Push notifications are cheap to enable and expensive to ignore. Most eBay sellers either turn them off entirely (missing critical events) or enable everything (drowning in noise). Neither is right. This post covers the exact set of alerts worth waking up for and the ones to filter out.
The 5 must-have alerts
1. Cancellation request received. eBay gives you a 1-hour window to respond before the platform auto-approves. Missing this window damages defect rate. Push notification with sound priority is warranted.
2. Best offer with 15+ minute expiration. Offers expire quickly on eBay. A 24-hour offer window still means the buyer often clicks elsewhere within 30 minutes. Fast accept/decline captures conversions.
3. New negative or neutral feedback. Response window matters — replying within 1 hour with a professional resolution message can flip the outcome. Delayed responses look defensive.
4. Sudden impressions drop (>25% day-over-day). Early Cassini demotion signal. Catching it at day 1 vs day 5 is the difference between prevention and recovery.
5. Payment dispute opened. These require documentation and prompt response. Missing the initial response window automatically favors the buyer.
The 3 alerts to disable
Every new order. Once you're above 20 orders/day, this becomes background noise. Batch-check every few hours instead.
Listing view milestone (100 views, 500 views, etc.). Vanity metric with no action required. Disable.
Watchlist activity. Watchers rarely convert on their own. Not actionable in real time.
Configuration by seller size
Under 500 listings: All 5 must-haves enabled, order notifications OK because volume is low enough not to spam.
500-2000 listings: 5 must-haves + disable order notifications. Add batch daily summary of pending offers.
2000+ listings: Same as above + add "top 20 SKU impressions dropped" as a weekly digest (not push).
Notification hygiene
Configure iOS/Android to allow eBay app critical alerts through Do Not Disturb (Focus modes). Emergency alerts (cancellation, dispute) should bypass silent hours; vanity alerts should respect them.
Test your setup monthly. Cancellation windows have been silently missed because a Focus mode update reset the app's alert permissions.
Profitio's mobile app uses this exact filter set by default — all 5 critical alerts on, everything else disabled. Free 14-day trial.