So you have decided it's time to buy an auction template and now you don't know how to choose? Finding an eBay auction template that will work best for you and the products you sell need not be a daunting task. Here are some basic guidelines.

Auction Templates

An auction template can really spruce up an eBay listing or add your own personality to your selling page. But how do you go about selecting one? While some sellers may be talented enough to write their own templates, or can tell whether a template is well coded, others don't have the time or skills to get involved in "coding" for eBay. So, can we choose a template based on looks alone? Not always ...

Color and Style

Decide what style you would like. This is the easiest step because most people usually have an idea of what they like and what suits their products. If you have a store, consider a template and storefront combination to keep your theme consistent throughout your eBay presence. While you are at it, you might also consider a template that can carry over to your About ME page.

Watch out for graphics overload

In considering a template for your items it is easy to get excited by all the available graphics, but make sure the included graphics don't overshadow the product you are selling. Also examine page loading times. When considering a template, ask the designer about for the graphics overhead  - and try to stay below 50K for the ancillary graphics (icons, borders, buttons, etc). Experienced designers are able to reduce and compress those images for quick loading. If possible, view the template from a dialup connection to see what a large percentage of your prospective buyers may be experiencing.

Image hosting

Most auction templates come with background tiles, icons, buttons, or border images that must be hosted online. You will need to use your own website, personal webspace from your ISP, or an image host. If you are not familiar with this, ask your designer if they provide support in this area. Some designers might host the template graphics for some period of time, so if you need that option, be sure to ask.

Where to find Templates

There are huge numbers of templates offered for sale on eBay. Unfortunately, they are finding their way into many different categories and are becoming somewhat loosely distributed. However, these two links will take you to most of the available templates:

•  Templates in eBay User Tools
•  Templates in Specialty Services

Avoid templates designed for websites, or as part of web-authoring tools, as they are not likely to conform to the restrictions eBay places on listing codes.

Taking Delivery

Templates can be delivered on a CD, can be attached to an email, or can be hosted on a website for download. While digital delivery (email or download) is the swiftest and most economical, eBay no longer allows auctions to offer digital delivery of bulk or premade templates. Those auctions must now offer you a CD, but you can make alternate delivery arrangements with the designer after the sale.

You will find that many template sellers have moved their digital items to the classified ad format so that they can continue to offer lower-cost digital delivery. The classified ad connects you to the designer, but your transaction will occur outside of eBay and no feedback will be exchanged.

Template Categories

Bulk Templates

Be wary of 1000 webpages on a CD. While these may be great for web sites or as a starting point for creating your own designs, they may get you into trouble if they are used without modification in an eBay auction. The reason is that webpage templates assume you control all the real estate on the page and may write or change content anywhere on the page. In eBay auctions, we are allowed to use only the description block, and changing or overwriting anything outside of that area is a violation of eBay site-interference policy. Also those templates do not come with any kind of personal support, so there is no one to contact if you can't make them work on your own.

Premade Templates

Many template designers create several layouts and then sell those designs as standard products.  These are quite economical because the designer can sell the same template many times, so you and others may end up purchasing the same template. However, with the large number of sellers on eBay, it is very unlikely that you will encounter someone with the same template. These premade templates usually come with a minimal amount of support from the designer. Support can consist of an instruction page for using the template, or might include conversion of the template to your username and logo.

Custom Designed Templates

When choosing a custom template, the designer will work with you to create a unique design that is yours alone. You may be purchasing just an auction template or an entire identity package including store page, auction page, Me page, and custom logo. The designer will prepare instructions specifically for your listing situation and might design the template to work with your listing management tools. Some full-service designers will also help you get set up with an image host. Be sure to ask what is included in the package price and get a fixed timetable for completion of the work.

Judging the Template

Easy to use and maintain

Template designers should provide easy to follow directions with their templates. All templates should include instructions embedded directly in the template code itself, and may additionally include general instructions that are posted on a website or in an acknowledgement email.

Generally you will need to get into the HTML code of a template for each auction. The designer should make it very clear in the code where your auction text should be added or modified. If you are not planning to modify any HTML coding, the designer should make sure the area for your description text is out of the way of code, so that you won't accidently delete or overwrite any codes while pasting or typing your text into the template. Typically, they will add specific comments throughout the code instructing where your auction information should be added.

Ask the designer to show you some example code that illustrates the kind of instructions they provide. Based on your own abilities and confidence level, ask whether they offer startup support and continuing email support or phone support. Some may offer support for a limited time or for a continuing fee.

If you are the type of person who would love to use a template but who doesn't want to see the code, you might ask the designer if they will code the template for use in TagBot or a similar data-entry environment. TagBot is a free program that hides the HTML and gives the user simple data fields to enter their auction description, title, terms, pictures, and other pertinent information. Many designers already do offer that option in one form or another.

Another editing avenue is this free online editor that will allow you to add your description and photos and see the results, without the need to code the HTML. The editor creates eBay-friendly code, and most codes will work there. If the designer has created any special effects, they should be tested first, so ask your designer to make sure their code is set up to work in the editor, if that is something you would like to pursue.

