This guide shows you how to create a listing on eBay by hand, field by field, using eBay's own seller guides as the reference. If you dropship and need listings at volume, the last sections cover a faster route. Ecomli is a non-API browser extension for eBay dropshippers that works through the eBay seller account already signed in to your Chrome browser.
Quick answer: To create a listing on eBay, open the Listings tab in Seller Hub, select Create listing and search your item by name or UPC. Choose the condition, add up to 24 photos at least 500 pixels on the longest side, write a title of up to 80 characters, fill in item specifics, set the format, price and shipping, then select List it.
How to create a listing on eBay: the short version
eBay's listing form asks for the same core details on every item. The order below follows eBay's export guide for ebay.com sellers, and each step gets its own section further down.
- Start a single listing from the Listings tab in Seller Hub and search for your product.
- Pick the condition.
- Add photos, plus a video if you have one.
- Write a title of up to 80 characters.
- Choose the most relevant category.
- Fill in the required and recommended item specifics.
- Add variations if you sell several sizes or colors in one listing.
- Write the description.
- Choose fixed price (Buy It Now) or auction.
- Set the price, quantity and Best Offer.
- Set shipping, handling time and returns, or apply saved business policies.
- Select List it, or Save for later to keep a draft.
If you are brand new to eBay, start with our full guide to selling on eBay for the bigger picture on sourcing, pricing and growing an account. This post stays on the listing form itself.
Before you start: set up your eBay seller account
You need a seller account before you can create a listing on eBay. eBay's registration guide says to open the My eBay menu on any eBay page, select Selling, and create your account with the registration form or by signing up with Google, Facebook or Apple.
eBay then takes you through seller registration. You verify your phone number with a one-time security code and choose an account type. Pick Personal if you sell as an individual, or Business if you are a registered business such as a sole proprietorship, an LLC, a corporation or a partnership.
Business accounts add details such as the business name, type and address. Payouts go to a bank account or a Payoneer account depending on the country you registered in, and eBay verifies your details before it releases payouts.
eBay also sets monthly selling limits, which it says are "designed to help you grow your business in a manageable way." It reviews them monthly based on your sales volume and buyer feedback, and you can see yours under Monthly limits on the Seller Hub Overview tab. Our guide to growing your eBay selling limits explains how to raise them.
How to create an eBay listing, step by step
These steps follow the single-listing form in Seller Hub, using the field names from eBay's export guide. Seller Center tips are added where eBay gives more detail.
Step 1: Start a single listing and find your product
In Seller Hub, open the Listings tab, select Create listing and choose Single listing from the dropdown menu. eBay's registration guide also shows a List an item option under Selling in My eBay.
Type the item's name or a product identifier into the search field. eBay recommends identifiers such as GTIN, UPC, EAN, ISBN or MPN because they help match the exact item in the eBay catalog. If none of the suggested products fits, select Continue without match and enter the details yourself.
A good match saves typing later, because eBay has set up prefilled item specifics to help sellers create listings.
Step 2: Choose the condition
Select whether the item is new or used. Seller Center asks sellers to be accurate and transparent about condition, and notes that describing the item accurately can reduce the chance of a return.
For a used item, show any imperfections in the photos and mention them in the description so both tell the same story.
Step 3: Add photos and video
eBay accepts jpeg, png, gif, tiff, heic and bmp files, and each photo must be at least 500 pixels on its longest side. You can add up to 24 photos per listing, and Seller Center recommends 1600 x 1600 pixels for sharper images.
Your first photo appears in search results, so make it your best shot with the item centered and fully visible. Shoot against a white or neutral background and skip flash and filters. eBay does not allow added text, artwork, logos or watermarks, and borders are only allowed when they are a natural part of the photo.
Stock photos are not allowed for pre-owned items. A video can be up to 150MB or about one minute long, in mp4 or mov format.
The optional Gallery Plus checkbox displays a large photo in search results, and eBay says it may add a listing fee whether or not the item sells. For more on sizing, see our guide to eBay photo size and resolution.
Step 4: Write a title of up to 80 characters
eBay gives you 80 characters and tells sellers to use as many as they can. Include the brand, model or type, color, style and model number, and leave out special characters and irrelevant words.
An optional subtitle appears in eBay search results in list view, but it is an optional listing upgrade with a fee charged whether or not the item sells. The Custom label field holds anything you want to track, such as your own SKU number. Our 80-character title formula shows how to order the words.
Step 5: Pick the category
Pick the category that is most relevant to your item. Store categories are optional if you run an eBay Store, and so is a second category. eBay warns that a second category may carry an extra listing fee whether or not your item sells.
