Media sellers, you will be affected by eBay’s latest mandates and the sooner you tackle the changes the better it will be for your store! There is plenty to be done and you are in a vertical which can be affected by many required changes due to the volume and diversity of your products. Don’t stress if you’re not sure what’s involved, we will talk you through it. From eBay’s announcement, we know that there are 22 mandated categories in the media vertical for UK sellers, many other regions are affected in the same way. This post can give you a stronger understanding of the mandates, regardless of the region you sell in.
Before we get into the specifics, let’s talk about why these changes are being made. eBay closely monitors customer behaviour and are forever building upon this research to improve customer experience. If a category is mandated, it is because there has been an influx in searches and filters in the given category. This means that if you populate the required Item Specifics for the category then you can see an increase in traffic and eyes on your listings.
Now let’s get into some of the products you may sell that will be impacted by these mandates...
| Category |
Product |
| Books & Magazines |
Book covers, Reading lights and Bookmarks |
| Movies & TV |
DVDs & Blu-rays and Video Media Accessories |
| Music |
Vinyl Records, Cassettes and CDs |
| Musical Instruments & Gear |
Instruction Books & Media |
Here are all of the Item Specifics that could be required in media:
- Album Name
- Artist
- Author
- Book Title
- Brand
- EAN
- Film/TV Title
- Format
- ISBN
- Language
- Publication Name
- Type
Please note: not all of these Item Specifics will be required for each product or category, but it could be the case that a variety will be required on a certain listing.
Having worked with large media sellers such as Music Magpie in the past, we know that it can be a time consuming and cumbersome process. Luckily, we have designed the Aspect Finder+ tool, which is free to all you eBay sellers until the end of September! This is courtesy of eBay and having eBay’s trust gives us more confidence that this tool can help you to stay on top of eBay regulations.
Not only this, but we also have a Category Lookup tool. This tool has a handy Buyer Demand Indicator. This feature generates a 5-star rating, indicating trends in buyer’s behaviour so you know what is currently in demand. The ratings let you know how frequently a buyer has been filtering through certain aspects over a 30-day period. From this data, we can provide you with a star rating for a given Item Specific from 1-5. Having this insight will help you understand where to focus your efforts beyond the required mandates.
As you can see from the image above, there are some Item Specifics that have star ratings that are not mandated. This means that while you should prioritise the ones which are mandated, there is more work you can do to attract more views to your listings.
Making changes before the deadline is worth doing as once the deadlines have passed, you risk your listings dropping from rankings. Avoid the mad rush and get started today! You won’t regret it.
Please note that: while all the category examples are based on UK changes, generally these changes are the same internationally, with the exception of France, Italy, and Spain.
To see how these changes affect you, contact us.
If you're a seller in any of the following verticals, we have blog posts to help you:
Sporting Goods
Home & Garden
Musical Instruments
Parts & Accessories
Business & Industrial
English
