It’s no secret….for online shoppers, images sell. And since eBay likes when things sell, starting on July 1st, they’ll be enforcing new photo requirements that are intended to improve picture quality and overall usability for buyers.
In this post, we’re going to go over what’s changing with their picture policy, and also discuss how conforming to eBay’s new rules can help out eCommerce sellers in other areas as well.
Overview of eBay’s New Picture Requirements
There are a few things changing with eBay’s picture requirements, including image size, borders, watermarks and text. Let’s cover them one by one.
Image Size
On July 1st, all product images on eBay will have to be bigger. More specifically, they’ll have to be at least 500 pixels on the longest side.
While bigger images do sell better (and eBay has data to back this up), this can be a big issue for some sellers, especially those that sell hundreds or thousands of items and don’t want to simply resize smaller photos, as that will dilute quality and could have the opposite impact….which would be fewer conversions.
If you’re in this boat, a couple possible strategies include checking with your manufacturer to see if they can supply larger images. If not, or if you only sell used items, you can start with your more popular items and work your way down your catalog with new photography. You can also consult with a graphic designer to see what they may be able to do with your existing photos.
Borders
When the new rules go into effect, eBay sellers will no longer be able to have borders on any images. eBay says the only exception to this is if you have a “natural” border that results from photographing on a neutral background. So, sorry sellers, unfortunately no more branding with borders.
Text & Artwork
There’s also no more text or artwork allowed on eBay images. Occasionally sellers would use text or artwork as a way to further brand their business or call out some type of deal, such as free shipping on that product. eBay says anything you have to say about your products should be said in the title, subtitle or description.
Watermarks
eBay sellers can continue to convey ownership with watermarks after July 1st, but they can’t cover up the image, they can’t contain any marketing messages or links, and they can’t be more than 5% of the total image area while remaining faint….meaning an opacity of no more than 50%.
No Pictures = No Listings
You can no longer have eBay listings without at least one photo. If you’re selling something that can’t be easily photographed or isn’t actually a physical product, like a vacation getaway, eBay actually suggests that you browse the web to find a photo that is representative of what you’re selling…..but beware of copyrighted images!
Stock Photos
Selling used items? If so, say goodbye to using stock photos. Starting July 1st, if you sell anything that is used and it is not a book, movie, music or video game, you can no longer use stock imagery and you’ll have to get an actual photo of the product.
Going Beyond eBay
So….I think needless to say….there are a whole bunch of eBay sellers that aren’t entirely thrilled with these new requirements, and for good reason. Many sellers are doing just fine with the way things are now, and some will have to invest a good chunk of time and/or money to conform to these new rules.
However, since I’m a “glass half full” kind of guy, I wanted to take a moment to look on the bright side of all this. As I mentioned earlier, images sell, and as more computer and mobile displays become high resolution, they’re getting even more important. eBay isn’t the only one taking notice. Google recently updated its Product Feed Specifications to recommend that merchants with Google Shopping feeds update their product images to be at least 800 pixels in height and width.
So, getting back to the bright side, if you are working with smaller product images right now, the nice thing about updating them is that hopefully it will also allow you to make improvements within other marketplaces, on your website, as well as in other marketing channels.
Look to Your Fulfillment Provider for Help
Many eBay sellers outsource their order fulfillment. Here at eFulfillment Service, we provide eBay fulfillment services to many, many merchants around the world. For those merchants, because we offer digital product photography as an add-on service, we’re able to make their lives even easier by pulling inventory from storage, photographing their products, and then restocking them.
If you’re an eBay seller that outsources order fulfillment, check with your service provider to see if they may be able to help. Or, if you’re looking for more of a turnkey solution with your order fulfillment, let us know, we’d love to see if we’re a good fit to fill your eBay and other orders.
