We’ve suspected for a while that picture standards will change for UK sellers. This means that the days of decorative borders and text are over! So, let’s take a look at the new UK picture standards.
All eBay UK listings previously came with 1 free gallery picture. The update means that sellers get up to 12 free gallery pictures per listing. This came into effect on August 1st 2013. ( This is only true for new listings or relisting a ended item, inserting extra images into the description field free of charge is still allowed)
Starting in September – sellers will need to provide a minimum of 1 gallery picture per listing. However, stock images won’t be acceptable for any used items.
As from October – all pictures in your listings must comply with eBay’s new picture standards. This means:
· No borders
· No artwork
· No text
· You can still use a minimal watermark for copyright purposes
· The minimum size for pictures will be 500 pixels for the image’s longest side. You will be able to use images of up to 1,600 pixels.
Exemptions
Listings in the Tickets, Motors and Vehicle Parts and Accessories will be exempt from the updates.
How does this affect sales?
Well, eBay advises that using good quality images increases sales, which is very logical! Buyers want to see what they’re purchasing and decorations and text get in the way. So, the updates can help you to fine tune your images for optimum sales. eBay has already rolled out its eBay feed, so great pictures are now more important than ever.
However, many sellers have mentioned that they are waiting in anticipation for the new picture tools. These will help sellers identify what needs to be revised on their listings. eBay has promised to deliver the tools swiftly, so it can help sellers to comply with the new policies. Hopefully the new picture standards will be fully enforced to ensure that all sellers are on an equal footing.