Properly Coded

How can you tell whether a template is well coded? On the surface that is a difficult call, but oftentimes a simple test will speak volumes. There is a tiny free program called RagTag, and a template can be run through RagTag to pick up simple coding errors and to flag codes that may be inappropiate for eBay.

Before purchasing, ask your designer if their templates pass the RagTag test. Many of them have already run their templates through RagTag and will be able to say yes, while others may not have heard of the free tool. Over the past few years on eBay's  HTML Help board, desperate buyers have brought us many problematic templates to fix. RagTag was developed for that board to quickly locate basic coding errors. A good designer will be more than willing to test their template code prior to selling it to you.

Is it eBay Legal?

Another issue that frequently arises is the inclusion of coding or scripts that are not allowed by eBay. While eBay doesn't actively police auctions looking for templates that violate their policy, an amazing number of competitors are more than happy to turn in their peers. Brian Burke, eBay's Sr Marketplace Rules and Policy Mgr, has specifically stated that site-interference includes:

• mouse trailers
• falling snow and hearts that extend onto eBay's part of the auction page
• scrolling status lines at the bottom of the browser that prevent users from seeing hyperlinks
• colored scrollbars
  
• changing the background, font, or link colors on eBay's part of the page
• the talking wizard
• message boxes that float over the page

When considering templates, ask the designer if their templates are eBay compliant. "I've never had a problem" is not an adequate answer. Ask whether they provide templates to modify any of the above, and how they answer should give you a good indication of their knowledge of eBay rules.

A good designer has two choices: deliver templates that are eBay legal, or deliver non-compliant templates if a buyer insists on purchasing non-compliant code. If the designer is willing to sell a template with these modifications without first warning you that they are non-compliant, they most likely are unaware of the rules themselves.

User Obligations

Once you have purchased a template or contracted with a designer, you will have your own set of obligations to that designer.

Designer-owned Graphics

Many designers create their own graphics. They usually retain ownership of those graphics and only license you the right to use them within that specific template. If you would like to use the graphics elsewhere, be sure to ask permission first.

Some designers might pass the image copyright on to you, and this might be the case with custom designed graphics that incorporate your name or logo. If that right is passed to you, you may do whatever you wish with the graphic, including selling it to others. In that case, most designers might retain the right to reuse underlying art or to display your graphic in their portfolio. Be sure that you understand whether you are licensing a limited use, licensing a broader use, or are purchasing all rights to custom graphics.

User Modifications to Templates

This is a tricky area because most designers sell a finished product and have put their name to it. Some will insist that the template not be modified, as any changes might adversely reflect on the designer. But users sometimes feel that they would like to change the graphic or colors in a template and will pay the designer for a minor modification.

Some users feel confident enough to make that code change themselves. At that point the template no longer accurately reflects the designer's tastes and skills, and the designer may not wish to have their name associated with the changes. However, simply changing a graphic does not remove the fact that the designer has also created a layout and has some copyright interest in that portion as well. Some designers may allow an addition to the "template design by" copyright notice, such as "with graphics modified by xyz." Of course, if you have changed out the graphics and have significantly changed the way the page is coded, then the designer will no longer have a copyright interest in the template. 

While graphics copyright is straightforward, the template copyright is not. There are only so many ways to code a feature, and HTML codes, alone, are not copyrightable. However, if there is a unique look and feel to the page, then that appearance may be copyrighted.

Change Orders

Standard templates usually don't require any modifications beyond perhaps changing names and links to reflect your own identity. Custom work, on the other hand, may involve several drafts or a series of changes. Once a price is contracted, changes can't continue forever. Be sure you understand how many drafts and how many changes to the finished product you will get for your fee. Depending on the amount of customization, the designer might prepare a few drafts for your approval, and once approval is given, the modifications are set. Any changes beyond that will usually be for an additional fee.

Cancellations

On some occasions, designer and customer just don't click on an acceptable design or timetable for custom work. If that happens, the contract should be ended. There are several options that might depend on the amount of work completed, and these are just a few:

• The designer may waive/refund the fees and the customer must remove/destroy any work received and is not allowed to use any of that work in any manner.
• The designer, at their discretion, might allow the user to accept partially completed work at a reduced fee, to use as a starting point with another designer.
• If the project is substantially complete, the user must pay the negotiated fee, but might receive permission to have the work modified by another designer.

Comments?

If this information was helpful, please click the "yes" button below so that more users will have the opportunity to view this information. If you would like to add any recommendations to this page, please contact me using the eBay messaging system, or leave the recommendation as a comment on my eBay blog. Thanks for visiting.

 

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More Auction Template Help Guides:
• How to select a Template
• Mini-Templettes for Auction Inserts
• The 10 Design Basics (series)
• Adding Sound to your Auction
• Adding Auction Backgrounds
• Make a Seamless Background Tile
• JPG or GIF image formats - which should I use?
• Web-Size your Photos using Email or Paint