As you can imagine, eBay is a site that is firmly listed in my bookmarks and I’m in and out of the site all day everyday. Given that I spend so much time on the site – researching, listing, selling and buying too – it always amazes me that I rarely come across listings which include videos within the main description. These sellers are seriously missing a trick and that’s why today we’re going to look at how you can add video to your eBay listing quickly and easily.
It’s a well known fact that visuals are hugely important when it comes to marketing your products effectively, after all, no one buys something without seeing it first, and that’s why product images are essential whatever you are selling. An image helps the consumer see exactly what they are purchasing. Several images taken from different angles help show the product to it’s best advantage, but a video can really bring a product to life.
Of course, a video isn’t going to be suitable for all products. It’s not required for items such as mugs, dog collars, books or any product that doesn’t need a practical demonstration. But videos can be very effective for products that require a short demonstration of how they actually work or how they can benefit the customer. Examples of these types of products could be a household item such as a steam cleaner, a garden tool such as a retractable hosepipe or a fitness product such as a set of resistance bands.
Examples of these types of products could be a household item such as a steam cleaner, a garden tool such as a retractable hosepipe or a fitness product such as a set of resistance bands.
If you can show a product actually working, it’s features and benefits – and the results it produces – then you immediately have proof of a fantastic product which should promote sales.
Why don’t more eBay sellers add video to their eBay listings?
Well firstly, eBay don’t make it particularly easy. There is so little information on how to add video to eBay listing from eBay themselves that the general consensus is that it’s perhaps not allowed. In fact, it’s not prohibited by eBay, they just don’t provide a simple way to do it so you have to work it out for yourself. Great if you’re a techie, bad news if you’re not!
The second issue is a word of caution! There is always the risk that a video could put potential buyers off rather than tempt them to buy. How many times have you landed on a webpage that contains a video and then had to wait an eternity for it to load and buffer? We are impatient people and it’s very likely that after longer than 30 seconds you couldn’t be bothered to hang around and so have simply hit the back button. So, unless your video is short, to the point and also quick to load you could potentially lose the attention of your viewer.
That’s not to say that if you add video to your eBay listing it’s a bad idea. For the right product it can definitely enhance a listing.
So, what’s the easiest way to add video to your eBay listing without paying for expensive software or having to learn programming skills?
Utilize good old YouTube!
YouTube is absolutely free and simple to use. I have to say that it’s not perfect though – that is unless you actually record the video yourself, therefore own it. YouTube videos show advertisements when they are played so If you don’t own the video, you can’t turn those ads off. If you own the video you can disable the ads from within your account.
So potentially, if you are using a video from the manufacturer or supplier of your product, those automatic ads can turn buyers away, distract them or send them somewhere else. It’s the same with related videos shown at the end of the video – they are a distraction that can take potential buyers away.
Remember too that videos play in Flash and so won’t be available to anyone viewing your listing on a mobile device that doesn’t support Flash. These are just little things that you should bear in mind when you add video to eBay listing via YouTube.
Let’s assume now though that you are selling a product that will benefit from a video embedded into your listing. Using your own video is best as you can then promote your product, your brand, add a logo to the video and so on and of course disable the advertisements. So, you’ve recorded your video and uploaded it to your YouTube channel. How do you get it into your listing?
As I said previously, eBay doesn’t make this particularly easy because they don’t support what’s known as the iFrame Code – a code that You Tube supplies for embedding videos elsewhere. Luckily you can convert that code to an eBay friendly code using the You Tube Code Converter here
Simply paste the video number from your browser and click ‘Make eBay Code’. You can even make it mobile friendly using the converter. Your new code will appear in the large white box which you can then copy for use in your eBay listing.
To add the code to your listing you’ll need to use the HTML page rather than the Standard page – just click the tab at the top of the listing description box on the ‘Sell Your Item’ form – then copy the code into the page in the position you want it to appear between the tags <p align=”center”> at the beginning of where you want it to appear and </strong></p> at the end of the code.
So, the code that you are adding will look something like this (with the XXX’s being replaced with your own original video code):
I know it looks complicated, but honestly it’s not because once you’ve done that, that’s all there is to it. Make sure you go to preview mode to check that your video has embedded correctly and is appearing in your listing and you’re done. It’s straight-forward when you know how and have the help of the converter.
If you do decide to add a video to your eBay listing (maybe trial it for a short period of time first) I would be really interested to hear how you get on, so please do let me know.
And whilst we are on the subject of YouTube I also want to let you in on the exciting news that my brand new YouTube channel titled eTail Hub is now live. It’s just launched and I’ll be adding new videos regularly so please go and take a look here.
If there is any particular eTailing topic you would like me to create a video about for future uploads then I welcome your feedback – please do let me know!