Text in Images

[kings_bay_sales]

The eBay photo editor does NOT have a the ability to input text, because eBay doesn't allow text on their images. (https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/picture-policy?id=4370).

"Photos with added text, artwork or marketing material".

Very often eBay delivers ONLY the image & title and you have to click to "see full details".  This is terrible usability & sets all merchants up to fail because of impulse buys that will cost merchants money in complaints, returns, poor feedback etc.

I am having returns, poor feedback & such from buyers who NEVER read the item's description. When I contact eBay support they tell me to try adding the "1 piece per order" in the images, against their own policy.

Then they go ahead & approve returns that are obviously false by the images provided in the return details. Then I have to spend more of MY MONEY on a label. Why can't I send my own label & use my rates???  Then, I will have to wait until I receive the item(s) back & defend myself with eBay to get MY funds back. I don't even know what happens if they never send it back what I am supposed to do.

Either text on images is ok and you add a text editor to your image editor or fix your usability issue with the buyers NOT having clear access to the product description where you tell us to put the information.

I sell small items that the shipping is most often more than the item cost. So a return like above for example I lose the item's actual cost $4.98 + the label I provide within the price point free shipping $5.35 then the EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE eBay provided label that I must pay for $5.89 for an item I collected a total of $14.95 price minus $2.37 trans fee & $0.94 in taxes. So right now, I am out over $20. MORE than the original transaction, I am literally negative -$4.58 in the hole.

[richard1rst]

Well, if you don't mind a little critique:

When I click on your "items for sale" button the first thing I see is a miniature silver ware organizer. In the picture the organizer is filled with miniature silverware. You have over printed it with very small and (in blue) very hard to read and most importantly EASY TO MISS that the silverware is not included. Then you show a second picture without the silverware. That second picture should be your FIRST picture and the overprint needs to be bigger and bolder. In the title, for example, "U S SELLER" can be replaced with "Flatware not included".

THEN in the description you make NO COMMENT on the silverware being for show only and is not included.

Quite frankly, the problems you are having are those you are bringing on yourself.

Learn this lesson. Everybody is in a hurry, they react to what they see and they rarely take the time to read every word.

DO NOT show something that is not included in the sale.

[kings_bay_sales]

That is common dollhouse miniature behavior. The item can't really be recognized from the sea category of "kitchen accessories" without the silverware. I don't really have issues with my dollhouse miniatures. I have been selling them for a very long time, miniaturists usually get the details & need the details 😃

The issue is my ducks, recently was this listing in which the customer ordered 2 of. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/296694951390

Customer's started a return for "Wrong item sent" the customer's supplied pictures include both of the correct ducks & the 2 gift ducks I included. Yet, the return was approved.

The previous one was similar (https://www.ebay.com/itm/296209082577) customer order 4 x style D. Then started a return for Wrong item sent. eBay approved it, even though...

The quest here is why we are being instructed to add text to images against eBay's policy and if it's what IS supposed to happen .... why don't we have a text tool on the photo editor? I am not a graphic designer, as already pointed out.

I also wonder why eBay would approve these returns, it breeds the Amazon disease.... 100K in sales & 70K in returns that have to be received, cataloged, model numbers matched & such before Amazon will even all you to apply to process any return of your funds. The process takes like a month & the whole time the merchant is out the funds and there is NO guarantee that you will recoup all of your funds. 

I did change the listing based on your critique richard1rst, thank you 😃

[fbusoni · Accepted solution]

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@kings_bay_sales wrote:

Why can't I send my own label & use my rates??? ...I don't even know what happens if they never send it back what I am supposed to do.

Either text on images is ok and you add a text editor to your image editor or fix your usability issue with the buyers NOT having clear access to the product description where you tell us to put the information.

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@kings_bay_sales 

You can purchase postage anywhere you wish.  Pirateship for example integrates with eBay and I have found their rates to be lower at times than eBay's.

If you process a return and pay for a label and the item is never sent back to you, you do not get charged for the label and you keep the money made from the sale.  In my experience, there is nothing you have to do in such a situation.

As for the usability issue you raise... it would be very simple for eBay's engineers to add a few lines of code to its software that would display a short description of the image being viewed when a buyer hovers over the image with their mouse cursor.

The font size of the description that appears can be adjusted; as we all know there are millions of sites online that provide this feature to all who visit the site in question.   Adding it should not produce a measurable burden on eBay's servers since the data can be cached locally.

Meantime, eBay does provide alt-text (see arrow in image below) which is at least a step in the right direction.

 

[ittybitnot]

@kings_bay_sales 

As far as we can tell eBay has not enforced their "no text in pictures" policy for years.  They would have to get rid of too many of their esteemed sellers from China and the purveyors of their drop shipped goods even to begin to start dishing out policy violations.   

Actually, it is helpful to some buyers to be able to right click on the images with all that nonsense in it to see that the product is not a "one of a kind vintage/antique" but can be found on Amazon for half the price, and/or Alli Express for $2 for a quantity of ten.  

I would assume that not enforcing this policy falls under eBay's umbrella excuse of "there are just too many listings to police everything" (and we haven't found a way to monetize it yet).  

[gone.c-33]

Have you considered having your pictures show only one item for listings that are only for a single item?

[kings_bay_sales]

It's just very tedious for the price point.

[bennotbill]

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@kings_bay_sales wrote:

eBay doesn't allow text on their images

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ebay reps have stated that this is no longer enforced. The only text in pictures that does bother them is info text along the lines of web addresses and phone numbers.