Prepare a Product for eBay

Created January 20, 2021
Updated date October 18, 2022
Author Sellercloud Documentation
Category eBay
Views: 9401

Overview

In this article you will learn how to make a product ready for eBay by managing the required settings, enabling the product on the channel, and setting Item Specifics and eBay categories.

eBay Mandatory Fields

For a product to become eBay ready, you will need to fill out all the mandatory settings on the product’s eBay Properties page. You can find this list of settings in the table below.

Note: Some of these required settings may also be available from the product’s main Product Summary page. These include Brand, Long Description, and Product Weight (lbs and oz). Be sure to include all of those settings for your product’s eBay readiness.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION
eBay Enabled	When enabled, makes a product eligible for eBay listing. If left unenabled, existing eBay listings will be updated with a zero quantity.
Manufacturer SKU	A unique number issued by manufacturers to identify individual products.
Buy It Now Price	Price offered in both fixed price format and as an option in the Auction format. To map the eBay BIN price to the Site Price: Choose the Client Setting Enable Default Price for eBay. Choose the Client sub-setting Force Buy it now price to SitePrice when using Default Price for eBay. After choosing Enable Default Price for eBay, a new setting Display Use default Site Price as eBay BIN Price appears on the eBay General Settings page. Choosing this setting will put a Use Default check box next to BIN Price on the eBay Properties page. The Use Default checkbox will be enabled by default. (If this sub-setting is not enabled, this option will be disabled by default.)
eBay Category 1 / eBay Category 2	Category in which your product is placed in your eBay store. At least one category is mandatory, and a second is optional.
Condition	Sellercloud category that includes a product’s condition as defined by eBay. Product conditions can be set under the Settings tab. eBay conditions are category-based.
Description Template	Learn about creating description templates.
Top Title	Title of the product shown on eBay. You can store multiple titles for a product to be used in eBay listings. The title needs to be checked as Approved before it will be used in any listing, and the title marked as Top Title will be the default title used when first posting the product onto eBay.
Shipping Dimensions	Shipping length, shipping width, and shipping height.

Enable and Disable Products for eBay

Each product’s eBay Properties page has an Enabled checkbox that controls whether that product should be active on eBay. Sellercloud won’t let you post a product on eBay until you select this setting. Products that are not officially “enabled” are considered to have a zero quantity in terms of the eBay inventory feeds.

Enabling or disabling a product can be done individually or in bulk.

Individually

Go to Catalog > Manage Catalog > Select a product.
On the Product Details page, go to Toolbox > eBay Properties > Edit.
In the General panel, select Enabled.

In Bulk

Go to Catalog > Manage Catalog > Select products.
From the action menu, select Enable/Disable For Channel.
Select eBayOrder > click Enable or Disable > Update.

You can also enable or disable products in bulk through a Bulk Product Update. Use the column header eBay Enabled and set the value to True.

Set Item Specifics

Item specifics enable sellers to highlight important details about the item in the listing’s description. This gives buyers information about the listing in an easy-to-read format. Listings in the Clothing, Shoes, and Accessories categories must include the following Item specifics: Brand, Style, Size Type, and Size. Learn more about required eBay Item specifics.

Go to Catalog > Manage Catalog > Select a product.
On the Product Details page, go to Toolbox > eBay Properties > Edit.
In the Listing Details panel, click Item Specifics > Select. eBay provides predetermined item specifics fields based on the eBay category you selected for the product.
Select item specifics from each of the dropdowns. If a particular value is not in the dropdown, select Other and a value field will appear. Item specifics are optional for most categories.
- To add multiple values to a single item specific, separate the values with a semicolon (for example, iPhone 5; 5c; 5s; 6)
- If there is an item specific field not provided by eBay, you can add the field using the Custom Specifics radio button
Click Save. The item specifics will appear in the grid.
After posting the product to eBay, the item specifics will appear in the product description.

Import Item Specifics

Go to Catalog > Manage Catalog > Select products.
From the action menu, select Export Channel Info > eBay > Specifics > Export.
The exported template will have each product in a row, with a column for all item specifics. You can also add your own columns with custom specifics. Populate the columns > save the file > return to Sellercloud.
Click the action button > Import Product Info > Import eBay Specifics.

Automatically Set Item Specifics

You can find the related Client Settings in the table below.

