Jeff King

• The removal of the Choice policy gets rid of the restriction that has required sellers to list individual listings for each size, color or configuration of the same item.
• The removal of the Multiple Listings Limit policy ends the 15-item rule that has governed how many identical listings a seller can have listed at the same time.

As John also mentioned, these policy changes go hand in hand with changes to our Finding experience. In a nutshell, now our Finding technology can do the work of removing duplicates from search results, ensuring buyers have a good finding experience with plenty of variety and that sellers can list in whatever quantities and configuration that make the most sense to their business.

Starting this week, the display of multiple identical items from the same seller will be limited to one in Search results. An item is considered identical if it has the same title and the same listing format, and the listing chosen for display will be determined by the sort option that the buyer chooses. We will be rolling this out to all sort options by next week. When multiple auction-style listings with the same title have a different number of bids and different prices, these are no long considered identical and will all be displayed.

Also, the number of unique listings (listings for different items) per seller will be up to ten per page. In a case where a seller has a number of items—for instance 20—that could potentially show up in the same search results, 10 will be shown on the first page, and the other 10 will be on the second page. (These improvements go hand in hand with the removal of the Multiple Listings Limit policy.)

As a reminder, our new Search & Browse Manipulation policy prohibits sellers from "gaming" the system to trick the system into displaying their identical items. For more information, please read the Frequently Asked Questions on this topic.

Added flexibility for sellers, added variety for buyers
Now sellers are free to list identical listings in whatever volume is right for their business, because our technology will ensure buyers are not overwhelmed by an over-abundance of identical items. For larger sellers, this reduces the operational complexity of ensuring only a certain number of similar items are active at one time. For smaller sellers, these changes preserve a fair climate that allows them visibility in search results.

This improvement showcases the breadth of attractive inventory from a variety of sellers, making it easy for buyers to find what they are looking for – which in turn benefits sellers with more sales.

Get your questions answered from the Finding team
My team and I want to help answer your questions about these and other Finding changes. It’s our goal to make sure you have the best experience possible as we gradually transition to the new Finding technology. Please visit our thread on the Search board to ask us your questions.

Sincerely,

Jeff King
Senior Director, Finding