ChatGPT AI Description Generator Now Available In eBay App

[valueaddedresource]

You may need to update to the most recent version, but the ChatGPT powered AI description generator is now live in the Android and iOS eBay apps.

In the listing flow, tap the AI description icon in the bottom right and the new description will automatically populate.

I haven't played around with it too much, but here are a couple examples generated from very basic title info.

Anyone else tried it out yet?

[gienna2]

The new eBay AI button does use specifics, though. It pulled my height and width, though I had them entered wrong, so it entered the wrong numbers, which is how I know it did. 

Chat GPT is def really cool. But this is not that. You can't give it follow-up instructions, for example, such as "please rewrite this so it has fewer adjectives and is less flowery."

And, as I mentioned in an earlier comment, once you hit that button there is no undo if you are on mobile, at least.

[gienna2]

Yes. 🙂

[gienna2]

If anyone is interested, this is how I described it:

Well-proportioned four-arm, five-candle candelabra stands a stately 14 inches tall; about 10 inches across at the widest point.

Likely brass, but with a lovely warm copper tone patina and just the right amount of verdigris.

The cups are decorated with embossed stylized oak leaves, acorns and stems. The top rings are removable. Holes for bobeshes.

Two subtle etched bands on the base.

Unmarked. Similar proportions to Baldwin examples, but I have not seen one in this style.

(Plus boilerplate on shipping, smoke-free, etc)

No AI program knows what's in my head and what I know about what I sell.... At least not yet!! 

[valueaddedresource]

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@gienna2 wrote:

The new eBay AI button does use specifics, though. It pulled my height and width, though I had them entered wrong, so it entered the wrong numbers, which is how I know it did. 

Chat GPT is def really cool. But this is not that. You can't give it follow-up instructions, for example, such as "please rewrite this so it has fewer adjectives and is less flowery."

And, as I mentioned in an earlier comment, once you hit that button there is no undo if you are on mobile, at least.

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@gienna2 from what I've seen from other companies using ChatGPT Pro with plugins, it's pretty customizable as far as how deeply integrated they want it to be, whether it allows for that follow up "conversational AI" experience etc.

My guess is eBay went as bare bones as they could just to get something up and running, hopefully without breaking anything....and from what we've seen with other glitches around here lately it's probably good that they did. 😂

[wastingtime101]

Way to get that AI salesmanship going. Every single description posted in this thread says the item is a "must-have" except the Camry mount which is "necessary"

[gienna2]

The other thing is your personality shines through in your version ... That is part of your branding and can't be replicated with AI. I prefer shorter descriptions (to keep readers focused) but still want to sound like an actual live human person! 

As others have noted, it might be good for people whose only description is: See pics.

[gienna2]

Sorry, I'm confused. This is a button that appears in the description portion of the eBay listing tool when you are editing a listing. While in the eBay app. So not the Chat GPT playground site. 

Be nice if eBay would give some info, here.

[wastingtime101]

If I wasn't having such a lousy day, I'd be tempted to pull up the app and "sell similar" on some of my current listings to generate drafts and see how ChatGPT would alter descriptions for all my "must-have" items.

[valueaddedresource]

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@gienna2 wrote:

Sorry, I'm confused. This is a button that appears in the description portion of the eBay listing tool when you are editing a listing. While in the eBay app. So not the Chat GPT playground site. 

Be nice if eBay would give some info, here.

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@gienna2 it's ChatGPT integrated into the eBay listing tool, though as you pointed out, a limited version without all the bells and whistles.

CEO Jamie Iannone said they were working on doing this in the Q1 earnings call with investors last month.

[slippinjimmy]

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@gienna2 wrote:

Chat GPT is def really cool. But this is not that. You can't give it follow-up instructions, for example, such as "please rewrite this so it has fewer adjectives and is less flowery."

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On the desktop you can expand your original request with extra details and receive a revised answer, I've never had the nerve to ask for "better grammar" given the bot has much better grammar skills then I have.

[a_c_green]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

Maybe they are good for sellers who can't compose a description better than "good condition, see pics".

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Oh, totally agree with you there. It's just that I can see a ton of sellers of items in saturated categories all glomming onto it with the same minimal details for it to work with, leading to the same repetitive bare-bones listings that you see currently, but with a lot more text in the description that still cannot usefully distinguish one example of the product from another.

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

These AI generated descriptions make an excellent base that you can edit to fit your own style if you wish.

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Right, but I can't see many sellers actually doing that. It seems more likely to me that it will simply serve as a crutch for the ones who can't be bothered to do the work in the first place, but quicker and in larger quantities. As the old joke goes, "Better, Faster, Cheaper: Pick two..." 😁

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

Have you ever actually experimented with ChatGPT?

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I have not; something that I should have said more clearly up front; sorry. I will certainly mess around with it when I get a little more free time soon.

[slippinjimmy]

Yeah you should check it out, some fo the stuff it can do is pretty amazing.

For eBay use it isn't of much use to me because my description are almost entirely factual with very little "flourish". Almost all of what I have in my Descriptions (same style for the last 25 years) is now sort of a repeat of the Item Specifics with better formatting.

I've been playing with it for totally unrelated to eBay or selling.

What I don't like about AI of this type is that it is being used a lot in the financial world to write short articles on the movement of the stock market on a daily basis. Real pundits are bad enough (they lie) but AI pundits are worse. Some outlets put a disclaimer but many do not and this is why AI like ChatGPT needs to regulated with a clear indication that the text is bot generated (similar to the fake editorial content in magazines & newspaper that are paid for and much have the tiny "advertisement" displayed.

ChatGPT etc have the potential to spread fake news at a level we have not seen (and the amount of fake news is already ridiculous enough).

Another case is AI written essays in schools, that can make you look like a high grade student when in truth you know nothing.

Like many things there are positives and negatives.

[valueaddedresource]

To quote South Park.....And......it's gone. 😂

eBay has now removed the AI description icon - it's no longer there for new listings or when revising old ones.

Even worse, when I try to revise my test drafts that used it, I get an error saying that AI created description now contains "formatting not supported by this app". 

Not sure if this has anything to do with some of the other glitches going on right now with the listing form and quantities but obviously eBay has decided this isn't ready for prime time for some reason.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

LOL! Maybe someone at ebay actually tried using it, and realized it wasn't ready for prime time....at least, not without providing sellers with some instructions about what information to "feed" it.

Or maybe they want to launch it with the Spring, oops, Summer, oops, Fall Seller Update....

[valueaddedresource]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

LOL! Maybe someone at ebay actually tried using it, and realized it wasn't ready for prime time....at least, not without providing sellers with some instructions about what information to "feed" it.

Or maybe they want to launch it with the Spring, oops, Summer, oops, Fall Seller Update....

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques  a cynic might take note of the number of times AI has been mentioned in recent earnings calls and investor conferences and conclude that simply being able to say it launched in Q2, even if only in beta, may be more important to eBay than whether or not it actually works. 😉