Adding a New Item Record

Before listing an item, you have to create an item record that contains all the needed information for the item. Entering information about an item tends to be one of the most time consuming tasks that eBay sellers are faced with. This is why we have spent a lot of time streamlining the item entry process. If most of the fields are already entered when you create a new item record , it will save you a lot of time. There are three different ways you can create new item records.

If you are creating your first item, or an item that isn't like any other you've listed before, you can create a blank item. If you have a similar item already in your database, you can create a new item from an existing item. Finally, you can also create an item from an item template . An item template is a special type of item record that you can create and fill out in advance. Later, you can generate new item records from that template . The topic "Creating Items Faster with Item Templates" later in this section describes this in more detail.

If you have item information in another format like Turbo Lister, Seller's Assistant, or any CSV flat file, you can also create new Items by importing the data.

Creating an Item from Scratch

If you don't have any items yet, or you don't have any items that are similar to the new item you are going to list, you may want to create an item from scratch.

To create an item from scratch:

From the Create Items tab, Select Items Actions|New Item| (Untitled) from the main menu.

You can also use the New Item button on the Actions toolbar to create an (Untitled) item.

Depending upon the current layout, the new item record will display in the details pane, or in a popup window. Proceed to "Entering Item Details" for information on filling in the new item record .

Carlos is a brand new user of eB and has never created an item before. He uses Items Actions|New Item|(Untitled) to get his first item record.

Creating an Item from an Existing Item

If you have a similar item record already created, you can create a new one by duplicating the first.

To create a new item from an existing item:

From the Create Items mode, select the item you would like to duplicate from the Grid and click the Duplicate Action Button to open the Duplicate Items window.

Specify the number of duplicates you would like to make.
If this item is a completely different item that will need its own part number, then leave the Include Part Number box unchecked. If this item is just a different listing variation for an existing item and should have the same part number, check Include Part Number.
Modify the new record to make any changes for the new item.

Camille sells football jerseys. She just created an item for a Philadelphia Eagles jersey and now wants to create a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. She selects the Eagles jersey and clicks on Duplicate. It gives her another Eagles jersey. She clicks on the new item and modifies the description to say "Pittsburgh Steelers" everywhere it said "Philadelphia Eagles". She now has an item record for each.

If you create and submit identical duplicate items, eBay will not show the second item until the first item receives a bid.

Creating an Item from an Item Template

If you find yourself creating the same types of items over and over, you can simply create an Item Template for the item. You can then easily create items just like it from the Item Templates folder. The topic "Creating Items Faster with Item Templates" later in this section describes this in more detail.

To create an item from an item template :

From the Create Items mode, click the dropdown menu arrow on the New Item Action button and select the desired item template from the dropdown menu.

You can also create an Item from an Item Template by choosing File|Items Actions|New Item and choose the desired item template from the dropdown menu.

A new record will appear in the Grid and the Details Panel (depending on your display settings). Also, depending upon your set preferences, the new Item may instead appear in a popup window.

Modify the new record to make any changes for the new item.

After a while Camille realizes that she will be selling a lot of jerseys over the next several months so she should make an Item Template. She selects an existing jersey, right clicks it and chooses "Save as Item Template". She then changes the title of the Item Template to "Jersey". Later she goes to the New button and chooses "Jersey" to get a new item record.

An astute user will notice that all three of these methods are really just different ways of duplicating an existing item record. When you are creating an item from scratch, you are simply duplicating an empty item record that was provided. When using an Item Template, you are simply duplicating a special type of item record.