Ebay comic categories not working... 9 9

[valiantman]

The filter options still have what everyone is looking for for dates/"ages".

[zzutak]

12 minutes ago, valiantman said:

The filter options still have what everyone is looking for for dates/"ages".

Yes, it's true that one can still browse for specific eras or years.  However, if the seller did not identify that year or era as an "Item Specific", his/her listing will not be included in one's filtered list.  For example, way less than 10% of the current Golden Age listings actually include "Era: Golden Age (1938-55)" as an Item Specific.  Hence, a filtered search for Golden Age will actually miss more than 90% of the targeted listings.

As folks have already pointed out, this change all but eliminates the ability to do efficient, non-specific, era-based browsing. 

[1Cool]

6 minutes ago, zzutak said:

Yes, it's true that one can still browse for specific eras or years.  However, if the seller did not identify that year or era as an "Item Specific", his/her listing will not be included in one's filtered list.  For example, way less than 10% of the current Golden Age listings actually include "Era: Golden Age (1938-55)" as an Item Specific.  Hence, a filtered search for Golden Age will actually miss more than 90% of the targeted listings.

As folks have already pointed out, this change all but eliminates the ability to do efficient, non-specific, era-based browsing. 

I've got 500 listings that would need to be changed for me to specify which era they are in and I just can't bring myself to do it yet.  I can't imagine what a headache that would be for the mega sellers that have tens of thousands of listings.

[valiantman]

46 minutes ago, zzutak said:

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

The filter options still have what everyone is looking for for dates/"ages".

Yes, it's true that one can still browse for specific eras or years.  However, if the seller did not identify that year or era as an "Item Specific", his/her listing will not be included in one's filtered list.  For example, way less than 10% of the current Golden Age listings actually include "Era: Golden Age (1938-55)" as an Item Specific.  Hence, a filtered search for Golden Age will actually miss more than 90% of the targeted listings.

As folks have already pointed out, this change all but eliminates the ability to do efficient, non-specific, era-based browsing. 

Starting from the eBay homepage, it's easy to get to this point:  https://www.ebay.com/b/Collectible-Comics/63/bn_1865459

The Eras are showing on the left.

If the seller doesn't choose an Era or a Publication Year, then I think you were already out of luck before eBay made any changes.

There's another trick for eBay searches... anything in parentheses is an "OR" situation.

Do you want books from 1954 -OR- 1955?  Just put (1954,1955) in the search.

Looking for 1938-1955?  Search for (1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955)

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2499334.m570.l1313&_nkw=(1938%2C1939%2C1940%2C1941%2C1942%2C1943%2C1944%2C1945%2C1946%2C1947%2C1948%2C1949%2C1950%2C1951%2C1952%2C1953%2C1954%2C1955)&_sacat=259103

Put any other keywords outside the parentheses - like "Romance" 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Romance+(1938%2C1939%2C1940%2C1941%2C1942%2C1943%2C1944%2C1945%2C1946%2C1947%2C1948%2C1949%2C1950%2C1951%2C1952%2C1953%2C1954%2C1955)&_sacat=259103&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=259103

Edited May 17, 2021 by valiantman

[Bludriver]

1 minute ago, valiantman said:

Starting from the eBay homepage, it's easy to get to this point:  https://www.ebay.com/b/Collectible-Comics/63/bn_1865459

The Eras are showing on the left.

If the seller doesn't choose an Era or a Publication Year, then I think you were already out of luck before eBay made any changes.

 

 

 

Picking an era was mandatory when listing comics before the change. It is no longer mandatory. That is why it is a mess now. And choosing a year is not going to work if the seller does not put a year in the listing or fields.

[valiantman]

1 minute ago, Bludriver said:

Picking an era was mandatory when listing comics before the change. It is no longer mandatory. That is why it is a mess now. And choosing a year is not going to work if the seller does not put a year in the listing or fields.

I can see the headline now... 

Imbecile Comic Sellers Still Imbeciles

That headline goes pretty well with:

Ebay Seller With 1993 Reprint Of Action Comics #1 Chooses Golden Age Listing

[Bludriver]

57 minutes ago, valiantman said:

I can see the headline now... 

Imbecile Comic Sellers Still Imbeciles

That headline goes pretty well with:

Ebay Seller With 1993 Reprint Of Action Comics #1 Chooses Golden Age Listing

There are so many fields now, (many which are meaningless for comics and are skipped over), that I can see some sellers missing the era field. That is a field ebay should at least put in bold if they are not going to make it mandatory.

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Bludriver

[1Cool]

1 hour ago, Bludriver said:

Picking an era was mandatory when listing comics before the change. It is no longer mandatory. That is why it is a mess now. And choosing a year is not going to work if the seller does not put a year in the listing or fields.

