UK: https://sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/business/news/spring2018/ebay-catalogue
Don’t forget the Conversion link - Add: ?campaign=PRcom to all URLs Leading to magnalister (example: www.magnalister.com/en/?campaign=PRcom)
eBay Content:
HEADLINE:
eBay “Product Based Listings” Started May 2018 - Does Your Inventory Management Software Fit the Bill?
Don’t lose your product ranking on eBay. eBay has started rolling out its new Product Listing concept in May 2018 to meet buyers’ continuously evolving expectations.
What is the New eBay Product-Based Shopping Experience?
Instead of listing the same product from different sellers under each other, now the same products will be grouped together in an eBay catalog. Eventually all search results will meet the today’s buyers expectations: Finding products easily, comparing and quickly deciding what to buy.
Technically speaking, this means a lot of crucial system changes. eBay needs to easily identify similar products and group them with a single title and description in the catalog - eBay thereby optimizes inventory. Product pictures will be merged, too.
To secure the quality of the new merging-process, an entire team will be provided by eBay.
Each Product Variation Requires a Unique GTIN
You now must generate a unique GTIN (UPC, EAN or ISBN) for every product in the new eBay catalog. If you sell multiple variations of the same product, like a different color or size (multi-SKU), a separate GTIN is needed for each variation. Only products that are associated with a product in the eBay catalog will be shown.
Be Prepared - Don’t Waste Time - eBay Takes This seriously - and You Should, Too.
eBay started the migration of a few Catalog Product Lines in May of 2018 (more details here https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2018-spring/inventory-optimization.html#m22_tb_a3__5) and will step-by-step add more product categories. All listings for all item conditions – New, Used, Refurbished etc. as well as bundles will need to be associated to eBay’s catalog products.
The following product lines that will require catalog adoption as of May 2018:
Brand
Product Line
Amazon
Echo, Fire Stick
Apple
iPads, iPhones, TV
Dyson
AM Cooling Fan, AM Fan Heater, AM Humidifier, Pure
Chromecast, Home
Jawbone
Jambox
NEST
Thermostat
Roku
Premier/Express/1/2/3/4
Throughout 2018 and 2019, eBay is going to expand the eBay catalog requirements in phases.
So be aware: If you don’t take action, your affected products will be removed from the eBay marketplace.
Sounds Like a Lot of Work, Doesn’t It?
Not necessarily; If you use one of the popular online store systems (listed below) in combination with the magnalister-Plugin. magnalister is an inventory management software tool for eBay, Amazon and other marketplaces that handles the majority of the job automatically. A long-term partnership between eBay and magnalister lets the tool be one of the best choices for connecting the marketplace.
The magnalister process compares, if the related eBay catalog and the products from your online store match unique criteria like the GTIN or manufacturer part number. If so, magnalister submits the data to eBay, and your products will automatically meet eBay’s new grouped listings requirements.
For products, which can’t be assigned automatically to the eBay catalog, magnalister provides the “Product Matching“ feature where you can compare your online store and eBay product details to associate the proper item to the proper catalog.
The Inventory tab in the magnalister Plugin provides more information and transparency and shows you what happened after the association, current processing-status, and if the online-store product-title corresponds to the eBay product-title. A click on the product links you to the eBay marketplace to check even more details.
What Are The Online Store Systems, Provided by The magnalister Plugin?
magnalister currently supports the following online store systems among others. Since the magnalister-team introduced the integration for Shopify and WooCommerce recently. Both these integrations will be promoted free of charge until the end of 2018:
Shopify
WooCommerce
Magento
PrestaShop
osCommerce
Shopware
Gambio
xt:Commerce
If you don’t have an online store and simply want to use magnalister to synchronize your products across different marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, our team will be glad to help you set up magnalister-PIM (Product Information Management). Which you can operate to manage your products across the marketplaces.
Which Sellers Will Win Following this Update?
If you are first on the train you might be the one with the best seat! This analogy can be applied to the new ebay product based selling. Sellers who familiarize themselves with the new product based shopping experience and optimize their businesses early on, will have an advantage over those who will leave the adjustments to the last minute.
Will the Promoted Listing Feature Still be Available?
Yes! If a shopper clicks on the promoted links, they will be taken to your specific listing and not to the grouped product page.
Win the New “eBay Buy Box”
As explained above, eBay usually displays everyone’s listings at once. If 1000 people list the same item, eBay will show 1000 listings of that product. This changes with the new product-based listing feature (which you may have already seen on another marketplace in a similar way): a “Group Similar Listings” button will appear to collapse all listings that are associated to the eBay catalog category into one.
Your items will compete with other sellers’ listings for the chance to be featured in the top pick or the primary position on the product page. You must be at above standard, ensure your items remain in stock, and offer competitive shipping and pricing to improve your chances of winning the top pick.
From now on it is more important than ever to concentrate on eBay SEO. That includes, but isn’t limited to, the following:
Providing the best photos and descriptions will make a big difference.
Associate your item in the proper one "best fit" category.
Having a competitive price. That doesn’t mean to have the lowest price will automatically bring you on top of the listings.
Make sure you can provide an excellent customer service. This is a big thing since you may have to train your support agents well, and accept returns easily. You also may have to speed up replies and extend your support hours whenever possible.
Finally … Why is eBay Making These Changes and What Can We Expect in the Future?
eBay wants to help buyers to easily find the most relevant item from the most relevant seller.
Buyers expect a modern and streamlined shopping experience. They don’t want to sort through 100’s of listings offering the exact same item from different sellers. eBay is making these changes to make shopping on their marketplace easier and more comfortable for the buyers.
Peter Maehner from magnalister: “The eBay changes are reasonable. Even that the changes cause a lot of work for developers to make it as simple as possible for the sellers, the buyer will get an amazing shopping experience. In a year or two we’ll see the results. And at the end it’ll pay off for the sellers, too.”
Questions?
The magnalister team will be glad to answer your questions:
support[at]magnalister.com
About magnalister:
magnalister is a multi channel listing tool and the market-leading inventory management software plugin for many online store systems. The tool has managed more than $2.1 billion in orders and uploaded more than 70 million products to marketplaces like eBay, Amazon & Co.
magnalister is a close partner with marketplaces like eBay and Amazon and has steadily grown since 2007. By exchanging seller and developer experiences, the engineers are constantly extending and improving the magnalister interface.
For more information on magnalister please visit www.magnalister.com/en or e-mail to [email protected]