eBay is blaming sellers for its decision to delay its Product Identifiers mandate, but the facts don't add up.





eBay sellers get some breathing room as the marketplace delays the next phase of its Structured Data Initiative, known to sellers as Product Identifiers. After notifying sellers in some international markets earlier this month, eBay began notifying US sellers on Friday, though it has yet to make an announcement on the site.





In email notifications, eBay is blaming sellers for its decision to push off next month's deadline to next year, saying it's heard from sellers they aren't ready. But that doesn't explain why eBay has delayed features it had planned to roll out to help sellers add Product Identifiers to their listings, with or without the February 2017 deadline.





1) In August, eBay said sellers would be able to upload their catalogs in the fall of 2016, but now eBay says it will make that feature available to sellers in the summer of 2017.





2) eBay said it would begin accepting Amazon and Google Product Identifiers beginning in February 2017, but that is also being pushed off until the summer.





eBay has done a poor job communicating with sellers about the delays - even avoiding answering questions when directly asked at the 2 most recent weekly chat sessions.





Sellers need certainty when running their business. And sellers of items that don't have UPC codes or other identifiers, such as vintage items, have experienced needless anxiety as February draws near.





It's unclear why eBay has yet to notify all sellers, but it could have something to do with its stock price. By keeping the delays to its Structured Data Initiative lowkey, it avoided being grilled by Wall Street analysts on Wednesday (January 25) during its 4th quarter earnings call.





eBay sent an email to Australian sellers on January 12 and posted an announcement for Irish sellers on January 17, and sent an email to at least some US sellers on January 27th.





Interestingly each communique has different dates for when the catalog portal and the Amazon and Google Identifiers would be available, but all are in agreement that the February 2017 mandate has been postponed.