eBay title character counter

eBay item titles can be up to 80 characters, and every character counts: letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation. The listing form stops you at 80, so a title written in a bulk sheet often gets cut at the end, which is usually where the size or the condition was.

The counter above shows what is left as you type. Write the title here, check the subtitle if you pay for one, and copy both into the listing form.

1. 1Start with what the item is, in the words a buyer would type: brand, model and item type. “Levi’s 70505 Denim Trucker Jacket” beats “Vintage blue jacket”.
2. 2Add the details people filter by: size, color, capacity, edition, year or part number.
3. 3Add the condition or what is included: “Boxed”, “Tested”, “Complete with Manual”.
4. 4Cut what takes space without matching a search: “L@@K”, “WOW”, “Rare!!!” and repeated punctuation.
5. 5Fill in the item specifics as well. Buyers filter by them, and they hold the details that don’t fit in 80 characters.

Each title below starts with brand and model, adds what a buyer would filter by, and ends with the condition. eBay suggests using all 80 characters, so if you have room left, add another detail buyers search, like a color name or the year.

• Up to 24 photos per listing, free. The first one is the photo buyers see in search.
• At least 500 pixels on the longest side; eBay recommends about 1600 × 1600.
• Up to 12 MB each, in JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, WebP, HEIC or AVIF.
• No added borders, text or watermarks, and no stock photos for used items.

A good eBay title also works as a Pin title on Pinterest, which takes up to 100 characters, and as the first line of an Instagram caption, which shows about 125 characters before “more”. The panel next to the counter checks both.

For ways to bring buyers in from outside eBay search, see how to promote your eBay listings. Crop your photos with the Instagram image resizer or the Pinterest image resizer, and check the best time to post on Instagram.