no more second category listings. less page visits, less watchers, less...

[wrongatron]

AS OF TUESDAY 1ST MAY EBAY HAS SCRAPPED THE 
"ADD SECOND CATEGORY TO REACH MORE BUYERS" OPTION.
NOW WHEN SELLERS HAVE AN ODD ITEM THAT DOESNT REALLY SUIT ANY PARTICULAR EXISTING CATEGORY, THEY NO LONGER HAVE THE OPTION TO LIST IN MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY. 
THIS MEANS LESS PAGE VISITS, LESS WATCHERS AND LESS SALES.
FOR BUYERS THIS MEANS LESS BROWSING, AND LESS SURPRISE ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD NOT NORMALLY SEARCH FOR, BUT LOVE AND BUY NONE THE LESS WHEN YOU COME ACROSS THEM BY ACCIDENT!
LESS FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
THIS AFFECTS US ALL
PLEASE CONTACT EBAY BY EMAIL AND PHONE TO LET THEM KNOW THEIR MISTAKE!
CLICK ON CUSTOMER SUPPORT TAB TOP RIGHT OF PAGE, THEN CONTACT EBAY.
REMOVING THE ADD SECOND CATEGORY TO REACH MORE BUYERS TAB IS A 
GIANT LEAP BACKWARDS
WHAT MAY THEY DO NEXT....

[motherbear2003]

Not sure where you got your information from, but it doesn't appear to be correct as I've completed a small handful of listings over the last couple of days, and the option to list in a second category is still there:-)

[wrongatron]

hi, my info comes from direct experience and phone calls to ebay. the changes may not be across every single category, but it effects electronics, cars bikes boats sports and hi fi gear to name but a few. 

[wrongatron]

ps, sometimes the option appears, then the second category is removed when the listing becomes active.:_|

[motherbear2003]

Obviously it must be related to specific categories; I can't find any mention of it in any of the ebay news notifications.  As for phone calls to ebay - speak to three different reps and you'll get three different answers:|

[wrongatron]

hi, this is my first post, as this change will probably kill my vintage hi-fi ebay business. i did not take the decision to post on the forum lightly. i did my research. i spent hours on the phone, spoke to supervisors and made my complaint official.

many items that are vintage / collectable / hi-fi related can be impulse buys. they will not be searched for with the search window, and if they are of an unusual nature, they may straddle many categories. this means they rely on browse traffic, so when the second category listing is removed this halves the page views / watchers etc.

any other disgruntled sellers out there????

its early days yet and there were no announcements, people will get on board as they experience the changes for themselves. dont take my word for it!!!

[zenremix777]

Alot of people who want vintage things can find them by typing in "vintage", "collectible", "retro" etc if you include those terms in your title. For vintage electronics, just put it in the electronics category and use those search terms in your title.

[2106greencat]

Hi OP - not sure when this started happening to you, but could it be a Friday glitch ??

eBay do maintenance on the site on Friday and all goes a little haywire.

[wrongatron]

hmm, that seems to be missing the point. ebay itself suggested the feature "add second category to reach more buyers" every time you list items until tuesday this week. this would literally pop up in a blue hyperlink when you were selecting categories. now this feature has been taken away. for people who browse by category this is a big deal.

out of interest, try your suggestion of typing vintage into the ebay search window. 913,409 hits. this is not particularly useful.

please !!! sellers and buyers who comprehend these changes speak out !!!

[2106greencat]

I have GOT TO learn to read !!

Just saw in your OP - since Tuesday - so ignore my gremlin theory, sorry