eBay Hides Item Descriptions from Shoppers

by: Trying-My-Best

I think eBay is doing us a favor on this one.  Any detail a buyer needs is in the Title, Item Specifics and Photos.  So use them

For those fretting over hidden descriptions - add additional Item Specifics to include color shade, vendor color name, closures, pockets, measurements.  Show these things in photos. No one is selling anything particularly detailed, technical or difficult to understand that needs full disclosure in a description.  

Descriptions just support the above and are not needed.   If you have to ... It's best to just repeat title, direct to Item Specifics and photos and state if any issues.  With NAD on the rise - the less you say in your listings the better

Lately sellers with nothing in description or just saying ''new with tags'' are making the sales over more wordy descriptions.

by: Jester

Buyers don't read descriptions most of the time anyway. A case in point I sold something sell similar off one of my own listings on Inkfrog and there was some type of glitch and except for the pictures the listing was for the old item not the new one I was listing.

Before I caught the mistake the item sold. I messaged the buyer that the information was wrong in the listing and different than the pictures in the listing. They messaged me back and said they wanted the one in the pictures. This was a person of Spanish origins an there could have been a language barrier thing going on here but either way they only bought the item off the pictures.

by: pace306

From the brain trusts over at eBay:

"in reply to dhbookds 06-26-2017 09:52:21 AM

   trinton@ebay  can you tell us whether it's a test or not?

Hey everyone, I can confirm that this is not a test and these changes were announced in the Spring 2016 Seller Update. See: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/sprupd16/view-item.html#t
ab=whats-new for more details on this and: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/itemdescription/customizeyoursummary.html for more info on customizing the description your buyer's see. Our customer service team will be happy to help if you have further questions about your listings."

AGAIN - the question is (besides the SNAD issue of course) at what point in time LEGALLY, does eBay become your partner (and is liable for taxes and other issues)?  

eBay CONTINUES to interfere with what sellers do and say - at SOME POINT eBay stops becoming a neutral platform (regardless of how many lies they tell the courts OR the SEC) and becomes you partner.

ONLY you should decide how your listings display, ONLY YOU should decide what the terms of the sale are and ONLY YOU should be able to decide payment methods, returns and  shipping issues are - NO ONE ELSE.

More fraud from San Jose ... just lay it all on the seller - " 'casue he/she is a dope" ... great "partner".

by: pace306

LMAO

TRINTON from eBay JUST UPDATED HIMSELF ..... (DOPE)

"I apologize for the misunderstanding, I was referencing the mobile view as I saw screenshots of the app within this conversation. The desktop display you reference does appear to be a test. I'll be sure to pass along your feedback on this so we can work to improve before rolling it out to a broader audience."

by: Calling You Out

Just use the viewport HTML.

by: BuildingMyOwnSite

Yes ONCE AGAIN, Ebay is hiding our very “Features, Sizes, Colors, Details, Etc”.   Who proposed this AGAIN!  That's impossible!   Not affecting all of you?  That's because it's like an Etsy Test!............ Oh No..... OH NO!!!  This is the result of  layoffs elsewhere.

How you ask?..... Well, no smokin' gun, OR smoke belching “Greyhound” involved here.   First class from NYC.  “Leavin on a jet plane”,  a “Dreamliner”, 787, straight outta Kennedy.  Headin for:  Wait for it.....  Wait for it.....  'Till it comes around on the 'gitar again.    Here it is: “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?  LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA— LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA”

Do you know the way to Geat Ebay?
I need to go to out there, I may go wrong and lose my way.
Do you know the way to Great Ebay?
I'm going there to trend, all kinds of things, and get big pay!

Dumbo's just a bridge & juice bar.....
Not the only place to sell a fake.
In a week maybe two, I'll be I'll be the head flake!
Highs turn into lows,  How quick they crash.
And all the flakes that lost their stakes,
Are Pickin Trash, to turn to cash.....

ONLY Possible answer for hiding detailS AGAIN!   Which Are Everything To Some Sellers!!!      Advice to those on the Dreamliner:  Offers from the Great One may require a flight to India or the Philipines. (Your expense, different perks in San Jose).  Save a little from your SILVERman parachute.  They may see you as highly qualified for CS.  

by: Stig of the Dump

What most people value about eBay, its variety and uniqueness, is not what is valued in their boardroom. Variety and uniqueness come a poor second in the ''putting dollars in our pockets'' stakes next to items that can be sold in multiples over and over. I don't know what can be done about that -- but isn't it a waste of energy railing against all the things they do to further their agenda rather than ours? They've been doing this for so many years now.

Of course, it would make us all more sympathetic to their mission if their standard MO wasn't to treat the sellers like imbeciles (Freud called it projection) and to try to mislead and misrepresent changes as if they were really after our agenda, not theirs.

One problem is that by now long-time sellers are so much more committed to the platform than the people who run it, who are all doubtless hoping to fill their pockets and run asap, like their predecessors. Selling on eBay myself 16 years, I personally only contact eBay as a very last resort. It's so insulting and timewasting to be talked down to by someone who first sat down in their cubicle only last week and can only read what it says in their CS manual, without any understanding, or apparently, interest in doing any more. Mind you, I never blame individual CS people -- it is the company who employs them which determines the quality of the help.

by: LasVagueness

According to eBay, the abbreviated item descriptions are to facilitate ''fast and informed buying decisions.''

