Listing & promoting
Learn about new category and item specifics updates, Seller Hub changes, Terapeak Research insights, a new “Offers to buyers” feature, and Promoted Listings ad rates, and eligibility.
What you need to know
- Category changes to help buyers find your items
- New item specifics updates and requirements
- Seller Hub Performance tab updates
- New Terapeak Research features in Seller Hub
- Automatically set up and send “Offers to buyers”
- Ad rate update for Promoted Listings campaigns
- Promoted Listings restrictions for Below Standard sellers
New category changes to help buyers find your items
We continue to make category changes to create more intuitive buying, selling, and search experiences, and bring eBay into closer alignment with industry-standard classifications. The changes also help international buyers find your items. If you listed an item in one of the affected categories and your listing is impacted by the changes, eBay will automatically move your listing to the most relevant category. As a result of the changes to the category structure, if your listing is moved to a different category, you may experience a change in the fees (either an increase or decrease).
New item specifics features, tools, and requirements
Complete and accurate item specifics (both required and recommended) are essential to improving your listings’ rankings in search results on eBay and external search engines. The more data you provide, the better we can match your items to what buyers are looking for. We’re introducing new item specifics features and tools that will help you optimize your listings and comply with our item specifics requirements.
New item specifics features and tools
- Required soon feature. The “Required soon” feature is now available in the listing flow when you revise or list an item with item specifics that will soon be required. Seller Hub and My eBay also provide you with information about upcoming item specifics requirements for your current listings. On the Active Listings page, you’ll see a filter that enables you to see only those listings that are missing item specifics that will be required soon. You won’t see a filter if your listings are not missing item specifics that will be required soon. In addition, if any listings are missing item specifics that will be required soon, you'll see a reminder on the My eBay Selling Overview page and a task in Seller Hub Overview. Later this year, sellers who are using Seller Hub will see this information in a dedicated column on the Active Listings tab.
- Item specifics rankings. These rankings appear in the listing flow and provide guidance on item specifics your buyers are searching for. The rankings will help you identify and prioritize non-required item specifics relevant to your potential buyers. The rankings are based on buyer demand data, which is compiled from searches on the site over the past 30 days. Within each item specifics section (Required, Recommended, Additional), the most important item specifics will be listed at the top. By providing these item specifics, you improve your items’ visibility, especially when buyers use eBay’s search filters.
- Item specifics Download/Upload file. This tool is available in the Seller Hub Active Listings page and allows you to download an Excel file of your listings that are missing required, required soon, or recommended item specifics. You can make changes to the file by selecting available values, saving the file in CSV format, and then uploading the file—also from the Active Listings page—to update your listings in bulk. (Note: Sellers using a third-party provider should first check with the company they use to learn how to best utilize this feature through their tool.)
- Edit item specifics in bulk. Besides the file option mentioned above, you can also add item specifics to listings in bulk directly on the Seller Hub Active Listings page. Select the listings you want to edit by using the checkboxes in the left-hand column, then select Sell it faster (button above the table) > Add item specifics. This will load all of your selected listings into a pop-up window where you can cycle through each listing one at a time and add any missing item specifics.
- Reminders in Seller Hub and My eBay. If you have any listings that are missing required, soon to be required, or recommended item specifics, sellers using Seller Hub will see corresponding tasks; sellers using My eBay Selling Overview will see corresponding modules.
- Quick Filter Search for required item specifics. Available in the Active Listings pages, filters are available to help you easily find listings that are missing required item specifics. If any of your listings are missing item specifics, the filters will enable you to see item specifics that are required, soon to be required, or recommended. Otherwise, you won’t see the filters.
- Optiseller Aspect Finder+ free until the end of the year. You can now use Optiseller Aspect Finder+ free of charge, courtesy of eBay*, to automatically review your listings through at least December 31, 2020.** The review will automatically identify missing required, required soon, and recommended Item specifics. You or your listing service provider can then easily update the missing item specifics. *Sellers using a third-party provider should first check with their listing provider to see how to best utilize the Optiseller tool via the tool itself or the downloadable file option. **No commitment is required from sellers beyond this date, no payment details are required to redeem this offer, and sellers who redeem the offer will not be charged for use of the tool during the offer period.
