Ebay wants WHAT????
If you are an eBay seller you should have recently received an email regarding “product identifiers”. If you are like most sellers that email told you that you had any number of items that would now require you to include a product identifier in your listing. If you are like me you said, Ebay wants me to do what????
I was recently given the opportunity to speak to two of the developers behind this mandate to voice my concerns and ask questions of the program. I think it is important that we all understand the details of the program and the why of why we are being asked to do this.
First what is a “product identifier”? In layman’s terms this is the number associated with the barcode on any given product. That number is used not only by companies but more importantly to us, it is used by search engines to identify a product. If you are like me, your first thought is no one is searching by that number, so why should I have to enter it! Ebay understands this and it isn’t about that one person who is actually searching by that UPC code. It is so they can match like products. Say for instance you are listing a Playstation controller now when a buyer types in Playstation controller Ebay can pull all the Playstation controllers using the UPC codes, so even if you mess up and spell Playstation wrong, or don’t have the exact keywords the buyer typed in, in your title your item will show up in the search. This is fantastic news for sellers that are concerned that their items aren’t showing up in search.
Okay, you understand what Ebay is looking for, so now the question becomes am I required to do this? Maybe, like me you glossed over the email and now you want to know what items specifically need this information. The list of categories that these numbers are required for are listed here: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/build-your-business-online/grow-your-sales/seo-unique-identifiers.html#apply-identifiers The easier way to find out which of your items are missing this information is to bulk edit your active listings. Simply click “edit” while looking at your active listings and the system will tell you which of your items are missing this information.
The problem for me became two-fold. The first issue is the majority of my items are pre-owned and I don’t have a UPC code. Don’t worry! You have two options, one you can do a quick google search to find the product identifier or you can simply select “Does not apply” in the drop down. Selecting “Does not apply” will fulfill the requirement but will not give you the benefits associated with having the number. I was told directly not to spend all day looking for this number on a used item. If you can’t find it, it really is okay. I can’t put enough emphasis on this, Ebay is not looking to create mountains of extra work for their sellers. Your main focus should still be growing your business. The point of the product identifiers is to add another way for buyers to find your item, it is not meant to cause us all to want to tear our hair out. So again, if your item doesn’t have an identifier on it and if your QUICK search didn’t give you an identifier simply click “Does not apply” and MOVE ON!
The second issue I ran into was items that I had with an identifier but Ebay’s system did not recognize the number as valid. This happens frequently when selling clothing, because as it was explained to me clothing designers often do not use traditional UPC codes favoring for their own inventory control system. Ebay is aware that not all items are in the database, or that some items do not have a traditional code. The solution here is to select “Does not apply” and then add an “Item specific” with the number you do have. It is possible that in the future Ebay will use those numbers to build out the database and that number will become searchable. So while you have that number and are looking at it, go ahead and add it.
My big question to the development team was “WHY?” quickly followed by “Do you realize the time you are asking me to spend going through already listed inventory”? The response to my concerns was not only compassionate but informative. I was told that the why is to bring more traffic onto the site. Search engines like Google rate search rankings based on relevancy. If we can get sellers to add product identifiers to listings it increases our “relevancy” in the search engines eyes. Better outside search rankings will result in more traffic on Ebay which in the end helps us all. The developers are very much aware of what they are asking of us and I was assured that they wouldn’t be asking it if the payoff wasn’t there.
I then voiced a concern I have heard repeatedly from other sellers both in person and in various online groups. Is this just Ebay’s way of trying to become Amazon and get rid of the used/vintage seller? Their answer was swift and unambiguous. Ebay is in no way trying to become Amazon nor do they want to rid themselves of the used/vintage seller. In fact the opposite is quite true. Ebay sees the used/vintage seller as the thing that sets them apart from Amazon and other major online retail sites. It is the differentiating factor that brings buyers to their site. The fact of the matter is Amazon is using product identifiers on their items and subsequently can be seen as more relevant in outside search results than Ebay. The mission of Ebay is to show buyers what we already know, Ebay is more relevant because not only do we have the same product, we have better prices, and we ship faster without a membership fee!
Lastly I asked about how this really benefits me. While I see the benefit now in adding these numbers to my new items how does this help my used items or my items that I can’t add a product identifier to? The first answer is increased traffic to the overall site. Once a buyer is on the site chances are they search for another item while there. This increases the chances they find my item. The more interesting response to this question, was that Ebay will be showing used items alongside of new items. The example given to me was this….Say for instance a potential customer does a google search for a Playstation and then clicks to see that new in box playstation on Ebay. Ebay can now show that buyer the Playstation along with the controllers that go with that system. They can and will show them used items alongside the new items. This gives buyers more opportunities to save money while still getting the exact item they want and gives sellers the opportunities to sell more.
I have been a seller on Ebay since the days when it really did feel like the Wild, Wild West. We sold items without pictures and gave feedback to anyone and everyone regardless of if a sale had taken place. Over the years there have been good changes and bad. Changes that benefited sellers and changes that felt like random hoops to jump through without benefit to anyone. Never before have I felt more like Ebay as a whole not only cared about the success of it’s sellers but were listening to the concerns of those sellers.
