eBay's Upcoming Policy Changes & How We're Helping Ensure You're Compliant

Have you any update on this point from your earlier post?

3. The supersized image page as you know it is going away but we are currently working on a replacement––so stay tuned.

As a result of eBay’s new link policy, we can no longer link to the Auctiva supersized image page. We are looking into a solution to replace this feature, however there will be a period of time where “super size” isn’t available. In the meantime, we will remove all supersized image links for new and already active listings, so that all Auctiva links and features will be 100% compliant with eBay’s link policy.

This really is important, as the listings look awful at the moment, with big gaps before the item description. I have had a number of my more regular customers contact me to express their disapproval, and I have no doubt that some potential buyers are put off by the amateur-looking listings.

I fully agree Vinylscot. The big images was the most important part of auctiva. If they can't come up with something then I don't see any benefit in staying. I can find free templates on the internet and the scrolling gallery is still free.

OMG! Using the link to the supersized images was one of the main benefits for me from using Auctiva!!!

If I had to change the photos from an old GTC listing, then I was able to access them from using the links to the supersize images, download the image to my computer and then edit the images. Then update the images onto the same listing saved in Auctiva's saved listings, get the HTML and replace it within the active listing, then manually update the images in the Gallery from the saved images on my computer.

Now I can't do that. And I don't see how I can find the images in my Auctiva Images folders that correspond to my active GTC listings! Is there a way to do this???

If I can't do this any more, I too will find no real purpose in paying for Auctiva...

Hello All -

At present, we have no updates regarding the changes for supersize images, but we understand the relevance of this feature and our engineers are working on a solution that complies with the recent eBay changes and we will update this thread and let you know as soon as we have more information regarding that.

- Craig

Hello all Auctiva posters - I have almost 1 GB of images in my account or 7,415 images as I have been selling on eBay for over 12 years using Auctiva! I am a long term loyal customer. I relied on Auctiva, and particularly the links between the images in the saved listings and the actual images saved in my Auctiva account!

But how am I supposed to find the images now with more than 7000 to trawl through? Previously, I used the link to the images via the super sized image link, and this worked a treat. Now I can't!!!

And as usual, we weren't informed about the change until after it was implemented! We weren't given warning that the super sized image links had to go plenty of time before it happened. for the last few days I have been trying to edit some GTC images without knowing why it didn't work and only today we get the message when we login to Auctiva:

"We’re Here to Help You
Comply With eBay’s Link Policy
Bla Bla Bla"

Its a bit late to help, after the link has been removed without letting us get ready for it first!!!

So is there no way at all that you can suggest looking for the images needed other than trawling through 7000 images to find the relevant images?

Hello javacentric -

We have approximately half of our templates updated with the new supersize images function, so listings posted using one of these templates will have the supersize images. As for your particular issue, please note that when you click to supersize an image from a listing you can then right click on the larger image and then select "Save Image As" to save the image or "Copy Image Location" or "Copy Image Address" to get the URL of that image on your system clipboard and then paste that into the address bar of a browser or a document for later reference if you wish.

The templates that currently have the supersize function are:
Alligator, American Pride, Antique Clock, Antique Flowers, Antiques, Aqua Ripple, Aquarium, Arcade Machine, Art Nouveau, Art Tease, ArtDeco, Artistic Flowers, Asian Bloom, Bamboo, Bamboo Parchment, Basic Blue, Basic Boxes, Black and Tan, Blue Planet, Blue Sky, Bookcase, Books, Business, Butterflies, Camo, Camping, Chrome, Circles, Clean, Clear Sky, Coastal, Collectibles, Color, Colorful Pattern, Colorful Squares, Comic Book, Country Kitchen, Country Lane, Curly Copper, December Snowflakes, Diamonds, Eco, Fairies, Fall, Field, Field of Sunflowers, Flames, Floral, Floral Silhouettes, Forest, Fresh Line Spring, Golden Dots, Gray Diamond, Gray Floral, Green Leaves, Halloween Graveyard, Home and Garden, Jewelry, Jewelry & Watches, Kitchen, Lavender, Lilies, Lone Tree, Magic Green Stars, Misty, Music Notes, Nature, Nautical, Palm Beach, Pastel , Pastel Halloween, Plain White, Professional, Rainbow Field, Red Honeycombs, Rose, Rustic, Scary Pumpkins, Scroll, September Fall, Simple, Simply Black and White, Smart Handhelds, Space, Sports, Spring Ladybug, Streamline Deco, Summer Sunset, Sunflower, Sunset, Tool Wall, Toys & Hobbies, Train, Tyres, Vintage Art, Vintage Border, Vintage Cars, Vintage Military, Violets, Vivid Lilies, Water Lilies, Water Waves, Wedding Day, White Wildflowers, Wild Flowers, Wooden, Happy Easter, Easter Vibes, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Celebrating Moms, St. Patrick's Day, Lucky

and we expect to have the rest of the templates updated with this functionality in the near future.

