HTML tags in eBay descriptions

Formatting plays a key role in how your eBay listings appear to buyers. HTML tags let you add structure and style for clearer, more engaging descriptions.

This article introduces the HTML tags and how eBay and LitCommerce support them.

What are HTML tags?

HTML tags are elements used to structure and format text on a webpage or product listing. They define how content should appear, such as headings, bold text, links, or lists.

Each tag is enclosed in angle brackets (< >) and usually comes in pairs: an opening and a closing tag.

• An opening tag (e.g.,<p>) indicates where formatting begins.

• A closing tag (e.g.,</p>) indicates where the formatting ends.

Any text placed between these tags is affected by the formatting rule. For example:

<b>Product</b> → displays the “Product” text in bold.

<i>LitCommerce</i> → displays the “LitCommerce” text in italics.

HTML tags in eBay descriptions

eBay allows a variety of HTML tags in listing descriptions, including:

• <a> for creating hyperlinks.

• <b> or <strong> for making text bold.

• <br> for inserting line breaks.

• <div> for defining a section or division.

• <h1> to <h6> for creating headings.

• <hr> for inserting horizontal lines.

• <i> or <em> for making text italic.

• <img> for inserting images.

• <li> for creating list items.

• <ol> for creating ordered (numbered) lists.

• <p> for creating paragraphs.

• <span> for applying styles to a part of text.

• <sub> for creating subscript text.

• <sup> for creating superscript text.

• <table> for creating tables.

• <tbody> for grouping table rows.

• <td> for creating table cells.

• <tfoot> for defining table footers.

• <th> for defining table header cells.

• <thead> for defining table header sections.

• <tr> for creating table rows.

• <u> for underlining text.

• <ul> for creating unordered (bulleted) lists.

Active content (e.g., animation or video via JavaScript, Cookie, Iframe, plugins, or form actions) is not permitted by eBay. Links included in the listing description using HTML tags must adhere to the platform’s links policy.

Not meeting eBay’s requirements will affect your listing's visibility and performance.

You may incorporate CSS with HTML tags to make listing descriptions more flexible and visually appealing.

How LitCommerce handles HTML tags in eBay descriptions

LitCommerce supports any HTML tags permitted by eBay. You can use these tags to control how your product descriptions are displayed on eBay by utilizing the Rich Text or HTML Editors.

The tool will retain any custom data input into the Description section. Refer to this article for more details.

Enable the Clean Listing Description feature in Channel Settings to automatically remove any unsupported HTML tags.

If you have any questions, let us know via the Chat Box in the bottom-right corner of our Help Center.