Step 6: Fill in item specifics
Item specifics are the labeled details of your item. eBay asks for the required ones first, such as the product type, then recommended ones such as color and style.
Seller Center says adding item specifics helps increase the chances of appearing in a buyer's search results. Recommended fields are optional, but filling them in gives buyers' searches more details to match. For field-by-field help, see our eBay item specifics guide.
Step 7: Add variations for multiple options
Variations let you list several versions of an item, such as sizes or colors, in one multi-quantity, fixed price listing. eBay offers them only in select categories.
If you can't see the Variations section, go to the Pricing section and select Edit, set the Auction toggle to off and select Done. Variations need the fixed price format, so an auction setting hides them.
Dropshippers selling sized or colored products can go further with our variation listings guide for dropshippers.
Step 8: Write the description
Seller Center suggests including the item's brand name, style and model numbers, along with any unique qualities.
eBay recommends sticking to one typeface in black, 14pt. HTML content won't display on the first page of your View Item page on mobile, so keep the key facts in plain text near the top. eBay also does not allow links to other websites, with a few exceptions.
For examples, read what to write in an eBay description. If you want the same layout on every item, see our roundup of eBay listing templates.
Step 9: Choose auction or Buy It Now
By default, the listing uses the fixed price format (Buy It Now), with Price and Quantity fields. Seller Center calls fixed price ideal for multiple items or when offering variations like size, and suggests auctions for rare, limited edition or high-demand items where buyers compete by bidding.
For an auction, set the price, an auction duration and the starting bid. Under See pricing options you can set a reserve price, add a Buy It Now option or schedule the listing. A reserve price is an optional upgrade that carries a fee whether or not the item sells.
An unsold auction can be auto relisted up to 8 times without insertion or optional listing upgrade fees. Our comparison of auction vs Buy It Now goes deeper on picking a format.
Step 10: Set the price, quantity and Best Offer
Seller Center's advice is to set a price that is fair for you and attracts a buyer's attention. Its Product Research tool, in Seller Hub or the eBay app, shows how similar items are priced.
To create a multi-quantity listing, keep the fixed price format and enter how many you have in the Quantity field. To let buyers make offers, switch on the Allow offers toggle, which eBay's fee page says is free to enable.
Our explainer on how Best Offer works on eBay covers handling offers once they arrive.
Step 11: Set shipping, handling time and returns
You can go with eBay's recommended delivery options, if available, or select your own. On ebay.com, domestic shipping means the United States.
To sell abroad, enable the slider next to Add additional international service. For heavy items, you can offer local pickup so the buyer can collect in person.
In the Preferences box, set your order handling time, item location, and domestic and international returns. Use Excluded locations for regions you don't want to ship to.
Business policies save your shipping, payment and return settings as templates you can reuse across listings, so you stop retyping them. Our business policies setup guide shows how to create them once.
Step 12: List it or save a draft
At the bottom of the page, eBay shows the total amount of fees that will apply. If the button reads List it for free, there is no fee for listing the item, but a final value fee applies when it sells.
A red warning box on the form means some information is missing or invalid. Select List it to publish, or Save for later to keep the listing as a draft you can revise and list later.
Listing fields at a glance
Keep this table open while you fill in the form. Each common mistake below ties back to a rule or tip in eBay's own guides. For dropshippers, Ecomli's Create Listings fills these fields from supplier facts, and Safety Shield screens each draft before it publishes.
| Listing field | What to enter | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Product search | The item name or an identifier such as GTIN, UPC, EAN, ISBN or MPN | Typing a vague name when the box shows a barcode number |
| Condition | New or used, described accurately | Overstating condition, which raises the chance of a return |
| Photos | Up to 24 photos, at least 500 pixels on the longest side, best shot first | Adding text, logos, watermarks or borders |
| Title | Up to 80 characters with brand, model or type, color, style and model number | Special characters or irrelevant words |
| Category | The most relevant category for the item | Adding a second category without noticing it may carry a fee |
| Item specifics | Required fields plus recommended ones such as color and style | Leaving recommended fields blank |
| Variations | Sizes or colors in one multi-quantity, fixed price listing | Leaving the Auction toggle on, which hides the Variations section |
| Description | Brand, style, model numbers and unique qualities in one black 14pt font | Adding links to other websites |
| Format | Fixed price by default, or an auction with a duration and starting bid | Running an auction for stock you hold in quantity |
| Price and Best Offer | A price based on similar items, with Allow offers on if you accept offers | Setting a price without looking at how similar items are priced |
| Shipping and returns | Delivery options, handling time, item location and returns, or saved business policies | Retyping the same settings on every listing |
What it costs to create a listing on eBay
eBay's Seller Center says it's free to list and you only pay a fee if your item sells. That holds for up to 250 zero insertion fee listings a month, or more if you have an eBay Store, and after that most categories charge a $0.35 insertion fee per listing.