- Craig

quote:

Originally posted by Auctiva Craig:
Hello javacentric -

We have approximately half of our templates updated with the new supersize images function, so listings posted using one of these templates will have the supersize images. As for your particular issue, please note that when you click to supersize an image from a listing you can then right click on the larger image and then select "Save Image As" to save the image or "Copy Image Location" or "Copy Image Address" to get the URL of that image on your system clipboard and then paste that into the address bar of a browser or a document for later reference if you wish.

- Craig

That is what I used to do!!! All of my active listings are in an old template as they are GTC listings -how do I change the old templates in the active GTC into a template with the supersize function? And how will this then link with the images in the saved listings? If I have to find the images again in order to change over the template, how do I find the images again in my 7000 plus images that have no name or number order system (as I haven't needed to do this ever before due to the fact that I could always find them from the super size link which is now no longer there)?

Hello javacentric -

Unfortunately, at this time, there is no tool that will allow you to change out the template on an active listing in bulk. We are looking into developing such a tool and I will certainly update this thread when there is more information available regarding it.

In order to change the template on a Saved Listing (which you can do in bulk using the Advanced Edit option on the Saved Listings page) you just need to either use Advanced Edit (if you want to use the same new template on a batch of listings) or click the link "Choose Different Template" for an individual listing which would not require you to add the images to the listing again; the images already associated with the Saved Listing remain in that listing when you change the template. When using the new templates, be sure to select an appropriate number of images in the template selector window - you can set that to 24 if you want to ensure that you can always add the maximum number of images, there is no adverse affect if you select a higher number in the selector than you have in the listings.

At that point you can either end the GTC listings and then post them again from Saved with the new templates, or you can use the steps below to update the already active listings that are eligible for revision on eBay.

- Click the Get HTML button to the right of the item on your Saved Listings page with the icon: </>
- use the Select All button and then copy the HTML in the popup window that shows
- Locate the item on eBay and open the "Revise Your Item" form.
- Scroll down to the "Description" section and then make sure that it is on the HTML tab.
- Delete the existing description HTML, paste the copied HTML in its place, preview your changes and continue and confirm your changes.

If you run into any difficulty with this, please feel free to file a support case at any time from under the Help tab of the site letting us know where you've run into an issue and we'll be happy to assist you.

- Craig

quote:

Originally posted by Auctiva Craig:
Hello javacentric -

At that point you can either end the GTC listings and then post them again from Saved with the new templates, or you can use the steps below to update the already active listings that are eligible for revision on eBay.

- Craig

So there is no bulk way to revise the Auctiva template on active listings.

If we end our GTC listings, then we lose our sales history and the advantage this has in the eBay search engines. THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION!

So that means we have to revise all our saved listings and then to revise our active GTC listings ONE BY ONE!!! That is not really a great solution, especially for sellers who have many listings. I have about 500 and others have many, many more than that!

Why didn't Auctiva work on real solutions to the problem, before changing everything including super sized images??? So at least we sellers could be prepared for the eBay changes that made the Auctiva changes happen? Eg, instead of just "looking into developing" a new super size function for images that complies and also a tool that will allow you to change out the template on an active listing in bulk, why didn't you guys work on that BEFORE the super sized image was GONE?!

Hello Natasha and Craig - can either of you respond to my concerns sent to you 2 days ago.

I have been a paying customer for over 10 years now, and these changes are so abrupt and catastrophic that I would think you would have the courtesy to respond to me.

Let me pose two more simple questions as well for you to answer:

Question 1 - Why didn't you have an alternative for the super sized images ready before you terminated the current super sized image feature? (you had an alternative for the Scrolling Gallery ready for the changes, why not the super size?)

Question 2 - if you knew you were not going to offer an alternative to super size images before its termination, why didn't you give us customers warning that there would be a gap in this service, in order for us to get ready and fix what we needed to fix before it was terminated?

Hello javacentric -

Apologies for the delay of our response, unfortunately, we are not typically available to respond to posts over the weekend.

No - there is no way to bulk revise templates on active listings and the steps I have provided are currently the only means of doing so without ending a listing and then reposting it after it has been revised in Saved. Due to the variety of ways in which templates can be added to listings and that listings can be edited on eBay after they have been posted, there are a variety of factors that make building such a tool that would be effective in most template circumstances more complex for active listings.

The circumstances surrounding the change to the links policy and, as a result, the use of the supersize page were different than other changes eBay has recently required and we needed to ensure that our solution was compliant with eBay while providing a very similar experience for the supersized image function. Unfortunately in this case, those changes took a bit longer than anticipated and hence the timing difficulty.

