Your first eBay listing, step by step.

Get your materials ready (and check your listing limits)

Sign in to eBay and go to Seller Hub → Listings → Create listing → Single listing (or My eBay → Selling → List an item). Before you click anything, have these ready on your desktop:

• At least 8 listing images — upload more if you have them (eBay allows up to 24). At minimum include a primary mockup, lifestyle shot, colour chart and size chart.
• A short video (optional — about 1 minute, boosts conversion).
• Colour chart & size chart images — download the MeshX templates below.
• Your design name and 2–3 keyword phrases buyers would search for.
• Your sale prices — you decide these. See Step 07 for a pricing ladder.

Check your listing limits first

Upload 8+ photos and an optional video

Fill at least the 8 slots below. You can upload more if you have them — eBay allows up to 24 photos per listing and more images generally convert better.

1. Slot 1 — Primary mockup. Your strongest product shot on the most popular colour. This is the thumbnail buyers see in search.
2. Slot 2 — Design-colour warning. A "Choose the correct T-shirt colour" graphic — reduces refund requests.
3. Slot 3 — Lifestyle shot. Model wearing the tee, or the tee styled in context.
4. Slot 4 — Alternate colour mockup. Same design on a different colour (e.g. White or Sand).
5. Slot 5 — Second alternate colour. Navy or Burgundy works well — shows buyers the range.
6. Slot 6 — Back view or flat-lay. Helps buyers see the fit.
7. Slot 7 — Size chart (Adult + Kids — from the MeshX Drive folder).
8. Slot 8 — Colour chart (all 7 garment colours — from the MeshX Drive folder).

Video (optional). eBay supports a single video up to about 1 minute — a short clip showing the garment from multiple angles is a nice-to-have but not essential.

Title, subtitle and category

Title (80 characters max)

Front-load the strongest keywords. eBay's search ranks heavily on title words, so don't waste characters on words buyers don't type (no "best / amazing / perfect / cute").

Title formula[Design name] Tshirt, [Secondary keyword / character / theme] [Tertiary keyword] T-Shirt - [Design number]

ExampleAb Fab Tshirt, What Would Patsy Do, Sweetie Absolutely Fabulous T-Shirt - 277959

Subtitle (optional — costs £2.40)

Subtitles are not searched by buyers — they only appear on the listing page itself, and eBay charges £2.40 per listing to add one. For a first listing, leave this blank.

Item category

Type "T-Shirts" into the category picker and choose the path that matches your design's target buyer:

Recommended category pathClothes, Shoes & Accessories > Men > Men's Clothing > Shirts & Tops > T-Shirts

If your design is aimed at women, use the equivalent Women's T-Shirts category. eBay remembers your last choice for future listings.

Fill in item specifics & condition

eBay uses item specifics for search filters. Fill in every relevant field — listings with complete item specifics show up in more filtered searches. Use these defaults as a starting point:

Required

Brand

Casual Classic

Size

Leave as "Choose Size" — buyers pick from variations

Department

Unisex Adults

Colour

Leave as "Choose Colour" — buyers pick from variations

Additional (recommended — fill in everything that applies)

Type

T-Shirt

Theme

Pick the closest match for your design (e.g. TV Shows, Music, Humorous, Cartoon)

Character / Character Family

If your design features a named character, fill these in — huge search volume

Sleeve Length

Short Sleeve

Material

Cotton

Neckline

Crew Neck

Fit

Regular

Pattern

No Pattern

Size Type

Regular

Country of Origin

United Kingdom

Fabric Type

Ringspun

Vintage

No — these are newly-printed garments, not genuinely vintage

Features / Accents

Leave blank unless a specific option clearly fits your design

Condition

Item condition

New without tags — MeshX prints on blank garments, so there are no retail tags attached

Condition description

Brand New Garments - Printed To Order

Write the description

eBay's description editor accepts plain text. Paste the template below and edit the design-specific bits. Keep it scannable — most buyers are on mobile and won't read long paragraphs.

If you're only offering Adult T-shirts on this listing (because of listing limits), trim the "Garments on offer" section to match. Listing garments you haven't set up as a variation just causes "where's my kids tee?" messages.

Set up variations & SKUs

Step 6.1 — Open the Variations section

On the listing page, scroll to VARIATIONS and click Edit. A dialog opens where you'll create two attributes in the order below. The order matters — Garment & Size must be added first so buyers see it as the top dropdown.

Step 6.2 — Add Attribute 1: Garment & Size

1. In the Attributes row, click + Add and select "Create your own".
2. Name it exactly: Garment & Size
3. In the Options panel below, click + Create your own and add each of the 13 options below one by one. Press Enter after each.

Spelling matters: use these labels exactly — our SKU lookups match on these names.

Step 6.3 — Add Attribute 2: Colour

1. Back at the top, click + Add again.
2. Name it exactly: Colour
3. Add the 7 colour options below, pressing Enter after each:

Click Update variations. eBay generates a combinations table — 13 × 7 = 91 rows. You'll trim it down next.

Step 6.4 — Delete combinations we don't sell

MeshX only prints certain Kid/Tote combinations. In the combinations table, click Delete on every row that isn't in the enabled list below. Full set = 65 rows enabled, 26 deleted.

• 49 Adult T-shirt rows — 7 sizes × 7 colours, all enabled.
• 15 Kid T-shirt rows — 5 ages (3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-13) × 3 colours (Black, White, Light Heather Grey). Delete the other 4 colours for every Kid size.
• 1 Tote Bag row — Sand only. Delete the 6 other tote colours.

