Item Specifics Requirements
We’ve been implementing ‘Required’ item specifics for some eBay categories to optimise listings for eBay search. Once an item specific becomes ‘Required’, you can only publish your new or revised listings when the required information is filled.
Why does eBay require Item Specifics?
What happens when an Item Specific is Required?
We require Item Specifics for some categories to ensure your listing has the essential information needed to match you with buyers looking for your items. When buyers filter their search results on eBay, if you don’t have the relevant information filled out, you'll be filtered out of the buyers search results.
Filling out your Item Specifics also helps with your visibility in search engines off eBay like Google Shopping.
Once an item specific becomes ‘Required’ for a category, you can only publish your new or revised listings when the required information is filled.
The latest category changes
May 2023 Changes
What this means for you
We will release updates to our category structure from 16th May 2023. This is to provide a more intuitive buying, selling and search experience.
These changes ensure that your listings appear in the relevant categories so buyers discover your items quickly and easily. Aligning categories across international eBay sites also makes cross-country trading on the eBay sites easier.
The list of impacted categories
- Home & Garden (Home Appliances)
- Industrial (Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies)
What this means for your listings in the impacted categories
When the category structure changes, your listings may be automatically moved to another category, based on your item specifications.
You may see temporary impacts to your listing experience as category updates go into effect. This will only be short-term and you should see eBay’s category experience normalise once the changes are in effect.
Please note that changing the category structure in the affected categories might result in a change in the pricing fees in these categories.
What this means for your fees
Generally speaking, when your item(s) is moved to a new category with different final value fees, it will adopt the final value fees of that new category. Insertion fees and optional listing upgrade fees will also be based on the new destination category.
Any changes in the final value fee will apply when the item(s) sell.
For more information on selling fees, please refer to our selling fees articles.
The latest set of requirements - From February 2023
New item specifics in the below categories will be required from February 2023 for all new and revised listings.
- Collectibles (Collectable Figures & Supplies): Download details
- Home & Garden (Home Décor): Download details
- Parts & Accessories: Download details
- Quad, ATV & Trike Parts;
- Scooter Parts, Motorcycle Maintenance;
- Stands & Towing;
- Motorcycle & Scooter Parts & Accessories;
- ATV, Side-by-side & UTV Parts & Accessories, Wheels & Tyres
From 23 August 2022, ‘Metal Purity’ will also become a ‘Required’ Item Specific in the jewellery category. Download details
You can add these item specifics now—we encourage you to update your listings as soon as possible.
Filling out Required Item Specifics
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.
You can watch the video on the right to get an overview of the easiest way to fill out your required Item Specifics on eBay. You can also see a list of the tools we offer below.
MerchantSpring Item Specifics Editor
You can use MerchantSpring’s Item Specifics Editor to:
- Review Listing Quality Scores across all of your eBay stores
- Input Data for Missing & Incorrect Category Values in-app
- Ensure 100% compliance with eBay’s new item specifics requirements and recommendations
- Sync updates directly to your eBay stores or export for upload into Neto and other platforms
Get a 7-day free trial of the MerchantSpring item Specifics editor.
Troubleshooting Guide
We’re here to help make updating your Item Specifics as easy as possible. We’ve put together a troubleshooting guide based on common questions sellers have and issues you may face when filling out the required information.
Listings With Multiple Variations
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 2022, 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.”