught out when I selected the wrong model and the pictures and description did not change (yes, I accept that I should have done more homework or contacted the seller) but the specific item I wanted was the actual item pictured in the base listing, but the product code on the listing cannot be found on the drop down option lists ???? Assuming (wrongly) that the variations are meant to be similar to the item listed since the details did not change (especially in size which proved to be my undoing in selecting a different model) I ended up purchasing the item (seller was overseas) which I received and cannot use. As others have mentioned, sending it back is simply too expensive to do.

Ebay, please put a stop to this or at least find some way to insist or force multi listings to always show the correct item and details if choosing variations or different models. As far as I am concerned, if I select a different option and the product description and photos remain exactly the same, the product should be as described and if not, I should be entitled to a refund even if it means not sending the product back ! Yes, harsh I know, but perhaps harsh is what needs to happen to stop such practices from happening.

Not happy, Jan !

[bumblegrum]

I will NEVER buy an item that is in a multiple listing.    If Ebay keep this up I will cancel my account.

[cq_tech]

Some variation listings are unavoidable and even necessary in many cases, such as items which can be supplied in different colours or sizes, but I do agree that those which have different prices for different products or options can be very misleading and should be disallowed.

[digital*ghost]

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@cq_tech wrote:
Some variation listings are unavoidable and even necessary in many cases, such as items which can be supplied in different colours or sizes, but I do agree that those which have different prices for different products or options can be very misleading and should be disallowed.

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My listings would unnecessarily double if that happened, clogging up search results with the same items in different sizes (as I sell handcrafted jewellery, larger sizes require more time and material, it is so much easier for me and buyers to list the same bracelet in different sizes in one listing, then charge appropriately for each size - if it were just a few cents difference I'd just make them all one price, but the craft is pretty labour intensive and material cost can cause several dollars difference between a few cm's). 

As a general comment, so not addressing anyone specifically, I get that there are sellers who are abusing the format, and I know how frustrating it can be to come across so many of them and/or feel misled by the jumping prices for different items, but there is no one solution that's going to make the site perfect for everyone, so no matter what there are going to be some compromises in order to provide the optimum convenience for members, and I do firmly believe that is by keeping variation listings with the ability to have different prices - I accept that opinion may be biased, because the format makes things easier for me, and reduces my listing fees, but there are many of us who are using the format correctly, and I also think the knee-jerk reaction of "I didn't pay attention to what I was doing / what I was buying, let's make sure no one at all can enjoy the ease and convenience of this format" is just...  

Re: the changing pictures / description - I agree that the variation name should clearly denote what the item is, and that the listing description should fully detail everything for that item. 

[cq_tech]

I believe that in most cases the intention is not so much to defraud the buyer, as to manipulate the search ranking, especially when using my default parameters of "Price + Postage: lowest first". Having a $1 item lurking amongst the other $10 items in the same listing is a great way to get your listing near the top of the results.

[bayzbuyz]

Why is Ebay Allowing it " maybe it's in there best interest to have potential buyers clicking one the listing and therefore viewing the banner ads  .... Could this be why there are may auctions that are close to ending that display 0 bids but when you click to view the listing the are several bids displayed on the items page ?????

[tonalidesigns]

As a seller we use multiple listings a lot - but for genuine variations of size, colour or some design ELEMENT in a single design.

But I get really frustrated when I see competitors who might have thirty or forty different designs each listed as a variation all at different prices in a single listing. Effectively they are a catalogue that delivers massive benefits in key word search and best match.

We followed this up with Trust and Safety who said these listings were fine!

[brendanwildingaustralia]

This is the current work around:

This solution is based on DaveInCaz and larsolafsimonsen's fantastic answers which I have used many times but no longer seems to work for me (possibly eBay changed the DOM as a mentioned suseptibility).

1. Open up the developer console (F12 or right click > Inspect)
2. Click the "Console" tab
3. Copy+Paste the following and press Enter:

$('.DEFAULT').parent().parent().parent().parent().parent().parent().remove();

This is based on the eBay search results as at 15/05/2018. Listings with a price range have a span element between the two prices $xx to $xx with the class DEFAULT. This code looks up the tree to delete the node this came from. This will likely fail in future when eBay changes structure again.

[davewil1964]

As they probably have in the FOUR YEARS since the complaint was made.

[davidc4430]

its easy to avoid the dissapointment of finding an item is not the price you thought on a multi listing.

when you do your search you select 'price and postage lowest first'

all the dodgy listings with the super low prices apear first, with the prices shown as from X to Y

just scroll past all of them as they are all 99% likely to not have the item you are wanting at the lowest price.

when you get to the single item listings, start looking at the item listings.