Fast and informed = impulse buying.

Impulse buying = buyer's remorse and SNAD claims.  

by: Quailman

I noticed this problem too late on my auction style listings.  Since I use self-hosted pictures in a template, only 1 photo is visible unless you click the tab for the additional description.  When I tried to add downloaded photos to the eBay listing, it wouldn't let me because I had a bid already.  Sure would have been nice to get a warning about this so I could have prepared accordingly.

by: Quailman

If this is more than just a test, eBay needs to give us the capability of controlling the content in the short description while still allowing a longer description with the extra click.  Right now, the random phrases they grab are close to jibberish.

by: cardfinds

I just called ebay and they weren't aware of the problem. To solve it clear the cookies and cache and you will be fine. Every single one of my listings had this problem until I did this.

by: DingDong

So I am giving Full Disclosure/detail of the items I am selling and eBay does a partial hid of my full detail and then I am responsible because the buyer did see the click to see more details. - Something is really wrong here -

What recourse do we have.
Contact the BBB or the Attorney General that they are preventing us disclosing and then penalizing us. ??

by: cardfinds

I was REALLY po'd at ebay because this affects my business significantly, especially if people don't read the whole description, which most don't. Clear your cookies and if will fix it but it begs the question what did ebay do to cause this mess? They probably screwed around with the code and it caused this mess!!!!

by: IDKwhoIare

Off-Topic - sort of

Have you guys seen what EU is up to regarding Google?  Maybe it will translate into something with teeth one day to use against activities like this (& many others) from eBay or Etsy.

Ina?  Thoughts?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-slapped-wit
h-2-7-billion-eu-fine-over-search-results-1498556971

by: ZZ

Recently I had a return of a jacket. The Item specific said size Medium (a mistake I must have made).
However the title said large, the picture of the label showed large, and I gave the 3 key measurements in the description, which is the important thing. Size labels are not a standard. Measurements are the key to buying clothers online, something that eBay and the public haven't figured out yet.
It's tough enough to get buyers to read what's in front of them. Hiding the description makes sense if they are not going to read it anyways, but that's like giving up hope for a better tomorrow.

by: 2Tired4This

eBay seems to be hiding more than just my Item Descriptions. They seem to be hiding my listings as well!!! After selling for over 15 years on eBay, our sales are off almost 90% from the ''good-ole-days''...... Note to new sellers: Yes, there was a time that sales were GREAT for all of us.

by: nsc

I just got hit with hidden descriptions on several eBay auction listings. I noticed because the eBay changes break links in Inkfrog, which I use as a lister. The Inkfrog listing library loses its link to eBay.

If you use Inkfrog Open, look for library listings that say "Ready" when they should say "Live"

by: tangibletreasure

eBay hiding the descriptions is utterly stupid. It potentially hurts the outcome of auctioned items. When they did this last time I cancelled all my active auctions and converted them to Buy-It-Now format. I plan on never doing another auction because i don't trust eBay when they pull crap like this!

by: Jono

When using chrome browser it is clear that eBay has hidden all my item descriptions & many other sellers. I called eBay & the agent said she couldn't replicate it but that it is a test & will last a few weeks. The problem is that there is now a button to click on followed by a random part of the description which sometimes makes no sense. When the buyer clicks on the button to (See full item description) it opens a completely new window. I'm seeing this on eBay.co.uk & eBay.com using when google Chrome browser. This does not happen with Firefox....yet. I am fed up with eBay treating us like test monkeys. They don't even have the decency to let anyone know...not even their own support agents. I am seriously coinsidering closing my business down as it's more stress than it's worth at my age. eBay used to be fun 10 years ago. It now feels like I'm shovelling smoke with a pitchfork on the wind. Stop testing things that hinder small businesses! Test on Tescos and John Lewis....someone who can afford it. It was a bad idea in 2015 & it's still a bad idea in 2017 because eBay is falling apart at the seams. FIX THE SHOPPING CART & REMOVE ENFORCED IMMEDIATE PAYMENT SO WE CAN GET OUT MULTIPLE OVERSEAS PURCHASERS BACK!

by: cybewings

Indeed, the descriptions are hidden, mostly I think on 'auctions' vs 'buy it now', though I cannot be certain. My customers are writing to me and are furious that there is no description. I have written and tweeted to ebay, ebaybusiness, commented on their facebook page all to no avail. Here's the thing. We have 3 seconds to garner attention to a product, 'no description' ...buyer is 'toodles' outta here.   One seller writes: I’ve started putting the following in the “Item Condition” box:

If my description is hidden, please click on SEE FULL DESCRIPTION box.

So I do that too now. It is a horrible experience for the customer, so I have no idea why ebay doesthis. This is making customers use an extra tap button tab to view product description. This delay is costing their stockholders, their sellers and their buyers to lose revenues. Sad truth.