Keep your listings up to date with standard sizes email
Summary: deadgoodundies expressed concerns about eBay's new email directive to use standard size options in fashion listings, noting that it could lead to confusion due to varying brand size definitions. asjc15 shared similar frustrations with restrictions on footwear sizing, emphasizing the impact on variation listings and the short notice to adapt. knickersboxersglory updated the discussion with eBay's policy changes, which enforced using pre-defined UK size options, potentially leading to misleading listings and increased returns. jmcsupplies mentioned an active complaint due to difficulties in listing children's clothing, highlighting widespread dissatisfaction among sellers regarding the platform's new policy.
Like everyone else I got the
"Keep your listings up to date with standard sizes" email this morning as we list in the fashion category
They say in the email it's so "help your items show up in searches and give buyers clearer sizing information."
As everyone knows who works in fashion a standardised drop down saying S,M,L,XL,XXL means nothing to the buyer and as different brands have different ideas on what the physical size of those standard size options it is only going to lead to confusion and returns
For example
Brand 1: S=28/30" waist
Brand 2: S=30-32" waist
Yes you can put a size guide in the product description but from experience not everyone reads them especially if they are using the mobile app and yes you can put a size guide image in the listing but again not everyone is going to look, whereas if the size in inches is in the dropdown they see it right away.
Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep the drop downs as they are where you can put custom options like S/30-32" and then have a separate search size attribute when you list for the use in the search filter???
Is there a way to get my feelings known to ebay without having to go through the support bot.?
jmcsupplies
·6 days agoThe more people that file a complaint and a support ticket with the tech team the better.
jmcsupplies
·6 days agoI've currently got an active complaint and support ticket with the tech team. I cannot sell ages 2 with 3 4 and 5 atm becuse of this update and like other kids clothes sellers thats most of my stock, they'll have no chioce but to add the ages missing or pull the update as this will kill ebay.
knickersboxersglory
·1 month agoOnly had a brief look, but fairly certain some kids' sizes can't be listed any more as well. For example, we have items in these sizes,
7-8 years - CAN BE LISTED
9-10 years - CAN BE LISTED
6-8 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
7-13 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
2 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
3 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
4 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
5 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
6 years - CANNOT BE LISTED
Whoever came up with this policy should be embarrassed. Some basic research would tell you there are millions of items that cannot be listed with these set values.
You need a 'Size Map' value not visible to customers to apply to your filters
You need a 'Size' value visible to customers where sellers can add the relevant sizing information that buyers need
The only workaround that we can think of at the moment is to enter any value into the 'Size' attribute which will show in the item specifics, so still not ideal as misleading for customers (e.g. if you have a variation listing with sizes 8-10, 12-14, 16-18, 20-22 you would need to add '8' into the size attribute). So the 'Size' value is shown as an item specific only.
Then you would need to create a new attribute for the dropdown in the listing (e.g. Garment Size, Clothing Size, UK Size etc) where you could show the buyer the information that they need and the correct sizes for the items being listed. This would be the dropdown that they would select to place the order.
The downside is that all of the variations would probably be excluded from the filters by eBay except the one value included in the item specifics.
OR
Have 2 dropdowns in the listing. One with size, the other with 'Clothing Size' for your actual values, but this is just going to create confusion for buyers if they have to choose '8' from the Size dropdown, then '8-10' from the Clothing Size dropdown.
This update needs to be rolled back until eBay have a proper fix. Imagine having a retail marketplace where you can't list things!
knickersboxersglory
·1 month agoNo way to list garments in these sizes,
8-10
10-12
12-14
14-16
16-18
18-20
20-22
22-24
24-26
26-28
28-30
30-32
One Size
S/M
M/L
L/XL
XL/XXL
What a nightmare.
eBay fail here. The single most important piece of information when buying an item of clothing is size. Maybe eBay can explain who this is supposed to benefit
Not the seller - we can't list items correctly
Not the buyer - who will buy the size shown in the listing, even through this isn't the actual size of the garment. If you buy a size 8 and get an 8-10 is this misleading? If you buy a size 14 and get a size 12-14 is that misleading.
