eBay: Solutions for eBay's Common Error Messages

In this article, you will learn what each eBay error means and how to quickly resolve it.

We recommend you hit CTRL+F5 on your keyboard to quickly locate the error relevant to you to save time.

Reason: You did not opt-in to eBay's business policy and that's why eBay cannot set up your policies.
Workaround: Please visit this link http://www.bizpolicy.ebay.com/businesspolicy/policyoptin, log in to your eBay account, and opt-in eBay business policies. After you've done so, you can create your payment, shipping, and return policy on eBay. 

⚠️ You've provided an invalid return policy. 

Reason:  You have entered an invalid return policy in the description of the listing, meaning, in your template.
Workaround: make sure you are using a valid return policy for the item. Different eBay markets (ebay.com/ebay.co,uk etc) might have different requirements and legal obligations. If you're not sure, look for help on eBay or from other sellers. 

⚠️  In order to maintain a safe trading environment, sellers may only offer a maximum of 100 items per listing.

Reason: To ensure a safe buying and selling experience for the buyers on eBay, eBay might restrict the number of units offered per listing.
Workaround:  Reduce the available quantity for this listing and then try uploading it again. 

⚠️ The email address you entered isn't linked to a PayPal account. If you don't have a PayPal account, you'll need to set one up with this email address so that buyers can pay you

Reason: eBay did not verify your PayPal account.
Workaround: Log in to your PayPal account,  click on the link on your confirmation email to verify your PayPal account with a credit card. Then go to your eBay account to set up PayPal as the automatic payment method for eBay payments. 

⚠️Before you can list this item we need some additional information to create a seller's account.

Reason:  To sell on eBay, you are required to select an automatic payment method for your selling fees to eBay, therefore, eBay is asking for your credit card information.
Workaround: Log into your eBay account and add an automatic payment method for your eBay's selling fees. For more additional information: https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/sell-getstarted.html or http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/automatic-payments.html 

⚠️ Listing cannot be revised because you have reached the maximum number of revisions allowed.

Reason: eBay has a limitation for how many times you can revise a single listing and you have exceeded this limit.  
Workaround: There's nothing you can do - you will not be able to apply the change you wanted for this listing. 

⚠️ Validation of the authentication token in API request failed

Reason: AutoDS' authentication token has expired. Meaning, we no longer have permission to make changes to your listings. Note: only applies to API stores.
Workaround: Refresh your token. Click on the little pencil next to your store name-> Click on the 3 dots menu-> Renew Token. You will be directed to eBay to approve us as a third-party application again. 

⚠️ Buyers love large photos that clearly show the item, so please upload high-resolution photos that are at least 500 pixels on the longest side.

Reason: eBay requires all images have a minimum of 500 pixels on the longest side. AutoDS will only upload 500-pixel images, this error will most likely pop up when you add your own image to the listings not matching with eBay's requirements.
Workaround: Verify the pixel size of the main images of the listing and the images of your variations, edit to match if needed, then upload the images again.

⚠️ Variation Specifics provided does not match with the variation specifics of the variations on the item.

Reason: Please enter valid values that are consistent with the specifics of the variations.
Workaround: Make sure you are inserting valid values for all items and that these values are provided consistently for specifics across variations.

⚠️ Listing titles are limited to [value] characters.
Reason: Your listing exceeds the maximum length of characters. This will only happen when you list directly on eBay as AutoDS will limit your title's character to 80 as allowed by eBay.
Workaround: Ensure your listing title is not longer than the maximum length - 80 characters.

⚠️ Your listing cannot contain javascript (".cookie", "cookie(", "replace(", IFRAME, META, or includes), cookies or base herf

Reason: It seems you have used some improper codes in your listings. It can happen when you use your own HTML template.
Workaround: Make sure your item description does not contain the prohibited code listed in the error message.

⚠️ Variations Specifics and Item Specifics entered for a Multi-SKU item should be different

Reason: You have entered the same specifics for variation options and item specifics.
Workaround: You have the same values inserted for variation-specific options and the item specifics. eBay does not allow it. Please remove the identical specifics in your Item Specifics part if they already existed as specifics in the variation option.

