UK Listings Not Displaying on eBay US

[superchallenge]

As requested by anita@ebay this is a new thread on the topic.

I have somewhere in the region of 480 items listed on my eBay UK store. They are all listed with worldwide shipping via eBay GSP.

If I go to https://ebay.co.uk/str/superchallenge I see the following:-

However, if I got to https://ebay.com/str/superchallenge I see the following:-

All of the items that don't show up in the US are in the Video Games & Consoles > Video Games category which, as far as I'm aware, shouldn't be restricted.

If I use a US-based VPN and search eBay US, I can find my items via search. Item 186164956787 for example:-

That shows up with the ability to purchase and ship via GSP without a problem. However, if I click on the "Seller's other items" link, I just get 4 items showing that are listed in the Movies & TV > VHS Tapes section. None of my items from the Video Games & Consoles > Video Games category show up.

I know that GSP to the US is working, as I sold a video game (item 186121288148) to a chap from Louisville, Colorado on November 12th. He must have found it via search, but if the category was restricted, surely he wouldn't have been able to make a purchase?

I'm also able to see GSP items in the Video Games & Consoles > Video Games category from US sellers to buy in the UK, such as https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/139973/i.html?_ssn=dabroughto_0&store_name=garagesaledansvideogamestore&_...

In short, if American users click "Seller's other items" or go to my store, they can't see the items that I have that are available for them to purchase, even though the items are GSP-enabled.

(I should also add that if I add Royal Mail International Tracked to the US as a postage option, it doesn't seem to change the situation.)

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Sadly this has been ongoing for a very long time.

[rainbowtrax]

Yep, been the same for years now. Ebay refuse to recognise it as an issue. The last official response some months ago was that no listings are supposed to show in shops or in seller's other items. Apparently, the error is the handful of listings that do show, not the many that don't! Working as designed.

Incidentally, it's not just category based, although some categories always show no items. For some categories, it's random. On our other id, we sell virtually all CDs with a few DVDs and blurays. Most of the DVDs don't show but the odd one does, none of the blurays show and the rest of the missing ones are CDs - the exact same category as the ones that do show. It's the same on this id, the missing items are from categories where other listings are showing.

[anita@ebay]

Hi @superchallenge,

Thanks for your post and for providing a lot of useful information.

I’ll be happy to look into this for you and send for a review. Once I have an update I'll update you here.

Thanks,

Anita

[superchallenge]

Excellent - thanks anita@ebay !

[pillarboxred]

This is something that has bothered me in the past but I have a couple of tips. In a mass-market category like Video Games, thousands of US sellers might have the identical product at a lower price with lower postage so a buyer in the US will wade through pages and pages and pages and pages before coming to your one. Your buyer in Colorado might have found an unusual item that was not available in hundreds of US  listings so your item was served to him in the Search Returns.

Licensing, format and copyright issues can affect Media products but I don't know much about that.

EBay's Search tool doesn't show you things again that you have looked at before and not "actioned" (bought). As we don't buy our own stuff, it might look like we are not interested in those items. Clear your History and Cache and Cookies and Sign out of eBay and try looking for your items in the guise of a "guest" or "stranger". They might appear. I seem to remember that worked for me.

[superchallenge]

Respectfully, the issue isn't that the items can't be found in search. The items CAN be found in search without a problem.

It's that they don't show up when somebody clicks "Seller's other items" or when they view my store from the States. As detailed in the OP, visiting the pages using a US-based VPN in incognito mode (so I'm signed out) proves it. I have customers in the US reporting the same.

Visiting my store from the US or clicking "seller's other items" on ebay.com now shows 4 items available. Visiting from the UK shows 458 items available. The 454 "missing" items are (seemingly) all findable and purchasable via search.

Two days ago, I sent out a 20% off coupon to buyers who purchased more than 31 days ago. Within a couple of hours, one of our previous US-based customers raised the issue and asked why we were bothering to send out a coupon for 20% off when we only have 4 items.

[brandinity]

Just to add to this, same problem here for months. CS couldn't provide any reason nor resolve. I have another seller, a friend of mine, who very much sells what I sell plus a few other areas. Categories I have listed in, he has listed in. Most of his show on eBay.com, most of mine don't.  I should say that he lists over 1100 items and around 700 show on eBay.com. 

I have almost 967 items listed (predominantly pre-owned menswear). Only 4 show on eBay.com

All items if I copy and paste into eBay.com do show in the listing's page and even if I put part of the item title in. However, as said above, clicking on 'see other items' or 'visit shop' yields just 4 listings, all in the same category....

Puzzles the hell out of me, like most things do on here - LOL!

[pots*n*crocks]

i asked the question on the community chat https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Chat-with-the-eBay-Community/Weekly-Chat-with-the-eBay-Community-Tea...

ebays reply is there is nothing wrong.

It is obviously not right though

[brandinity]

Clearly there is something wrong. There's an unexplained visibility discrepency supported by evidence from numerous sellers.....

