eBay Product Descriptions: Best Practices in 2026
eBay's Cassini search engine evaluates listings on dozens of signals, but most of them you can influence through listing copy and item specifics. Here's what moves ranking in 2026 and what to stop doing if you've been following 2022-era advice.
Title: 80 characters, optimised hard
eBay gives you 80 characters. Use every one. Cassini tokenises your title and matches against search queries — missing keywords cost you visibility you can't make up elsewhere. Order: Brand, Model, Key Specs, Size/Color, Condition. No filler words like 'NEW!' or 'BEST!' — Cassini downgrades listings with promotional title language.
Item specifics matter more than you think
- Fill every item specific eBay shows you, even optional ones. Missing specifics = lower Cassini score.
- Item specifics feed into the 'Shop by' filters on category pages. Incomplete specifics = your listing doesn't appear when a buyer filters by 'brand' or 'material'.
- Use eBay's suggested values when they match; use custom values when they don't. Don't invent variants that aren't in their taxonomy — they'll map them to 'Other' and you lose filter coverage.
Description formatting that works
eBay allows HTML but strips most of it for mobile. Write for the mobile view — short paragraphs, bullet lists, no inline styles. The 'Description' field is still keyword-relevant for Cassini but at lower weight than title/specifics.
Ship & return policies are ranking signals
eBay rewards sellers with fast handling (same-day), free shipping (even baked into price), and 30+ day returns. These aren't just UX polish — they're Cassini inputs. A listing with 1-day handling and free returns outranks an identical listing with 3-day handling.
Things to stop doing
- Stop using the description to tell buyers to visit your website or store. eBay's ToS prohibits external-link hijacking and will remove your listing.
- Stop copying the manufacturer's description verbatim — Cassini detects duplicate content and deprioritises it.
- Stop using 'L@@K!', all-caps sentences, or excessive exclamation points. These date your listings to 2008 and signal low-trust.
FAQ
Does eBay's AI description tool work?
eBay's built-in AI description tool is fine for a first draft but doesn't respect condition-specific phrasing (used vs. new vs. refurbished) — always edit its output before publishing.
Should I use HTML in eBay descriptions?
Simple HTML (p, ul, li, strong) is safe. Avoid tables, inline CSS, JavaScript — eBay strips or flags most of it.
How important are eBay's item specifics?
Critical. They're how buyers filter category pages. Missing specifics = invisible to filter-driven search traffic, which is where most conversions come from on eBay.