Overview
Listing strategies are an extremely powerful tool to automate item pricing, listing duration, and relisting rules associated with a particular product category. The benefits of using listing strategies are:
Increase sell-through rate by relisting your products at a more competitive price, alternating between channels, and more!
Automated rules for how to handle unpaid auctions
Automated rules for recycling products that don't sell
This guide provides a walkthrough of how to navigate the listing strategy page, with descriptions of each feature and answers to common how-to questions.
Table of Contents
Listing Strategy Video Walkthrough
How to Access Listing Strategies in Lister
The listing strategies settings page is found in the Admin section of Lister. Admins and custom roles with access to manage listing strategies can change these settings.
Click the gear icon in the top-right navigation menu to reach the admin portal
Click “Listing Strategies” under the Products and Listing heading
Listing Strategy Page Overview
The listing strategy page shows a complete list of all your existing strategies. This page has the following information and tools.
New Strategy: Click to create and begin a new strategy
Upright ID: Strategy ID number used for troubleshooting with the Upright Labs team
Name: The name of the individual listing strategy
Status: This shows whether a strategy is published and can be used to list items or is in draft mode.
Active Listing Count: Shows the total number of products that are currently being used by the strategy
Edit: The pencil icon is a link to make edits to a strategy
Delete: The trash can icon will delete a strategy. Warning: This action cannot be undone
Duplicate: The copy icon will duplicate an existing strategy
Listing Strategy Editor Overview
When creating a new listing strategy or editing an existing one, you’ll move to the Listing Strategy Editor.
The listing strategy editor has eight core inputs, split into two columns. A brief overview of each input is outlined below, and we'll do a deep dive into each one in the following sections.
Name: Enter a name for the strategy that's easily identifiable for your listers
Select Categories: This section allows you to target the listing strategy to one or more marketplace categories
Auto Recycle: Tells the listing strategy what to do if an item doesn't sell
Status: Toggles the strategy between active and draft mode
Unpaid Auction Handling: Tells the listing strategy what to do if the winning bidder doesn't pay for an item
Strategy Step Options: This section defines what marketplaces an item will list to, type of listing, duration, etc.
Add Step: Creates a new step in the listing strategy. A step is an action the strategy will take if the previous listing did not result in a sale
Save: Click the "Save" button once the strategy has been created or edited
1: Listing Strategy Name
The strategy name is visible to your listing team when they create a new listing, so we recommend naming each strategy in a way that easily identifies what the strategy targets. For example, the primary marketplace category, pricing structure, marketplaces, etc.
2: Select Categories
This field allows you to target which marketplace categories the listing strategy should apply to when creating a listing.
Choose specific marketplace categories, all sub-categories within a parent category, or leave the box blank to have the listing strategy apply to all categories by default
Use the search box under “Select Categories” to type the name of a specific category
Example:
Click the word "Clothing" from the category list to expand the sub-categories under the parent category
Click the checkbox next to "Clothing" to select all clothing categories
3: Auto-Recycle Option
This setting tells Lister what to do with a product if it completes all the steps within the listing strategy and no one purchases it.
ON (recommended): The product will automatically move to your Products>Recycled page so that it can be purged from inventory
OFF (default): The product will remain on the Products>All page
💡Operational Tip: We recommend toggling on Auto-Recycle to speed up the purging process if an item doesn’t sell.
4: Status
By default, this option is toggled to "Published," meaning as soon as you click save, the listing strategy will be available when listing products.
Setting the status to “Draft” will prevent the strategy from being used when creating new listings
Products actively using a listing strategy will continue running until they reach the final step of the strategy
5: Unpaid Auction Handling Option
This setting tells the listing strategy what to do if a buyer wins an item but doesn't pay. Click here to see examples of what each of these options would do.
Restart at starting price (Default): If the item goes unpaid, the strategy will repeat the current step at the starting price
Restart at an unpaid price: If the item goes unpaid, the strategy will repeat the current step at the unpaid price
Off: Move to next step: After an item passes the payment deadline, even if the listing goes unpaid, the strategy will go to the next step
Example Unpaid Auction Scenario
An item was won on step 2 for $25 and went unpaid. The following is what would happen depending on the unpaid auction handling setting.
