Item Specifics

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Item specifics are the structured facts about a product — Brand, Size, Colour, Model,
Material — that eBay uses to filter search results. They are the single biggest influence on whether a
buyer narrowing a search ever sees your listing, and eBay requires some of them in most
categories.

Which specifics exist, which are required and what values are allowed is decided entirely by the eBay
category, which is why this section is empty until the category is set.

Where to find it

Open a listing in the editor and scroll to Item Specifics, or click it in the editor’s
left-hand section list.

The Item Specifics section of the listing editor

Item Specifics, split into Required and Optional, with the currently selected specifics listed below.

What is on this section

Control What it does
Required The specifics eBay insists on for this category. A listing missing one of these will be rejected when it is submitted.
Optional The specifics eBay recommends but does not demand. Filling them in is the cheapest way to make a
listing findable, because buyers filter on exactly these.
Currently Selected Item Specifics Everything set on the listing so far, each with Edit and Delete.
Add your own item specific Adds a specific eBay does not offer for this category — a Name and a
Value of your own. Use Accept to add it to the listing.
Refresh Item Specifics from eBay Re-reads the category’s specifics from eBay. Use it when the values on offer look out of date.
Two different messages, two different problems. “Please select an eBay category
first.” means no category is set at all. “Please continue to select an eBay category until you
can’t.” means you have stopped part-way down the tree — item specifics belong to the leaf
category, so keep choosing in eBay Categories until no further dropdown appears.

How to use it

  1. Pick the category down to the leaf in eBay Categories.
  2. Fill in every Required specific. These are not optional — eBay refuses the listing
    without them.
  3. Fill in as many Optional ones as you honestly can. Each one is a filter a buyer might
    use.
  4. Add your own if the product has an attribute eBay does not list.
  5. Review the selected list, editing or deleting anything that is wrong.

FAQ

Q: The section says to keep selecting a category.
A: You are part-way down the category tree. Item specifics come from the leaf
category, so keep choosing until there is no further dropdown.
Q: eBay rejected the listing for a missing item specific.
A: Something under Required is empty. eBay also adds new required
specifics from time to time — press Refresh Item Specifics from eBay and check
again.
Q: The value I need is not in the list.
A: Many specifics accept free text as well as the suggested values. If the
attribute itself is missing, use Add your own item specific.
Q: I set Brand in Identifiers but eBay shows a different one.
A: An item specific of the same name takes precedence over the
Identifiers field. Change it here.
Q: I changed the category and my specifics disappeared.
A: Specifics belong to a category, and a different category has a different set.
Fill in the new one’s.
Q: Can I set item specifics on many listings at once?
A: Yes — Bulk Edit can add and remove them across a
selection, and CSV update can too.

Support

For further assistance you can:

← Back to the User Guide index

Or go to Support, the FAQs, or contact us.

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