We expect to have the remainder of the templates updated with the supersize functionality in the very near future and apologize again for the difficulties represented by this issue.

- Craig

Once again I received warnings from ebay regarding active content: "2 of your listings contain(s) non-secure HTTP content. Starting in October 2017, Google Chrome—the browser used by almost half of all eBay buyers— will begin displaying the message "Not Secure" in the address bar when users visit standard HTTP pages or HTTPS pages that include non-secure HTTP content. We encourage you to immediately remove this content." I have also filed a support case.

Hello itsjustme -

Thank you for filing a case - we'll need to have a look in your account at the specific listings to determine what the cause of that message may be. Please understand that the tool that we have running on accounts that deals with the HTTP content is only operating on Auctiva content that is within listings. If there are other elements, such as links or images in listing that are not Auctiva based, out tool would not update HTTP to HTTPS for those listings. Please also note that our tools are unable to update listings that are not eligible for revision on eBay.

There is a tool that can be used to review individual listings for issues like this and active content available here.. You can add an item number to the tool and click "Scan" and the tool will check the listing for eBay compliance. Once it has scanned your listing, if you click on the "HTML View" tab, it shows you exactly what and where there are elements of the listings that are not compliant.

Please also be aware that at this time, we are experiencing a significant increase in support cases so it may take us a bit longer than usual to respond to your case, but we do respond to cases in the order that they arrive.

- Craig

I opened a case a while back because ALL of my listings were deemed HTTPS non compliant. After some back and forth with the support staff. It was determined that there was an issue with the conversion that Auctiva did to make sure the images are all compliant. So I had to find the solution and it turns out that one image that is on EVERY single listing I upload is not HTTPS compliant. So I changed default profile to show the photo as HTTPS:// and the link to Auctiva's image servers. And BOOM I'm off and running. No real help from support other than somehow the listings didn't get updated. That was 21 days ago or so. Now eBay is notifying me again that I have non compliant HTTPS links. WTF?? I don't link to anything in my listings NOTHING except Auctiva images. Sure enough I look and now images that were uploaded within the last 2 weeks and the listing built in the same time frame are non compliant.. what gives Auctiva??? I can open a support ticket, but the last time I did. I was the one who found the solution. Not Auctiva. What am I paying for?

Hello Spunkybob -

we'd need to have a look at your account and the specific listings to have a good idea of where and what the issue may be. Please keep in mind that we do have tools that run consistently over accounts to assist with active content and the HTTP to HTTPS conversion, and that these tools get updated with new information as we encounter issues that are less common or much older and unexpected than others.

Our images are hosted on HTTPS servers and have been getting delivered to eBay in that format for a considerable time now, so in order to address any issues you are seeing, we'd need to have a look into it.

Please also note that in the last post I made on this thread there is a link to a tool that can be used to scan individual listings that will show exactly where any issues with eBay compliance are in the HTML of a listing. If you do not wish to file a support case you can make use of that tool to locate the specific issues that eBay is reporting. Please feel free to file a support case letting us know a few item numbers where eBay has informed you of a difficulty and we'll be happy to take a look for you.

- Craig

Craig, thanks for the reply. The link to the tool. Yes I used that tool when I was having issues before. It was helpful in determining that there was an issue with the image I use in all of my listings. I will open another ticket. I will also post the item #'s in that ticket. But I am going to say publicly now that if I have to go through each listing to individually add an 'S' to the http:// link that points to my images that are hosted by Auctiva. I will not be a happy customer. I post several hundred listings and I don't have the resources to fix each individual listing. So with that said... I will open that ticket now.

Hello again SpunkyBob -

Please note that we have bulk tools available for Saved and Active listings. It sounds like you are referring to your already active listings, and you should be able to make your updates to listings that are eligible for revision on eBay using the Bulk Revise tool on the Active Listings page of your account. In that tool there is an option for updating the description, which is where the images are (excepting the Header and eBay gallery images, which eBay makes copies of so they should already be HTTPS) and if your images are Auctiva hosted or hosted on a secure server (if you use a custom template for example) you should be able to use the Find and Replace tool for the descriptions to update instances of http to https as needed.

Please also be aware that at this time we are experiencing a heavy support load so it is likely that there will be a delay in our response to your case as we respond to support cases in the order that they arrive, but we will respond to you and the specifics of your case just as soon as we are able.

Thank you for your patience.

- Craig

AS it turns out, eBay sent the message that I had issues with my listings. Turns out I don't have issues with the listings. Thanks again eBay for wasting my time because eBay can't code their own software.

Oh and thanks for your help Craig.