Standard features and upgrade options Types of photo uploaders Using the Standard or Basic Uploader Using the Enhanced Uploader Using the Copy Web Files uploader Replacing pictures Adding a watermark to your pictures Using Self Hosting for your pictures

Adding pictures to your listing helps you increase sales, gives your buyers a more accurate picture of what to expect, and distinguishes your listing from others of its kind. We offer different options for you to upload photos to eBay depending on your computer's software and your needs. You can also include photos that you've stored on another website.  

Standard features and upgrade options

You can add one picture for free with each listing. The picture appears in your listing and next to your item’s title in search results. You can also add up to 11 more pictures per listing. In some cases, fees apply for additional photos). We’ll store standardized copies of your photos on eBay, and they’ll stay in your completed listings for up to 90 days, so they can be re-used when you relist or sell similar items. 

When fees apply, your additional pictures plus the Supersize and zoom features are available for a single, discounted fee with the Picture Pack upgrade option. You can also use the Gallery Plus upgrade to show larger pictures that appear in search results.

Types of photo uploaders

An uploader lets you add (or upload) a picture to your listing. We offer 4 types of uploaders:

• Standard

• Basic

• Enhanced

• Copy Web Files

You can also use Self Hosting to display pictures that are stored on a website other than eBay. This option doesn't require uploading to eBay.

If you're new to eBay, you may see only the Standard or Basic Uploader. Which one appears depends on whether you have Adobe's Flash Player 9 or above installed on your computer.

When you add a picture to your listing, make sure the photo is at least 1,000 pixels on the longest side. If it's in JPEG format, it should have a quality of 90 or higher on the 0-99 JPEG quality scale. We'll then optimize it for display in your listing. You can upload pictures in these file formats:

• BMP (.bmp file extension)

• GIF (.gif file extension)

• JPEG (.jpg file extension)

• PNG (.png file extension)

• TIFF (.tif file extension)

Tip: Before you start the upload process, rename your photo files with names that will help you remember what they are, and put them in a folder on your computer where you can find them quickly and easily. For example, on a Windows PC, you can store your photos in the My Pictures folder.

Here's a closer look at our different uploaders and the Self Hosting options:

Using the Standard or Basic Uploader

Using the Enhanced Uploader

You can use the Enhanced Uploader if you're running Windows XP or above and Internet Explorer 6 or above on your computer.

For the Enhanced Uploader option to be available, you need to select the Show/Hide Options in the Bring your item to life with pictures section on the page where you create your listing.

Note: The Enhanced Uploader will be discontinued after July 2010. At that time, you'll automatically be switched to the Standard Uploader, or the Basic Uploader if you don't have Adobe's Flash Player installed.

Using the Copy Web Files uploader

You can upload your pictures from a website instead of from your hard drive using Copy Web Files. Your pictures will then be optimized automatically for use on eBay and will be stored by eBay.

For the Copy Web Files option to be available, you need to select the Show/Hide Options in the Bring your item to life with pictures section of the page where you created your listing.

Replacing pictures

We don't automatically overwrite and upload pictures that you've updated or edited on your computer. To replace a picture with a newly edited version, select Revise your item to delete the existing picture from your listing, and then upload the picture again.

Adding a watermark to your picture

If you decide to add a watermark to your picture, you have the choice of using our camera icon or your eBay user ID.

If your user ID is more than 24 characters, our system automatically shortens it to 24 characters. However, we won't watermark any picture that's less than 200 pixels on the longest side.

Here's how to add a watermark:

When you upload your picture, we'll apply the watermark you selected.

Note: The watermark you selected applies only to pictures you've just uploaded. Changing your selection won't add or remove watermarks from previously uploaded pictures. Watermarks also aren't supported for pictures that were uploaded using our simple listing form.

Using Self Hosting for your pictures

You can link to pictures you've stored on another website (sometimes called self-hosting) rather than on eBay. For example, if you store pictures on an online storage space that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) has given you, or on a website that stores pictures for you, you can enter the web address (URL) of a picture that's stored there using the Self Hosting tab. That picture will then appear in your listing.

If you don’t see the Self Hosting tab, select Add or remove options in the Bring your pictures to life section of the page where you create your listing. The Self Hosting tab will then be available (see the screen below).

To show more than one self-hosted picture on eBay, you need to use HTML in your listing, And to make your picture appear fairly quickly, the file size should be between 50 and 100 kilobytes (KB), depending on its dimensions. The maximum dimension should not exceed 1000 pixels so the picture can display without needing to scroll to view it.

Tip: If you already store pictures on another website or your own web server, consider using Copy Web Files for at least the first picture in your listing. That allows us to store a copy of the picture at the standard size used on eBay pages. It also reduces the traffic load on your website and, in most cases, loads the picture faster on the page.