If your eBay account contains items with duplicate SKUs, Marketplace Management will not import your full inventory. Here's how to use Marketplace Management and eBay to correct SKU errors and ensure a full import.
On every marketplace you have the ability to assign a SKU to differentiate your products, and while eBay doesn't use SKUs to differentiate between items, sellers can enter SKU details into a field called "Custom Label". Marketplace Management uses SKUs to identify and skip duplicates during the import process.
If your eBay account contains items with duplicate SKUs/Custom Labels, we will not import your full inventory. This includes both individual listings and variations.
The only way to make Custom Label edits or remove listings entirely is through your eBay Seller Dashboard. Once edits have been made on the marketplace, you will be able to import your full inventory into Marketplace Management .
How to Identify Duplicate SKUs Using Marketplace Management
Once Marketplace Management has received your inventory file from eBay, you will be notified on your account dashboard if duplicate SKUs are located. Follow the link in your notifications panel, and you will be prompted to download a file that contains duplicate SKU information.
How to Fix Duplicate SKUs on eBay
To fix these duplicates, log into your eBay seller account and update the Custom Label field. You can do this within the eBay Seller Dashboard by clicking edit on your listing and updating the Custom Label (SKU) field individually. You can either differentiate the SKU by editing the Custom Label or you could delete the duplicated product all together.
If you are going to delete the duplicate you must hit "delete" not retire listing.
The fastest way to update the Custom Label for your products in eBay is in bulk through the File Exchange tool. This can be found under Seller Hub -> Reports or click the link here.
In File Exchange navigate to Select Template (Listings) -> Type (Edit price & quantity)
Correct the duplicate SKUs that were in the Marketplace Management duplicate download and upload the File Exchange CSV file back to eBay. Most sellers will append their SKU with a dash and number to differentiate it or delete the SKU entirely.
When done, navigate back to Marketplace Management, and click Settings > Integrations > eBay. Select "Import" to repeat the process.
How do duplicates happen on eBay?
eBay utilizes the eBay Item ID as a way to relist your products without having to re-construct the listing. When an item it set to re-list, a new item ID is created, and the previous listing is moved to Inactive. There are settings that will prevent this situation from happening moving forward and these can be established within eBay and Marketplace Management.
In a situation like this we will see an item be marked as inactive a long time ago and then the same item is re-listed later down the line with the same Custom Label. There are circumstances where two entirely different items are listed with the same Custom Label and one of them will just need to be deleted.