Worried about eBay's upcoming Active Content Policy? Here's how we can help you...

Natasha,

When do you expect Auctiva to actually make the changes? Ebay is sending us emails indicating thousands of listings still containing the active content, so a time-frame would be appreciated.

Also, you mention that some templates still contain active content. How do we know if we are using one or several of those? Do you have a list? And what do we do about it if we are? End and then revise those listings here I assume? I need to identify now if that is also going to be a problem.

Thanks!

Hi wjoycem,

The Scrolling Gallery and View Counter auto-upgrades are available for all Auctiva sellers and since we have millions of active listings to process an exact completion date is unknown. But let me assure you, come June, even if listings still contain a piece of active content, they will still be live and purchasable on eBay–the only thing that will change is that portion of the item description that contained active content will no longer render, or will not be visible to the shopper.

You can use eBay's test tool (located just above the item description of your listing) to see if the template you're using, or if any other piece of your listing contains active content.

When you Edit and Relist a listing through Auctiva you will get the new active content-free Scrolling Gallery, View Counter and Images plus, you'll have an option to easily remove the Listing Template before you repost. & Once the new active content-free Listing Templates are available, we'll be sure to let you know.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Natasha

I checked all that is prescribed in this notice and yet I got a warning from the eBay about 200+ of my listings having active content to be removed.
I need some help figuring out what is wrong - how can I get clear guidance on the matter.

Hi abridav,

You can use eBay's active content test tool (located just above your eBay item description) to see which listings, and which part of your listing's item description contains active content.

If you have older versions of the Auctiva Scrolling Gallery or Sellathon Counter in your listings we will automatically remove those old tools and replace them with the active content-free version(if the listing is eligible for revision). If you'd like to receive these auto Scrolling Gallery and View Counter upgrades, just ensure you have an active token with us. Please note: we have millions of listings to process so this will take some time to complete. Although I do not have an exact completion date, you will receive an Auctiva Account Message letting you know it has completed, where you'll be able to verify the results of the update.

If you do not want to wait for the auto-upgrades you can End, and then Edit & Relist the listing from Auctiva, which will ensure the listing gets the new active content-free Scrolling Gallery and View Counter. If the Auctiva listing template you are using contains active content, you can remove it from the listing when you're using the Auctiva "Edit and Relist" tool(the new active content-free templates will be available sometime in April).

Please let me know if that answered your question, or if you have any other questions/concerns.

Sincerely,
Natasha

Natasha,
My last question: will the auto upgrades happen when I do bulk edit and relist rather than each individual item?
Thank you for your time,
Anna

Hi Anna

At this time you would need to use the "Edit and Relist" tool for each individual item. On the Closed Listings page, when you use the the Edit & Relist tool (the arrow and pencil button) you'll be able to remove the template and upon relist you'll get the active content-free Scrolling Gallery & View Counter.

If you're listings only need to have the Scrolling Gallery updated, you can contact our Customer Support Team and they'll be able to upgrade the Scrolling Gallery within your active listings. But if you need to remove the template and/or upgrade to the View Counter you will need to use the Edit and Relist tool.

Best,
Natasha

Natasha,
risking to sound stupid and tech-ignorant - what does "if you have to change the template" mean?
I use one of the auctiva offered templates - how do I know if I need to change it?
When doing the preview on the ebay my listings look no different from the Auctiva preview- does this mean I should relax and leave you alone )), but
then why am I getting the eBay warnings?
Also - eBay published the list of "acceptable partners". I was hoping to see "Auctiva" among them but I did not - any reason for that?
Thank you for your prompt responses.
Please note that I love using Auctiva and would hate to leave it, but if it becomes very cumbersome and confusing to manipulate between to sites I guess I would have to ((
Anna

Hi Anna

Don't worry there are no "stupid" questions here, that's what the community is for When using the eBay active content test tool you can see if your listing contains active content, this will help you identify if the listing template you're using needs to be changed. But I'm curious why you're still getting the warnings–do you use externally hosted images (non Auctiva hosted images), or have you used Auctiva's image protection tool in the past?