A reminder about item specifics requirements
Recently, we announced that we will require you to complete certain item specifics in the below categories starting on September 9, 2020. After that date, you will not be able to publish new, relisted, or revised listings in the below categories without the required item specifics.
Electronics
Home & Garden
Sporting Goods
Watches
New item specifics
We’re adding new item specifics in the below categories starting in October 2020. Although these aren’t required today, they will be marked as “Required soon” with a launch date before they become required. We strongly recommend you add them to the relevant listings as soon as possible.
Electronics
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories
Health & Beauty
Home & Garden
Music Instruments
Sporting Goods
Please note that when we change existing item specifics to match the new item specifics, we’ll match them on your listings automatically when you renew, relist, or revise your items. If an item specific has changed and there isn’t an exact match, we won’t make any changes and you’ll need to update your listings to ensure your listing is accurate.
Seller Hub Performance tab updates to help you optimize your eBay business
To help you optimize your business on eBay, we’re providing you with more ways to access and an analyze your listing and sales data in Seller Hub. The following new features and reports are now available in the Seller Hub Performance tab.
- Download your sales and eBay fees data with a new listings sales report.
- Generate sales reports based on predefined time frames such as today, this month, last month, and this quarter, and select a month-to-month or year-to-year comparison.
- Break down your sales by item price and shipping cost.
- Filter your sales chart in order to view sales with or without free shipping costs.
- If you use Promoted Listings, you can check the percentage of sales coming from your campaigns.
New Terapeak Research features in Seller Hub
Since our Spring Seller Update, we’ve introduced new Terapeak Research features including active listings search, item specifics in search results, thumbnail view of items, and Multi-User Account Access. Through October 2020, we’re introducing new Terapeak insights in the listing flows.
Over the past several months, we’ve added useful new features to Terapeak to enhance your ability to gain essential business and market insights.
- Active Listings search. Search millions of active listings by keyword or product identifier.
- Item specifics in search results. Item search results include item specifics. You can also add different filters for item specifics to narrow your search.
- Thumbnail view of items. When viewing items in your search results, you can hover over the listing image for a thumbnail view of the item.
- Multi-User Account Access. Sellers with access to Terapeak can authorize other eBay member accounts to conduct research on their behalf with Multi-User Account Access.
In addition, we will display Terapeak insights when you create or edit your listings via Seller Hub. We are rolling out Terapeak insights in Electronics, Fashion, and Collectibles selling categories through October. We will be expanding to additional categories over the coming months.
Additional Terapeak insights at the time of listings - summary view
Additional Terapeak insights at the time of listing—detailed view
Automatically set up and send “Offers to buyers”
Later this month, you will be able to send more offers to buyers who have shown interest in your items and close more sales with our new “Offers to buyers” automation feature. The new feature will also help you save time by enabling you to continuously send offers to new and existing buyers. You will be able to set this option in the Send Offer flow with a simple toggle. If you decide to stop your “Offers to buyers” campaign, you will be able to do so on your “manage offers” page.
Promoted Listings Campaign Enhancements Overview
New suggested ad rates when you create your Promoted Listings campaigns
We’re now providing you with suggested ad rates when you create Promoted Listings campaigns. The suggested ad rate replaces the trending rate and is a personalized recommendation based on historical and predictive data. While the trending rate was designed to give you a sense of how other sellers were setting their ad rates for similar items, the suggested ad rate can help you find your optimal ad rate for each item and achieve a balance between performance and cost.
Enhancements to how you manage Promoted Listings campaigns
We’ve made several enhancements to how you manage your Promoted Listings campaigns, including improved item recommendations and streamlined campaign creation functionality, whether you manage your listings individually or in bulk.
- Item recommendations. In July, we updated how we find your recommended items, making sure that we’re showing you which of your listings we think will perform best in a Promoted Listings campaign. Promoting the right items can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful sale. That’s why we generate a list of recommended items to promote each time you upload a new batch. We personalize the recommendations for you based on trends in the marketplace and historical performance data.