Restart step at starting price (Default): Item would relist on step 2 with a starting price of $7.99
Off: Item would relist on step 3 with a starting price of $5.99 and a buy now of $9.99
Restart step at unpaid price: Item would relist on step 2 with a starting price of $25
6: Strategy Step Options
The right column shows the information on each step of the listing strategy and allows you to set rules for each step. If you have multiple marketplaces connected to your Lister account, select the desired one for the first step in the strategy by clicking the marketplace name under “Initially list to” and choosing from the available options.
Each marketplace has unique listing rules for step 1 to set the initial values of the first listing, as described below
eBay Listing Strategy Options
If any of the following fields are left blank in the first step of the strategy, the details manually entered on the listing page will be used when the listing strategy publishes the listing to eBay.
Listing Type
Auction or Fixed Price (Good-til-Cancelled) can be selected from the Listing Type dropdown menu
Listing Duration
Auction-style format: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days
Note: 1 and 3-day auctions incur additional insertion fees from eBay
Fixed-price format: Good ’Til Canceled.
Shipping, Returns, and Payment Profile
These options can be selected from your Business Policies on eBay. Click here to learn how to import business policies to Lister
Important Note: If the Listing Type is Auction, do NOT use a payment profile that requires immediate payment, as items listed will fail to list and appear in the Lister>Listings>eBay>Attention Required tab
Initial Values
Set the desired dollar value for the initial listing from the options below. Starting Price (Auction format only)
Buy Now Price
Reserve Price (Auction format only, incurs additional eBay fees)
💡Operational Tip: If an input is left blank, the strategy uses the information entered when listing the product or from your eBay settings controlled in Lister
Shopgoodwill Listing Strategy Options
Shopgoodwill allows for up to 5 pricing rules to be added per step, along with an auction duration. If any fields are left blank, the details entered on the listing page will be used when the listing strategy publishes the listing to Shopgoodwill.
Starting Price
Shipping Price
Buy Now Price
Reserve Price
Handling Price
Auction Duration
💡Operational Tip: If an input is left blank, the strategy uses the information entered when listing the product or from your Shopgoodwill settings controlled in Lister
Shopify Listing Strategy Options
Shopify is a fixed-price platform. You can add a starting price in Step 1, set the listing duration, and input product tags.
Price: Set the desired dollar value for the initial listing. If left blank, the info entered when listing the product will be used when the listing strategy publishes the listing to Shopify
Listing Duration: Select between 1 and 120 days
Tags: Automatically apply product tags to Shopify listings using the listing strategy
💡Operational Tip: If an input is left blank, the strategy uses the information entered when listing the product or from your Shopify settings controlled in Lister.
7: Add Step to Listing Strategy
You can add a new step by clicking the blue plus button in the right column or the "Add Step" text at the bottom of the left column.
Note: If you have multiple marketplaces connected to Lister, a pop-up will ask you to select the step type.
Singular (default choice)
Item will list to one marketplace
Concurrent
If you have multiple marketplaces connected to Lister, this option will list an item as a Buy Now item across multiple connected marketplaces (eBay, Shopgoodwill, Shopify)
Note: A concurrent listing strategy with a multi-quantity product will result in ending the listing in all other channels after the first item sells. For this reason, we do not advise using concurrent listings for Stock items
By default, the new step copies all the settings from the previous step. You can update any option to set, increase, or decrease price options by a flat dollar amount or a percent change.
8: Save
Once a new strategy has been created or an existing strategy has been edited, click “Save” in the left column to save changes.
Example Listing Strategy
In the example below, we’ve created a listing strategy that targets collectibles.
Step 1 is an eBay 7-day auction with a starting bid of $19.99
Step 2 is a Shopgoodwill 7-day auction with a starting bid of $19.99
Step 3 is a concurrent step to all marketplaces for 14 days, priced at $12.99
If the item is won but not paid, the step will repeat before moving forward
If the item doesn’t sell after the 3rd step, the product will automatically recycle
Frequently Asked Questions
The following sections answer common questions and scenarios using listing strategies.
Can I Remove a Marketplace From a Concurrent Listing Strategy Step?
No. If you remove a marketplace from a concurrent step, any active listings on that marketplace will continue indefinitely, and the strategy will not progress.
Instead of removing a marketplace from a concurrent strategy step, we recommend discontinuing using the strategy and creating a new strategy.
Can I Add a New Marketplace to an Existing Listing Strategy?
We do not recommend adding a new marketplace to an existing strategy, as old items created before the strategy is updated will fail once they reach the new marketplace step.
This happens because the original listing was created only with the original marketplace details.
