How to spot which eBay listings you need to add Product Identifiers to

No primary category set

We’re still getting a ton of questions about eBay’s Product Identifier requirements, so Laura Mathieson from Selling on eBay UK has put together a few notes on checking which (if any) of your eBay listings need updating with Product Identifiers:

On February 29th eBay will start to end some GTC listings that reach their 30 day renewal date. Why? It’s because they won’t have either a product identifier or “Does not apply” chosen in the relevant fields of their listings. (Some categories are exempt from the Product Identifier requirements, you can )

eBay have been highlighting this change for months now, and since January 2016 it’s not been possible to either create or revise listings which are missing these Product Identifiers.

More importantly is the change which will start after February 29th – if your GTC listings end, so does all your sales history so it’s an important issue. You may not even have seen the tiny advisory warning – if Selling Manager is set to search there is only a generic “Improve your listings, sell more” notice,

image001
 
and if you switch tabs it isn’t any more urgent:
 
image003

You can add “Does not apply” if that’s the case, but you cannot leave the Product Identifier field blank. NB on multi-variation listings, if even one variation is left blank in error the whole listing will be ended.

How are you getting on with editing your listings? Are they all updated, are you still working through them or are you simply going to deal with the situation when your listings are automatically ended by eBay?

6 Responses

  1. Towards the end of the article it states “NB on multi-variation listings, if even one variation is left blank in error the whole listing will be ended.”

    Is this true for items with zero quantity? I have variation items with zero quantities but the software I’m using (M2E Pro) does not send the EAN value for variation items which are out of stock, so I have some multi variation listings where there are two or three sizes that have an EAN but those that are out of stock don’t.

  2. I have large variation listings with many different styles, sizes and colours, but eBay only allows one MPN for the whole listing… how can this work? Also, should the MPN be the same on eBay as on Amazon?? All my products are made in China and don’t come with MPNs!

  3. Just received a reminder email from ebay. That was 1 hour wasted. There is absolutely no way that in a “Collectables” section of “NEW” as in ex shop stock never previously in private hands and pre dating all this a buyer will search in the way ebay suggests. To enter “does not apply” is a right faff.

  4. I realise this article is a few weeks old but wanted to add a note of caution on this. I have just revised an old listing and eBay required me to add an MPN as a result of the changes. We use a third party system that uses the API and a message appeared that I haven’t seen before: “Product found for ProductListingDetails …This product belongs to a product category, so the category has been changed.

    When I looked at the listing, instead of a child’s toy, the item specifics had been changed to something in an electrical category that allows the easy installation of ceiling tiles! It seems that eBay have completely ignored the EAN and Brand, and amalgamated it with something that has the same manufacturer code. There could be several items that share MPN codes on eBay so be sure to check if you are updating your listings. It seems that this is yet another change that has not been implemented correctly by eBay…

RELATED POSTS..

eBay.com offer White Glove Consignment for luxury apparel

eBay.com offer White Glove Consignment for luxury apparel

eBay Shop: Automate Offers to Buyers

eBay Shop: Automate Offers to Buyers

Why do people shop on Temu?

Why do people shop on Temu?

2024 Circular Fashion Innovator’s Fund Finalists

2024 Circular Fashion Innovator’s Fund Finalists

Button Batteries - eBay Safety & Awareness webinar

Button Batteries – eBay Safety & Awareness webinar

ChannelX Guide...

Featured in this article from the ChannelX Guide – companies that can help you grow and manage your business.

Register for Newsletter

Receive 5 newsletters per week

Gain access to all research

Be notified of upcoming events and webinars