Unhide Shipping Options on Your Active eBay Listing
“Oh no, I forgot to add an International shipping option to my current eBay auction! I tired to update the listing but I don’t see the option for International shipping! Where is it?”
Sound familiar? It might because while the eBay simplified listing form is designed to make listing an item on eBay easier, many important options get hidden. If you don’t know how to unhide these options, it’s very easy to forget something. In the case of this Internationally shipping dilemma, here’s how to edit a listing and add that option.
Before jumping into the steps for revising an active listing, keep in mind that eBay applies some restrictions on this process. Determining factors include the following:
- Selected selling format
- Remaining time on the active item
- Whether or not an item has received a bid
If you attempt to revise and active listing and find a particular section highlighted in gray, then you cannot revise that part of the listing. Read the eBay help document, Changing your Listing for more details on revision restrictions.
Assuming in this situation the shipping section is not highlighted in gray, the following steps demonstrate how to unhide the International shipping options.
- Log into your eBay account and go to “My eBay”
- On the left hand side of the My eBay view look for the “Selling” link and click on it
- The current active listings appear. Each of these listing has a drop-down arrow under the Action column.
- Click on the arrow and select Revise from the list of options
- Scroll down to the Shipping section of the listing and click on the question mark next to the word “shipping.”
- An option for “More help” or to “Show/Hide Options” appears. Click on Show/Hide Options.
- The customize form dialog box appears with “shipping” selected. Click on the drop-down arrow and three shipping options appear: Single flat rate, 3 domestic services, and 3 domestic and 3 international services.
- Select the last option and click on the save button
- Back in the shipping section of your listing you now see a section for Domestic shipping and beneath that one a section for International shipping.
- Select your 3 International options and make any other necessary changes
- Scroll to the very bottom of your listing and click the Save and Continue button
- Preview your changes to make sure everything appears as expected and save your changes
While these steps described how to unhide the International shipping options, that basic process works for unhiding other options you might not see on a listing’s form. This simplified listing form works well but don’t forget that some options might get hidden automatically. Just remember, if you don’t see something you need, just click on the “question mark” icon next to a section to bring up the customize form dialog box where you can hide and unhide various options.
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Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips
Wow! I just stumbled upon this site looking for eBay help outside of eBay. I didn’t have the problem described here, but I have wondered what happened to some options. This really helped. Thanks.
Glad you found the site. Guess that Google search really does work.
Also, I’m pleased you found this post helpful. Please keep visiting.
Interesting. Is this the kind of material you cover in your eBay intro course?
Yes, I cover topics such as this one in my eBay course. I like to focus on helping people get comfortable with buying and selling on eBay. While eBay is a great resource on the Internet, it can be fairly intimidating to newer users. “Supportive guidance” is an important part of the class.
Thanks for the comment.
[...] Tears didn’t start to fall but I was disappointed to learn that eBay’s original “Sell Your Item” form will cease to exist after May 2007. The old form’s replacement has been in production for the last six months, and while it looks “nicer” it doesn’t reveal all available listing options by default as the old form did. So what’s the big deal? Simple, if a listing option doesn’t appear by default, it’s all too easy to forget the option exists or pull your hair out in frustration when you can’t find a specific option (e.g. International shipping). Fortunately turning on all available listing options is very simple. [...]
Hi. I am trying to edit the shipping information on a listing, but when I click the question mark and go to the customize form box, I don’t have the option of choosing other services.
My problem is that I overestimated the size of the box and the shipping quotes that potential buyers see if very high. Any ideas?
Changing the shipping option on an active item gets tricky. EBay has different rules for what you can change depending on the type of listing and where in the selling process your item is sitting. You might be in once such situation (see this page from ebay for details on restrictions http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/edit_listing.html). If you find you’re stuck because of eBay’s change restrictions, consider ending the listing early so you can completely edit the shipping options and then relist the item. It might cost you a few bucks but it might worth it so you can at least sell the item. Your other option is to add a note to the listing informing perspective buyers that the shipping costs are incorrect and that you will adjust accordingly after the auction or just quote a flat rate.