Variation listings allow you to provide all of the similar items in a single eBay Fixed Price listing to make it easier for the buyer to find the size, color, or other option that they would like to purchase. Without variation listings, each of the options must be submitted independently, creating a much more complicated landscape for the buyer to navigate when searching for an item. With variation listings, the buyer finds the product and then has the complete selection of all available options for that item. They can select the item directly instead of requiring additional searches and navigation to find the specific item they desire.
Benefits to using Variations on eBay
In this segment of our pre-recorded webinar on this topic, you will learn:
Why it's recommended to use variations on your eBay listings
Only specific categories are enabled for variation listings at eBay. Additional categories are added periodically. See eBay for the details on these additional categories.
If the category you use for a listing is not enabled for variation listings, then the items will be submitted individually in their own listings. If your items in ChannelAdvisor are already configured to support variations, and eBay enables the category for variation listings, your information will automatically start processing as variation-style listings for any new items that are submitted.
Four Steps to Creating a Variation Listing on eBay
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Using Variations on eBay - Creating the Ad
In this video you will learn:
How to create an ad for your variations
Things to note prior to listing your item in a variation
eBay has limited the number of images that can be submitted for variations and allows different images on one of the variation options. By default, we will submit the one image for each separate value for the variation of Color if that Item Specific is included on your listing. An additional image will be submitted as the main product image and come from the Parent Sku specified in the first Picture URL. For example, if you submitted an item with black, grey, and green options, there would be three images submitted -- one for black, one for grey, and one for green. This image is used for all of the children that represent that value, so a Large Green item would have the same image as a Small Green item.
When a buyer selects a child product from the dropdown list from the listing on eBay, the images automatically update to associate with the color they have selected.
If you are not passing the attribute of Color then we will pass the Parent SKU image specified in the Picture URL field noted on the Posting Template.
If there is no image configured on the Parent SKU, then a random image in that image placement on the inventory item will be used as your Gallery image.
You may submit multiple images for each of these options using the eBay Picture Services features. If you have multiple images configured for your items and configured on the posting template to be submitted to eBay then all of the images will be submitted for each of the children as well as for the parent item. These images will all be available for the buyer at the top of the eBay listing. For more information, see the Using eBay Picture Services with ChannelAdvisor Listings page.
In What Order are the Options Displayed on the Listing?
When the variations are submitted to eBay, the options appear to the buyer in a specific order. That order is defined when the items are submitted, and is automatically handled by the posting system. The items will be submitted in the following ways:
if all of the values are numbers, they will be sorted in ascending numeric order
if all of the values are sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL, etc.) then they will be sorted in size order
otherwise, they will be sorted in alphabetic order
If a new child item is added after the original posting has been submitted, its value will be inserted in the appropriate location based on the sorting rules.
What Happens if I Add or Remove Items on the Listing?
If you want to add a child to an existing variation listing, then simply assign the new child product to similar posting schedules and templates. The eBay variation listing will be automatically updated to include the new child, assuming the current variation is applicable. For example if you have a red shirt in small and medium already listed, the red large can be added. If another variant (eg. color, now blue small) is added the listing will need to be withdrawn and reposted to include the new variation option.
If you want to withdraw a child from the listing, select it and use the Withdraw Listings functionality just as you would with any other item. The eBay listing will remain open with the other children available for purchase and that particular item in the grouping will no longer show on the listing. If there have been sales of that specific child item it may require ending the entire variation listing to recover the quantity for that child item. In that case the quantity of the remaining children will be restocked and resubmitted as a new listing, instructing eBay to carry over the sales history information from the original listing for Best Match search results.
If you run out of quantity of a child item due to the item being purchased on eBay, that particular item will show as SOLD OUT to your buyers.
If you change your quantity in ChannelAdvisor to a value of '0' for a child item, that item will no longer show on the listing.
Things to Consider Prior to Posting
Because a variation listing includes information from multiple inventory items, it is important to know how the listing process will collect and use that information. Below is some important information to keep in mind prior to listing your item out on the eBay marketplace.
All items on the listing require the same posting template.
The Description on the Ad Template will be randomly taken from one of the child listings.
The only information that is collected individually for each child is:
price
quantity
variation information (such as size, color, etc.)
All information for the rest of the listing will come from the posting template.
If different values are submitted for item specifics that are not supported for variations at eBay, one of the configured values will be sent with the listing and the other values configured on other children will be ignored.
If a field enabled for variations has the same value among all of the children, it will not be submitted as a variation option but instead will be submitted as a standard item specific and shown in the item specifics section of the page at eBay.
If you are going to use the Post Now functionality, you only need to submit one of the child ads; all of the other children will automatically be picked up and packaged together to create a variation listing. To be submitted together, the children must:
To qualify as a variation listing, two or more children that qualify as a variation must be submitted.
When showing the buyer the item page for the first time, eBay will show them the lowest price for any of the options that are currently available.
How Do I Know My Listing Went Out Successfully?
Variation items will appear in the Open Listings view the same as all other items do, however your variation listings will be noted with a tag next to the Auction ID to make them easy to identify.
Each of the child items will have the same listing ID value for the eBay listing and will all link to the same eBay listing.
If an error happens when trying to remove the single child from the open listing at eBay, the entire variation listing will be ended to ensure that the quantity is closed and restocked for that child item. Additionally, if there have already been any sales on that child item, eBay will not allow the individual child item to be deleted and the entire variation listing will have to be ended.
Detection of a sale and processing of that transaction to create an order will happen the same way as all other listings in your account. If the price or quantity change on an individual child item, that will be detected and updated in the Open Listings view and the new information included for any further transactions that occur.
Known Limitations on Variation Listings Functionality
Certain functions will not work or are limited in functionality at this time. Those are:
eBay Fee Information
eBay has no way to report the fees on a per-child basis, so there is no way to accurately calculate that information for fee purposes. Fee information will still be imported at the parent item level and used for reporting and graphs, but calculations and comparisons on a per-child basis are not available.
There has been an occasional issue with the price that is shown in the search results -- eBay does not always show the lowest price of the available child items. This is because of the Best Match algorithm selecting specific children as the "best match" for the buyer's search and using the price on those child items.
videos are ok, but the sound on the recorded webinars is always very tinny and difficult to hear. This makes understanding whats happening very difficult.
Thu, 04/21/2011 - 09:47 - Simon Clark
if printscreen would be offered here, it will be better.
if printscreen would be offered here, it will be better. somehow it is hard to run the video so can not understand better for the instructions just by words.
tag next to the Auction ID to make them easy to identify.
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Previous Comments
poor video sound quality
videos are ok, but the sound on the recorded webinars is always very tinny and difficult to hear. This makes understanding whats happening very difficult.
if printscreen would be offered here, it will be better.
if printscreen would be offered here, it will be better. somehow it is hard to run the video so can not understand better for the instructions just by words.