EBay

From Bob's Basement

Introduction

Following recent changes to the eBay listing page, users of browsers on *NIX operating systems can no longer upload photos. The problem is documented here: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000459110&tstart=80&mod=1196607904274

Contacting the online tat bazaar

I contacted eBay tech support and recieved the following reply:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to eBay. I am sorry to hear that you are facing 
problems while trying to upload pictures on your items.

I would like to inform you that at present, eBay do not support the path
format supported in Linux. eBay servers are unable to interprete the 
path of the the picture when you try to upload the picture. As a result,
you are receiving the error message 'file cannot be found' related to 
the file path. Currently we do not have support for Linux. If you 
continue to use other operating systems or browsers (other than the 
supported systems), you may notice that some functions and features on 
eBay will stop working as changes are made to eBay site. However, rest 
assured, the fix will be rolled out soon. But, I cannot predict the 
precise day and time as when it will be resolved. 

In this case, I am sorry to inform you that either you will need to use 
the Self hosting option to upload the pictures or enter the DOS 
compatible path (eg. C:\filename.jpg) at the moment, in order to upload 
the pictures on your items using your Linux system. 

Also, I suggest you to visit the link mentioned below that allows to 
upload images via Flash. I know you might not want to use it, but I 
wanted to at least make you aware of it as an option. It's described 
here:

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/ann.jspa?annID=2000000064

As mentioned earlier, as a workaround, you can add the pictures of your 
item in the description of your item using the self hosting option. In 
order to add the pictures in the description, all you need is to enclose
the picture URL in the HTML image tag. You will need to enclose the URL 
in the HTML image tag like so:

 <IMG SRC=http://www.yourdomain.co.uk/youruserid/yourphoto.jpg>

Please note, this is a non working example. Of course, you would 
substitute your own URL and image filename for the URL and filename 
shown above.

To use the picture URL, you need to use the services of a third-party 
image host on the Internet. When you do this, you'll upload your 
pictures on that host, and then use the Web address or Internet address 
(URL) of your picture(s) (that you get after uploading them on the third
party image host) when listing your items with us. 

Once you upload the picture on a third party image host and get the 
picture URL, you can follow the steps mentioned below to add it on your 
item: 

- Click 'My eBay' at the top of the eBay homepage and sign in
- Click the 'Sell' tab. Select the category 
- On the next page, select the 'HTML' tab in the 'Describe the Item 
you're Selling' section, and then enter the HTML code. You will need to 
enclose the picture URL in the HTML image tag after uploading that 
picture on the eBay servers using the eBay Picture Services or after 
hosting it on a third party hosting service: 

  <IMG src="http://www.xyz123test.com/yourphoto.jpg"></IMG>

This will display the photo named 'yourphoto.jpg' within the body of 
your text description. Of course, you would substitute your own Internet
address (the URL that you have got) and image filename for the Internet 
address and filename shown above. 

- Complete the remaining details of the listing and then submit your 
listing

Additionally, I would like to inform you that if you do not have your 
own website, you can use free image hoster to host your photos. Here's a
comprehensive list of web hosts: 

http://bulls2.com/indexb/freeservers2.html 

Photobucket also offers free and paid hosting. For information regarding
this please visit the following link:

http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=purpleangel_d
http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=purpleangel_d

Here are links to two of photobucket's tutorials for using hosted images
on eBay:

http://tutorials.photobucket.com/tutorial_42.html
http://tutorials.photobucket.com/tutorial_50.html

Note: eBay is not in any way affiliated with these particular sites and 
this information is just provided for your reference. 

I realise this may not be the answer you'd hoped for. Please let us know
if we can be of any further assistance.

Kind regards,

Petra Salmon
eBay Customer Support

Community response

Bob's Basement suggests that the *NIX community makes its voice heard and contacts eBay tech support en mass. This will highlight to eBay the size of the *NIX community and the need to provide proper support for these users.