| Auction Orbit - Get The Picture Icon to
Show Next To Listings |
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If
you are hosting your ad images on a server other than eBay's
own, then you may have ran across the problem where the little
picture ( )
icon does not appear next to your item title when searched
for. One major setback with not having the picture icon next
to your ads is that people will have no way of telling if
your ads contain images, and thus they may move on to a simular
auction with pictures. I will now cover three ways of getting
the camera icon to show up in your auctions when you are NOT
using eBay's picture service.
| Method
#1 |
Link
to an actual image |
| Method
#2 |
Link to an invisible
image (perserve your ad layout) |
| Method
#3 |
Use eBay's selling
page feature |
|
Method #1 - Linking to an Actual Image
If
you are hosting your images on a seperate server and
do not mind an additional image in your listing, then
you may follow these instructions. The only downside
to this is that by using an actual image to get the
picture icon to appear, the picture you specify will
appear at the bottom of your ad (or other preset positions).
If you are not worried about your ad's design or are
not showing that particular image elsewhere in the ad
then this method works perfectly.
1.)
You will need to obtain the actual image URL (address)
of the picture you want to use to have the picture icon
appear. An example address is: http://www.volcanicsoft.com/images/title.jpg.
2.)
Fill out the sell-your-item page on eBay or whatever
software you use to get your items listed on eBay as
usual. When you get to the picture services portion,
select the 'Your Own Web Hosting' tab.
If you aren't using the form on eBay's website to list
your items, the method of getting to use your 'own web
hosting' section may differ.
3.)
Enter (or paste) the image URL you obtained back in
step 1. The image you enter will automatically give
your listing the picture icon but will also place the
image you enter at the bottom of your ad.
4.)
Finish the listing as usual. If you wish to add a gallery
image to your listing you need to insert the same (or
different) image path in the 'Gallery Picture
URL' field.
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Method #2 - Linking to an Invisible Image
If
you use an ad creator program (such as Dominant
Ad Creator) or your own HTML to create your listings,
then you may not want an additional image to show up
in your actual listing as would happen if you used method
#1 above to get the picture icon to appear. This can
be solved simply by using a tiny blank image
in place of an actual one. This way, it will not disrupt
the way you designed your ad and the picture icon will
still appear as it should. Two blank 1 x 1 pixel images
that you may use are available from the URLs below (either
one will work fine).
Path 1: http://pics.ebay.com/aw/pics/dot_clear.gif
Path 2: http://www.volcanicsoft.com/ebay/clear.gif
1.)
Fill out the sell-your-item page on eBay or whatever
software you use to get your items listed on eBay as
usual. When you get to the picture services portion,
select the 'Your Own Web Hosting' tab.
If you aren't using the form on eBay's website to list
your items, the method of getting to the 'own web hosting'
section may differ.
2.)
Enter the address to the tiny blank image you wish to
use. Any of the two paths mentioned above will be fine.
3.)
Finish the listing as usual.
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Method #3 - Using eBay's Selling Page Feature
If
you are using the form found on eBay's main website
to list your item, then a feature has been added which
allows you to simply check a box to have the picture
icon appear. The reason I went over the above two methods
is because although this feature seems to work most
of the time, people have reported that even with it
checked the picture icon does not show up. Also, if
you are not using the standard selling form, you may
not have this feature available on the software you
use.
1.)
Fill out the sell-your-item page on eBay or whatever
software you use to get your items listed on eBay as
usual. When you get to the picture services portion,
select the 'Your Own Web Hosting' tab.
If you aren't using the form on eBay's website to list
your items, the method of getting to the 'own web hosting'
section may differ.
2.)
Simply check the box that reads, 'The description already
contains a picture URL for my item.'
3.)
Finish the listing as usual.
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