Struggling with the recent changes to the clothing, shoes and accessories category? We’ve helped some of the biggest branded stores on eBay with their data, so here are some key takeaways. We think we can guide you here.

What has changed?

The details about the changes can be seen here while the changes for all the categories can be downloaded as a PDF file from here. Please note that these changes are specific to UK.

On a very high level, there are two types of changes that eBay made:

1. Changes to the item specifics
2. Changes to the categories and taxonomy.

Overview of Item Specific changes

Here are the item specific related changes:

• New values are added to the style, type and size item specifics.
• All values for Colour are now in plural, e.g. Blacks instead of Black.
• Removal of values where unsuitable for the item.
• Whole item specifics removed (Not values)
• Addition of new item specifics for certain categories like Men and Women Clothing or Shoes.

As an example, a new category called Coats & Jackets has been created combining two separate categories. Now Chest Size is the primary size attribute instead of Size.

Now let’s have a look at the category level changes.

Overview of Categorical changes

The second type of change has to do with the category changes where eBay has rearranged them for better shopping experience or added new ones. Additionally, many categories have been renamed and moved within the category tree. These changes are listed in detail here.

What you can do about it?

You should update your listings as soon as possible so that your items get visibility otherwise they’ll get reduced visibility through organic sales and hence lower sales.

To get an overview of your listing’s health, Sovoia Data Analyzer can help you drill into listings by visually drilling down into your item categories and identifying any item specific data quality issues. Please contact us if you want help with your data.

You can also improve your data quality by following these 5 general tips (if applicable in your case)

1. Prioritize your categories: Going through each item will need time, so prioritize which categories should be fixed first. A good way to prioritize is by number of items in each category or by aggregate GMV. For example if your leather jackets are popular and carry a high average sale price, then start with that.
2. Prioritize the data you will provide: One other change in some categories is that the number of item specifics allowed has gone up. Good examples are Shorts which have Length, Rise, Pattern and Size Type as some additional item specifics. So once you pick a category to work on, make sure you prioritize which item specifics you will provide, e.g. in the case of clothing items, Size, Colour and Garment type are key.


Most of the shoes are in wrong category after CSA changes

3. Re-list under the correct category: In some categories such as Shoes, Style used to be an attribute of the category itself. This has now changed and sub categories such as Boots, Sandals etc have been added under Shoes to signify the style.  The chances are that your Shoe listings have been lumped under Other Shoes by eBay for now and is evident from stats.The above screenshot taken on 5th May shows that 80% of Men’s Shoes are not correctly categorized on eBay UK. If you correctly categorize your shoes, you will gain a competitive advantage in terms of SEO and of course in sales too.
4. Item Specific Names: Name of item specifics have changed while their purpose is still the same. For example in Coats & Jackets the primary size attribute is the Chest Size item specific, instead of the old Size item specific. In any case, double check and make sure that you are providing data in the correct Item Specific containers, the casing and spacing is important, for e.g. Chest Size or chest size are incorrect. Shorts, Trousers, Jeans etc are also affected in the same way.
5. Item Specific Values: In some case the values you need to provide in item specifics have also changed. For example colors have gone plural, so Black is now Blacks. Similarly there have been formatting changes in size which you will need to follow to the letter to ensure your item specifics get indexed correctly by eBay’s search algorithm.

Good luck and please share your experiences in the comments section.