CLIENT SETTING	DESCRIPTION
Enable Posting Custom Columns to EBay as Item Specific	Will send all custom columns as item specifics to eBay listings
Send Filtered Custom Columns Per ProductType to EBay as Item Specific	If you do not want all custom columns sent, this will control which custom columns are sent. This sub-setting’s parent, Filter custom columns to be per product type, will show custom columns on the Product Type page for selecting to link.
Send Manufacturer Name as Item Specific when listing on eBay	Manufacturer SKU (Model Number) is always sent as an item specific manufacturer part number (MPN)

Go to Settings > Marketplaces > eBay > Global Item Specifications.
Select Table > bvc_Product_Properties.
In the Item Spec Name field, next to each Column Name, enter a value. The value will automatically list as an item specific in Sellercloud.

Select eBay Categories

There are several ways to select an eBay category for your product:

Manually enter a known category ID number in the eBay Category field.
Click Change next to the eBay Category field. A search window will open. You then have two options:
1. Browse through the categories and sub-categories until you determine the correct category. Click Save and the category will be entered into the field.
2. You can also click Search Categories > enter a keyword > select from the offered results. Click Save and the category will be entered into the field.
Add the category through the Manage Catalog page. Depending on what you want to accomplish, you have the following two options:
1. Go to Catalog > Manage Catalog > Select products.
2. From the action menu, select Export Channel Category Suggestions > eBay > Export. Note: A job will be scheduled to generate an excel file with suggested categories. Delete all undesired suggestions, while leaving the Product ID’s and their selected respective categories. Now, change the column header to eBayCategory1 (use eBayCategory2 if you have two categories). Now, use the saved file in a bulk product update.

Check out this video on eBay properties.

Understanding eBay-ready requirements

Numerous settings are required for a product to become eBay-ready.

Some of these required settings may also be available on the product’s main Product Summary page. Some of these include Brand, Long Description, and Product Weight (lbs and oz). Be sure to include all of those settings for your product’s eBay readiness.

When readying your product for eBay, you can utilize the action Export Missing Channel Info. This will generate a file containing all required information missing from a product.

Instead of manually configuring products as eBay-ready, you can bulk-upload products with all their eBay-ready requirements by downloading this template and populating all of the columns. Use this chart to see how several template column names map to their corresponding fields in Sellercloud.

eBay Mandatory Fields

SETTING	DESCRIPTION
eBay Enabled	Allow product for eBay listing. If not enabled, existing eBay listings will be updated with a zero quantity.
Manufacturer SKU	Manufacturer SKU.
Auction Start Price	The lowest price you are willing to sell your item when selling it in an Auction format. Bidding will start at this price. If you are planning on listing the product as a Fixed Price Listing, this field is still required.
Buy It Now Price	Price offered in both fixed price format and as an option in the Auction format. To map the eBay BIN price to the Site Price: Choose the Client Setting Enable Default Price for eBay. Choose the Client sub-setting Force Buy it now price to SitePrice when using Default Price for EBay. After choosing Enable Default Price for eBay, a new setting Display Use default Site Price as eBay BIN Price appears on the eBay General Settings page. Choosing this setting will put a Use Default check box next to BIN Price on the eBay Properties page. The Use Default checkbox will be enabled by default. (If this sub-setting is not enabled, this option will be disabled by default.)
Site Price	The item’s site price.
eBay Category 1 / eBay Category 2	At least one category is mandatory and a second is optional.
Condition	Sellercloud category condition that includes in it the condition as defined by eBay. Product conditions can be set under the Settings tab. eBay conditions are category-based.
Shipping Policy	Shipping policy.
Payment Policy	Payment policy.
Return Policy	Return policy.
Description Template	Learn about creating description templates.
Top Title	Title of the product shown on eBay. You can store multiple titles for a product to be used in eBay listings. The title needs to be checked as Approved before it will be used in any listing, and the title marked as ‘Top Title’ will be the default title used when first posting the product onto eBay.
Shipping Dimensions	Shipping length, shipping width, and shipping height.

Click here to see other available fields you can use.