Past the allowance, eBay charges the insertion fee for the original listing and each time you choose to relist, and the fee is non-refundable if the item doesn't sell. Good 'Til Cancelled listings count toward your monthly zero insertion fee listings each time they renew. A few categories set their own insertion fees.
Optional listing upgrades cost extra and are charged whether or not the item sells. Seller Center names subtitles and auction reserve prices as examples, and eBay's listing guide says Gallery Plus and a second category may carry fees too. Turning on Allow offers is free.
When the item sells, most categories charge a final value fee of 13.6% on the total amount of the sale up to $7,500 per item, plus 2.35% on any portion over $7,500. A per-order fee is added on top: $0.30 for orders of $10 or under and $0.40 for orders over $10. The total amount includes the item price, handling charges, shipping costs collected from the buyer, sales tax and other applicable fees.
Category exceptions and eBay Store subscriptions change these numbers, so see our breakdown of eBay's listing and selling fees before you price a range of products. To work out the fees on one sale, use our guide to calculating eBay fees or the $100 example in the FAQ below.
After you list: edit, relist and drafts
You change a live listing with Revise. In Seller Hub, open Manage active listings, tick the box beside the listing and choose Edit from the dropdown menu. In My eBay, open Active under Selling and select Revise from More actions.
eBay charges no fee to revise a listing unless you add a special feature. You can generally change the title, photos and optional upgrades at any time, and lower the price on a fixed price listing or on an auction with more than 12 hours left and no bids. Duration and format usually can't be changed, though Seller Hub's Actions menu can switch a fixed price listing to an auction.
Auctions with bids are stricter. With more than 12 hours left you can add to the description, add photos and add a second category, but you can't change the format, duration or starting price. With under 12 hours left you can add upgrades and answer buyer questions, but you can't edit the description or change shipping details.
A listing saved with Save for later becomes a draft you can revise and list later. To put an ended item back up, follow our guide to relisting an item on eBay, and to update stock on a live listing, see changing the quantity on an eBay listing.
Creating many listings: where the manual form stops scaling
The form works well when you create a listing on eBay one item at a time. Every listing still needs a product search, photos, a title, item specifics, a description, pricing and shipping. A dropshipper who needs to create eBay listing pages for hundreds of supplier products repeats all of that for each one.
eBay has its own bulk options. Seller Center lists a Bulk Listing Tool in Seller Hub that creates, relists or revises multiple listings at once, Seller Hub Reports for uploading inventory in CSV or XLS files, and feed and API routes such as the Merchant Integration Platform. eBay also points sellers with larger numbers of listings to third-party tools and notes there may be costs.
Bulk uploads speed up the posting, but you still supply the titles, descriptions, photos and prices for every row. Our guide on how to bulk list on eBay covers the spreadsheet route, and our comparison of eBay listing software covers third-party tools.
Ecomli is our product, and it is our pick for dropshippers who source from Amazon and AliExpress and need an eBay listing tool that turns supplier products into published listings. The table puts it next to eBay's own options.
| Option | How listings get created | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Ecomli (our product) | Pick Amazon or AliExpress products and press Start. Ecomli writes the AI title and description and publishes the listing. | eBay dropshippers sourcing from Amazon and AliExpress |
| eBay Bulk Listing Tool | Creates, relists or revises multiple listings at once in Seller Hub | Sellers listing a moderate number of items (eBay rates it medium volume, easy) |
| Seller Hub Reports | Uploads inventory in CSV or XLS files | Sellers comfortable with spreadsheets (eBay rates it high volume, intermediate) |
| Merchant Integration Platform | Uploads inventory through CSV or XML feeds, up to 25 MB per file | High-volume sellers with technical help (eBay rates it advanced) |
| eBay listing form or app | One listing at a time, as covered above | One-off items and occasional sellers |
Plans start at $29/month, and the Ecomli pricing page lists what Starter, Pro and Scale include.
How to do this in Ecomli
Ecomli is a non-API browser extension for eBay dropshippers. It works through the eBay seller account already signed in to your desktop Chrome browser, so there is no API connection to authorize.
Start with Product Hunting. It researches an eBay seller's sold history and listings and matches them to Amazon or AliExpress, or searches Amazon keywords and Best Sellers, with filters for price, reviews, Amazon FBA and AliExpress Choice. The Product Hunting overview has more detail.
