eBay.com apologise for Item Specifics SNAFU – It’s a balls up!

eBay have put out a lengthy post apologising for the Item Specifics SNAFU that took place in the latest update and undertaking to sort out many of the outstanding issues so that sellers don’t have to.

• eBay say that listings are no longer blocked from being re-listed or revised because the required item specific is blank
• Left hand navigation filters are fully restored with all available item specifics.
• eBay are working on a solution to create a copy of the old item specifics data and copy it into its new equivalent so the required item specific will be automatically filled with the same value

We are posting the full eBay announcement below, but bear in mind that this relates to eBay.com and some or all might not apply to eBay UK or other country sites.

“Our technical teams have been working around the clock to resolve two issues caused by the Oct 15 category update rollout:

1. An issue that prevented sellers from re-listing or revising listings in certain categories
2. Search using left hand navigation filters is missing certain item specifics such as size

 
We recognize that in our desire to deliver an enhanced site experience, we have caused issues for our sellers and we apologize for this. Our intention is to provide as much detail as possible to help you manage any impact to your business.
 

Background:

As announced in the Fall Seller Update, we are working to make it easier for buyers to find your items and give you guidance about item specifics. In doing so, we have been migrating categories into three types of item specifics – required, recommended and additional. As we roll out these changes, item specifics in certain categories may change, be added or removed, so that we can create better descriptors, which help to further index the listing in search and provide better visibility to buyers. For example, the various item specifics that represent size in the sub-categories of clothing, shoes and accessories (ie: Size (women’s), Size (men’s)) were updated and consolidated into one normalized item specific – size.
 

Current Situation:

There was a technical issue and some of the item specifics did not update correctly. As a result, some listings were blocked during re-list or revision.
 
In addition, the new, required field is showing up as blank and the listing appears incomplete.
 
This issue also created a problem in search, with the new item specifics not appearing in the left hand navigation search filter.
 

Important updates:

As we work to completely resolve this issue and ensure item specifics are mapped correctly to the new item specifics, you can take note of the following:

1. Your listing is no longer blocked from being re-listed or revised because the required item specific is blank. Behind the scenes we will map the new item specific to the original item specific.
2. Left hand navigation filters are fully restored with all available item specifics. Your listing will appear in all relevant search results when using the left hand navigation filters.

 

Next steps for sellers:

For now, you should continue providing all of the required, recommended and additional item specifics as needed. For the required item specifics that are blank, no action is required on your part – we will map the fields on the back end. Additionally, we are working on a solution to create a copy of the old item specifics data and copy it into its new equivalent so the required item specific will be automatically filled with the same value.
 
We’re aware that some sellers have chosen to end their listings and use the ‘sell similar’ feature to change the information in their listings. We do not recommend doing this. However, if you decide to, please 1) check your remaining free listing allowance first to avoid incurring additional insertion fees, and 2) be aware that ending a Good ‘Til Cancelled listing will remove its sales history.
 
We will continue to update this announcement with news as it becomes available.
 
We appreciate your patience and as always, thank you for selling on eBay.”
– eBay.com Announcement Board Post