How do I create my own eBay template?

eBay Templates are the framework of your listings. They contain the backgrounds and graphics that give your eBay listings a unique “look and feel” and allow you to create your own unique presence, or brand.  eBay Templates can be used to distinguish your listings from your competitors and help you effectively market your items. Vendio offers a large selection of pre-created templates, and you can also create a completely custom template using the Custom Templates option.

Your own eBay templates can by created from Items >> eBay Custom Templates.

If you would like to create your own custom eBay template and you are comfortable with using HTML, you can use the eBay template option to create a completely custom eBay template.

While creating new eBay custom templates you need to enter the Custom Template Name and enter the HTML code for the design of the template.

Custom Template Name
Each custom template you create requires a unique name. When creating a custom template, we recommend that you give it a descriptive name so you will recognize it later when you’re reviewing your list. For example, if your template is specific to Consumer Electronics and you want the images on the left for this type of product, you might want to name your layout “Consumer Electronics: Images Left”.

Custom HTML Code
You will need to enter the raw HTML code for your custom template. Note that the HTML code can be copy/pasted from another application, but depending on the application used there may be some proprietary formatting that is not compatible and will need to be corrected manually. The raw HTML editor allows you the freedom to format your template image layout, graphics, content, and other elements exactly as you want it to appear on eBay. Additionally, you can add scripting language code and URLs linking to an externally hosted CSS file using the raw editor for maximum customization.

Macros
The “Macros” listed on the right hand side of the page are HTML compatible. Macros are placeholders, which will automatically display the associated values in your template. You may find a full list of what each Macro is for on the "eBay Custom Templates" page by clicking the user guide to the left. To insert a macro, simply place your cursor in your text or HTML code where you want the macro value to appear, and click the “Add” button next to the macro in the list. The macro will be automatically added, along with the brackets.

Below is an example of TITLE and FIRST IMAGE macro embedded in HTML. Note that the brackets must be included for the macro to be recognized:

<b>[TITLE]</b>
<p>This is my item</p>.
<p align="center"><img src="[IMAGE0_NOTAG]"> </p>


The [TITLE] macro inserts the eBay Title value associated with the Ad you are using into the template.  The [IMAGE_URL0] macro inserts the first image selected in the Item Info section of the Ad you are using.  Note that images will be displayed in the listing exactly as uploaded unless you add attributes to the HTML.  Once an image macro has been inserted, you can add attributes (such as width, height, border, alt) manually within the HTML code. Also note that the “click to enlarge” function will not automatically be applied to images in custom templates. Below is a code sample that you can use to enable “click to enlarge” images in your custom template:

<a href="[IMAGE0_NOTAG]" target="_blank"><img src="[IMAGE0_NOTAG]" border="0" width="200" height="200"></a>

Note that if you specify only the height or width attribute in the above code sample, the image will scale proportionately. The example above is intended to be used with a square image.

Full Preview
Full preview in the Custom Layout editor will allow you to preview the basic layout of the template; however, macro values cannot be displayed in the full preview. To preview the template as it will appear on eBay with macro values assigned, go to Items -> Create Items -> eBay Info, and click the “Preview at eBay” button at the bottom of the eBay Info section.