Let's hope that anita@ebay can look into this, explain and resolve it :- )

[watchfan700uk]

I tried private mode for my own store ebay.com

sellers other items returns 1800+ items

same as ebay.co.uk

[puddle_lane_crafts]

Actually this makes sense. If you are in the UK  you have to pay a 25p fee to list on Ebay USA for example, why would Ebay let the customer see all the other items in your shop that you havent paid the 25p listing fee for. If they could, you would pay one lot of 25p and you would be found on all sites!

[sheba-knows-best]

I am another seller who has known about this for ever...

I have 1500+ items and show just 1,083 on ebay.com in seller's other items

I was fiddling with business policies a good few months ago - to try and get some kind of consistency (don't ask, it was a thankless task) - and this altered the amount of items on show in my other items on ebay.com. But really and truly I didn't have the energy to explore further.

[superchallenge]

Indeed. Only I have a Featured Shop subscription, which states:-

"Take it to the next level with more inclusive listings, eBay packaging supplies, free international listings and more."

...along with...

"You get the same inclusive listing allowance as sellers with Shops based in eligible countries. For managed payment sellers, free listing allowances will apply to the countries that have managed payments. Applies only to fixed price listings with a 30-day or Good 'Til Cancelled duration. "

So that 25p charge wouldn't apply.

Current counts for my store:-

eBay UK: 459 items

eBay US: 2 items

[anita@ebay]

Hi @superchallenge, 

I appreciate your patience while waiting for response. It is correct that Featured or Anchor shop subscribers automatically get the equivalent local shop allowance for fixed price Good ‘Till Cancelled’ and 30 day listings in 13 countries at no extra cost. However, you would need to list on those sites directly to avail of this benefit (for example log into .com site, etc.).

The reason this is taking longer to review is because you haven't listed on other eBay sites, so according to those terms, your items shouldn't be visible in the shop on other sites (just eBay search, if eligible), yet they are, only US is limited.

You can try listing items directly on the US site (with shipping to US only) to see if that makes a difference for items to become visible in the store on US site. I will also keep you posted, once I get further updates.

Thank you,

Anita

[superchallenge]

Hi Anita - thanks for getting back to me!

My concern is less with the storefront and more with the "Seller's Other Items" on ebay.com if I'm entirely honest. If somebody finds my item in search, I would expect them to be able to hit the Seller's Other Items link and see what else they can buy at the same time.

There's also a second issue with regards to search. If I search up one of my items on ebay.com, my items show as "Shipping not specifed" even though I'm using the Global Shipping Programme. As you can see, listings from France and Spain show up with shipping prices.

Weird thing is, if I click on the item, it shows the shipping price.

For reference, this is item #186208322044.

My postage policy is this:-

I can try and list a few items on ebay.com as a test, but it isn't really going to work out as a long-term solution. I'd essentially be managing two stores and trying to make sure I wasn't overselling my inventory.

[anita@ebay]

Hi @superchallenge, thanks for your reply.

I have reported the "Seller's other items" issue to our tech team for a review and will update you once I have an update from them.

As for the 'Shipping not specified', I wasn't able to replicate it and see the estimated shipping price as in the screenshot. 

Thanks,

Anita

[sarabatm99]

Hi,

I'm just a buyer, not a seller and I've only recently realised in the last few months that is also happening the other way. I used to buy a lot of miniatures from dolls house dealers in the US but now I'm getting virtually no notifications even though I signed up for them and lots of sellers and particular items are in my Saved Searches. Occasionally I get an email but when I go to look on eBay.co.uk, the seller only has less than ten items in their listings whereas I know they usually have hundreds. Only by going to eBay.com, do I see them all. And it's not as if they've dropped shipping internationally. They're still doing that. I've reached out to the dealers who know me as a regular customer, telling them we're not seeing their listings here in the U.K. and they don't know why not. It's so infuriating because I collect dolls house miniatures made by a couple of American artisans that always attract a lot of attention when they happen to be listed and now I don't know about them unless I remember to log into eBay.com and look!

[superchallenge]

That must be pretty frustrating! I've heard the same thing from potential buyers from my store, to be honest.

As somebody who sells some pretty niche items, I have potential US buyers saying that the reason they haven't purchased from us is because to offset the shipping cost a little, they would like to buy multiple items. The problem is that they found ONE item of ours in search just fine, but have no way of working out what else we've got in stock because "Seller's Other Items" doesn't work, and the store page shows that we currently have just one VHS tape in stock. In reality, we have 500+ live listings, but they only show on ebay.co.uk 😞

[tribalgiftsuk]

When i listed some items this last week i was given the option of paying an extra 25 pence for the items to be shown to USA and Canada. I think this is another new fee that Ebay want to charge. I have refused it but it is sad, i do get some orders from the USA and Canada but not enough to justify paying 25p and i dont know if thats a one off payment or each time the listing re-news. 

I have seen no formal announcement from Ebay about this. Its as clear as mud sadly but that would probably explain why our listings have started to be restricted.

You would think the selling fee would be a higher revenue that trying to grab another 25p out of us. I súppose its an instant win for Ebay though they gain if the items sell in the USA or not 🙄