Relist vs New Listing. Which Works Better After Restocking?

[Alex_Pro_Etsy]

Hi everyone,
I’d like to get some input from experienced sellers.

I had several listings that were selling well, but the inventory ran out, and the listings ended. Later, I restocked those items. For some of them, I simply relisted the old listings by updating the quantity. For others, I created brand-new listings with new item IDs.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

The new listings started selling right away

The relisted old ones haven’t gotten a single sale, even after weeks

Is this a known behavior with eBay's search algorithm?
Is it better to always create a fresh listing when restocking, even for the same item?

I’d appreciate any insights or suggestions from the community. Thanks!

[rsot]

Fresh listing seems to get a nice reset on search function - what category of listing were you restocking? Without needing specific details

[agent006140]

most search engines favor new listings,so to give the NEW seller hope that they will list more.

[Alex_Pro_Etsy]

Originally Posted by agent006140

most search engines favor new listings,so to give the NEW seller hope that they will list more.

Yes, I’ve noticed that too. I actually deleted a few old listings and created brand new ones and within an hour I got a sale! But after that, things went quiet again. So it definitely feels like the algorithm gives a temporary boost to new listings, maybe to encourage new sellers or just to test performance. Still trying to figure out how to keep that momentum going.

[solefoodbk]

I always just relist because it saves time. If you have a good business model, and you’re making sales, you’ll organically reach the top pages anyways. Ebay wants to push successful sellers because the conversion rate means more money for them.

I use promotion too. And sell about 15%-20% of total listed goods.

*correction, I do "sell similar" so not sure if there is a difference or not, but it acts the same way to me in time savings.

[moneymoves]

From my experience, when something is hot and it sells fast, using relist or sell similar or taking time to create new really doesn't matter. At least on a very aged account that is selling stuff weekly, it didn't matter one iota.

[vettefever17]

If you feed the beast with their promoted ads, new listings don't even matter anymore. CASSINI is now dormant under the ad program, it seems.

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by vettefever17

If you feed the beast with their promoted ads, new listings don't even matter anymore. CASSINI is now dormant under the ad program, it seems.

Most of my sales are via promoted. Which is annoying but I've already assumed the cost. Without promotion many of my items were on the top page but promoted ads show in various places, and if you click it once eBay attributes the sale. My margins are typically over 60% so I can easily accept about 25% fee of the total sale if it helps me move product faster. Which it truthfully does do. Moving sales is the name of the game.

I have my own website which long term will help me not rely on this.

[Alex_Pro_Etsy]

My experiment showed that creating a new listing instead of relisting gives only a short-term effect.
However, I did notice a pattern as soon as a listing gets a sale, 2–3 more sales often follow on the same day, from that same listing.

[SaiJin]

when a listing goes out of stock, the algo bumps it down...

hence why I never let it go out of stock..

[vettefever17]

Originally Posted by SaiJin

when a listing goes out of stock, the algo bumps it down...

hence why I never let it go out of stock..

This right here. Keep the train going. But if the item is hot and consistent, you can reload it from an existing ad, and it will list properly within a few days.

[solefoodbk]

On branded goods I don't like to keep the sold count high, although it does favor higher search rankings, keeping your listings cycled every 3 months or so prevents basically any type of spam flagging by customers.

I don't remember the last time I had a listing taken down by eBay for someone reporting it, maybe 2018? Maybe its not even a thing anymore, but in practice I still do this to be on the safe side.

[Alex_Pro_Etsy]

Originally Posted by solefoodbk

On branded goods I don't like to keep the sold count high, although it does favor higher search rankings, keeping your listings cycled every 3 months or so prevents basically any type of spam flagging by customers.

I don't remember the last time I had a listing taken down by eBay for someone reporting it, maybe 2018? Maybe its not even a thing anymore, but in practice I still do this to be on the safe side.

Yes, that’s an interesting point, I’ve honestly never thought about it from that angle.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind and start using this approach. Really useful info, thanks for sharing!

[Alex_Pro_Etsy]

Originally Posted by SaiJin

when a listing goes out of stock, the algo bumps it down...

hence why I never let it go out of stock..

Totally agree keeping listings in stock definitely helps with visibility.

For me, the first challenge is inventory. I’m a bit cautious about buying too much upfront, but that part is manageable.
The bigger issue is limits. I keep requesting increases, but they only raise them by a few dozen items per month. Sometimes buyers clean me out completely before I even have time to update the quantity on the listing.