eBay 2018 Fall Seller Update: The 2 Biggest Changes
This blog was contributed by our partner, Frooition. Frooition is an ecommerce specialist design agency and the only eBay certified design company.
At the beginning of August, eBay published its final seller update for 2018. Included in the list of updates were two changes that will have a particularly large impact:
- eBay’s product-based shopping experience has expanded to include more product categories.
- eBay sellers must now use secure HTTPS content in their item listings.
Both of these developments will improve the customer experience on eBay. But how will these changes affect sellers?
Expanded Product-Based Shopping Experience
eBay launched the product-based shopping experience for a few categories as part of the 2018 Summer Seller Update.It makes comparison shopping easier and increases the speed of product turnover. As a result, it’s already proven to be a positive evolution for the shopping experience on eBay.
According to the Fall Seller Update, the product-based shopping experience is expanding. eBay has added more products in Consumer Electronics, Home & Garden, and Sporting Goods to the list of enabled categories.
As of mid-September, when a seller revises an existing listing or creates a new listing for a product in an enabled category, they must associate the listings with the eBay catalog. Consequently, eBay issued two warnings on the repercussions of failing to do so:
“If you do not associate your active listings with the eBay catalog, your listings may have minimal or no visibility to buyers. If you do not associate new or revised listings with the catalog you will not be able to successfully complete the listing.”
Thus, you should update live listings for items in enabled categories as soon as possible.
Updating the eBay Catalog
To make updating the eBay Catalog easier, eBay included the below diagram with its 2018 Fall Seller Update:
(Source)
Sellers can utilize their expert product knowledge by adding to the eBay catalog, which will grow organically. Sellers may find that some items within new enabled categories are not yet included in the catalog. This is a good opportunity for a seller, as catalog listings will show first in eBay search results. Thus, adding an item to the catalog guarantees good ranking for your listing.
Sellers can add items a few different ways. They can create and update listings from their eBay account or with third-party listing tools like Frooition. Sellers have until February 2019 to associate listings in the new enabled categories. After this date, the visibility of the listings will be affected.
Secure HTTPS Content Requirement
In the 2017 Fall Seller Update, eBay announced Google Chrome would begin displaying “Not secure” in the address bar when users visit HTTP pages or HTTPS pages with non-secure content.
As of September 15, 2018, eBay requires sellers to use secure HTTPS content in their listings. eBay will block listings that contain non-secure content starting in late January 2019. The last quarter is a bad time to try and find time to make changes. So becoming 100% HTTPS should be an immediate priority for all sellers.
To be HTTPS secure, everything on a page must be HTTPS. Just one element being HTTP is enough to compromise the security of that page. A HTTPS eBay listing design with HTTP hosted images is like a house with the door safely locked and the windows wide open.
Being completely HTTPS compliant will help to maintain a secure shopping experience. It will also keep eBay listings ranking in good standing for both eBay and Google searches, and encourage customer trust and loyalty.
To see the 2018 Fall Seller Update in its entirety and read previous seller updates, visit the Seller Updates page.
