pixiamom
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:04:05 AM
It looks like eBay stores now support subcategories and you can view your listings by store category in My eBay. Looks like I have some mass editing to do!
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:17:30 AM
Yes you are right. I saw the category list in sales manager and I went to categories in manage my store and it says I am using 19 of 300 categories. They said a few weeks ago it was happening soon. Is Vendio set up for this yet? I would wait a while until every body gets on the same page and eBay is done going through their right now BETA testing. (As usual)
Bill
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eauctionmgnt
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:18:37 AM
Me too! But this is worth it. I've been waiting for subcategories for ages. I sell two very different product lines, vintage ads and photography accessories. Having the subcategories will make it MUCH easier for my bidders to find what they're looking for.
Any idea on when Vendio will support the subcategories for our listings?
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:22:17 AM
I sent a question on this to customer service. Would not be surprised if eBay caught every body off guard. Again I would wait before making any changes to make sure it all works properly.
Bill
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pixiamom
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:26:16 AM
I played with it today. Just a note, you can't add subcategories to a category that has listings in it, you have to first move the listings out of the category (easily done) and then move them back into the subcategory. No, Vendio doesn't recognise the subcategories.
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:30:37 AM
Like I said wait until everybody is on the same page with this otherwise you might be listing things that don't show up. When eBay starts a new thing they will make an announcement which they have not done yet. I would cool it for a while.
Bill
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DrArcane
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posted on March 17, 2006 07:35:03 AM
This is really great news. I hope the third party management sites/programs get updated to support this soon!
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets
http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
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eauctionmgnt
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posted on March 17, 2006 08:03:22 AM
Sweet!!!
Vendio is on the ball! It looks like they've already got support for the new category scheme! (probably because eBay was very conscious of the API when making these changes). Once you've updated your categories in your eBay store... go to Vendio, and click on "My Account". Then choose the ebay site specifics. On that page, there is a link to update recently changed eBay store categories. When you click on it, it brings in your new categories (even ones with sub-levels!) Way to go Vendio!!!
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fenix03
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posted on March 17, 2006 08:46:17 AM
OK - haven't looked yet but are you saying that ebay Stores now reconizes eBays subcatagories or that I can finally make subcatagories of my customer store catagories?
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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fenix03
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posted on March 17, 2006 09:30:18 AM
Just checked it out and this is the coolest thing since sliced bread!! Now instead of having 400 items in one catagory I can break them down by size or style or subject matter.
Am I the only one that is going to be burried deep in revisions this weekend? Most of my store inventory is up for relist next week so I'll be neck deep in store and inventory revisions for a couple days.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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pixiamom
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posted on March 17, 2006 10:13:37 AM
Fenix, if you identify listings by a keyword in your item title, you can search for them when they are active in My eBay and do a bulk edit to change the store category.
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on March 17, 2006 10:37:17 AM
Here's the announcement fresh off the ebay message board.
***Updated: eBay Stores Enhancements: Category Expansion and Custom Listing Frame***
March 17, 2006 | 09:39AM PST/PT
Ryan Dieckmann
Ryan Dieckmann
Hi everyone, this is Ryan Dieckmann again. I'm pleased to let you know that the Store categories expansion and Custom Listing Frame described in my original announcement below are available. You can now create up to 300 Store categories or add your own branding to your listings via the new Custom Listing Frame through Manage My Store.
For more information about Store categories and the Custom Listing Frame, please click here.
Custom Categories Supported in Blackthorne (Not Seller's Assistant)
As announced, eBay will be retiring Seller's Assistant in mid-May. For this reason, the Store categories expansion feature is not available from the Seller's Assistant tool.
Sellers are able to create these categories with Blackthorne, however, the tool that replaces Seller's Assistant. Blackthorne is available, so if you use Seller's Assistant, I strongly recommend that you switch now. Plus if you migrate over this month, you'll get one month of Blackthorne for free! For more details, please see the recent Blackthorne announcement.
Sincerely,
Ryan Dieckmann
eBay Stores
 Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
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fenix03
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posted on March 17, 2006 10:37:23 AM
Pix - Thanks - I was actually thinking I would be spending the weekend updating my inventory listings in Works for upcoming launches but I just got off the phone with them and they are won't have their compatibility up until Wednesday.
New toy and I to wait to play.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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pat1959
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posted on March 19, 2006 09:15:06 AM
Probably a good idea to wait, Fenix. I've been trying to re-do my few listings, and there are still glitches in the system. Primarily "Page is unavailable" notices.
Wish I'd taken the advise of someone earlier here and waited, myself!
Pat
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colseng
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posted on March 19, 2006 10:28:48 AM
What a great opportunity to finally get rid of all those references to BidPay while we're creating subcategories and revising! (or, did I read somewhere that BidPay was coming back???)
