Selecting your store's categories

About Store categories

Similar to a physical store, your eBay Store 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 Store categories:

Your Store categories don't need to match eBay's categories.
You can create as many as 300 Store 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 Store 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 Store categories in addition to a standard eBay category.
You can add, rename, edit, move, and delete Store categories at any time.
A category will not appear in your Store if there are no listings in it.
You can move listings from one category to another.

Adding categories and subcategories

To add Store categories:

Go to My eBay.
Move your cursor above the Account tab until you see a pull-down menu.
Select "Manage my store."
Click the "Store Categories" link.
Click the Add Category button.

To add Store subcategories:

Go to My eBay.
Move your cursor above the Account tab until you see a pull-down menu.
Select 'Manage my store."
Click the "Store 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.
Organize your listings according to brand, type of item, and price levels so buyers can find your items easily. For example, if your Store 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 Store category and a secondary Store category. Listing in two Store 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 Store categories:

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

Transferring listings to other store 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 “Store Categories” under “Item Details” and click the Continue button.
Select the new Store categories where you want to add listings and click the Continue button.
Review your changes and click the Submit button.

Tutorials

Managing Store Categories

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