SETTING	DESCRIPTION
Catalog Type	Using the eBay catalog can help to list a product more easily. Learn more about using the eBay Catalog.
Reserve Price	Lowest price that the seller will accept for the item. If submitted bids do not reach this price, all bids will be rejected.
Second Chance Enabled	Send a message to bidders with an offer to buy the item at their last bid amount. The buyer must decide whether to accept the offer. This message is only sent if the product has available quantity. Enabling this option will display a field Second Chance Offer Min Price to enter the minimum acceptable bid amount at which the second chance offer will be sent.
Safety Quantity	Help reduce the risk of overselling by subtracting a number of units from available quantity. For example, if 5 units are available and safety quantity is set to 1, only 4 will be sent to eBay. You can set safety quantity at a company level to default for all products, but you can override this here at the product level. At the company level, there are two settings: one for regular products and one for replenishable products. Typically, safety quantity is set to “0” when replenishable, since there is no strict inventory for replenishable products.
Fixed Price Listing Qty	Quantity shown on eBay when listing in a fixed priced format.
Replenishable	Your eBay listing will continually post with the quantity set in the Fixed Price Listing Quantity, regardless of actual available quantity.
Best Offer Enabled	Lets you receive a customer offer that you can either accept or reject. eBay notifies the seller by email with an Accept or Reject button. Clicking this setting shows these 2 fields: Best Offer Accept Limit – Offer that is above this value will be automatically accepted Best Offer Reject Limit – Offer that is below this value will be automatically rejected If there is no value (or a 0 value in both boxes),all offers will be available for review by seller.
Generate Fixed Price Listing	Allows a fixed price listing to be posted automatically, if there is available inventory and the product is ready. When the item comes back in stock, it will auto-list.
Use Min Listing Duration	Show a Min. Listing Duration drop-down to choose a duration time for your auction.
Store Category	Category in which your product is placed in your eBay store.
Item Specifics	eBay may require more specific attribute information for certain products, such as brand and model name. Click Select to choose the required attributes from the drop-down menus. To enter information that is not included in the regular eBay Item Specifics, see Customs Specifics, below.
Custom Specifications	To enter information that is not included in the regular eBay Item Specifics, click Select to open an HTML editor and enter product-specific name and value for each category. To bulk-update Custom Specifics, click Inventory > Import Product Info > Import Product Specifics and download the template. Read more about required Product Identifiers.
Parts Compatibility	eBay Motors-related that deals with fitments.
Use Shipping Rate Table	Shipping Rate Table in your Account Settings on eBay allows special shipping configuration by Item Cost, Surcharge, or Weight to Alaska and Hawaii, US Protectorates, and APO/AFO. When enabled, will ignore Shipping Price template set on the product. Learn more about eBay Shipping Rate tables.
Shipping Template	Read more about creating shipping templates.
Product Description	Change the long description by clicking the “Change” link. This is here for convenience because the long description is often referenced in the description template. Change the description and save.
Hit Counter Type	Several optional formats with which to show the visit count on your listing.
Max. dispatch Time	Defines the number of days you have to ship an order.
Override Return Policy	Accessed from the Action Menu by selecting Manage Listing Overrides. When enabled, will reveal the buyer restrictions. Check desired restrictions and leave unchecked the restrictions you want to override.
Buyer Restrictions	Limit sales of the item to buyers who meet certain criteria.
Enable Strikethrough Prices	The following fields appear to let you configure a MAP display. Note: The MAP feature is only available on the eBay U.S. site, and the seller must be approved for eBay’s Discount Pricing program. MAP Price – Item price cannot be shown directly on the page containing the item. When listing a MAP item, the seller stipulates how they want the buyer to view the price of the item by setting MAP Exposure to either Pre Checkout or During Checkout. Retail/List Price Pricing Treatment – 2 values are available: MAP STP – Show List Price (MSRP, not your eBay price) with strikethrough in addition to the eBay Price. If the eBay price is lower than the MAP, eBay price will not display. MAP Exposure – Choose when to display MAP: Pre Checkout – Discounted MAP price is shown if buyer clicks a link (or button) on the View Item page to show discounted MAP price in a pop-up window. During Checkout – Discounted MAP price is shown if buyer commits to buy the product, but is not available before.
Enable for Out of Stock Listing	Listing will stay posted without inventory. Learn more.
Enable Extended Holidays Return	Automatically give buyers until January 31 to return items purchased in November and December.
Inventory Available Qty	Quantity currently available for eBay. Usually Fixed Quantity, but may depend on Available, Safety Qty, or Inventory Percent Qty.

Load Default Values is an option on the action menu in the product’s eBay Properties page. The default values are set here: from your Company > Toolbox > eBay Settings > eBay Attribute Defaults. Using this action will take the values from the eBay Attribute Defaults and replace it on the product. This includes eBay Categories, Shipping Template, Description Template, eBay item condition and so on.