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 19, 2006 10:50:04 AM
Pat,
I was the one that advised everyone to wait. Whenever eBay come out with something new there are always bugs. Let it get sorted out. If Vendio can not do it yet that usually means there are bugs. The IT people at eBay are complete idiots when it comes to launching a program but I am sure the pressure from the top is causing a lot of idiocracy.
Bill
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fenix03
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posted on March 19, 2006 11:35:46 AM
Well, I have revised about 300 active listings to utilize the subcatagories and it seems to work great. You can decide if you want all of your subs shown, first tier only or first and second tier. I love it! Also love the "custom listing frame" which allows you to have the catagory list from your store in all of your auctions.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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pat1959
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posted on March 19, 2006 11:47:10 AM
I agree, Bill, that often eBay "improvements" don't work well when first introduced. However, I kept pluggin away and finally got through the few items I had to "re-sub". Done now!
I also like the idea of the Categories listed along side each listing, but it really messes up my current template. Guess it is time to re-do THAT little item now. Grrrrr!
Pat
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 19, 2006 12:51:51 PM
Pat,
Do you use the standard Vendio template or do you have a custom one? I myself am curious about that when I change over sometime here next week to the new categories. I want to put that side bar in also even though I also have a heading in all of my listings about my store. I have been waiting a long time for the expansion of the categories. I have had many conversations with eBay about the problem with only 19 categories. Been working this weekend upgrading a lot of my store listings. I do want to know though what the size of the Vendio type templates are so I will know if I can use that new side bar. I don't want to have my customers have to scroll.
Bill
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pat1959
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posted on March 20, 2006 06:37:32 AM
Bill...
You asked if I used the standard Vendio template. No, I don't. I created my own ages ago to compliment my Charming Tails theme, and it includes tables. It is the tables that have messed up my listings. Not only has it dropped the listing area DOWN, below the end of the nav bar, it has also enlarged some of the text to the size of ridiculous!
Example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/CHARMING-TAILS-Friends-In-Flight-Orn-RARE-1994-Mint_W0QQitemZ6263564158QQcategoryZ11122QQcmdZViewItem
So... Im going to be editing those problems out individually.
The easy way for me to fix this problem is to eliminate the side-bar navigation, but dont really want to do that. After all, our purpose is to make it as simple as possible for our customers to find our items.
Pat
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 20, 2006 07:25:26 AM
Pat,
So the side bar pushed your listing down? It looks like there is plenty of room for the listing next to the side bar. It should fit in there easily. Interesting.
Bill
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fenix03
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posted on March 20, 2006 07:28:02 AM
Bill - personally I use custom templates and did have to do a bit of tweeking to avoid the scrolling issue. not sure how the automated templates are going to show up but if you use a custom one, you don't want it to be much wider than about 775 pixels.
Pat - that's just wierd. Not sure why yours acted that way. My template is also a table and I did not have that problem. I wonder if making your template wider and no quite so long might help (although I have no idea why it would, just seems to be the big differencce in our templates)
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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pat1959
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posted on March 20, 2006 07:53:33 AM
Fenix...
Would you mind sending me a link to one of your listing? Maybe I can figure out the problem/difference...
[email protected]
Thanks!
Pat
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DrArcane
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posted on March 20, 2006 08:12:14 AM
Pat, just a guess, but I would suspect one of your HTML <TABLE> tags isn't closed properly.
I definitely like the new sidebar. I got lucky this time in that my template is nothing but tables which resize themselves automatically (I use relative percentages instead of a certain fixed number of pixels). Hopefully since buyers can now more easily see other store categories, add-on sales will increase.
I'm not quite sure how I want to set up all those new categories yet. Game type, manufacturer, price range, alphabetical. Sigh. So many options, so little energy.
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets
http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
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BillsHobbyEmporium
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posted on March 20, 2006 08:39:20 AM
Pat,
The Doctor might be right. You could have an open tag. Something is pushing the template down and that would do it.
Also his idea on using percentages instead of fixed numbers is right on. Anyone else with custom templates should do that.
I went ahead and added the side bar and it comes out fine but I use a very basic template (I believe in KISS).
Bill
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fenix03
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posted on March 20, 2006 08:53:34 AM
Doc - Since you can use two store catagories, try using two different organizational criteria. Do a Games By Type main catagory and a Games By Maker with the appropriate subs then check stats in a week to see what is working and what isn't.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
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DrArcane
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posted on March 20, 2006 08:59:27 AM
"try using two different organizational criteria"
Hmmm. That sounds like an excellent suggestion.
Did I see somewhere that using two categories in Stores is free?
Dr. Arcane, revelator of mystical secrets
http://www.drarcane.com
Got questions about the secrets of the universe?
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pat1959
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posted on March 20, 2006 09:23:45 AM
Yes! No charge for 2 STORE categories!
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