Is eBay Struggling With Video In Listings?

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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UPDATE: 2-19-22

eBay community staff confirmed in the weekly chat that eBay had experienced delays in approving videos, but the backlog has been worked through and most videos should be loading in 24-48 hours - prompting me to wonder how in the world eBay thinks this new feature can possibly scale across the platform if they are relying on a human power manual review process.

Selling --Video In Listings Update on Review Process
We’ve had a few threads recently about using the new video-in-gallery tool, and how long is it taking for the review (before the uploaded video actually goes live). Here’s an update from Wednesday’s Weekly Chat: ”...the backlog has been worked through and ...currently the vast majority of videos are…

We've had a few threads recently about using the new video-in-gallery tool, and how long is it taking for the review (before the uploaded video actually goes live). Here's an update from Wednesday's Weekly Chat:

"...the backlog has been worked through and ...currently the vast majority of videos are being approved within that 24-48 hour timeframe, with nearly all others being approved 'shortly thereafter'. "

Best advice I can give, if your video is not live after 48 hours (or maybe a little longer), you might want to contact Customer Service. Hopefully, ebay will eventually put an actual process in place to make this easier.

I'm planning on listing some music boxes within the next week or so, so will have an opportunity to test this out.


A seller in the weekly eBay community chat said they are experiencing very long processing times for videos uploaded in eBay's new listing experience.

Re: Community Chat, January 26 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics
And, speaking of video, I have the feature, and uploaded a video to a listing last Friday night. The Video is still “under review”. I know ebay says “up to 48 hours” and in some busy periods, up to 7 days, but......how busy can they be? It’s a less than 30 second video. Basically one image and some…

And, speaking of video, I have the feature, and uploaded a video to a listing last Friday night. The Video is still "under review". I know ebay says "up to 48 hours" and in some busy periods, up to 7 days, but......how busy can they be? It's a less than 30 second video. Basically one image and some narration. Really, just a test...but I sure didn't expect to still be waiting on this.

If ebay doesn't speed up the process, it's hard to imagine people using this for auctions (and many auction are for items that could definitely benefit from video....) If ebay has run into a problem with the video review process, how about a little transparency and just tell us?

Tyler@eBay responded that he had not heard of any issues with the video review process but would share the input and provide updates as he hears back.

I agree that "up to 7 days" could be a problem for auctions, as it won't do much good if buyers can't see the video before the end of the auction.

Other sellers discussed the new feature in a separate thread.

New Listing Fomat Now Includes Video HOW ABOUT MORE PHOTOS!
If you have yet to use the (eventual) new listing format it now enables (short) video. Nice feature. Not sure about length & even when your sale goes live you won’t see your video until it’s approved. I think it’s 10 cents more. While we here pretend there are no other selling platforms I do belong…

Time for approval: ebay says up to 48 hours normally, but up to seven days if they are very busy. Not sure why your listing is not up. The listing should go live regardless of the video. If the video is approved, it will be added in (to the second slot in the Gallery). I don't know what happens if it is not approved. As I have said elsewhere, the approval process makes it a risky thing to use if you are using auction format.

I posted a listing this past Friday night. The listing is live, but the video is STILL in approval limbo. I hope this is just the result of being an early adopter, and that they'll speed things up soon.

We have uploaded a couple videos to already existing listings and it took around 30+ hours....

...The videos do seem to be lower quality than originally uploaded though.

Yeah, I can also understand why they would not want 4k or large file videos on every listing. Hopefully it’s a computer algorithm and not just some poor soul sitting at a desk watching everyone’s video clips clicking verified.

Maybe once it’s fully released the process will be sped up

One seller did provide a link to a listing as an example for those who want to see what video in listings looks like. This listing is a great example of how the video feature can really benefit both buyers and sellers - being able to see how the labradorite catches light at different angles as it moves really makes it stand out.

2.31lbs PURPLE LABRADORITE FREEFORM - Rainbow Pink Mineral Sunset Crystal Witch | eBay
Incredible Purple Sunset Flash Labradorite #LABFF12.

(Value Added Resource has no affiliation with this seller and this is not intended as a promotion, just an example of how the video feature works.)

I can also see video in listings being very useful for mechanical items or items that move/make noise to show them in use as well as clothing where seeing how the fabric moves and flows could help make the sale.

More info about how to upload videos in the new listing tool here:

eBay Rolls Out Video In Listing To More Sellers
eBay is rolling out Video In Listings to more sellers, now available in the desktop listing flow in Seller Hub.

Video In Listings is an important part of CEO Jamie Iannone's tech led reimagination of the platform and transition away from legacy tech. As such, it's absolutely critical for eBay to deliver a stable, working product for this initiative.

Amazon, Etsy, Poshmark, Depop, and Facebook all beat eBay to the punch on providing sellers with video capability, so this new feature isn't really an "exciting next gen experience", it's simply eBay playing catch up with the competition.

Does eBay’s Tech Led Reimagination Stack Up Against Competition?
Etsy’s new augmented reality experience draws a stark contrast to eBay’s somewhat tepid tech led reimagination.

Hopefully they can get the kinks ironed out to speed up the review process. Beyond that, I'd love to see eBay incorporate "includes video" as a search filter on the buyer side as well.


Have you tried eBay's new video in listing feature yet? Do you love it, hate it, wish there were more bells and whistles? Let us know in the comments below!

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Liz Morton is a seasoned ecommerce pro with 17 years of online marketplace sales experience, providing commentary, analysis & news about eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Shopify & more at Value Added Resource!