I find this entire conversation ridiculous. It’s not hard to upload high resolution photos. If you have a digital camera, I’m sure it takes pictures with a higher resolution than 500px x 500px. Probably 4x – 10x that. So just take the picture(s) and upload it, your pictures should’ve been a higher resolution to begin with. If you have to retake them to comply, then retake them, it might be hard and time consuming, but business changes, and so do online standards. High resolution does matter these days. As a seller, I scale mine down to 1600px on the longest side, and it’s fast and easy. As a buyer, it’s nice to have a detailed, up close view of the item you’re about to buy. If people were allowed to fill their images with sale stickers, huge logos, arrows and info, etc, eBay would look like a jumbled mess, and these ads all over pictures would be frustrating and distracting. Because we’re not allowed to do this, it creates a level playing field, the focus should be on the item being sold, not 50% off, FREE SHIPPING, MADE FROM 100% SILK, HIGH QUALITY CRAFTSMANSHIP, with the item in the background. It sucks that people had to retake so many photos, but hey, it’s better than opening a real shop. SO SHUT UP PEOPLE, or I will come smack you all in the mouth, and shove Legos in your eyes.
hi
this is a pathetic innovation…i am new seller and this new requirements froze my aims, plans, and business line.
ebay wants to filter us. ebay is fine with top sellers i think
highly disappointed.
Anthony, you obviously know totally nothing about marketing !!!!
he’s a buyer..not seller …complete benefit to him.
I couldn’t disagree or agree more! As a small seller offering British car parts all the ebay changes over the years has caused me extra time & frustration when for 7+ years everything has worked just fine. Pressure is put on the seller who without ebay would not have buyers. I understand the the big sellers need to have guidelines but perhaps there should be a line in the sand for us small sellers. I’ve noticed they do not police policy changes very well as I still see other parts sellers without proper descriptions, not offering returns etc. while I’ve made every attempt to comply.
Thoroughly confused over pic resizing as I’ve received different suggestions. My camera is 8 mega pixels & photos are taken at 3264×2448 with 180dpi (same camera for 7 years). My computer tech suggested a resizing program called “picasa” Wonderful editing program with many enhancing options. I’ve resized photos to 500, then 500+ then 1600. Every time I try to relist I still get the gray screen-NO PHOTO! I also understand that only the gallery photo (main listing pic) needs to be resized, all others not?
Can anyone give me a clue as to what is actually needed?
Followup to previous comment
I haven’t been able to list or relist items since the photo change went into effect. Normally I have over 100 parts listed My email is full of ended listing noticess from ebay so I’ve lost 100’s of dollars in sales while inventory just sits on the shelf. My Ebay fees average 11.8% of sales + Paypal fees & for that kind of money I expect some consideration. Come on ebay, this doesn’t have to be complicated
I just use photoshop to quicly covert photos for ebay standarts. quick, free and good result
Just tried to sell on eBay Have done it before. Now can not figure out how to include photos so can not use ebay any more
I just returned back to ebay to sell and actually opened my first store! I spent fifty hours photographing images and cropping and adjusting light and adding my mark to prevent unauthorized copying. I had NO IDEA ebay changed their photographing policy and not I have to redo the whole thing! What a sham…it’s just another way for them to make EVEN more money because now you will have to pay for a second line. There’s a thing called CROP and PASTE ebay! They can still steal your photos if your watermark isn’t allowed to cover part of the picture you spent 50 hours perfecting. So let me see I pay a monthly fee to post, get charged 10% of everything I sale, pay Paypal 5% and then I am penalized if I tack on handling charges. I had no idea it would take 25% of my sales. This is crazy. It’s cheaper to open a web page and sell directly. I won’t be here long. Just until I get enough stock to do that. This is very disappointing and every time I call to try to learn something that’s changed – I get someone who can’t speak English enough to fully understand my question. I get better training by sellers posting helpful hits on Youtube. Again, “just visiting this place”. They have too much of a monopoly and it’s gone to their heads. A billion dollars in profit in one year isn’t enough – they need two billion. I feel socialized!!
This is 2015 not 1996, asking for at least 500px on the longest side is more than reasonable. Someone commented that Amazon allows 160px. That is why they are full of terrible photos. I’ve run across countless items where the pictures where so small that you couldn’t tell what the picture was of.
I would also like to see them put a stop to using a logo as the primary image. I see this all the time. Now, while someone mentioned using their company logo, this is not what I’m seeing. What sellers are doing is using the logo for the company that makes the product they’re selling.
This is ridiculous, eBay customer support is useless, nobody even knows what they are talking about (what else do you expect from outsourced CS that doesn’t have English as a primary), I can even resize my 400×400 photos to 500×500 and they are barely even noticeably lower quality and they don’t meet the “HD” requirements or whatever. I’m considering selling other places, luckyily for me I’m new to selling on eBay and don’t have much invested here.