Not eBay - we'll be forced to move items to other platforms if we can't list them on eBay properly.
Clothing is the one area where eBay are ahead of Amazon, until now. Looks like we'll be forced to move these items to other platforms now.
It's like if you have a green car and eBay give you the choice of listing as black, white or red, and tell you to 'choose the best colour'
Can you imagine if Next started listing size 8 and sending 8-10, or listing 'L' and sending L/XL.
Wait for the huge increase in returns and negative feedback.
asjc15
·1 month agoI sell footwear and noticed a few weeks ago in the item specifics they've stopped letting us put our own values in 'size'. It makes no sense though; they still let you create variation listings, ie a pair of blue shoes in sizes 7/8/9/10/11, but then have a required field for 'size' (singular) in item specifics, and you can only choose one size! I swear they are just trying to push people off variation listings, they seem to prefer one off items.
I have always listed footwear size variations as UK # / EU # / US # so I guess I'll have to stop doing that too. As you say, they should let you select the sizes from their default options but then allow you to customise the way you show the sizes to customers. But that would be far too logical. It's so painful. At least they've given us a generous 4 days notice so we have time to review hundreds of listings.
knickersboxersglory
·6 days agoUpdate from eBay and it's not good news
Current listings cannot be revised and you cannot list anything on eBay with the 'Size' attribute unless the Size of the item is on eBay's list.
======
We have turned off and removed the option to input custom text sizes on variation listings.
Moving forward, the platform will no longer accept custom text inputs for sizing fields in these categories. Sellers must now select only from the pre-defined, standardized size options provided on the variation listing page.
Why This Change Matters :
Our primary goal is to protect your business health. By standardizing how sizes are displayed using UK Alpha sizes (e.g., 2XS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL), we aim to drastically reduce buyer confusion at checkout. Clear sizing expectations prevent "Significantly Not as Described" (SNAD) cases from being opened against your account, keeping your performance metrics strong and your returns low.
Recommended Workarounds & Solutions :
The policy officially went into enforcement on 10th June 2026. Since the pre-defined options strictly follow standard UK sizing, you can manage numerical or EU inventory using these methods:
For Numerical Sizes: Select the closest standard UK Alpha size for the primary listing. You can then mention the corresponding numerical values directly in your item description, or upload a breakdown chart into your image section.
For EU Sizing: You can list the item directly on our EU platform to match its native sizing, making it available to international and UK buyers alike. Alternatively, if you want to keep the listing exclusively on the UK site, you must use the standard UK size field and upload an EU-to-UK conversion chart as a product image or detail it in the description.
Our goal is always to provide fast and accurate support. If you need further assistance with adjusting your listings or navigating this new format, please feel free to reach back out to us via chat or phone.
Thank you for choosing eBay!
deadgoodundies
OP6 days agoSo as they can't be revised. Am I right in understanding that the only way to comply would be to end the listing and relist it with the new required size attributes.
That's a real bugger then for products that have a good historical sales record and/or watchers and we all know that good sales is a major factor in the rankings
knickersboxersglory
·6 days ago · EditedI think you may be able to revise directly on eBay, by removing the old variations and putting in the new ones (I don't know how this will affect history as you would essentially be deleting out all of the variations that have ever sold).
If you use third party software to list/revise I think that the only way that this can be done is delete and start again.
Still looking at a workaround for eBay's suggested idea of choosing the 'closest standard UK Alpha size'
Apparently the new size options will 'prevent "Significantly Not as Described" (SNAD) cases from being opened against your account, keeping your performance metrics strong and your returns low'
So if you have a size 10-12 garment, eBay's logic is that if you list it as a 'M' or a '10' you will be less likely to have item not described cases and returns than if you list the item as the actual size that it is, '10-12'
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