An eBay.de item description may use plain HTML, but no active content: JavaScript, Flash, plug-ins and submittable forms are blocked, and a listing that contains them cannot be published. Contact details, names and addresses and links that lead buyers off eBay are not allowed either — business sellers put their legal information in the account, not in each description. The title has 80 characters, and item specifics and the product safety fields matter as much as the text. As of October 2026.
Title: 80 characters
An eBay title has at most 80 characters, spaces included (the optional subtitle, which costs a fee, has 55). There is no room for filler: brand, product type, model and the attributes buyers filter by — material, size, colour, quantity.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| NEU!!! L@@K Top Thermosflasche Edelstahl WOW | Fjellmo Thermosflasche 750 ml Edelstahl doppelwandig auslaufsicher Blau |
| Damen Sneaker Gr. 38 39 40 41 weiß | one size per variant in the size specific, not in the title |
The title checker counts the 80 characters and flags capitals, symbols and repeated words.
No active content — but HTML is fine
eBay’s policy on the use of scripting languages bans “active content” in listings: JavaScript, Flash, plug-ins and submittable forms. eBay gives a poor buying experience on mobile devices, longer page load times and security risks as reasons, and says active content has been removed from all existing listings. A new listing with active content gets the error “Disallowed JavaScript/HTML Syntax” and cannot go live until it is removed. Disguising JavaScript is itself a breach.
Typical culprits in old templates:
- image galleries, sliders and tabs driven by JavaScript;
- embedded iframes, counters and “recommended items” widgets from tool providers;
- contact or newsletter forms;
- scripts that change areas outside the description (fonts, colours, background).
Plain HTML — paragraphs, headings, lists, bold — is not active content. A clean, single-column description without fixed widths also reads well on a phone.
Write for the phone
On mobile, eBay shows a short preview of the description: by default, eBay picks the most relevant 250 characters. You can set your own summary of up to 800 characters with a hidden schema.org product description in the HTML — eBay’s help page on creating listings explains the markup.
- Start with what the item is and what is in the box — not with shop slogans.
- Short paragraphs and one list of key facts; no tables for layout.
- Complete sentences with correct spelling, as eBay’s own guidance asks.
- Facts only: dimensions, material, compatibility, condition. Claims such as “umweltfreundlich” have been banned in Germany since 27 September 2026 (green claims ban).
Contact details, links and sales outside eBay
eBay’s contact information policy prohibits e‑mail addresses, phone numbers, chat IDs and similar details in listings, and names and addresses in the item description — for all sellers. Its policy on buying and selling outside eBay forbids offering a sale off the platform, and the links policy allows links only to:
- other eBay pages (your other listings, your eBay Shop, eBay messages);
- product videos you hold the rights to;
- eBay-approved shipping providers;
- legally required information.
Allowed links must use HTTPS. Links that take buyers off eBay to complete a transaction, or to pages collecting personal or payment data, are not allowed — so no “order cheaper in our shop”, no bank details, no PayPal address. eBay can remove listings, restrict the account or suspend it.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Fragen? Ruf an: 0171 … | Questions? Send us a message via eBay. |
| Mehr Farben in unserem Shop: www.… | link to your eBay Shop or other eBay listings |
| Impressum, AGB und Widerruf in every description | store them once in the account (see below) |
Item specifics carry the search
Item specifics (Artikelmerkmale) — brand, type, size, colour, material, style — feed eBay’s search filters. eBay says that adding as many as possible helps items get found on eBay and by external search engines, and in many categories some of them are mandatory; the listing form marks which.
- Product identifiers (GTIN/EAN, MPN, brand) are required in some categories; if the item has none, eBay asks you to choose “Nicht zutreffend” (does not apply).
- eBay standardised sizes for clothing and shoes from June 2026 and says that from August 2026 listings with missing or unclear size or condition may be hidden.
- Specifics, title and description must agree: a “Material: Baumwolle” specific next to “Polyester” in the text is a reason for returns. Textile fibre names follow EU rules — see textile fibre names.
Product safety fields and legal information
Since 13 December 2024, every online offer must name the manufacturer, the EU responsible person if the manufacturer is outside the EU, identifiers and safety information (Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 19). On eBay these go into dedicated fields of the listing form, not into the description:
- Product manufacturer
- name, postal and electronic address of the manufacturer
- EU responsible person
- if the manufacturer is not in the EU: an EU- or Northern Ireland-based manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or fulfilment provider
- Product safety
- warnings, pictograms, CE marking where required, documents (.pdf, .jpg, .png, .gif, .tiff, .bmp)
- Identifiers
- model, EAN etc. in the item specifics
Safety information must be in the language of the country where the product is sold — German for eBay.de. eBay may hide listings without these details from buyers in the EU and Northern Ireland. The GPSR generator writes the block; background in GPSR in online listings.
Business sellers store their legal notice (Impressum), terms (AGB) and cancellation policy (Widerrufsbelehrung) once in the account under “Rechtliche Informationen des Verkäufers”; eBay shows them on every item page. That is the only place outside your eBay Shop’s imprint page where your business name and address may appear. Missing or wrong legal information is a classic reason for an Abmahnung.
Check your listing
Paste your eBay title and description HTML into the free listing check: it counts the 80 characters and finds scripts, styles, iframes, HTML attributes, contact details, URLs and banned claims. Nordova writes eBay descriptions in plain HTML without attributes, scripts or links, plus item specifics from your product data.