For the first time eBay is making item specifics mandatory for the antiques and collectables category on the marketplace. This might seem like a chore but e-commerce experts at Optiseller believe it can bring many benefits to antique sellers and customers. The mandate comes into force on the 12th of May and the deadline for compliance is the 12th of July.
“Items specifics are the way detailed information about products on eBay is conveyed to customers. The key to successful selling on eBay is visibility. If customers can’t find your listings easily when they search you are likely to lose the sale to a competitor who has fine-tuned his item specifics better. According to eBay 55% of customers use filters to find the item they are looking for and in some categories it can be as high as 80%. The key mechanism behind the filters is the item specifics. Just like in Google searches, the more information, detail and keywords you can provide the greater your chances of being found when a customer searches.
There are a large number of things a seller can do to make sure their store is optimised to maximise sales. Factors like high quality images, delivery processes and returns policies all play a part in how well your store will perform. You also need to ensure you are complying with eBay’s policies when it comes to things such as duplicate listings if you want to stay high in the search rankings.”
– Chris Cook, Customer success specialist, Optiseller
Chris Cook was a speaker at Tamebay Live and the masterclass he presented, discussing the factors that affect eBay rankings and provide practical tips to optimise your listings, is available to watch on demand on the Tamebay Live website.
Changing things manually can be onerous particularly if you have a large inventory. Fortunately, Optiseller has a suite of tools which can automate many processes to make life easier for a seller. For example, the Optiseller platform can scan a store’s listings and find missing item specifics, duplicate listings, breaches of eBay policies and so forth. Once issues are highlighted Optiseller can provide tools to help solve the problem.
Optiseller has produced a detailed guide for antique sellers on eBay which you can download here.