Step 6.5 — Paste the SKU into every enabled row

For each enabled row, copy the matching SKU from the master tables below into the Custom label (SKU) column. Set Quantity based on your listing-limit situation (5 if limited, 100–999 otherwise). Leave EAN as "Does not apply".

Master SKU table — Adult T-shirts (49 rows, all enabled)

Master SKU table — Kid T-shirts (15 rows — Black / White / Light Heather Grey only)

Master SKU table — Tote Bag (1 row — Sand only)

Delete the 6 other Tote Bag rows (Black, White, Navy, Light Heather Grey, Dark Charcoal Grey, Burgundy).

How to price for profit

You set the sale price. Lower prices attract more orders; higher prices mean more profit per sale. Your MeshX costs are fixed — and 3XL/4XL sizes cost slightly more to produce:

Because 3XL/4XL cost more, set a higher price on those rows in the variations table — a common pattern is +£2 on 2XL, +£3 on 3XL, +£4 on 4XL.

Worked examples (one UK sale)

eBay takes roughly 15% of the total transaction (final-value fee + payment processing + a small fixed per-order charge). Buyer pays postage — you keep the difference after you pay MeshX's postage charge.

Quick pricing ladder

Estimates only — eBay fees vary slightly by category, Top-Rated status, and promoted-listing ad rate. Check your real fees in Seller Hub → Payments for your own numbers.

Assumes £3.99 buyer postage, £2.85 to MeshX, eBay fees ≈ 15% of (sale + postage). Lower prices move more units; higher prices mean more per sale. Test what works for your niche.

Postage, handling time & international

eBay lets you either use Business Policies (saved postage/payment/return profiles) or enter postage directly on the listing. If you've not set up business policies, use direct entry for your first listing — you can move to policies later.

Domestic (UK)

Service

Royal Mail Tracked 48 (2 business days)

Cost buyer pays

Fixed · £3.99 first item · £0.99 each additional

Postage upgrade 1

Royal Mail Tracked 24 (1 business day) · £4.99 first · £0.99 additional

Postage upgrade 2

Royal Mail Special Delivery 1pm · £14.99 first · £0.99 additional

International

Service

Global Shipping Programme (GSP) — eBay handles the international leg, you only post to their UK hub

Cost

Calculated by eBay at checkout based on destination

Handling time

Dispatch within

3 working days — matches what we promise MeshX. Don't promise 1-day dispatch; print-on-demand needs the full 3 days.

Returns policy & origin details

Domestic returns

Returns accepted

Yes — 30 days

Who pays return postage

Buyer

Refund method

Money back

International returns

Returns accepted

No — not practical for print-on-demand at international shipping rates

Item location

Country

United Kingdom

Postcode

Your business postcode

Multi-buy discounts & Promoted Listings

These are optional. Skip them for your first listing if you want — you can turn them on later once you've seen how your listing performs.

Multi-buy discounts

In the listing page, look for Volume pricing or Multi-buy. eBay lets you set a tiered discount for buyers who order multiple items:

Buy 2

Save 6%

Buy 3

Save 10%

Buy 4+

Save 15%

These numbers are a starting point. Raising prices slightly before applying multi-buy lets you offer the discount without eating your margin. The discount only kicks in when a buyer puts multiple items from the same listing in one basket — so it's most useful for designs that might be bought in pairs (partner tees, friend groups, etc.).

Promoted Listings (General)

Promoted Listings push your listing higher in search and on competitor pages. You only pay when someone buys via the promotion.

Ad rate

8% is a sensible starting rate — eBay suggests category-specific rates; you can raise or lower it.

Billing

Only charged on actual promoted sales, on top of your normal final-value fee.

If you enable this, factor the 8% ad rate into your pricing — add roughly £2 to your sale price to cover it. For a first listing with an unknown design, it's fine to leave promotion off and see whether the listing converts on its own first.

Publish, then copy your listing URL into the MeshX Listing Bot

Pre-publish checklist

• At least 8 photo slots used (more is better, up to 24)
• Size chart and colour chart included in the photos (from the MeshX Drive folder)
• Title under 80 characters, keyword-rich, no "best / amazing / perfect"
• Category set (Men's or Women's T-Shirts)
• All relevant item specifics filled in (Brand, Type, Material, Colour, Theme, etc.)
• Condition set to New without tags with description "Brand New Garments - Printed To Order"
• Correct number of variations enabled (65 if no limits, 12 if on a new-seller cap)
• Every enabled variation has the correct SKU pasted in, matching the master tables
• 3XL/4XL priced higher than S–2XL to account for the £6.49 cost
• Quantity set appropriately for your listing limit (5 if limited, 100–999 otherwise)
• Postage: Royal Mail Tracked 48 at £3.99 + £0.99 additional
• Handling time: 3 working days
• UK returns: 30 days, buyer pays return postage
• International: Global Shipping Programme enabled

When every box is ticked, hit Preview to sanity-check the buyer view, then List it. Your first listing is live. 🎉

Copy your listing URL to MeshX

1. Go to Seller Hub → Listings → Active.
2. Click the title of the listing you just published. It opens the public listing page.
3. Copy the full URL from the browser address bar. It should look like this:

Example URLhttps://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/366367167157

Paste that URL into the "Listing to copy" field in the MeshX Listing Bot. Anything after the item number (e.g. ?hash=… or ?var=…) is fine — our system strips it.