Then pick your Amazon or AliExpress products and press Start, and Create Listings handles the rest. Ecomli writes the AI title and description, applies your pricing rules and templates, and runs Safety Shield and the duplicate checks automatically, then publishes the listing to eBay. Safety Shield screens products and AI copy for flagged brands and restricted items as a checkpoint. Our walkthrough on how to bulk list on eBay compares the other bulk routes.
Once listings are live, Stock Monitoring checks supplier stock and prices for your Ecomli listings, then updates eBay price and quantity or ends out-of-stock items using your rules. If a supplier read fails, the listing is held unchanged. The automation overview covers the rest of the workflow.
Ecomli suits dropshippers who list Amazon or AliExpress products on eBay and want listing and supplier upkeep handled in one place. If you only sell a few used items from home, eBay's own form or app is the simpler choice.
Frequently asked questions about creating eBay listings
Can I create a listing on eBay from the app?
Yes, Seller Center points sellers to the eBay app for several listing tasks. The camera icon captures your item and finds matching listings with current prices, Product Research shows how similar items are priced, and the photo tools include automatic background removal and AI-generated backgrounds. Have the same details ready as on desktop: condition, photos, title, item specifics, price and shipping.
How much does it cost to create a listing on eBay?
Up to 250 listings a month carry no insertion fee, or more with an eBay Store, and most categories charge $0.35 per listing after that. Optional upgrades such as subtitles and reserve prices cost extra whether or not the item sells. When it sells, most categories charge 13.6% of the total sale up to $7,500, plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order.
How much does eBay take from a $100 sale?
As an illustration, if a buyer pays $100 in total for an item in a most-categories listing, the final value fee is 13.6%, or $13.60, plus the $0.40 per-order fee, for $14.00. eBay calculates the fee on the total amount of the sale, including shipping and sales tax. Category exceptions, optional upgrades and insertion fees past your free allowance change the total.
Can I save an eBay listing as a draft?
Yes, select Save for later at the end of the listing form instead of List it. eBay saves the listing as a draft, which you can revise and list later. The seller registration flow works the same way: if you start a listing before you have finished registering as a seller, eBay saves it as a draft while you complete setup.
How do I edit an eBay listing after it's live?
Use Revise. In My eBay, open Active under Selling and choose Revise from More actions, or tick the listing on Seller Hub's Manage active listings page and select Edit. Revising is free unless you add a special feature, and while title and photo changes are usually allowed at any time, auctions with bids or under 12 hours left have tighter limits.
Why can't I create a listing on eBay?
Look at the form first, then the account. A red warning box means some information is missing or invalid, and a missing Variations section means the Auction toggle is on or the category doesn't offer variations. If you've hit your monthly selling limit, eBay may end listings created over it, and you can request a limit increase or wait for your allowance to renew.
What is a private listing on eBay?
A private listing hides the user IDs of bidders from anyone viewing the active listing, except the seller. Even the seller sees only the high bidder while the listing is active, and sees the winning bidder once an auction ends. It works on auction and fixed price listings, and eBay's developer documentation advises using it only when you have a specific reason.
What is the easiest way to start selling on eBay for a beginner?
Register through the Selling link in My eBay, then list one item you already own using the single-listing form. Searching by UPC or ISBN helps match eBay's catalog, and eBay prefills item specifics to help you create listings. Keep the default fixed price format, use eBay's recommended delivery options, and save business policies once you list regularly.
Ready to run this on your own eBay store? Get started with Ecomli → Plans from $29/month · 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · cancel any time.
Sources
- eBay: How to create a listing, step-by-step guide (listing steps, photo and video limits, variations, pricing options, shipping, drafts, fees on the form)
- eBay Seller Center: Create great listings (80-character titles, item specifics, condition, description, formats, app tools)
- eBay Seller Center: Take great photos (resolution, 24 photos, first photo, backgrounds)
- eBay: Photo tips (500-pixel minimum, borders, watermarks, stock photos)
- eBay Seller Center: Seller fees (free listings, insertion fee, final value fee, per-order fee, upgrades)
- eBay: Selling fees for eBay sellers (zero insertion fee allowance, Good 'Til Cancelled renewals, what the sale total includes)
- eBay: How to revise a listing (Revise steps and auction restrictions)
- eBay: How to register as a seller (account types, phone verification, payouts)
- eBay: Selling limits (monthly limits and limit increases)
- eBay Seller Center: eBay bulk listing tools (Bulk Listing Tool, Seller Hub Reports, Merchant Integration Platform)
- eBay Developers Program: Private listings (what a private listing hides)
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