From 31 March these requirements will apply to all new and revised listings in both Home & Garden and Electronics categories.
The good news is that there are no major name changes or new attributes, this is a mandate to use already existing Item Specifics.
Throughout 2019, eBay have emphasised the importance of item specifics and how they increase the visibility of your listings on both eBay and on external search engines. The more data you give eBay about what you're selling, the better they can match your item to what a buyer is looking for. This is either through query search (which as well as titles makes use of Item specifics), left hand navigation filters and on category merchandising pages.
"Buyers' in home & garden and fashion categories are 65% more likely to use filters to narrow down their search results so they can more easily find what they're looking for."
With this in mind, eBay are giving you at least 8 weeks notice for you to prepare accordingly. These Item specifics values are available now in eBay listing flows and eBay encourage you to add them ahead of the deadline on the 31st of March.
You'll be forced to add them for new listings or when you revise existing listings in the future. Although Good til Cancelled listings will continue to renew if you don't add the new mandatory eBay item specifics requirements, when you go to add new stock in the future you'll be unable to do so until you add the Item Specifics so we would recommend you get this task done and out of the way as soon as possible, preferably before the end of March. The alternative course of action is of course to do nothing and just deal with each listing as and when you're forced to.
What are the benefits of adding item specifics to my listing?
- Item specifics have a direct impact on your visibility within a buyer's search results
- Complete and accurate item specifics can increase the visibility of your listing in eBay search results, Google search, and Google Shopping, and help your buyers find exactly what they are looking for
- Buyers use item specifics to filter their search results, making it easier for them to find exactly what they're looking for. Your item will only appear in those filtered search results if you have added the matching item specific information to your listing
- Item specifics are also very important on mobile search results
- They sit at the top of your item description in a standardized format, giving buyers a clear overview of what they're looking at.
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