Listing Experience

B2C selling tool

Redesigned the listing journey by simplifying legacy workflows

Company: eBay Seller Hub
Role: Senior Product Designer
Scope: Web listing flow

Background

Listing an item is a core seller task on eBay.

This project redesigned the listing journey, informed by a review of the legacy flow, feature grouping and new listing screens. Time to list varied widely by seller experience: 12.1 minutes for first-time sellers, 9.0 for occasional sellers, 5.3 for merchant sellers and 5.0 for regular sellers.

The Challenge

Make listing easier to finish for every kind of seller.

The legacy review showed drop-off at the category, product, selling-form and variation steps. The selling form had the highest drop-off at 18.70%, followed by variations at 12.05%. Together with the gap in time to list, these numbers pointed to where the journey could be simplified. They showed where sellers left, not why.

The Approach

Start from the product, not the form.

I reviewed the legacy journey and the time-to-list baseline, then grouped related features to shape the new flow. The main change was catalog-assisted product selection: sellers search for their item, compare similar products and select a match or view its details. Sellers whose item is not in the catalog can continue without selecting a product.

Highlights

Faster listing, more completed listings

List time fell by 4% and the completion rate rose by 2%. The business-impact summary reports $75M in GMV for the full year and 25 basis points site wide.

Decrease in list time: 4%; Decrease in list time
Increase in completion rate: 2%; Increase in completion rate
GMV for full year: $75M; GMV for full year
BPS site wide: 25; BPS site wide

From discovery to new listing screens

Discovery work showed where sellers lost time and where they dropped off. The new screens put the catalog at the start of the journey, so a single search can fill in much of the listing.

Average time to list: first-time seller 12.1 min, occasional seller 9.0 min, merchant seller 5.3 min, regular seller 5.0 min — Time-to-list baselineAverage time to list by seller type. First-time sellers took more than twice as long as regular sellers.

Legacy listing flow screens annotated with drop-off rates: start 2.77%, category 10.15%, product 10.15%, selling form 18.70%, variations 12.05%, review 2.57% — Legacy journey reviewDrop-off at each step of the legacy flow. The selling form (18.70%) and variations (12.05%) lost the most sellers, followed by the category and product steps (10.15% each).

Wall of sticky notes grouping listing features and seller needs into themes — Feature groupingAn affinity map grouped related features and seller needs, such as simplicity, catalog lookup, photos and shipping, into themes that shaped the new flow.

Similar products in our catalog page showing Harry Potter DVD and Blu-ray matches with Select and See details actions, plus a Continue without selecting a product button — Catalog-assisted product selectionSellers search for their item, compare similar products and select a match or view its details. Sellers whose item is not in the catalog can choose “Continue without selecting a product.”

Seller Hub Tell us what you’re selling page with a tip that more photos help items sell — Catalog-assisted product selectionSellers search for their item, compare similar products and select a match or view its details. Sellers whose item is not in the catalog can choose “Continue without selecting a product.”