third party hosting

[smitrus]

How does ebay expect you to manually change all the third party listings messing up auctions.   I have over 3000 listings and impossible to change all.

Is there a quick tool?  Does this automated third party hosted disabling help?

[pocomocomputing]

Using a third party image host like Photobucket was a decision you made and has nothing to do with eBay.  eBay is not resposible for members using a third party image site nor third party listing tools.

The real problem is Photobucket changing their terms of usage quickly and holding a members  images and photos "hostage" to get money. This will result in Photobucket's demise very quickly so I would not even pay the $400 as nothing will save Photobucket in the next few months in my opinion.

[dollybeauty]

A quick tool? Welll....Depends on what you mean by quick.

Yes there is, if you can follow this. The following process is quick (even for 3000 listings), but can be intimidating for members not used to using the tools necessary to accomplish this.

Overview

1) You would use a tool designed by a fellow eBay member, shipscript. That tool will allow you to create a list of all of your active listings. Set this aside for now.

2) You need to set up your own web based image hosting. This is not free, but is less expensive than PB's extortion.

3) You need to copy all of your images from PB to the new image host. (You may have to copy the images to your hard drive, then, copy onto the image host). These images are yours, not PB's. They can not keep you from accessing your property. This may get dragged out legally. I would review the PB user agreement to see if PB agknowledges your right to your content.

4) Modify the file produced in step one to point to the new image host.

5) Upload the file to eBay's FileExchange processor, to modify the active listings.

See more about this process on this board- https://community.ebay.com/t5/Replacing-Active-Content/bd-p/activecontent

Help is available on that board.

[shipscript]

@smitrus

As the others have mentioned, Photobucket has changed their terms of service and those who are under-subscribed are seeing Photobucket's placeholder messages instead of their own photos.  You probably have three options if all listings contain embedded images in the description.

1. With 3000 listings, you may just want to pay Photobucket's $400 annual subscription and put it behind you and keep your photo hosting.
   
   
2. If you don't want to pay their fee, then you can set up your own website and host photos there if you feel it is important to continue placing photos in the description. Instructions for moving and keeping photo names, along with bulk revision of listings, have been posted on one of the forums.
3. Or, if you just want to get rid of all the embedded Photobucket images in your listings, you can remove them with the bulk Active Content Editor in conjunction with eBay's File Exchange.  A custom filter for complete Photobucket removal is posted in one of the threads on the Active Content forum.

After you choose your method, you can post back to ask for further instructions if needed.