⚠️  A mixture of Self Hosted and EPS pictures are not allowed.
Reason: When there are multiple images for your listing and you upload them to the eBay Picture Services (EPS), eBay seems to get the image information corrupted - leaving some images uploaded to their servers and others not.
Workaround: Choose to use all EPS (eBay Picture Services) images for your item or all self-hosted images. Download all your images to your computer. Remove all your images for the listing, leaving only one image. Upload the listing with the one image remaining only. Once the listing has been successfully uploaded, add the remaining images you previously saved on your computer. 

⚠️ You entered more pictures than allowed.
Reason: eBay allows only 12 images to be uploaded to a single listing.
Workaround: Please remove images to have a max of 12. 

⚠️ Enter a full UK/US Postal Code/ Please enter a valid postal code error

Reason: You did not enter a postcode to your eBay Business Shipping Policy.
Workaround: Please visit this Help Article to learn how to fix it. 

⚠️ Duplicate names in name value list in variation specifics container.

Reason: You did not give unique names to your variations.
Workaround: You need to check if you have values for multi-variation options or specifics that are the same but use different capitalizations such as "white" and "White" and "WHITE", as these eBay might see these as duplicates and thus, generate this error. 

⚠️ XML Error Text: "nested exception is: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: An invalid XML character (Unicode: 0x3) was found in the CDATA section

Reason: There's probably a character that was copied from another source and it is not compatible with eBay's system.
Workaround: Please check your listing's description and header text and remove any special characters you can find and then try uploading your listing again. 

⚠️ The shipping service is not available for this item location. Select a different service.

Reason: You have chosen the wrong location and/or shipping service for this item.
Workaround: Please select a different location or a different shipping service. You can read this article to learn how to make general shipping policies that work best for drop-shipping. 

⚠️ You must accept the International Selling Agreement before you can list this item on a site other than where you registered or with international shipping options.

Reason: As a seller, you did not agree with eBay's International Selling Agreement.
Workaround: You must do it as part of your seller account. Please visit the eBay link provided in the error message to accept these terms. If you decide not to accept these terms, you will be allowed to list only where your account is registered.

⚠️ This category does not support products with variations.

Reason: The selected category does not support products with variations.
Workaround: Please try choosing another category from the dropdown menu, or try listing the item without variations. For more info about categories please check out this Help Article. 

⚠️ This item cannot be accessed because the listing has been deleted, is a Half.com listing, or you are not the seller.

Reason: This listing was probably has been deleted on eBay.
Workaround: When an item is monitored on AutoDS and you get this error - it means it was ended on eBay's directly. You will not be able to make changes to a listing that ended and will need to remove it from the monitor. 

⚠️ Error (240): The item cannot be listed or modified. The title and/or description may contain improper words, or the listing or seller may be in violation of eBay policy.

Reason: This is a generic eBay error caused by either violation of the eBay selling policy or a restriction on your eBay account. For example, the error may return if you use email or social media links in a title or description. This error can also occur if your item is in violation of legislation in some countries.

Workaround: To solve the problem, you need to check the title and description text and exclude restricted words, following the hints from the error description.

⚠️ Missing required filed'' Item Location''

Reason: Your eBay's business policies do not have the ''Item location'' field, so you need to fill it this specific before you list the item.
Workaround: Go to this shipping policy on your eBay account, fill in the ''Item Location'' field, then apply this policy to the listings. We recommend working with a general shipping policy that does not require a location or have a specific carrier to it.  

⚠️  Authorization token is hard expired. The user needs to generate a new token for this application.

Reason: AutoDS token as a 3rd party authorization app on eBay had expired.
Workaround: You need to refresh the token from the AutoDS settings page. 

⚠️The category is not valid, select another category.

Reason: The category is not valid for use for this listing at the moment.
Workaround: Try selecting a different valid category for the item. This error can sometimes appear for eBay listings that were previously valid if eBay had made category changes and has not provided a clear mapping from the old category to a new category. You can read more about eBay's categories here. 

⚠️ Error (640): We noticed that you don't have a payment method set up with your eBay account. As soon as you take care of this, you'll be able to list more items.

