Q:
I agree that this will be a great feature for many sellers! Is there a list of the Home and Garden categories that it will be available in July? I see that prices can vary in this format. Is that also true of the weight? We use the postal calculator and this would be a big benefit.
A:
We are still completing the details for the Home & Garden categories we will enable in July. We will announce those when the list is finalized.

Weight can vary across variations, but for our initial implementation weight variations are not integrated with the postal calculator. That means that you can have a "weight" variation detail, in addition to or as an alternative to details like color and size that we've used in our examples. However, those weight values are not visible to the postal calculator. Instead, when you list, you'll still need to enter a separate single weight in the data for the shipping method. Thus, for now, you'd be effectively limited to specifying the maximum of the variation weights for the calculator, which may be disadvantageous for you and your buyers. We recommend therefore that multi-variation listings be limited to products that can be reasonably shipped for the same cost for all variations (e.g., items that can be shipped for the same flat-rate or zone-based fees).

Q:
With this new rule Joe the tire store owner can list every tire he sells in 1 auction?
Mary the blouse sales lady can list every blouse in every color and size in 1 auction?
For either to have top ranking for visibility, they have to have great DSR, cheap price and cheap shipping?

A:
There are limitations on what can be combined in a multi-variation listing. In particular, different brands can't be combined in most cases. So if you are selling blouses you’ll want to combine the same brand & style of blouse into a single listing that has variations like color & size. A good rule of thumb is that the item description should only require very minor changes if variations were to be added or removed. If whole paragraphs would change in that case, then the different items shouldn't be combined. In practice, variations will be enforced by both software rules and policy. Listings that combine unlike items will be subject to the existing fee circumvention policy.

Best Match will work similarly for multi-variation listings as it does for existing fixed price listings, so yes it will factor in feedback, pricing, and recent sales. We’ll be launching multi-variation in Women’s & Men’s Shoes in mid-June & expanding into other Clothing, Shoes, & Accessories as well as Home & Garden categories later in the summer.

Q:
I believe currently this feature is going to be limited to shoes and clothing... someone with the same style of shoe in lots of different sizes, or someone with the same shirt in several colors or sizes.

Let's say for Mother's Day (next year) you want a t-shirt that says "very special mother". But you want it in pink and size 2xl. Currently on our website you can buy that shirt in one listing and get it done 2,100 different ways.... But on eBay you basically have to list 2,100 different listings of the exact same shirt. Today's announcement addresses that problem and makes shopping for shoes or clothing on eBay much, much easier. So by the holidays if you want a new decorative Christmas t-shirt you can log onto eBay, go to your favorite seller, pick your design and then simply pick your desired color and desired shirt size. Or if you need to buy a pair of shoes, now all you have to do is find the shoes of your choice and then select your size from a drop down box. Sellers no longer have to list dozens of different listings to sell the same item in different sizes! This is great for both buyers and sellers!

I'm sure there are other examples in which this new technology might be beneficial to other sellers, but the immediate plans, as I understand them, limit the drop down menu's to sizes and colors.

A:
Thanks again for your encouraging comment on the multi-variation listing enhancement. I do want to clarify a limitation however. Initially, each multi-variation listing will be limited to a maximum of 120 variations. That limit is not necessarily permanent and will be reviewed once we have more information about how sellers are using multiple variations.

While planning this enhancement, we did look at products like yours, which could in fact have many more than 120 variations. What we found in such cases is that there is usually a way to logically organize high numbers of variations across a number of multiple-variation listings. For example, for your t-shirts you might have design themes (traditional, funny, nature, ...) that appeal to different types buyers, where you'd have one theme per multi-variation item, with all the sizes and colors for that theme.

Q:
In response to the question... "But technically then, all those "your pick of any in the list below" type listings are NOT allowed for any but the "special" preferred categories?"

A:
We are not modifying the Choice Listing policy at this time. With the multi-variation project we are providing additional functionality to help sellers manage listings easier as well as for buyers to select their variation (i.e. size, color, etc) from the listing page.