ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
tree*fern
In a prior thread, the topic came up about lack of information for those wanting to start using variations.
@mcdougle4248 wanted to try using variations, but there was no helpful roadmap, or perhaps those that existed online were outdated, so I said I would start one.
@myjunqueyourtreasure and @mam98031 specifically mentioned in that thread that they both regularly use variations, so I'm putting them on the spot here to ask what pitfalls and workarounds they've dealt with and which listing forms they are using (desktop vs mobile). 
I've taken this endeavor to 80% completion where we can plug in, correct, or rearrange information. It's long winded because there is a lot of territory to cover. I've created new variation listings and have revised an existing variation in order to test and screencapture, but surely I have not hit all the gotchas. 
Hopefully, we could come up with a shorter bullet list for those who already "get it" if they just knew how to start and only needed a few references. Or, for those who just like to follow pictures, perhaps we can add any pictorial steps that are missing.
Anyway, here is a work in progress, still rather rough around the edges, and when we get it smoothed out, we could post it here on the forums where others could more readily find it.
http://shipscript.com/ebayhelp/lister_hub/creating_ebay_variations.htm
@mcdougle4248 wrote:
..So, how many MP does eBay like for pictures? ...
A camera setting of 1MP or 2MP is perfect for eBay. If you are taking photos of small items and have to crop, then a 3MP or 4MP setting will allow plenty of room for cropping.
A 1MP camera setting is typically 1200x800
A 2MP camera setting is typically 1600x1200
Both of those settings easily allow zoom, which requires at least 800px on the longer side. The maximum eBay will save is 1600x1600. Anything larger will be reduced down to 1600 on the longer side before eBay saves it.
If you plan to stitch your photos together, then the lowest possible camera setting of 0.3MP (640x480 or VGA) will meet the zoom requirements when two to nine are stitched together into a larger composite.
@mcdougle4248 wrote:
... I can get my photos from the the non variation live listings, do gallery photos using your tool and then do each item from the saved from eBay live listing photos.
Yes, you can do that.
Bulk photo download
To make it easier, use this tool to fetch your listing photos.
http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/BulkPhotoScanner.htm
- Enter your sellername and country.
- Use some keywords to limit your search to return the items you want included in one variation.
- Click "Get Items".
- Click "Auto Scan"
The tool will load eBay photos into the grid where you can copy/drag to your desktop. Unfortunately, every eBay photo is named "s-l1600.jpg" (no, they don't make this easy) and you'll have to rename each one as soon as you copy it to your computer.
Another way to handle that problem is to scroll down to the report area on the photo scan tool.
- select "zip all" from the drop list,
- click "include titles,
- click "build report",
- click "send to zip tool.
When the zip tool opens,
- select a file naming format from the "naming" droplist (I think "Item title" would be best for your use).
- If you have a slow internet connection, choose a size smaller than the 80MB zip size shown on the bar.
- Click "load data", and when the left panel loads without errors,
- click "ZIP FILES" underneath that panel.
The server will create one or more zip files of your photos that you can download from the right panel to your desktop and unzip. All the photos will have unique names based on the listing title if you set naming to "item title", otherwise the default is to use item numbers.
Many steps, but probably still faster than one-at-a-time drag and rename. Additionally, since you have only a couple of photos per listing, you might prefer to download your entire site instead of smaller groupings. But, that depends on how you are viewing the groupings.
So... I went ahead and ran the full shebang from scanner to zipper and will send the download links for your six 40MB zip files to your community messages.
Bulk desktop image processing
Because you are trying to downsize the photos from your camera, another method is to use a photo editing tool that supports bulk processing. Irfanview is such a tool that I've used for 15 years for batch processing. Like any tool, there is a learning curve to batch processing. Even though it is hands-down the best thing for batching, these days I use it almost exclusively for single photos when I want to resize, crop, or rotate a photo, or if I want to adjust the contrast, hue, or gamma, or convert from one image format to another. It's fast and lightweight compared to other tools, BUT, it uses text-based drop menus instead of all sorts of whizzy icons and popups.
@mcdougle4248 wrote:
Thank you for taking this on, it certainly is a huge endeavor.
I tried setting up a variation listing (again) a week or so ago. I am sure I had done it wrong, but when I clicked preview and the drop down didn't work, I quit. So, what I (think) I have learned from this thread is that the drop down does not function in preview, but if I were to schedule the start time, then I could see the drop down. Is this correct?
Yes. When the listing is complete, schedule it ahead, giving yourself as much time as you need to preview and test everything.
While you're working on the listing but need to interrupt your work, it's better to save it as a Draft instead. (The system automatically saves a draft for you, but it won't necessarily include your most recent changes.) That way your changes won't be documented in the listing's revision list.
Once it's scheduled, edits/changes will be on the listing's revision list, which is visible to buyers. That's OK - you need to schedule to test everything since preview doesn't work. But my opinion, it's best to keep the revision list minimal.
I apologize that I am a bit under the weather and will be back on this project in a few days. Please continue to make recommendations.