Reason: Most likely, you need to set up a payment method on eBay — either via PayPal or a credit card so that eBay can charge seller fees.
Workaround:

Click on the following link to learn how to set up automatic payments on eBay and link your PayPal account. If you already have your PayPal account linked, please relink it via eBay as the PayPal authorizations to your eBay account might have been revoked and need renewal. After completing these tasks, try listing your items again.

Go to: eBay-> Account settings ->Seller Account (Or click here)

At the bottom of the page connect your Paypal

⚠️ Error (21916585): Duplicate custom variation label.
Reason: This error occurs when you modify the item's variations via eBay instead of making changes via AutoDS. Now, when submitting data to eBay from AutoDS, there is conflicting information on both platforms.

Workaround: The best workaround for this problem is to end the listing and upload it again via AutoDS. 

⚠️ Variation cannot be deleted during restricted revise.

Reason: Variation with a purchase history cannot be deleted.
Workaround: You're probably trying to delete a variation from a multiple-variations listing with sales history. If you want this variation to be available again, set its quantity to 0 and disable the stock monitoring for it. If a product's variation has no purchases, you should be able to delete it.

⚠️ This listing would cause you to exceed the number of items you can list. You can list up to x more items this month. Please consider reducing the quantity or request to list more: Link

Reason: You exceed the number of items that you can list according to your eBay's limit
Workaround: Read this Help Article for a detailed explanation. 

⚠️ If the original item was not listed as a Multi-SKU item, you cannot change it to be a Multi-SKU item during relist (or revise). You will need to create a new listing as a Multi-SKU item.

Reason: You can not change a single listing to a Multi-SKU listing when you're trying to relist an item.
Workaround: List your multi-SKU (your multi-variations listing) item as a new item instead of relisting or revising an old non-multi-SKU item.

⚠️ No rate table has been created. Please create the rate table.

Reason: You did not set up a shipping rate table on eBay
Workaround: Check the shipping policy you have tried to list with and apply a shipping rate for it for different worldwide locations. 

⚠️ This Listing is a duplicate of your item: [item (item number)]. Use multi-quantity fixed price listing to list these items.

Reason: The listing you are trying to list is a duplicate of another listing you have already published to your store.

Workaround: Make sure you are not uploading a duplicate listing. If you have already listed the item in question, then find the original listing and update the quantity instead.

⚠️ The tags [tag] is/are disabled as Variant.
Reason: You have used an invalid tag for this variant.
Workaround: The word you try using for the variant is reserved by eBay and can't be used for your eBay listings. Choose a different attribute name to avoid the error.

⚠️ The duration [value] day(s) is not available for this listing type, or invalid for category [category name].

Reason: The duration that you selected is not valid for the listing or category.
Workaround: Check the duration you are using in the settings for the item is valid for the listing type or category. 

⚠️ Only Single item can be sold in auction-style listings. Switch to FixedPrice format to sell multiple items.

Reason: You choose the wrong type of publication for this listing.
Workaround: If you are trying to sell more than one specific item, you need to list it using a fixed-price format instead of auction-style.

⚠️  Internal error to the application.

Reason: There is an eBay server error or network problem.
Workaround: The error is on eBay's server-side, not an error with your listing. Try listing again later.

⚠️  Package weight is over the weight limit for service [service]. The maximum weight is [weight].

Reason: The weight of the package exceeds the limit of services you are offering in your shipping policy.
Workaround: Check the weight of the item you are trying to list and make sure that it works within the limits of the shipping policy. Best to create shipping policing that does not require package weights and dimensions. 

⚠️ Invalid value for [product identifier].

Reason: You have entered an invalid value: UPC, EAN......
Workaround: Make sure you're using a valid value for product identifiers (UPC, EAN, ISBN), correct it, or try to use other UPC, EAN, ISBN. Note: these details are pulled directly from the source site listings except for a unique UPC which AutoDS fills in automatically on your listings. 