Example:
A listing strategy has three eBay steps
1000 items are listed using this 3-step eBay strategy
The strategy is edited while products are live, and a Shopify step is added
Result: Any of the original 1000 items created will fail when they reach the Shopify step because they were listed without Shopify details
💡Operational Tip: Instead of adding a marketplace to an established strategy, we recommend creating a new strategy and discontinuing using the old one.
How to Troubleshoot Adding a New Marketplace to an Existing Strategy
If you do add a new marketplace to a listing strategy, follow the steps below to ensure older listings can be listed in the new marketplace. In this example, we’ve added a Shopgoodwill step to a strategy that previously only had eBay steps.
Step 1: Navigate to the Products>All Tab
Step 2: Click “More filters”
Step 3: Select the recently updated strategy
Step 4: Hide fulfilled products
Step 5: Click on a product that doesn’t show the new marketplace logo in the listings column
Step 6: Scroll down to the listings section of the product overview page and click the red “Attention Required” text to verify the future steps
Step 7: Click “Create listing” next to the newly added marketplace step from the listing strategy, then add the new marketplace details
How to Use Listing Strategies When Listing
When a lister creates a new listing and selects a category tied to a listing strategy, the listing strategy will auto-populate on the first page of the New Product form under the "What are you working on?" section.
Step 1: Select the product category
Step 2: The listing strategy will auto-populate in the field below the category
How to Use Multiple Listing Strategies for One Category
You can create multiple listing strategies that tie to one category. For example, say you list bulk lots of trading cards and individual trading cards, and each type of listing has different shipping and starting bid prices
In this example, you could create two listing strategies, one called "Trading Cards - Individual" and one called "Trading Cards - Bulk Lot," each tied to the trading cards category but with specific rules for the type of listing
When first listing a product, a lister can select the appropriate listing strategy from the dropdown menu
How to Edit a Listing Strategy
Click the gear icon in the top right navigation menu of Lister to go to the settings pages
Click "Listing Strategies" in the sidebar
Click the pencil icon next to the strategy you'd like to edit
Once you've edited the fields, click "Save" in the left column
How to Duplicate a Listing Strategy
Go to your Settings page
Click "Listing Strategies" in the sidebar
Click on the icon with two squares to duplicate a listing strategy
💡Operational Tip: This is a great way to do A/B Testing to compare sales or make changes at the category level without having to recreate the listing steps!
How to Delete a Listing Strategy
Go to your Settings page
Click "Listing Strategies" in the sidebar
Click on the trashcan icon next to the listing strategy you'd like to delete
Warning: Deleting a listing strategy cannot be undone. If a listing strategy is in use with active listings, unsold items will move to the expired tab of the listing manager.
How to Pause and Resume the Listing Strategy on an Active Product
Go to your Product Manager page
Enter the SKU in the search bar
Click “Pause Auto-Relisting” in the Strategy box to stop the strategy from continuing
Click “Resume Strategy” to continue a paused strategy
💡Operational Tip: Pausing a strategy will not end an active listing on a marketplace. Instead, pausing prevents future steps of the strategy from continuing. This can be useful if giving an extended payment deadline to Shopgoodwill buyers.
How to Restart a Listing Strategy on an Active Product
Go to your Products page
Enter the SKU in the search bar
Click “Restart after current listing” in the Strategy box to return the product to the first step of the listing strategy after the current listing ends without a sale
How to Change the Listing Strategy on an Active Listing
Go to your Products page
Enter the SKU in the search bar
Click “Use another strategy” in the “Strategy” section
Choose the new strategy in the pop-up window
💡Operational Tip: The new strategy will begin once the current step has been completed.
Warning: If the new strategy uses marketplaces that were not on the original strategy, existing items will fail when they reach the new marketplace step. Click here for more details.
How to Change the Listing Strategy on an Expired Listing
Go to your Products page
Enter the SKU in the search bar
Click “Use another strategy” in the Strategy section
Choose the new strategy in the pop-up window
Click “See listing details” in the Active Auctions section to navigate to the listing page
Click “Relist” at the bottom of the page to start the strategy
Warning: If the new strategy uses marketplaces that were not on the original strategy, existing items will fail when they reach the new marketplace step. Click here for more details.
How to All See Products Connected to a Listing Strategy
Go to your Settings page
Click "Listing Strategies" in the sidebar
Locate the desired listing strategy in the list
Click the number in the “Active Listing Count” column
Related Guides
Have questions? Reach out to us at support@uprightlabs.com or via chat anytime between 9am-6pm ET, Monday to Friday