Hello,

I have a few questions about the design of a products database. Basically, we are creating a database that will store listings of products, similar to the way eBay stores their auctions. I am not trying to duplicate their database design…I would just like to know how the tables could be set up to do this.

EBay allows a user to select a category for the product…then, depending on the category the user selected…they can enter specific data that is related to the particular category they chose.

Example 1: A user selects the Real Estate category. Then, the user is able to provide a predetermined set of characteristics about their real estate: square footage, type of real estate, number of bedrooms, etc.

Example 2: A user selects the Automobile category. Then, the user is able to provide a predetermined set of characteristics about the automobile: transmission, interior color, exterior color, make, model, etc.

They do this for a number of their categories.

I am wondering if anyone has any input on how they store this data. I am sure they use a table to store general information about the product. Then, I am sure that they store the category related data in other tables.

If anyone could help me understand how this works, as far as table relationships, I would be extremely grateful. If possible, an example would be great!!

Thank you very much.

I would recommend,

Products (Product_id, name, cat_id)
Categories (cat_id, title, description)

Computer_Products(Product_id, etc)
..
etc.