How to list on eBay

Pick the website tool or the app

On the website, eBay gives you three ways to start a listing:

• The quick listing tool is a guided, step-by-step form eBay built for casual sellers.
• The advanced listing tool sits inside Seller Hub and has more features.
• Scan to list reads a product barcode and fills in the details from eBay’s catalog.

In the eBay app, go to the Selling page and select List an item. You can scan the barcode there, shoot photos straight into the listing and fill out the same form.

Listings sync across your devices, so you can start on your phone and finish on a computer. Drafts save as you go, up to 250 in the quick listing tool and 5,000 in Seller Hub’s bulk tools, and each draft expires 75 days after your last edit.

Add up to 24 photos

Every listing needs at least one photo and can hold up to 24. eBay’s rules for each file:

• At least 500 by 500 pixels, with about 1600 by 1600 recommended.
• A 1:1 or 16:9 shape, which eBay says looks best.
• Up to 12MB, in JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, WEBP, HEIC or AVIF format.

TipMake the first photo the whole item, face-on. It’s the main photo, the one buyers see next to your title in search results, and for a bundle it should show every item in it.

Skip badges, logos, copyright notices and watermarks, because eBay says they can affect where your listing places in search. If the item is used, eBay doesn’t allow a catalog or stock photo, so shoot the actual item from every angle, flaws included.

In the app, tap a photo and then the Background icon to swap in plain white or an AI-generated studio, surface or outdoor scene.

eBay’s own pages give two numbers here. The help article on pictures allows 24 photos per listing, while the Seller Center page on selling sneakers tells sellers to “use up to 12 of your best photos.” The limit is 24, and the sneaker page is advice.

Write a title of up to 80 characters

You get 80 characters, and eBay’s Seller Center says to use as many of them as you can. Put in:

• The brand
• The model or type
• The color and style
• The model number, if there is one

Leave out special characters and words that don’t describe the item. These are two of eBay’s own example titles:

Ann Taylor Women's Sweater 100% Cotton Black Yellow Sleeves Size 6
Nike Boys Blue Lace-Up Sneakers Size 3 AB0011-234

A subtitle of up to 55 characters costs extra. Title formulas by item type are in our eBay listing template guide, and eBay SEO covers how titles work in search.

Choose the category

eBay suggests a category from your title. If it guesses wrong, use Search categories or Browse categories to pick the right one.

Check it before you fill in anything else, because the category decides which item specifics and condition options the form shows you.

You can add a second category, but it carries an insertion fee even when the listing itself is one of your free ones. eBay may also move a listing whose category doesn’t match the item.

Fill in the item specifics

Item specifics are the labeled details of the item, such as brand, size, color, material and model. Buyers filter search results by them, and eBay says your item only appears in a filtered search if the matching specific is filled in.

• Required specifics have to be filled in before the listing can go live.
• Recommended specifics are the ones eBay picks from what buyers search for.

Our eBay item specifics guide lists what common categories require and how to look up yours.

Watch outFor clothing and shoes, pick the size from eBay’s Size drop-down. After August 26, 2026, eBay may hide apparel and footwear listings from buyers until their size matches one of its standard values, such as “M” in place of “Medium”.

Set the condition

The condition choices change with the category. A few examples:

• Clothing uses New with tags, New without tags, New with imperfections, and Pre-owned in Excellent, Good or Fair.
• Shoes use New with box, New without box, New with defects and Pre-owned grades.
• Electronics and Business & Industrial use New, Open box, Used and For parts or not working.
• Books use Brand new, Like new, Very good, Good and Acceptable.
• Trading cards and coins use Graded or Ungraded.

eBay treats the correct condition as part of its selling practices policy. Describe every bit of wear in the condition notes and show it in the photos.

That matters because under the eBay Money Back Guarantee, a buyer can return an item that doesn’t match its listing even if you don’t accept returns.

Write the description

The description is where you say what’s included, what works and what doesn’t, and give the measurements. eBay’s rules and advice for it:

• Use a base font size of 16 pixels and nothing smaller than 12.
• Expect phone buyers to see a shorter version first, called the mobile description summary.
• Leave out JavaScript and other active content, which eBay has banned from listings since June 2017.
• Put shipping, payment and return details in their own fields, not in the description.

Copyable description templates for general items, clothing and electronics are in our eBay listing template guide.

Choose Buy It Now or auction and set the price

Buy It Now

You set the price and buyers can purchase right away. Two settings help it sell:

• Best Offer lets buyers send an offer that you accept or decline.
• The quick listing tool can lower the price automatically every 3 days, down to a minimum you set.

Auctions

You set a starting price and buyers bid, and eBay says a low starting price can draw more interest.

• The 1-day option only appears once your feedback score is at least 10.
• Unsold 1-day and 3-day auctions can relist as 7-day auctions.
• A Buy It Now price on an auction has to be at least 30% above the starting price, so a $10 start needs $13 or more, and it disappears once the first bid comes in.

Finding the price

Search eBay for the same item and check completed listings in Advanced Search, which show what similar items sold for. For some items, the listing form shows eBay’s own price recommendation, based on recently sold similar items with fees left out.

You can schedule a listing to start up to 3 weeks ahead, and eBay.com shows listing times in Pacific time.

Set the shipping

In the quick listing tool, enter a fixed shipping cost or let eBay calculate it from the package weight and dimensions. You can also offer local pickup from a ZIP code you enter, or offer both.

In the advanced listing tool, the Shipping section goes in this order:

1. Pick Standard shipping, Freight or Local pickup only.
2. For standard shipping, choose Flat rate, which charges every buyer the same, or Calculated, which changes with the buyer’s location.
3. Add a shipping service, then enter what the buyer pays, or offer free shipping and pay it yourself.

Calculated shipping needs the package weight and dimensions. Once the item sells, eBay recommends uploading tracking within the handling time you stated.

Set the return policy

Every listing has to state if you accept returns. Your choices are:

• No returns
• 30-day buyer-paid returns
• 30-day free returns
• 60-day buyer-paid returns
• 60-day free returns

Some categories also allow 14-day returns. Save your policy under Business policies in Seller Hub or My eBay, and you can reuse it on every listing.

Decide whether to promote the listing

Promoted Listings are eBay ads you add from the Advertising tab in Seller Hub, and you choose which listings go into a campaign. There are two kinds:

• A general campaign charges an ad rate, a percentage of the item’s total sale amount, and only when the item sells within 30 days of a buyer clicking your ad.
• A priority campaign charges for each click.

eBay presents promotion as a way to get a listing more visibility.

Publish the listing and know the fees

Review the listing and publish it. Every month you get up to 250 listings with no insertion fee, or more if you have an eBay Store.

After that, most categories charge $0.35 per listing, and that fee isn’t refunded if the item doesn’t sell. Some categories work differently, for example:

• Guitars & Basses have no insertion fee.
• Men’s and women’s athletic shoes have none when the starting price is $150 or more.

When an item sells, most categories charge a final value fee of 13.6% of the total sale up to $7,500 and 2.35% of anything above that. On top of that comes a per-order fee of $0.30 on orders of $10 or less, or $0.40 on orders over $10.

Put in your own numbers with the eBay fee calculator.

eBay can remove a listing that has gone a year or more without a sale, so check your oldest Good ’Til Cancelled listings for a price or photos that need fixing. If you’re deciding what to list next, read our guide to what sells best on eBay.