⚠️ Error 21919188: It looks like you've reached the number of items you can list. You can list up to N items this month. Request to list more

Reason: This error message suggests that you have exceeded the listing limit you have on eBay. The limit is shared between all eBay sites. When you try to submit a listing via AutoDS, it can be rejected by eBay due to limitations.

Workaround: to resolve this error, you can either set quantities in stock to 1 in order to save limits or contact eBay customer support for further assistance regarding your limitations.

⚠️ Error 107: The category isn’t valid, select another category.

Reason: Sometimes eBay makes changes to the categories list. If the eBay category submitted for the item is invalid or no longer available, eBay will return this error.

Workaround:  Here you can find the changes made to categories and see if any of those that you use have been changed. The only possible workaround for this problem is to select another category.

⚠️ Error (21919303): The item specific MPN is missing. Add MPN to this listing, enter a valid value, and then try again.

Workaround: In order to resolve this issue, you need to add MPN to your listing. You can do it in the Specifics section of your item. If your item has no MPN, simply put "Does Not Apply" in the field.

⚠️ Error (21916884): Condition is required for this category.

Reason: When you list an item in some eBay categories, you must specify its condition. Conditions differ by item category, please check this eBay documentation to find out more: Item conditions by category and Item Condition IDs and Names.

Workaround: AutoDS always uploads the 'new' condition as a default so you should not encounter this issue when uploading directly via AutoDS. If you still do, just specify the actual condition for each item. We convert this description to those required by a specific category on the corresponding eBay site. 


⚠️ Error (10068): Email address cannot be used for PayPal payments at this time.

⚠️ Error (121): You will be unable to complete this request until payment is made or a credit card is put on file for automatic monthly billing.

Reason: This error may come up if you are a new seller and creating a listing for the first time, as eBay requires sellers to set up a payment method to pay their listing fees.

Workaround: Learn how to set up automatic payments on eBay. After that, you will be able to continue listing via AutoDS.

⚠️ Error (21916328): Please specify a valid return policy.

Reason: eBay obligates you as a Business seller to accept returns. This error may appear if your Return Policy is set to Returns Not Accepted.

Workaround: You need to navigate to Shipping Policies on your eBay account and set "Returns Accepted" for each policy used in listings with this error.

⚠️ Error (21916260): Shipping service cost exceeds $XX.X maximum allowed for selected category.

Reason: eBay restricts shipping fees in certain categories.

Workaround: You have to lower your shipping fees within eBay's maximum allowed limits. Many sellers even decide to include shipping costs in the product prices and then use free shipping. Additional information can be found on eBay's Maximum shipping costs help page.

⚠️ Error (21919309): %Specific should contain only one value. Remove the extra values and try again.

Reason: One of your specifics contains several values (e.g. Color: Red, Green, Blue), while eBay requires only one.

Workaround: Leave only one value for this item specific or divide several values using "/" (Red / Green / Blue). The specific won’t be changed in your original listing.

⚠️ Error (640): A hold has been placed on your eBay account. 

Reason: If eBay places a hold, restriction, or suspension on your account, it also sends you an email explaining what's happened, and what you'll need to do to have your account reinstated. You'll find a copy of this message in My Messages. Learn more about account holds and restrictions

⚠️ Errors (21919326, 21919302): ISBN (EAN, UPC) has an invalid value of "N".
Reason: eBay has identified that either the ISBN, EAN, or UPC of the item you’re trying to list is incorrect.

Workaround: Open the listing and add the appropriate ISBN (EAN, UPC) to your item, or just leave this field blank.

⚠️ Error (21919053): VariationSpecificsSet container (Item.Variations.VariationSpecificsSet) is required to list a Multi-SKU item.

⚠️ Error (21916664): Variation Specifics provided does not match with the variation specifics of the variations on the item.

Reason: These errors occur when your item had no variations before but now has them or vice versa. The listing cannot be updated due to breaking the validation rules.

Workaround: The only workaround to this problem requires ending the item on eBay and re-listing it again.



⚠️ Error (21919067): It looks like this listing is for an item you already have on eBay. We don't allow listings for identical items from the same seller to appear on eBay at the same time. If you'd like to list more than one of the same item, create a multi-quantity fixed price listing.

