By using the Out Of Stock Control functionality you can keep your Fixed-Price GTC (Good 'Til Cancelled) items alive, even when the quantity reaches zero. While the item has no quantity and is unavailable for purchase, eBay will remove it from the eBay search results, but will continue to keep the item's listing page to advertise the item and will continue to charge listing fees every 30 days. This is useful if you are waiting for stock of an item with the same item number. Instead of ending the listing and then recreating it when the stock arrives, you can use this feature to hide the item. Then when stock arrives revise the item to update it's quantity. 


You can select the out-of-stock option by following these steps:

  1. My eBay > Account > Site Preferences (OR My eBay > Seller Hub > Overview > Shortcuts > Site Preferences).
  2. In the Selling Preferences section, click 'Show' next to Sell Your Item form and listings.
  3. Click 'edit' next to Use the out-of-stock option.
  4. Make your selection and click 'submit'.



While the quantity is zero the benefits of using this feature are:

  • The item retains the same item number
  • The item's listing page is kept live
  • The count of items sold is preserved
  • The item is not removed from any buyer's watch list
  • Exposure to other search engines is maintained
  • Sales history is retained


There are a few things to note:

  • You can enable the feature via your eBay account by going to My eBay > Site Preferences and selecting the out-of-stock option.
  • The feature is only available to GTC Fixed-Price listings.
  • Once enabled the feature will be applied to all your GTC listings until you disable the option.


Warning

When an item's quantity is zero it is removed from eBay's search results but the item is still live. This means that Good 'Til Cancelled automatic renewal will continue every 30 days and listing fees will be charged.

You therefore must be sure that you wish to make use of this feature as the potential to incur expensive fees is very high.



More information can be found on the eBay help page.