Post video??

[thebige333]

Is there a way to post on a listing a video to show a toy is working? Or do you have to just post "action" still shots? Maybe a You Tube link but that sounds like alot of trouble?? Thanks for all help. Much appreciated.

[#2]

Is there a way to post on a listing a video to show a toy is working? Or do you have to just post "action" still shots? Maybe a You Tube link but that sounds like alot of trouble?? Thanks for all help. Much appreciated.

[emerald40]

Since the new ruling that you cannot have active content, I am seeing sellers have a link to a you tube video.

[jonathankirkland]

But couldn't linking a YouTube video be considered "attempting to make an off ebay sale"?

This would be a good question for @Anonymous alan@ebay

[castlemagicmemories]

I woldn't think so as it is just showing how the item works and from the ones I have seen, they point to the item as being on sale on Ebay.  

But actually I don't know that the link itself is allowed on Ebay in the listing because it does take you off site.

No videos in the listing because of the Ebay active content rule.

[rolenboy01]

It's an important question, I haven't used a video in a long time but I have had success with them in the past I feel they really do help sell an item and help sell it quicker, I would also like to know I can implement them in the future within eBay's rules.

[jonathankirkland]

Right, and I know ebay embeds YouTube links to products within the listing whenever you select items from the catalog, but are each of those hand picked or monitored in some way so that any other use of an outside YouTube link would then be prohibited?

Would love to know what guidelines are on this.

Also, if you did link to a video on your YouTube channel, whats to stop you from having an annotation on your video promoting direct sales from buyer to seller and cutting ebay out? Or even if you were more subtle and put the information in your YouTube proflile instead.

I would just think ebay would not want to risk any of this stuff happening, but maybe I'm reading too much into it. *shrugs*

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Well you can't post active content, so a live link to you tube won't be ok. You would have to shorten the link address to not include the http....and then tell buyers to plug in the rest of the address into you tube. 

[jonathankirkland]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Well you can't post active content, so a live link to you tube won't be ok. You would have to shorten the link address to not include the http....and then tell buyers to plug in the rest of the address into you tube. 

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What about using one of those shortening links link "tiny url" or the "bit ly" thing?

I would say even if those are allowed, it would be sketchy at best to expect someone to want to click on such a thing. I know I am hesitent clicking any of those shortened URL links unless I completely trust the source.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

I think any complete link is considered active content. 

[emerald40]

Click here to see this video on youtube with click here being a hyperlink

Above is how three of my favorite long time diamond jewelry sellers are wording it.

[hidy-hoo]

Questions about active content can be found on "Replacing Active Content" board:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Replacing-Active-Content/Ebay-says-active-content-Bulk-checker-says-no...

According to shipscript, links to youtube are allowed as long as they are set up properly:

"When the slashes and target are fixed, the link will be compliant because eBay allows off-site links to YouTube.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-links.html"

...from the above link:

What are the guidelines?

Product videos

Links to product videos are allowed as long as you follow these guidelines:

• You must be the owner of the underlying rights, including intellectual property rights, or be authorized to distribute it by the owners of said rights

• The video is specific to the product being sold, such as a product review, demonstration, or installation video

• The video included in the listing must be either:

  • An embedded video that uses HTML5 video while complying with eBay's active content requirements, or

  • An external link directly to a video hosted on one of the following sites:

    • YouTube

    • Vimeo

    • Brightcove

    • Ustream

    • Screencast.com

    • Kizoa

    • DailyMotion

[shipscript]

@thebige333

Hosting the video on YouTube is probably the simplest and most versatile way to display video on eBay.  An alternate method, if you have your own secure website, is to host an MP4 on your website and use HTML5 to embed the video - most sellers don't have that capability. Additionally, there are several video hosting subscription services that are on eBay's approved list.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-links.html

@emerald40 

You are right that embedding the video is no longer allowed because YouTube uses active content to determine browser compatibility, so linking to the video is the allowed method.

@jonathankirkland

A linked YouTube is an acceptable presentation. However, if the video encourages an outside sale, then it can be reported as a major violation of eBay policy.  Additionally, eBay does not allow shortened links like bitly because they are non-eBay links and are not on the exemption list.

@castlemagicmemories

YouTube is one of the few allowed offsite links.  There are a few others on this list.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-links.html

@rolenboy01

I keep this page updated to match eBay's policies. This page creates an acceptable method for displaying a linked YouTube video.

http://www.isdntek.com/tagbot/YouTubeConverter.htm

@ersatz_sobriquet

Indeed, an embedded YouTube video won't work, but this converter will extract what is needed to create a linked presentation. Links are not Active Content, but they must fall within eBay's white list of allowed links.

http://www.isdntek.com/tagbot/YouTubeConverter.htm

@emerald40

A simple clickable link to YouTube is allowed. Be sure the clickable link includes the target attribute to open in a new window or else the video will try and fail to load in the sandboxed description where Active Content has been blocked.

@hidy-hoo 

Thanks for posting the link to reality. Here is a more relevant post explaining how to add video:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Replacing-Active-Content/Adding-YouTube-or-other-Video/m-p/27115714

@thebige333

Members have been reporting problems viewing linked videos on the mobile app for the past two months. This was due to a change eBay made in the app that prevented YouTube's scripts from running, and it was not clear when that would be addressed.

[jonathankirkland]

Thank you so much @shipscript for taking the time to reply to each of us!

[castlemagicmemories]

@shipscript

Very kind of you, thank you so much!

[castlemagicmemories]

Seriously, it is an honor to hear from the legendary shipscript.  Have read so much about you through the years.

I mean that most sincerely.

Thank you.