Keeping your item specifics up to date is crucial to your listings’ visibility. We offer a number of resources to make it easier to find and add missing item specifics:

Updating your item specifics on eBay

• Download/Upload file . This tool is available in the Seller Hub Active Listings page. It allows you to download an Excel file of your listings, identify and update missing item specifics in bulk and re-upload the file to apply the changes 

• Edit item specifics in bulk. When you add item specifics from the Seller Hub Active Listings page, you can select multiple listings and click the “Add item specifics” button. This will load all of your selected listings into a pop-up window where you can cycle through each listing one at a time and add any missing item specifics

• Quick filters. If you have listings missing Required, Required Soon, or Recommended item specifics, you’ll see quick filters on your Seller Hub Active Listings page. These quick filters show you all listings missing those particular item specifics. 

• Required Soon feature. When you create a new listing or revise an existing one, you’ll see indicators in your listing flow above item specifics that will be required soon. These will include the date the item specifics will become required

• Task reminders in Seller Hub and My eBay. If you have listings missing Required, Required Soon, or Recommended item specifics, you’ll see corresponding tasks in Seller Hub, or corresponding modules in My eBay Selling Overview

• Item specifics rankings. These rankings appear in the listing flow and provide guidance on which non-required item specifics your buyers are searching for

*This eBay offer includes access to the Optiseller Aspect Finder+ tool for sellers until September 30th, 2021. No commitment is required from sellers beyond this date, no payment details are required to redeem this offer, and sellers who redeem the offer will not be charged for the use of the tool during the offer period. To take advantage of this offer, sellers must sign up using the link provided (or if already an existing Optiseller user, by logging in by using the link provided). Optiseller does offer other paid-for tools, services and plans which can be purchased separately. These are not included in the free offer.

Note: Sellers using a third-party provider should first check with their listing provider to see how to best utilise the Optiseller tool via the tool itself or the downloadable file option.

Adding Item Specifics to your listings is crucial to your visibility and competitive ranking in search results, both on and off eBay. By adding required and recommended item specifics, you’ll benefit from:  

• Increased Search Visibility : Your listing will only appear in buyers’ filtered search results if you’ve added the matching Item Specifics information to your listing 
• Improved Search Ranking: Item Specifics move your listings higher in search results, both on eBay and the other search engines we work with like Google Shopping
• Connecting with the Right Buyers : When you provide Item Specifics, we can better connect you with buyers searching for your products 
• Inclusion in New Buyer Experiences : By listing with Item Specifics, your listings are included in new buyer experiences on the platform, so we can showcase similar items together, cross-sell and suggest relevant inventory to buyers

Adding variations to your listings lets you use item specifics to group closely related items under a single listing. 

For example, if you’re selling shoes, you can create a single listing with multiple variations for different sizes. 

Items grouped under a single listing need to be closely related, and you can select from a list of variation details (such as size, color, or width) to describe how they are related.

Changes to variation details

Starting 22 February 2021, as part of our item specifics updates, certain variation details will no longer be valid. This change helps clarify what variations work best as a single listing, and what items are more likely to get noticed as separate listings. 

Listings impacted by this change will display the following error message when you edit them: “This attribute is not valid for this variation. Add a valid attribute.”

If you see this message, first try to update your listing. Look for an existing variation detail that more accurately describes how the items are related. For example, a listing for a kitchen faucet may have previously used “Type” to describe the variations “Stainless steel”, “Rubbed Bronze”, and “Chrome. This could be updated to “Finish.”

If you can’t find a relevant existing variation detail, you’ll need to create separate listings. For example, a listing for tools may have used “Type” to describe variations for “Hammer,” “Wrench,” and “Screwdriver.” In this case, the items are not closely related enough to fall under a single listing. The variation “Type” will need to be removed and the items re-listed separately. 

Making these changes helps your listings with multiple variations show up in the right searches, and helps buyers feel confident in their purchase.