Reason: This error means that you already have an active eBay listing for this item.

Workaround: AutoDS will not allow you to upload this item if you were trying to upload an existing source ID. 

⚠️ Error (21916734): Variation pictures cannot be removed during restricted revise.

Reason: This means that you can not change your pictures or remove variations if you have sold some items for this listing, or the item is going to end in 12 hours. This is an eBay restriction.

Workaround: The only option would be to end this listing and create a new one.

⚠️ Error (21916587): Missing name in the variation specifics or variation specifics set.
Reason: This error may appear during a Revise / Relist action if the name of a variation specific (such as Color, Size, etc) differs from those you have used before. For example, initially, a specific name in your item variation was Color, but later it was changed to Colour. In accordance with eBay regulations, such a variation name won’t be accepted.

Workaround: To resolve this problem you can change the initial variation label name in your item (directly on eBay) or end it and list it again as a new one.

⚠️ Error (21920272): Users with a low feedback rating are not allowed to list an item with Fixed Price format.

Reason: There are minimum requirements to list a Fixed Price item. You are automatically qualified if you have a minimum feedback rating of 10 or are ID Verified.

Workaround: Wait until you have a feedback rating of 30 or more and have been a registered user for at least 14 days or verify your ID to list multiple quantities Fixed Price items.

⚠️ Error (21916293): Lvis validation blocked.

Reason: Lvis stands for Licensing Verification and Information System and 'Lvis validation blocked' can occur when a listing is in breach of the eBay listing policy. Most likely, your listing contains banned words, hyperlinks, or your selling limits have been reached.

Workaround: Contact eBay Customer Support to find out the exact reason why the listing was blocked.

⚠️ Error (73): The price in the listing is either invalid or below the minimum price of 1,00 EUR.

Reason: Most sites have a minimum price of 1 euro or 0.99 British pounds. This error occurs when the price of the item, converted to the regional currency is below the limit.

Workaround: Increase the price of items on different sites to satisfy the local restrictions.

⚠️ Error (21919107): The maximum allowed length for the ConditionDescription field is 1000 characters.

Reason: As a result of the translation, the condition description of your item in some languages has exceeded the limit of 1000 characters.

Workaround: Try to shorten the condition description and relist your item.

⚠️ Error (10007): Sorry, something went wrong. Please wait a moment and try again.

Reason: This message indicates an error on the eBay server-side, not an error in your listing.

Workaround: Wait a couple of minutes and retry your action. Contact eBay Customer Support if the error occurs again.

⚠️ The Australian site (ebay.au) doesn’t have Zero insertion fee listings available. Allow paid insertion
Reason: Seems like you tried to list items on the Australian site. On the Australian site, there are no listings with zero insertion fees except 40 for Australian residents.

Workaround: You can either allow paid insertion for Australia ($0.92) or delist the item on the Australian site.
Learn more about listing limits and the fee amount for each site

⚠️V ariation have undefined price

Reason: This message may appear when you import Auction style items without Buy it Now price. AutoDS does not allow importing Auction style listings but they can be listed on other international sites in Good 'Til Cancelled format only and must have a price.

Workaround: So to resolve this, specify the price of your listing in AutoDS.

⚠️ Failed upload item Ebay Short Response: Errors: The location “” provided in exclude ship to location is unknown. Please use 2-character ISO codes for countries and full names for regions/continents. See API documentation for further details. 

Reason: You did not add the correct format of the country and state abbreviation as eBay expects. 

Workaround: Go to your Settings page on AutoDS and edit the location to have both the city name and the country in abbreviation. For example: 

⚠️Error - Auto decline amount cannot be greater than or equal to the Buy It Now price. Error - The Best Offer Auto Accept Price must be less than the Buy It Now price / This item cannot be accessed because the listing has been deleted or you are not the seller.

You'll need to disable auto decline/auto-accept on your listings when using repricing tools. Then force reprices your item(s).

Uncheck these on your eBay account: 

Automatically accept offers of at least

Automatically decline offers lower than 

If you have further questions about this topic, please do not hesitate to address us at the support chat - we will be more than happy to assist you.