eBay rolled out expanded Item numbers last week that caused headaches for some sellers and vendors, and even for some buyers. eBay assigns each listing an Item number, and on May 11, it expanded the number of digits in Item numbers from 10 to 12. eBay announced the change the day after the roll-out, stating that the change was made "to ensure the site can accommodate a growing number of listings." eBay will increase the Item number up to 19 digits over time "to support future growth."

One buyer said he could not place snipe bids on eBay because the service he uses does not allow for 12 digit numbers (http://digbig.com/4hpxc).

Some sellers, confused over the issue, posted on discussion boards, "Have they changed something, or did I goof?" and "Don't have a clue what's going on." Others stated that the longer item numbers would have more serious ramifications, such as the new number not fitting on current forms or in databases sellers had set up to manage their eBay sales. One seller commented, "Thrilled about the 20% increase in data input requirements" (http://digbig.com/4hpmw).

eBay- and ecommerce-management service ChannelAdvisor's CEO Scot Wingo said eBay members use the item number in a variety of ways, with some sellers treating it almost like a product SKU number. He heard of one high-volume PowerSeller who prints eBay item numbers on shipping labels for tracking and identification purposes who reported that the new longer number won't fit on the labels.

AuctionHelper CEO Jerry Lynch said the change caused a problem with eBay's "UUID" system that affected vendors like his company, which uses eBay's old API system. Lynch said the issue caused about one thousand of his customers' listings to be duplicated.

eBay's Developer Board documented the issue: "Any applications that have implemented UUID within their retry process may have created duplicate listings. It is advised to examine your logs or use GetSellerList to reconcile your listings and end them accordingly" (http://digbig.com/4hpmt).

On Sunday, sellers were still dealing with issues. One seller said when she deleted duplicate listings that had appeared, "it deleted the listings scheduled that were duplicates AND it deleted the original listings that were already up and running" (http://digbig.com/4hpxb).

ChannelAdvisor's Wingo said his system was not affected by the new longer Item numbers, even though his company still uses eBay's old API system. But he believes some PowerSellers who work with eBay's API directly may have been impacted by the UUID issue.

eBay spokesperson Catherine England said on Friday, "As we roll this out we are, of course, monitoring its impact on the community and are addressing issues as they may arise."

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200605121142092.html