- Simplified ad rate strategy selection. In August, we updated how you choose your ad rate strategy for your campaign when selecting listings individually. Now you can apply your ad rate strategy in a simpler way—to all your listings or to individual listings. We also added more options to your ad rate strategy selection when you select your listings in bulk. Now you can add an ad rate cap to your selection and adjust above or below the suggested ad rate.
- New Promoted Listings dashboard. We also launched a new Promoted Listings dashboard to make it easier for you to check marketing performance. Whether you want to dive deep or see results at a glance, now it’s easier to make the best decisions for you and your business.
New Promoted Listings improvements
- Overview metrics. Quickly understand your performance using new calculated metrics to see the overall health of your ad campaigns.
- Visualize your data. Toggle between Campaigns, Metrics, and Time Period filters to visualize your performance trends over time and analyze the effectiveness of campaign changes.
- Control your campaigns. Create, edit, pause, or end campaigns.
Promoted Listings Campaign Enhancements FAQs
What are suggested ad rates?
Suggested ad rates are calculated based on a variety of factors designed to help you find an optimal balance between performance and cost. Factors may include item attributes, past performance, seasonality, and current competition.
How is the suggested ad rate different from trending rates?
The previous trending rates were calculated based on ad rates for similar items sold via Promoted Listings, and only looked at listings in the same sub-category, price range, and condition.
The new suggested ad rates look at item-specific, historical, and predictive data to tailor an ad rate for each of your listings. Some of these factors may include an item’s condition, price, and past organic performance, as well as the current competition in promoted listings and the seasonality for that specific item. Based on these factors, the suggested ad rate is calculated to help you find the optimal balance between cost and performance.
Promoted Listings Eligibility Overview
New Promoted Listings restrictions for Below Standard sellers
We’re now restricting Promoted Listings eligibility to Above Standard and Top Rated sellers. The eligibility change is an important step toward improving the overall quality of Promoted Listings, and will increase both the quality of promoted items and the buying experience. The restricted access prevents Below Standard sellers from creating new campaigns or editing existing campaigns and their campaigns will be automatically paused, but they can still view campaign data and download reports. To restore their access to Promoted Listings, Below Standard sellers will need to achieve Above Standard or Top Rated status, at which time their campaigns will automatically be unpaused and be eligible for display again.
Affected sellers will receive notifications and guidance to restore access
Affected sellers will be notified about how they can regain access to Promoted Listings through email communications and notifications on a “read-only” version of their Promoted Listings dashboard. At the top of the dashboard, a notification will detail reasons for their Promoted Listings ineligibility and explain how they can restore it.
“Paused” campaign status indicates a system-generated, temporary pause on Below Standard sellers’ campaigns. Paused campaigns will remain system-paused until Below Standard sellers improve their seller level to Above Standard or Top Rated.
How to determine if you’re impacted by the new Promoted Listings restriction
To find out if you will be affected by the new Promoted Listings restriction, go to your seller dashboard to see if your account has been evaluated as Below Standard and why. You'll get a detailed look as to why you’re not meeting eBay’s minimum seller standards and receive clear, actionable guidance on how to get back on track.
Promoted Listings Seller Eligibility FAQs
Why did I lose access to Promoted Listings?
If you lost access to Promoted Listings, you are currently ineligible to run campaigns because your seller level is Below Standard. To restore your access to Promoted Listings, you must improve your seller level to Above Standard or Top Rated. For more details, refer to your seller dashboard.
Why did my Promoted Listings campaign(s) suddenly stop?
Your campaigns are temporarily paused due to your seller level dropping to Below Standard. You can’t create new or edit existing campaigns, but you can still view your campaign data and download reports. Once you’ve improved to Above Standard or Top Rated, your campaigns will automatically be unpaused and return their last status.
Why do my campaigns say “system-paused?”
System-paused campaign status indicates a system-generated, temporary pause on your campaigns due to your seller level dropping Below Standard. Your campaigns will remain system-paused until you improve your seller level to Above Standard or Top Rated.
How can I regain access to Promoted Listings?
As soon as you improve your seller level to Above Standard or Top Rated, you can resume using Promoted Listings and your campaigns will automatically be unpaused and return their last status.