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Adding eBay Images
On a previous page, we discussed the concepts of obtaining suitable eBay photographs and uploading those images to a web server. In this chapter, we'll
cover the procedures and basic HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) code to get those images into your auctions. The following instructions are provided for those wishing to use third party web server space such as that
provided by America Online and many internet access providers. They do not apply to uploading images to eBay's image hosting service (easy, but expensive if more than one image is desired).
First, let's review the steps required to insert images. They are:
1. Obtain the image(s)
2. Upload the image(s) to a web server (FTP)
3. Place HTML code in your auction listing that links to the image(s)
To display images in an eBay auction, HTML code is used. HTML is a set of commands or "tags" that tell web browsers
(Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator) how to display information on your computer. All HTML tags begin with the character "<" and end with the character ">". The "<"
character tells your browser that an HTML tag/command is to begin and the ">" character tells your browser that the tag has ended. To use these HTML tags in eBay auction listings, it's just a matter of
including the tags in the text of the item description. There are a myriad of HTML tags which can be used in tailoring your eBay auction, but in this chapter we're going to concentrate on displaying images.
The HTML tag used to display images is the "img" tag. The "img" tag accomplishes two things, it requests that a specific image file be sent from the web server where the image file is located,
and it directs the web browser to display the image and format it.
The basic usage of the "img" tag is:
<img src=http://host.url/image.jpg>
The "img src=" portion of the tag tells the browser that an image is to be displayed and that the web server location and image file name are to follow. "http://host.url" is the
exact location of the uploaded images on the web server and "image.jpg" is the image file name. Think of this tag as a kind of request or "link" to the image.
For you to use the
"img" tag above in your auctions, you'll need to replace the image location and the file name with YOUR web server space location and the appropriate image file name. For example, let's use fadedgiant.net
as an example. Let's assume that we have an image file called "flyrod1.jpg" that we uploaded to our web server space at fadedgiant.net in a directory called "ebayimages". The appropriate HTML tag
to place in our eBay auction description, would be as follows:
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod1.jpg>
To include the
"img" tag in the eBay auction, the eBay seller simply inserts the tag along with the text item description into the eBay auction listing "item description window" at the appropriate point in the
auction listing process. The "img" tag can be inserted anywhere in the text, but most sellers include the tag at the end of the description because it is more pleasing to see uninterrupted text followed by
photos. If desired however, the images could be placed in the body of the text. Browsers recognize the "<" and ">" characters as designating the start and end of HTML code and not
displayable text and display the image at the appropriate point in the listing.
IMPORTANT - HTML is case sensitive. If you use an upper case file name in an HTML tag and your file name on the web server is
in lowercase, the HTML tag will not execute and the image will not display.
Using our Orvis fly rod auction example, the combined auction description text and HTML code which we would copy from our draft
Microsoft Word listing document and paste into the eBay auction listing description window would be as follows:
Orvis Battenkill 7 foot bamboo flyrod. The Cadillac of
Orvis bamboo rods, this very collectible 1960s era 6 weight small stream pole is in "almost new" condition and looks to have only been fished one season. There is a small blemish in the finish close to the
lower line guide. A great Christmas gift for that discriminating trout fisherman. This fly rod comes with its original aluminum rod case. Please see our other auctions for collectible old flyrods, poles, flies
and other vintage fishing collectibles. <img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod1.jpg>
This is very basic HTML - no frills. Just enough HTML to get an image into the listing
with no formatting. In the example above, the viewer would see the text item description followed immediately by the flyrod1.jpg image. There would be no break between the text and the image and the image would be
aligned to the left of the screen.
Previously, we mentioned that more than one image is normally better. Adding more than one image is easy. Just include additional "img" tags for each additional
image. Each image requires it's own tag. For instance:
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod1.jpg>
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod2.jpg>
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod3.jpg>
flyrod1.jpg, flyrod2.jpg, and flyrod3.jpg are all image
files that we would have previously uploaded to our fadedgiant.net web server (into the "ebayimages" directory) using FTP. If these three tags were included at the end of our text description, again the
text description would be displayed followed immediately by the first image (which would be aligned to the left). The second and third images would follow the first and depending upon the size, would be displayed
farther down the page. If these were very small images, the images would be displayed side by side across the page with the first being displayed on the left and the last being displayed to the right.
Aligning your images. To make your auctions look a little more professional, you'll probably want to add some formatting attributes to your img tags. The alignment attribute "align=" allows you to dictate
where the image will be displayed on the page. The options for this attribute are: LEFT, RIGHT, TOP, BOTTOM, and MIDDLE. The align attribute is used in the "img" tag as follows:
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod1.jpg align=middle>
In this case, we've used the "middle" option. To display the image using one of the
other optional alignments, replace the word "middle" with one of the other "align" options.
Paragraphs. Depending upon the size of your images, they may or may not end up being aligned
"vertically" one above the other down the page. If they are small images, the browser will align the images side by side. To direct that multiple images be aligned one on top of the other, you can use the
"Paragraph" tag <P>. Using the <P> tag tells the browser to start the next web page element on a new line. To use the <P> tag with the flyrod example we would use the following tags:
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod1.jpg><P>
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod2.jpg><P>
<img src=http://www.fadedgiant.net/ebayimages/flyrod3.jpg>
Back to Auction item photographs
Next: How to maximize your selling price
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