Enabling and disabling products for eBay

Each product’s eBay Properties page has an Enabled checkbox to control whether that product should be active on eBay. Sellercloud won’t let you post it on eBay until you select this setting. Products that are not enabled are considered to have zero quantity in terms of the eBay inventory feeds.

Enabling or disabling a product can be done individually or in bulk. To enable or disable a single product, you must:

Open a product > Toolbox > eBay Properties > Check or uncheck eBay Enabled > Save Settings.

To enable and disable products in bulk:

Inventory > Manage Inventory.
Select a product or products > Select Actions > Enable/Disable For Channel > Go.
Choose eBay to enable or disable > Continue.
Alternatively, you can set the Manage Inventory page to eBay mode to manage bulk edits.

You can also enable or disable products in bulk through a Bulk Product Update. Use the column header eBay Enabled and set the value to True.

Setting item specifics

Check out this video tutorial about setting eBay item specifics in Sellercloud.

You can use the eBay Catalog to find item specifics that appear on listings if you don’t have any on your listing.

To include the item specifics into your Description Template, use the placeholder #?ProductSpecifications?#.

To set eBay item specifics in Sellercloud:

Open a product > Toolbox > eBay Properties page.
Click Item Specifics. eBay provides predetermined item specifics fields based on the eBay category you selected for the product.
Select an item specific from the dropdowns. If a particular value is not in the dropdown, select Other and enter the value in the field. Item specifics are optional for most categories.
- To add multiple values to a single item specific, separate the values with a semicolon (for example, iPhone 5; 5c; 5s; 6)
- If there is an item specific field not provided by eBay, you can add the field using the Custom Specifics radio button
Click Save. The item specifics will appear in the grid.
After posting the product to eBay, the item specifics will appear in the product description.

Click here to learn how to bulk import eBay item specifics.

Search for products that have the same eBay category. Go to Manage Inventory > Advanced Search > Mode > eBay. Enter an eBay category > Search.
Select the products > Select Action > Export Product Specifics Template (Multi Format) > Go. The exported template will have each product in a row, with a column for all item specifics. You can also add your own columns with custom specifics.
Populate the columns > Save the file > Return to Sellercloud.
Click Inventory > Import Product Info > Import Product Specifics.
Select File Type > Excel > Format > Multi Product.
Choose File > Import Product Specifics. The values on the file will import into the products.

Click here to learn how to automatically set eBay item specifics.

Understanding related Client Settings

CLIENT SETTING	DESCRIPTION
Enable Posting Custom Columns to EBay as Item Specific	Will send all custom columns as item specifics to eBay listings
Send Filtered Custom Columns Per ProductType to EBay as Item Specific	If you do not want all custom columns sent, this will control which custom columns are sent. This sub-setting’s parent, Filter custom columns to be per product type, will show custom columns on the Product Type page for selecting to link.
Send Manufacturer Name as Item Specific when listing on eBay	Manufacturer SKU (Model Number) is always sent as an item specific manufacturer part number (MPN)

Click Settings > eBay Global Item Specs.
Select Table > bvc_Product_Properties.
In the Item Spec Name field next to each Column Name, enter a value. The value will automatically list as an item specific in Sellercloud.

Choosing eBay categories

Check out this video tutorial about eBay categories in Sellercloud.

There are several ways to select an eBay category for your product:

Manually enter a known category ID number in the eBay Category field.
Click Select next to the eBay category field. A search window will open. You then have two options:
1. Browse through the categories and sub-categories until you determine the correct category. Click Done and the category will be entered into the field.
2. You can also click Search Categories > Enter a keyword. Click Find Categories and select from the offered results. Click Use Selected Category and the category will be enter into the field
Add the category through the Manage Inventory page. Use the eBay Mode field in the Advanced Search to display products with their eBay attributes. Depending on what you want to accomplish, you have the following two options:
- Select products > Select Action > Bulk Edit. Now you can add or revise categories for all selected products. However, only one category can be added to the selected products
- Select products > Select Action > Export Channel Category Suggestions. A job will be scheduled to generate an excel file with suggested categories. Delete all undesired suggestions, while leaving the Product ID’s and their selected respective categories. Now, change the column header to eBayCategory1 (use eBayCategory2 if you have two categories). Now, use the saved file in a bulk product update.

Understanding product identifiers

For many product categories, eBay requires sellers to include product identifiers. The identifiers are:

Brand
MPN
GTIN – e.g. UPC. EAN, ISBN

Read more about product identifier requirements here.

