UK sellers disadvantaged - a poor buying experience

October 9, 2008

The first two weeks of Best Match being enabled on the UK site with Recent Sales boosting popular listings has been interesting but it’s becoming clear that UK sellers may be being disadvantaged on the UK site.

UK sellers that wish to get visibility on international eBay sites are currently disadvantaged to their overseas competitors. It’s not currently possible to use the International Visibility Feature (IVF) on UK fixed price items. This allows overseas sellers to list on their own sites and pay a minimal fee for visibility in the UK.

It isn’t just fees though, there are two other factors which need addressing - search advantage and product suitability.

Search Advantage

Sellers listing on non-UK sites are getting huge advantages in search visibility. Many have a Recent Sales advantage, but not from sales on eBay UK. A listing on eBay.com with IVF will appear on eBay UK, but if it attracts sales on eBay.com it appears to get a corresponding boost from Recent Sales in search results. The listing may never attract UK sales but still appear right at the top of Best Match, which pushes UK sellers lower in search results and isn’t great for buyers either.

Listing enhancements that haven’t been paid on eBay UK appear to carry over to the UK site. Listings with UK visibility from IVF get to the top of the page with the Featured Plus listing enhancement. Highlight, Bold and Subtitle also carry over to the UK site even though the features were paid for on another site.

A corresponding advantage isn’t available to UK sellers as IVF is only available for auctions. A UK seller can’t get to the top of Best Match on eBay.com through Recent Sales and listing enhancements gained on the UK site.

Buying Experience

While there are many buyers happy to purchase from overseas (and sellers willing to ship to or from the UK), there are products rising to the top of UK Best Match that are either not attracting UK sales or shouldn’t be available in the UK in the first place.

Power Outlet
Creative Commons License photo credit:
edkohler

Some products are simply incompatible, electrical products listed on eBay.com with IVF appear at the top of UK Best Match but have US power cords. Products such as computer keyboards do well on Best Match but, if they aren’t UK layout, UK buyers simply don’t wish to purchase them. There are countless examples of non-UK items at the top of Best Match for which it’s highly unlikely a UK buyer would consider purchasing.

Other items are illegal and simply shouldn’t appear on the UK site at all. Throwing knifes are banned on eBay UK, but there are knives available, appearing on eBay UK but listed on eBay Italy and eBay.com. It’s illegal to export items manufactured pre-1930 from China, but in the collectibles category there are many “Chinese Antiques” shipping from China - these products must either be fake, or shouldn’t be shipped outside mainland China.

The two main issues with search results are first the advantaging of products listed on overseas sites and gaining search advantages not gained on the UK site. (A specifically different situation to overseas sellers listing directly on eBay UK, gaining search advantages from UK listing enhancements and Recent Sales to UK buyers). Second the raised visibility of products which either aren’t compatible, or are illegal for sale in the UK. UK buyers simply don’t want to buy these products, or will be disappointed with them when they arrive.

eBay are continuing to optimise Best match which is still a relatively new system. Doubtless they’ll be looking at which listings are appearing on the UK site and if listings are being unfairly advantaged or simply aren’t relevant and shouldn’t be appearing at all.

It’s been said that in recent times eBay has relied too much on data-driven decisions and not enough on reality. Hopefully that’s changing and will start with showing UK buyers not just the most “data-relevant” products but the ones UK buyers actually want to buy.

My own experiences since Best Match was introduced are encouraging, especially the boost listings gain from Recent Sales and resultant purchases. Although it’s working well for me, sales are up, and I’m optimistic for the future, it’s still tough competing with listings that have gained huge UK visibility advantages with search benefits inherited from overseas sites, not from UK sales.

Edited to add: While this article was being edited eBay have blocked throwing knives listed internationally from being visible on eBay UK

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured, News | 25 Comments