3 min article

Creating a listing

Creating a listing is the first step in getting your item in front of buyers. We have a range of tools and options to help make sure your listing ends in a sale.

When listing your item, start by describing what you're selling. You can add photos, select the brand and physical details about the item, choose whether to use the auction or fixed price format, and set a price.

Finally, select which shipping options will be available to the buyer, a return policy, and how you want to receive payment.

Read more about filling in your Item description, condition and specifics below. We also recommend that you get to know our rules for sellers, our policies on prohibited and restricted items, and what's allowed and not allowed when listing and completing a sale.

Create a listing - opens in new window or tab

Item description

A perfect item description is clear enough to tell your buyer what they need to know at a scan, and yet detailed enough so that there can be no confusion around exactly what they're buying.

Be sure to include:

  • Your item's key selling points
  • Exactly what you're including in the sale. For example, if you're selling used electronics, list which cables it comes with
  • Full sentences with correct spelling and punctuation throughout

Item condition

You can sell almost anything on eBay, from brand new products to items that have signs of wear and tear.

It's vital you're honest and accurate about the condition of what you're selling so your buyer knows exactly what they're getting.

Your options for describing your item's condition vary by category. Some of your options include:

  • New – A brand-new, unused, and unworn item (including handmade items) in the original packaging
  • New (other) – An item with no sign of wear and tear that is missing its original packaging, or the original packaging has been opened and is no longer sealed
  • Seller refurbished – A tech item that has been restored to working order by the eBay seller or a third party
  • Certified - Refurbished – A tech item in like-new condition, refurbished by the manufacturer. The item will be in new packaging with original or new accessories
  • Excellent - Refurbished – The item is in like-new condition, backed by a one year warranty. It has been professionally refurbished, inspected and cleaned to excellent condition by qualified sellers. The item includes original or new accessories and will come in new generic packaging 
  • Very Good - Refurbished – The item shows minimal wear and is backed by a one year warranty. It is fully functional and has been professionally refurbished,  inspected and cleaned to very good condition by qualified sellers. The item includes original or new accessories and will come in new generic packaging
  • Good - Refurbished – The item shows moderate wear and is backed by a one year warranty. It is fully functional and has been professionally refurbished, inspected and cleaned to good condition by qualified sellers. The item includes original or new accessories and will come in a new generic packaging
  • New with tags / box – Clothing or shoes that are unworn, and still have the original tags attached, or are in the original box
  • New without tags – Clothing or shoes that are unworn, and don't have the original tags attached, or are not in the original box
  • Used – An item that has been previously used. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended
  • For parts or not working – An item that does not function as intended and is not fully operational

Item specifics

When filling in the specifics about your item, you'll find that some fields are required and some are not, depending on which category you're selling in.

Item specifics may include brand, size, type, color, style, or other relevant information about the item you're selling.

We strongly recommend providing as many of these specifics as you can to ensure that your item gets maximum visibility on both eBay and external sites such as Google Shopping.

If your active listings are missing the correct item specifics, you can use the Seller Hub Download/Upload file tool to quickly update them in bulk.

Simply download an excel copy of your active listings, update the necessary fields, and upload the file again.

Add item specifics to active listings using the Download/Upload tool

  1. On the Active listings page - opens in new window or tab, select Download - Missing required or recommended item specifics.
  2. Open the file and closely review the Instructions tab.
  3. Choose from the available values in drop-down menus or add your own values.
  4. Once you’ve completed your updates, save the Excel file in CSV format. Excel may give a warning that you can only save the worksheet you are on - make sure you’re viewing the sheet you’re trying to save.
  5. On the Active listings page, select Upload - Item specifics file.
  6. Select the CSV file you just saved to your computer and then it will begin the upload process.

Product identifiers

Product identifiers are essentially unique codes that can be used to identify a specific product. Most new and refurbished branded items have product identifiers on their packaging.

These identifiers can include brand name, Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)—such as a Universal Purchase Code (UPC) or International Standard Book Number (ISBN)—and Manufacturer Part Number (MPN).

For more information about item specifics and product identifiers, see our Seller Center page - opens in new window or tab.

Our listing tools

Quick listing tool

If you're a casual seller, our quick listing tool - opens in new window or tab provides the core features you need to start selling, and will walk you through the listing process step by step.

If you want to see more options in the quick listing tool, such as reserve price, duration and schedule listing, here's how to enable them:

  1. At the top of the listing form, select Change listing preferences.
  2. Check the Enable more options box and Save.
  3. Select More options.

Advanced listing tool

The advanced listing tool, which is available to all Seller Hub users, offers a clean design, improved listing features, and a unified listing experience across desktop and mobile web browsers. 

Scan to list tool

If you’re selling trading cards, you can now use the Scan to list tool in the eBay app to create your trading card listings.

The Scan to list tool can currently be used with specific trading card brands only, but will soon expand to include more brands. 

Read our article on the Scan to list tool for more information.

Seller Hub

As your sales on eBay grow, you may want to consider using Seller Hub - opens in new window or tab, a central place for managing your eBay business. It's free, consolidates all our selling tools in one place, and has helpful data and recommendations to help grow your sales.

You can find more information in our article on Seller Hub.

Tip
You can save drafts of your listings to finish later. You'll find your drafts on the Drafts - opens in new window or tab page in My eBay, or on the Manage drafts - opens in new window or tab page in Seller Hub. You can save up to 250 drafts through the quick listing tool on eBay.com and the eBay mobile app, and up to 5,000 through the single and bulk business listing tools in Seller Hub. Drafts expire 75 days after they were last edited.

Completing your listing

Our guides below have useful information on how to add images and categories, set buyer requirements, make changes to your listing after it's live, and more.

See all articles on completing a listing

Using the advanced listing tool

The advanced listing tool offers improved listing features, and a unified listing experience across desktop and mobile web browsers.

Adding pictures to your listings

Learn how to choose, edit, upload, and manage the pictures you use in your eBay listings.

Adding a category to your listing

Find out how choosing the right category can help you reach the right buyers.

Creating listings with variations

Discover how to create a single fixed price listing that includes all the variations you offer, such as different colors and sizes.

How immediate payment works

Find out how requiring immediate payment can help when you're selling a time-sensitive item.

Setting buyer requirements

Learn how to manage who can bid on, or buy, your items.

Creating 1-day listings

If you're selling something time-sensitive, such as food or holiday packages, 1-day listings can help you find a buyer quickly.

Multi-quantity listings

If you have more than one of the same item available for sale, create a multi-quantity listing to make all your stock available at once.

Selling templates

Find out how using listing templates can help simplify the listing creation process.

Revise a listing

Learn what changes you can make to a live listing and when you can make them.

Help us get better

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