Sending product identifiers

The UPC set on the product home page will be sent to eBay when listing the product. If the item does not have a UPC, a value of “Does Not Apply” will be sent. eBay will place the UPC into the item specifics on the eBay listing.

The Brand and Manufacturer SKU (MPN) should be set as item specifics on the product’s eBay Properties page when listing the item. Even if those values have been set on the product home page, they will not be mapped to the item specifics. However, you can use the eBay Global Item Specs page to map those fields and send them as items specifics.

To update products that are already listed, use the actions:

Revise All Listings on the eBay Properties page; or,
Revise Items Specifics if the product identifiers are set as items specifics

These actions can be done to bulk update the product from the manage inventory page when in eBay Mode.

Hiding the MPN from eBay

Some categories do not require MPN to be sent to eBay (for example, jewels). Even when using another product identifier, if you entered an MPN it will automatically send to the channel. There are two ways to disable sending the MPN:

On the product’s eBay Properties page
- Uncheck Send to eBay next to the Manufacturer SKU field
Through a bulk file update
- Use the column MPNSendToEbay and set to False

ePID eBay product identifier

On the eBay website, eBay’s global reference ID for a catalog product is known as the ePID. Similar to the ASIN used by Amazon, this is one of the ways eBay identifies products and can be used in place of other identifiers.

You can bulk-update the ePID of multiple products by setting the column header eBayCatalogEntryType to ProductReferenceID and entering each products’ ePID in the eBayCatalogEntryValue column.

Click here to update a product’s ePID.

Open a product > Toolbox > eBay Properties.
Set the catalog type to ProductReferenceID
Clicking Find lets you enter keywords to help you find the right ePID for your product. If you know the product’s ePID, enter it in the Product Reference ID field > Click Check to ensures it’s the correct one.

Creating an eBay shipping price template

Check out this video tutorial about eBay Shipping Price Template’s in Sellercloud’s Alpha interface.

If you have opted in to eBay Business Policies, you should manage your shipping options by downloading your policies and assigning the Shipping Policy to products. This is mandatory for sellers who have opted into the Business Policies feature.

eBay has domestic and international shipping options that you can save in Sellercloud as a template to apply to listings. There is also an option to exclude countries from shipping for a specific product at eBay Properties. Check Enable Buyer Restrictions and select Have primary address in countries I don’t ship to. If this is a company-wide setting, set that on eBay:

Go to My eBay > Site Preferences > Shipping Preferences > Exclude shipping locations

You can also set a default for all listings on eBay at Settings > Company Settings > Company Name > eBay > eBay Posting Attribute Defaults. You might set one shipping price template for large products and another for small products. Another shipping price template could be created for free shipping products. Some companies adjust the shipping price based on the value of the product.

Click here to learn how to create a shipping price template in both interfaces.

Open a Company > eBay Settings > Shipping Price Template.
Create New Template or edit a Shipping Template.
Select Flat Rate or Calculated Shipping.
- eBay lets you set flat rate shipping prices or calculated shipping rates based on the product’s weight and destination. Sellercloud can automatically pull in the shipping weight of the product and add it to the shipping price details
Select shipping service.
- You can select a specific service, like UPS Ground, or a general service, like expedited shipping or one-day shipping. Calculated rates can only be configured when selecting a specific service
Enter the following values:
- Cost – Shipping Cost
- Insurance – When buyer adds insurance
- Handling – Cost for handling
- Additional Items – Shipping cost for each additional item being shipped.
- Surcharge for AK/HI/PR/ – This option is only available when the shipping method selected is from UPS or FedEx. If you ship with any other carrier and you want to apply a surcharge, try using the Shipping Rate Table option as explained below.
Repeat for international shipping.
Select countries where the buyer must contact you for shipping cost.
Select countries you want to exclude from shipping. This is usually done for security against fraud.
Later, during individual product setup at eBay properties, you will choose a shipping price template for each product.
- When editing and assigning new shipping prices, you can update all of your listings by selecting the template the Shipping Price Template page using the action Update Products.

Shipping globally with eBay

eBay offers a service called the Global Shipping Program. With this program, sellers can ship their international orders to a eBay processing center in the US. eBay will then process the orders for shipping internationally. Read more about Global Shipping Program here.

The product must tagged for the eBay Global Shipping program on the listing. To tag the listing in Sellercloud

Individually – eBay Properties page > Check Enable Global Shipping
Set default – eBay Setting > Attribute Defaults > Enable Global Ship Program. This will enable for new products by default
Bulk update – Use column header eBayEnableGlobalShippingProgram

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