We've been an eBay selling tool for 18 years, but I'm not aware about the list your referring to, can you provide a link to the 'acceptable partner' list? You can see here eBay does acknowledge Auctiva as one of their 3rd party listing tools: http://pages.ebay.com/seller-c...s.html#m22_tb_a2__13

Sincerely,
Natasha

The list of recommended companies is in the latest newsletter: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/ite...s.html#alternatives,
under the title: Need Help Managing Active Content?
I use only Auctiva hosted images, I am not aware of image protection tool, where is it?
Below is the list of the item I received, maybe you can check few and tell me what is that I am missing,

Active content type Number of listings Sample listing IDs
JavaScript
244
272578315831, 282384362407, 282384362410, 282384362414, 272578315832, 272578315842, 282384362423, 272582728995, 282387366706, 282391069962
Plug-ins or Flash
240
272578315831, 282384362407, 282384362410, 282384362414, 272578315832, 272578315842, 282384362423, 272582728995, 282387366706, 282391069962

Your replies are MUCH APPRECIATED!
Anna

Hi Anna,

Thank you for providing the link I will look into this. Please note just below that list you provided you can see eBay does acknowledge that there are other 3rd party tools, including Auctiva, that will be active content compliant. The image protection tool is located in your account preference. I'm glad to hear you listing looks good with the eBay test tool, but unfortunately I cannot debug your listings–I would suggest using the active content tools eBay has provided or perhaps reaching out the eBay support team for the specific reason why you're still getting those notices.

Best,
Natasha

Hi Natasha!
- it is the scrolling gallery that is not compliant! I hate to do my 400 listing one at a time, should I wait till the promised Auctiva tool is available, put a request for support team or....
What is your best advice?
Thank you for patience ,
Anna

Hi Anna,

Glad you were able to identify the issue! If you reach out to our Customer Support Team they can help you out–just let them know you'd like to upgrade the scrolling gallery within your listings. They'll be able to run a command that will upgrade the old version of the Auctiva scrolling gallery to the new active content-free version for all listings eligible for revision.

Sincerely,
Natasha

Natasha, Thank you for your excellent support - I filed a case with the technical Support,
Best regards,
Anna

Worried? No I'm TERRIFIED. I remember when Auctiva changed their description editor. Destroyed every saved listing I had. They had no answer for me and I was furious.I have thousands of saved listings, many that have not even been uploaded yet that my daughter did. I'm expecting the worst and am already investigating other sites in case I have to bail out of Auctiva. I simply have no time to correct thousands of listings.

I might suggest that this time you should not worry - all my listings are edited by Auctiva with no active content problem. Also I realised that in the worst case scenario all you loose is the scrolling gallery and the counter - your listing will look the same unless you insert anything else from the outside of Auctiva sites. After the initial panic period I am quite content))

From what I see when I preview an existing ebay listing - yes all I lose is the scrolling which is fine. I just never know though what might be overlooked. When they changed the description editor years ago they never looked at descriptions that were using HTML that was not supplied as their generic. I was using a different type face. What happened was every description had the black type changed to white, with a white background, hence an empty box. They could not explain it, nor could they fix it, and I blasted them and their programming staff so hard I got kicked off the forums. I accused them of using third world programmers for their coding and told them if they worked for me when I was in IT they would all be fired. In the end from following the forums I found out indeed, they had outsourced their description editor, something they did not admit to in the beginning. At the time I had about 1000 saved listings on Auctiva and it took a long time to fix them. Now its about 5000 or more. Indeed I will not not worry until such time that I have to post one of these saved listings and it posts OK.

Hi AramA,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We understand the importance of being active content-free and are here to help.

1. I see you mentioned that in eBay's active content preview tool, our Scrolling Gallery does not show. This means that, that listing has an older version of the Scrolling Gallery.
Starting April 18th we will begin automatically upgrading the all older versions of the Scrolling Gallery and Counter to the new, active content-free tools. So you're listings will soon contain the active content-free Scrolling Gallery that's 100% compliant with eBay's upcoming policy!
This service only effects active listings, so all of those saved listings your daughter made will still be there unaffected.

2. If you are subscribed to any of Auctiva's paid plans:
We're providing a free, remove all active content service that will start on the 18th. This will ensure all of your active listings that are eligible for revision are compliant with the upcoming policy.

If you only use Auctiva tools and Auctiva listing templates, you do not need to worry. Your listings will look the same and will be completely active content-free.

If you use a template that was designed outside of Auctiva that contains active content, this service will also remove all active content from that listing which may alter the display. Because we cannot guarantee the integrity of listing templates built outside of Auctiva you can choose to opt out of this service.

If you use a listing template that was built outside of Auctiva and do not want active content automatically removed, you can opt out
To opt out, just sign in to your Auctiva account, check the "Do not remove active content from my listings" checkbox, and then click continue.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Natasha

Your frustration is understandable - Let us hope your bad times with Auctiva is over!

Hi Natasha,

No, I only use Auctiva templates and tools. I've been with you since the early days when you still had Mr Lister which was a wonderful offline listing tool. I do check the boards from time to time just to see what is going on. I use only the basic listing service and use it also for inventory purposes across other sites. Hopefully this will be a smooth transition

Greg