I always put in the era of the book and the main character (team) that is in the comic for ease in finding items.  Now all my items do not have the era filled in when they did their update.  The grade seems to be filled in for the older items but now the era and main character is blank and I've got to go into each item and fill them in.  I'll see if there is a bulk way to make this change but it doesn't appear to be an easy fix because each book is so unique (not as easy as allowing offers or putting them all into auction).

Edited May 17, 2021 by 1Cool

[Bludriver]

So i just got an e-mail that starting July 21st, there will be required item specifics you will need to fill in in order to list. I am hoping that era will be one of those requirements.

[miraclemet]

also the change has broken almost all of my saved searches. 

And items that previously had "year" specified in their listing, now dont have it, as they have changed the "year" to a new group called 'Release year"

15k Starwars MOC listings and only 1 has specified "release year" vs the old listing which had hundreds listed for each year of release.  

[MyNameIsLegion]

@valiantman

Edited May 17, 2021 by MyNameIsLegion

[NewWorldOrder]

I am more upset that even with a eBay store our fees on shipping and  now the sales tax we are now making less per transaction.

Used to be 12.6 to 12.8%, now its 13.5-15.8% off the final sale.  Big jump. 

Oh yeah the eBay management payments sure are saving us money from the old way with PayPal.  

I still dont understand how its legal for eBay to charge a FVF on sales tax.  That seems very illegal. 

Its sucks to know your FVF will fluctuate from 13.2% to 15.8% depending the the state's sales tax. 

Edited May 17, 2021 by NewWorldOrder

[lonetree]

21 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I've got 500 listings that would need to be changed for me to specify which era they are in and I just can't bring myself to do it yet.  I can't imagine what a headache that would be for the mega sellers that have tens of thousands of listings.

I just updated 700+ listings.  The best method is to download your listings item specifics in an Excel file, make the changes and upload the file.  I know excel quite well so by sorting on fields and doing mass copies of data it only took a few hours

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/item-specifics.html#bulk-edit-your-listings

I was able to easily update the Era, Character, Grade, Language, Professional Grader, Publisher, Publication Year, Tradition, Type, Universe, Country and Series fields

Edited May 18, 2021 by lonetree

[B2D327]

Has anyone else been invited to join eBay council? I filled out a questionnaire that specifically went into my comic purchases after I’d sent a complaint about the changes to sub categories and my saved searches becoming totally useless. I took a look yesterday but only saw a topic on trading cards. Maybe if enough comic buyers/sellers sign up, it could actually make a difference instead of having people with no understanding of the hobby making decisions about how it should work.

[MyNameIsLegion]

6 minutes ago, B2D327 said:

Has anyone else been invited to join eBay council? I filled out a questionnaire that specifically went into my comic purchases after I’d sent a complaint about the changes to sub categories and my saved searches becoming totally useless. I took a look yesterday but only saw a topic on trading cards. Maybe if enough comic buyers/sellers sign up, it could actually make a difference instead of having people with no understanding of the hobby making decisions about how it should work.

filing a complaint and filing out a questionnaire is how they know who NOT to invite!  

[1Cool]

14 hours ago, lonetree said:

I just updated 700+ listings.  The best method is to download your listings item specifics in an Excel file, make the changes and upload the file.  I know excel quite well so by sorting on fields and doing mass copies of data it only took a few hours

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/item-specifics.html#bulk-edit-your-listings

I was able to easily update the Era, Character, Grade, Language, Professional Grader, Publisher, Publication Year, Tradition, Type, Universe, Country and Series fields

I updated 200 of my 550 listings at lunch today and it took about 35 minutes.  I'll finish the rest over the next two days but spending 90 minutes updating all these listings with no clear reason is just stupid and a big waste of time.

[1Cool]

4 hours ago, B2D327 said:

Has anyone else been invited to join eBay council? I filled out a questionnaire that specifically went into my comic purchases after I’d sent a complaint about the changes to sub categories and my saved searches becoming totally useless. I took a look yesterday but only saw a topic on trading cards. Maybe if enough comic buyers/sellers sign up, it could actually make a difference instead of having people with no understanding of the hobby making decisions about how it should work.

I got invited and I didn't see much stuff going on after filling in the quick questionnaire (which seemed more geared towards buyers).  It would be great to have a means to express opinions directly to E-Bay but they have not shown me that they are in the business of listening to us. 

[Forbush-Man]

@%#$*! eBay !!!! 

[crnbrd]

I have, well I guess it's now I HAD, a search for looking at original art with things like -print -guide etc. It currently yields 40 results when set up with newly listed. However, if I switch to best match I get 63,00ish listings. 

At this point I think Ebay is just broken beyond repair.

[Robot Man]

I gave up trying a go around or fix about a week ago. I also took down my buy it nows. I hope they come to their senses soon when they see sales drop shockingly in what is probably one of their most lucridive collectible categories.