eBay is giving sellers extra time to restock inventory presumably in recognition of the challenges sellers and their suppliers are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
eBay sellers use the “out-of-stock” feature to hide their listings from search results when their inventory is depleted (quantity equals zero) while at the same time keeping the listings “active” so they can adjust the quantity when they get more stock. Without the feature, listings would end (along with the sales history), and sellers would have to create new listings.
eBay explained that normally, listings are automatically ended if they have been out of stock for 90 consecutive days. But with the new policy, it will keep out-of-stock listings active for 180 consecutive days before ending them automatically.
Note that sellers should be aware that the out-of-stock option is all or nothing, so if they sell unique items (with a quantity of 1) in addition to multi-quantity items, they would have to manually end single-quantity listings when they are sold, otherwise risk overpaying fees.
See the eBay Announcement board post for full details of today’s news.
Ina Steiner
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She’s a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to [email protected].
