Go to Current Issue

The Bookologist, Number 24 - May 30, 2004 - ISSN 1544-1997
	eBay and Item Specifics By Ina Steiner May 30, 2004
Booksellers are facing lots of changes in the online world. Of special significance to eBay sellers is the category changes in the book and media categories. eBay has been rolling out Item Specifics, which are fields sellers can use to describe items and buyers can use to search for items. It makes sense, and it will likely add value to eBay's data-licensing program, which third-parties can use to develop pricing guides or pricing tools. People don't like change, so many sellers don't use Item Specifics. So eBay recently began "rolling up" categories. This means they are eliminating sub-categories. Previously, sellers might have listed an item under "Entertainment: DVDs & Movies: VHS: Action & Adventure: Adventure." Now, all videos are found under "DVDs & Movies: VHS." How do buyers browse categories that broad? They can't. The idea is to force buyers and sellers to use Item Specific fields like Genre and Subgenre found on the left navigation bar. The question is, can buyers browse categories, just the way you browse books when you visit a bookstore? Many times you don't know what book you want, so browsing rather than searching is important in the book category. Many eBay sellers think the new system inhibits the serendipitous purchases that occurred under the old system. Other recent changes of note: On May 19, eBay announced it would change pull-down menus in "Product Finder" to text links, "eBay Makes Changes to Media Categories": http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m05/i20/s01 And on May 24, eBay announced category changes, including "Fiction & Literature Books will combine with Nonfiction Books." You can see the response from eBayers at http://digbig.com/4bfer AuctionBytes monitors eBay closely, and we'll continue to follow the changes that affect booksellers. Background on eBay Item Specifics, Item Prefill and Category Rollups "eBay's Item Specifics: Coming to a Category Near You!" March 21, 2004 http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y204/m03/abu0115/s03 "eBay Criticized for Timing of Category Rollups" March 18, 2004 http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m03/i18/s01