If you've been selling on eBay for a while, you probably have some listings that seem to have disappeared into the void. Maybe they've been sitting for months with barely any views. Or maybe there are some watchers but nobody has bought the item yet.
One strategy you'll see recommended in eBay seller communities is to end those listings and use “Sell Similar” to post them again. Some sellers swear by it, but others have received little to no benefit.
Before you start relisting everything in your store, it helps to understand how eBay's different relisting options work, their price, and what sellers have experienced using them.
How eBay automatically renews listings
Most fixed-price eBay listings are “Good 'Til Cancelled”. Once you create a listing, eBay automatically renews it each calendar month on the day you originally created it until the item sells or you end the listing. You don't need to do anything to keep it active.
For example, if you list a jacket on October 10 and it hasn't sold by the following month, eBay renews the listing automatically on November 10. It keeps the same item ID rather than creating an entirely new listing. This keeps your inventory available for purchase without any extra work, although the automatic renewal doesn't guarantee an improvement in the item’s visibility.
Auction listings work differently. Eligible auctions can be automatically relisted up to eight times, depending on the original duration and whether the auto-relist option is available to the seller.
Source: eBay's relisting guide
How to manually relist an item on eBay
If a listing has ended without selling, you can relist it through eBay.
- Open Seller Hub and navigate to your unsold listings.
- Find the item you want to relist.
- Select “Relist”.
- Review the listing details, including pricing, shipping, photos, and other item specifics.
- Submit the listing.
You can also select multiple unsold items and relist them in bulk. Manual relisting creates a new listing ID, unlike a Good 'Til Cancelled renewal. However, eBay still maintains a relationship between the relisted item and the original listing.
If your goal is just to put an ended item back up for sale, “Relist” would most likely be the most straightforward option. However, if you're trying to refresh an active listing that hasn't attracted buyers, many experienced sellers use a different approach.
What is End + Sell Similar?
“Sell Similar” creates a new listing using the details from an existing one. Instead of entering the title, description, photos, and other information from scratch, you start with a copy of another listing and make any changes you want.
Some sellers use this feature to refresh older inventory. Here's how:
- Go to your active listings in Seller Hub.
- Find the item you want to refresh.
- Select “End listing”.
- Find the ended listing under Unsold.
- Choose “Sell Similar”.
- Review the information and publish the new listing.
The new listing receives a new item ID and start date, and its engagement history starts over. You want to make sure that the original listing has ended before creating the replacement as you don't want two active listings for something you can only sell once, unless you have multiple of the same item.
Before using this tactic on an older listing, check whether anything might need to be refreshed. Compare your asking price with recently sold items, make sure the first photo clearly shows the product, and check that your title includes the details buyers are likely to search for. It's also good to review the item specifics, since missing information can keep listings out of filtered search results.
Does Sell Similar actually help to increase sales?
If you spend some time on Reddit’s Flipping or eBay's community forums, you'll find tons of sellers who believe End + Sell Similar gives older inventory another chance to be seen. There's quite a bit of anecdotal evidence for doing it, but not everyone has the same experience.
In a February 2025 r/Flipping discussion, one seller tested the strategy on 22 listings that hadn't been selling despite previous price reductions and shipping changes. Within six days of using End + Sell Similar, four of those items had sold.
In another Reddit post, a seller had two similar items that had been listed for over six months, even though comparable items were selling for higher prices. After ending the listings and using Sell Similar, they updated the descriptions and rearranged the photos. One item sold less than two hours later for almost $100 more than its previous asking price.
Of course not everyone has seen the same results. In a September 2023 discussion, a seller reported getting more views and occasional watchers after using Sell Similar, but no noticeable increase in sales. Another seller found that spending less time repeatedly refreshing older listings and focusing on new inventory was a better use of their time.
These are individual seller experiences, so it's difficult to know how much of the improvement came from Sell Similar itself. Changes to pricing, photos, or descriptions could also influence the results. The results are mixed, but End + Sell Similar may be worth testing on older listings that aren't getting much attention.
