Variations vs standalone products

Many of the items that we list on eBay have distinct variations. This means they could be different sizes, colors, types, etc. Most eBay sellers decide to list these items under one listing, while others prefer to list them individually. But how can we tell which method performs better, and how can we learn the impact of each strategy on sales?

We’ve decided to take a deeper dive into this subject and let you know which one would work best for you and your needs.

Variation Listings

How many variations can I have under a single listing? Well, you can have up to 5 different variation categories (eg. color, size, material, etc.) and up to 60 different values under each category. In total, you can upload up to 250 variations in one listing without any additional fees.

Advantages of variation listings

If you’re selling an item with different sizes, colors, etc., you’ll want to place all of them under one listing using variations.

Especially when someone is looking for a product but hasn’t yet decided which color or size they want, having many options all under one listing increases your opportunity to make a sale. Plus, the listing looks more professional this way.

When you have a variation listing, it’s likely that a customer will buy more than one variation of the item. This is considerably rare for individually listed items because a customer won’t even know that you sell more types of the same item (in different colors, sizes and more). All these extra sales contribute to your total amount of sold items, which improves your sales history and will eventually land you a higher rank and placement on eBay’s search results.

eBay prefers to promote these listings on their search pages, so long as they maintain a higher ranking. As a result, we can realize that listings with variations are more likely to be found than others, which will result in more sales and profits for an eBay dropshipping business.

The total amount of sold items for each listing makes up its sales history. A better sales history will win the listing better placement on eBay’s search results. As a result, the first listings seen by users are the ones with a large sales history. In most cases, these listings also have variations.

Disadvantages of variation listings

Keep in mind that on eBay, the title remains the same for each variant. This means that we should be careful, especially when uploading listings in bulk. The title must be generic, and not include any words that define a specific size or color of the item that’s being sold.

This same rule applies to the item specifics and the description of an item. You must be sure to add generic details in your descriptions which won’t indicate that you are selling a specific size or color of the product.

Single item listings – advantages

Adding variations as individual listings allow you to add more keywords to each title. You can upload the variations of an item as individual listings. This method will allow you to upload more listings with many different keywords in the title and the item specifics.

Disadvantages

When the buyers are looking for an item to purchase, they may not know which color/size/type they want to buy. If you have all variations under one listing, it would be easier for them to find precisely what they need.

Splitting items into more listings will result in less traffic. But why? Well, because factors such as views, watchers, etc, will be split among the listings. This will result in a smaller sales history, leading to less promotion on eBay’s search results. Therefore, single item listings yield less traffic.

Conclusion

If an item that you are selling has sizes, colors, and/or other types of variations, it’s very obvious that you should place them under one listing. This will bring you more sales, greater visibility, and of course, more profits. Listing individually only makes sense when posting items without any variations.

Variations vs standalone products