Selecting and changing eBay Shop Categories

About Shop categories

Similar to a physical shop, your eBay Shop categories are the aisles and shelves that let you organize and display your items to buyers. By selecting the most appropriate category for your product, you’ll help buyers find your items in search results. You can also list your item in two categories.

Here are some things to know about Shop categories:

Your Shop categories don't need to match eBay's categories.
You can create as many as 300 Shop categories and subcategories with up to three levels of categories. For example, a category named Sporting Goods can have two additional subcategories: Sporting Goods > Golf >Balls.
A category named “Other items” will be created for listings that you didn’t assign to a Shop category. You can edit these items to change their category.
Each category name can consist of up to 30 characters.
When you create a new listing, you can assign it to one of your Shop categories in addition to a standard eBay category.
You can add, rename, edit, move, and delete Shop categories at any time.
A category will not appear in your Shop if there are no listings in it.
You can move listings from one category to another.

Adding categories and subcategories

To add Shop categories:

Go to My eBay.
Click the "Manage my shop" link on the left side of the page.
Click the "Shop Categories" link.
Click the Add Category button.

To add Shop subcategories:

Go to My eBay.
Click the "Manage my shop" link on the left side of the page.
Click the "Shop Categories" link.
Click the category name link for the category where you want to add subcategories.
Click the Add Category button.

Tips for setting up categories

Consider these ideas when you set up your categories:

Think like a buyer. Create a set of categories that help buyers find the types of items that you have to offer quickly without overwhelming them.
Organise your listings according to brand, type of item, and price levels so buyers can find your items easily. For example, if your Shop primarily sells laptop computers, you could include categories like: Laptops > Laptop Cases > Samsonite.
Be sure that you have enough listings in each category to be meaningful to a buyer. If you only have a few listings in each category, you probably have too many categories and might be creating a poor buying experience.
List your items in two categories. Use a main Shop category and a secondary Shop category. Listing in two Shop categories is free.
Consider creating special categories that attract buyers' attention, such as "50% Off" or "Featured Items.".

Managing categories

To rename, move, or delete Shop categories:

Go to My eBay .
Click the "Manage my shop" link on the left side of the page.
Click the "Shop Categories" link.
Select a category and click the Rename, Move Category, or Delete button.

Transferring listings to other shop categories

To move listings to other categories:

Go to My eBay.
In the Sell section, click the "Active" link on the left side of the page.
Select the listings that you want to move.
Click the Edit button.
Select “Shop Categories” under “Item Details” and click the Continue button.
Select the new Shop categories where you want to add listings and click the Continue button.
Review your changes and click the Submit button.

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