Image hosting for dummies

[pamsbooks]

Hi all, I am shortly going to be creating a few hundred listings, and have started completing the upload CSV which I got from seller reports. All makes sense, it's just the image URLs I'm struggling with.

I know that they need to be hosted by a 3rd party, and paid for, that I get. But what I don't get is when the images are "hosted" and I upload them to ebay.... are they then uploaded to Ebay so no longer on the 3rd party site? Or do I have to keep them on the 3rd party site as long as my listing is live?

If I have say 200 listings and 10 photos, then I need a plan with 2,000 photos which is going to be like $80 a month which seems not right for just 200 listings?

What am I missing - please can someone explain this to me like I'm an idiot, thank you (originally put this in the general forum but was suggested to put it here in business) 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I don't use this, but from what I understand of it, your not actually uploading the images to Ebay.

Your host server holds the images and you just provide a link to them.

So essentially, you point to them only from Ebay.

You must be able to get a cheaper price than that though, it does sound expensive.

[eyewear247]

Buy a domain name and webspace package.

I pay Ionos around £8 per month for many email address and webspace where I have several thousand photos stored. 

[ojewellery]

You may be better off uploading via a third party listing software like Inkfrog. 

300 listings (and associated photos) is $11/ month they'd store all your photos and you can use free listing templates too.

The alternative if you have all the images in one place is to use the new 'Create Multiple Listings from Photos'.  You upload all your photos as one big upload, ebay ai sorts them all into groups and creates draft listings for each product where it can suggesting titles, specifics, descriptions etc.  Would need a bit of reading through and checking but might work.

[vinylscot]

I was going to suggest the same. I use auctiva, and have done for about a decade.

I'm on a larger plan than you, costing around $25 per month, but that includes 2Gb of image hosting, unlimited listings, loads of decent templates, and various other features compatible with eBay.

[edwardian-dreams]

According to this there are a few free hosting sites

https://www.wix.com/blog/photography/free-image-hosting-sites

ps why is everyone typing $ 

[ojewellery]

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@edwardian-dreams wrote:

ps why is everyone typing $ 

For me its because InkFrog charges in dollars but according to AI....

Funny Theories

1. eBay Conversion Syndrome: After listing on eBay too long, the brain automatically converts all currencies into dollars. It’s the final stage of “Seller’s Upload Fatigue.”

2. The American Dream Subscription: Everyone secretly wants to move to Florida, and typing in dollars is a manifestation of their subconscious escape plan.

3. Keyboard Malfunction: Their £ keys are being held hostage in exchange for an enterprise-level Auctiva plan.

4. eBay’s AI Autocorrect: eBay’s new listing AI thinks everything should be priced in dollars because “you’ll get more international views that way!” — it also suggests adding “RARE” in every title.

5. They Watched Too Much Shark Tank: After bingeing American business reality TV, all pricing now defaults to dollars for “scaling opportunities.”

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Plausible But Still a Bit Weird

1. Tool Default Settings: Inkfrog, Auctiva, and others are American-based — they show pricing in dollars by default, and sellers just copy-paste.

2. Pricing Psychology: Dollar pricing just feels cheaper. $11 a month? Practically free! £8.70? Hmm, sounds expensive.

3. Seller Solidarity With the USD: In a post-Brexit world, maybe they trust USD stability more than GBP. Sad but not entirely implausible.

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Conspiracy Corner

1. eBay Global Elite Agenda: eBay is slowly Americanizing all sellers through subliminal pricing — soon, Union Jacks will morph into Stars & Stripes on your storefront overnight.

2. Dollar Dominance Directive: Rumor has it all top-rated sellers are being prepped for a secret rollout of "eBay USA Lite" for UK users, where all transactions are silently in USD.

3. The Currency Cover-Up: The real reason? A covert seller cabal that meets monthly on Zoom, plotting to merge Etsy, eBay, and Amazon into one megastore called “$ellWorld.”

4. £ to $ Conversion is a Loyalty Test: This is actually eBay’s version of the Turing test. If you type in £, you're a normal seller. If you default to $, you’re a true eBay lifer.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

More than likely, because most of the sites are US based, or charge in dollars as it's basically the universal currency.

[edwardian-dreams]

🤣🤣

must admit I blamed eBay glitch , my bad

thanks also therenewalworkshop