ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
The seller discounttiredirect has as their main image for multiple listings a generic image, as you can see above, that has their company's name in the bottom and in the center, a transparent tire (that's not the one for the product being sold) and with the words "Click Here For Product Images!" on it. When one clicks on it, they are taken to the listing, and thta first photo is not shown anywhere — It's not the first photo nor any of the other ones.
- How is this possible techincally /instructionally wise? Is there a certain program that they are using or is this some kind of feature provided only to them by eBay?
- Secondly, how is this allowed policy wise? Well, I was going to say that placeholder images aren't allowed, as per eBay's image policy, which states: "Placeholder images used to convey messages, such as no image available, or out of stock, or other marketing messages", but I guess since there are actual images with the product listing, which one must open to see though, that's how this policy ends up not being violated? Thoughts / Opinions.
I wonder if it has to do with their store level.
I did notice something when I clicked on a listing then clicked again to see the product page. I've never seen the "stock photo" text before. It appears to be a new addition to product catalog images.
This is how eBay catalog photos will work for new items in the year ahead. A generic catalog photo will be displayed in search, and the individual listings would then display the actual product photos without the generic.
However, eBay catalog photos would not be branded like the example you posted. So my thought is that the seller has uploaded their own graffiti photos to the catalog during some early testing where eBay might be allowing white label brands. The motors categories will probably be late getting into the curated catalog because they are so complex, but I think the tires will come first.
eBay's current stock photo has a disclaimer that appears in gray below the image and is real text, not image. However, in your screenshot, from eBay's new catalog view, we see that one of the photo thumbnails is separated from the others by a line. The top image is a catalog stock photo, and that has eBay's new "stock" label. The remaining photos are the seller-added photos. That arrangement will be part of the new catalog search.
Attached is what these pages might look like using eBay's future "grouped" search (This view is live in the iphone category and apparently in the tire category). With grouped search, all identical items on search would appear as a group under that one catalog photo, with a statement that 11 more items exist in that group. Clicking that catalog photo in search would take the visitor to a page displaying and categorizing the items in that group, with the best match item in the "hero" slot. Notice the stock photo is also on that view. If the buyer wants to learn more about that item, they can click another button to bring up the standard item view where the stock photo does not appear.
If the buyer does not like the hero item, all the other matching items are available with their different categorizations (like new, used, auction, fixed price, etc) as selectable groupings from drop lists beside the title "All listings for this product".
The whole setup looks very similar to Amazon, so I assume eBay wants to steal Amazon buyers by providing a more familiar interface to them.
