In the first two parts of this series we looked at best practices for eBay Catalogue and eBay longer titles and Item Specifics. Today in the final part we look at how using product codes can help your sales.
eBay have added a field into TurboLister for you to type or scan in a UPC, EAN or ISBN product code. You can also short cut the listing process on the Sell Your Item form by entering product codes instead of item keywords.
In TurboLister you currently need to add the UPC/EAN/ISBN code in two places – once in the UPC/EAN/ISBN field and again to search the eBay catalogue for a matching product.
On the Sell Your Item form however the entire listing process is shortened by entering your product code right at the beginning of the listing process. By entering the product code eBay will automatically populate the Category, Product Details, Image, Title and some of the Item Specifics.
Short cutting the listing process though isn’t the only reason to list with product codes. If you search eBay for a product code such as the 766907610529 (for a Viewsonic flatscreen) it will take you straight to the for that item. (In some cases eBay don’t yet direct you to a Product Page but to standard search results.)
You might think that buyers aren’t likely to know the product 
code for many items, but don’t forget that many buyers now use eBay’s mobile apps. Inbuilt into the mobile apps is the RedLaser barcode scanning technology that eBay purchased. Any buyers who scan a bar code will most likely be scanning a UPC, EAN or ISBN.
Adding a product code when you’re listing in TurboLister or a third party application may seem like extra work, but if it helps your product be found it makes sense to add them. Using the product code to short cut the Sell Your Item listing process will actually save you time and make it easier as well as quicker to list on eBay.
The product code will also ensure that your item is matched against the relevant eBay catalogue item and that your listing appears on the eBay Product Page giving it the greatest chance of being seen and purchased by buyers.
One Response
Any buyers who scan a bar code will most likely be scanning a UPC,EAN or ISBN.
Surely (as far as an ISBN) is concerned there is only a limited number of places where they will find an ISBN to scan. Most Publishers catalogues do not include the bar code although most include the ISBN. Really the Book, usually on the rear cover is the only place that the Bar Code can be found.
To have that in front of a potential customer really means that they are looking at a friends copy and decide that they want one as well or they are in a Bookshop and are trying to get a cheaper copy elsewhere. As on most High Streets Bookshops are extinct it will mean that in most towns and indeed cities there may not be anywhere where they can find a Bar Code.
In other words it is unlikely that more than a small handful will be scanning a Bar Code at all. Now as to knowing the ISBN. I have yet to have a customer ask me for and then quote the ISBN at me. Indeed if he did I would be totally at a loss because I doubt if from memory I could remember a single ISBN.
Far more likely is that a customer will quote a title at me. If he does in many cases I will immediately know the Book that he is talking about and will know if I have it in stock or if I do not where I could find a copy.
Remember some titles have been published in multiple editions(each with a differant ISBN) and not just Hard or Paper Back. The classic example is the Bible which over the years has been published in thousands of differant editions each with a differant ISBN.
Yet ISBN and Bar Codes are held up as the future and to somebody well versed in technology they possibly are. But to the man in the street, and to many Booksellers it is the title that is most important. I suspect that long after I am dead and gone it will still be titles that customers ask Booksellers about rather than quoting ISBN or flashing Bar Codes at them.