Relist vs. Sell Similar vs. automatic renewal
| Method | What happens | Best used when |
|---|---|---|
| Good 'Til Cancelled | The listing renews monthly and keeps its item ID. | You want your fixed-price listing to remain active without taking action. |
| Relist | An ended item is listed again with a new item ID and a link to its earlier listing history. | You want to repost an unsold or ended item. |
| Sell Similar | A new listing is created using another listing's information. | You want to create a fresh listing or refresh older inventory using the previous details. |
Both manual Relist and Sell Similar can create new item IDs. Good 'Til Cancelled renewal keeps the existing ID.
Source: eBay Developers Program, ItemID on RelistItem
Is relisting on eBay free?
It can be, depending on your monthly listing allowance and the fees associated with your account. Sellers without an eBay Store subscription generally receive up to 250 zero-insertion-fee listings each month for eligible categories. Store subscribers may receive higher allowances.
That allowance covers more than just brand-new listings or listings created using Sell Similar. Good 'Til Cancelled renewals count toward the monthly allowance, as do eligible manually relisted listings. If you've used up your allowance, additional listings may incur non-refundable insertion fees. Optional listing upgrades and certain categories can also have separate fees. Before setting up a routine that refreshes older listings, check your available zero-insertion-fee listings and any applicable charges.
When should you relist an item?
If you have listings that have been sitting for months without much activity, it’s worth giving End + Sell Similar a try.
Listings that have been sitting for 60–90 days with little buyer interest are a good place to start. If you haven't tried End + Sell Similar before, pick a handful of those listings and see whether refreshing them makes a difference.
For example, imagine you have two jackets that have both been listed for 90 days. One has 8 views and no watchers. The other has 150 views and 12 watchers. The first jacket is a better candidate for Sell Similar. The second is already attracting buyer interest, so sending an offer to interested buyers may be more effective than ending the listing and losing its watchers.
You should also check whether the item is competitively priced. If similar items are consistently selling for less, creating a fresh listing at the same price probably won't solve the problem.
Try it on a small group of listings
If you're curious whether End + Sell Similar works for your store, you can run a simple experiment:
- Choose 10–20 older listings with relatively little buyer activity.
- Record their current views, watchers, prices, and listing age.
- End those listings and use Sell Similar to create new ones, keeping the prices and descriptions the same if you want to isolate the effect of refreshing them.
- Leave a similar group of older listings alone.
After a few weeks, compare the results to see whether the refreshed listings are getting more attention or selling faster. If there's no noticeable improvement, it might be time to revisit the pricing or listing details instead.
One exception to this is for unusual or collectible items. Some products naturally have a smaller pool of buyers and take longer to sell. A 120-day-old listing for a rare collectible isn't necessarily performing poorly just because it hasn't sold.
Can you automate End + Sell Similar on eBay?
Once you start refreshing older listings regularly, the manual work can add up. Ending and using Sell Similar on a handful of items is manageable, but doing it across hundreds of listings takes time.
Third-party seller tools can automate End + Sell Similar based on rules you choose. For example, you might want to refresh listings once they're 60 days old, exclude items with several watchers, and limit the number of listings processed each day.
As a reminder, Good 'Til Cancelled renewals and new listings can both count toward your monthly zero-insertion-fee allowance. If you're automating relisting, you want to know how many listings can be refreshed without unexpectedly incurring charges, so paying attention to fees is also important.
How Sellcrow can help refresh your listings
Sellcrow was originally built to automate End + Sell Similar for older eBay listings. Sellers can set their own relisting rules, including listing age and daily limits, without having to refresh items manually. We're also developing tools to help sellers track listing performance and decide when to relist, adjust prices, or send offers.
Sellcrow is currently in beta, and we're looking for eBay sellers to try it for free and tell us what they think.
Considering a Store subscription? Use our free eBay Store subscription calculator to compare listing allowances and selling fees at your monthly volume.
Sources and further reading
- eBay: Relisting items
- eBay: Selling fees
- eBay Developers Program: ItemID on RelistItem
- Reddit: I've always been skeptical that cancel and Sell Similar works
- Reddit: Anyone else feel like they have a dead listing?
- Reddit: Does Sell Similar still work to boost search rankings?
- Reddit: This may help someone
Before refreshing a listing, read why an eBay listing may not be selling to review traffic, pricing, and demand.