The Hobby Network · Member Guide
A listing template is the part of an eBay listing that never changes — the category, the item specifics, your payment, return and shipping policies, and the description design. Build it once and every card you list from your collection goes up with all of it filled in, by itself.
A template stores your eBay settings, so those settings have to exist before it can point at them. Both live on eBay, not here, and both are one-time jobs.
From the menu bar choose eBay, then eBay Hub. If you have never connected, the panel reads Link eBay Account; once you have, it reads Connected and the rest of the Hub unlocks.
You can build and save a template without connecting — but the three policy dropdowns stay greyed out until you do, and a template with no policies cannot list.
Link your eBay seller account to get started.
eBay calls them business policies: one for payment, one for returns, and one for shipping (eBay labels shipping fulfillment). Choose eBay ▸ View Policies to see the ones on your account, read straight from eBay.
If a list is empty, create that policy in your eBay seller account first. We do not invent policies for you — your template simply points at the ones you already trust.
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Payment Policies | How the buyer pays |
| Return Policies | Whether returns are accepted, and for how long |
| Fulfillment (Shipping) Policies | Services, cost and handling time |
Choose eBay ▸ Listing Templates, then Create New Template. The page is numbered 1 to 5 and you can save at any point — nothing is lost if you come back to finish it.
One template per kind of card you sell. Basketball – Graded. Football – Raw. Pokémon – Sealed. Each one carries its own eBay category and its own item specifics, which is exactly why one template cannot serve everything.
Give it a name you will recognise in a dropdown. Then, under Auto-Match Criteria, describe the cards it belongs to. This is optional, and it is the part that saves the most time: matching cards pick this template up on their own as you scan and import.
Use these fields to automatically assign this template to imported items based on their data.
| Field | Example | What it matches |
|---|---|---|
| Card Type | Sports | Sports, TCG or non-sport cards |
| Match Sport / Game / Franchise | Basketball | A single sport or game |
| Match League (Contains) | NBA | The league on the card |
| Match Multiple Franchises/Games | Basketball + Football | Overrides the single choice above |
| Required Tags | HOF, Rookie | Cards must carry every tag listed |
| Match Only Graded Cards? | On | Skips raw cards entirely |
Still in section 1, below the criteria. Pick one of each: eBay Shipping Policy, eBay Payment Policy and eBay Return Policy. The lists are pulled live from your own eBay account, so what you see here is what exists there.
All three are required before a card can go up. Miss one and the template list marks it with a Configure for eBay badge until you come back.
The SKU is the code eBay uses to tell your listings apart. Pick the strategy that suits what you sell:
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cert # as SKU | Uses the grading certificate number — best for graded cards |
| Auto-generate | Builds one from year, brand, sport, player and card number |
| Manual | You type the SKU when you add each item |
Auto-generate can take an Auto-SKU Prefix such as THN-, and shows you an example before you save. Below it, Allow Best Offer decides whether listings made with this template accept offers by default.
Three dropdowns, narrowing as you go: Category Level 1, then Level 2, then Level 3. Keep going until you reach a category eBay will not subdivide further — that is the one listings use, and the full path appears underneath so you can check it.
This choice also decides what section 3 offers you, so set it before you go on.
Select the eBay category this template will list to.
Category Level 1eBay asks for attributes per category: Player, Year, Grade, Set, Card Number and so on. This section lists them as Required Attributes and Optional Attributes, and for each one you choose where the value comes from:
| Choice | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Map from Database | The card record already holds it — each card fills in its own |
| Use Custom Value | Every card on this template says the same thing |
| Use eBay Recommended Value | You want eBay’s own suggestion |
Use Preview Item at the top to pick a real card from your collection — its values appear in blue under each mapping, so you can see the template filling in before you ever list. Add Attribute adds one eBay did not list; Reset Attributes reloads them all from eBay.
| Attribute | Source | Fills in as |
|---|---|---|
| Player/Athlete | Map from Database | Michael Jordan |
| Season | Map from Database | 1986 |
| Grade | Map from Database | 8 |
| Professional Grader | Map from Database | PSA |
| Country/Region of Manufacture | Use Custom Value | United States |
If you run an eBay Store with your own shelves, pick the one these listings should sit on. The list comes from your eBay account. Leave it on —— No Store Category —— if you do not use them.
Not the same as your Hobby Network store category. This one is a shelf inside your eBay store. The Hobby Network one is set on the card and decides whether it appears in your Hobby Network store. Neither changes the other.
This is the body of every listing made with this template. Write it the way you want it to look, and drop in variables wherever the card’s own details belong — they are replaced with real data at the moment you list.
View Variable Shortcuts opens the full list, grouped by Basics, Grading, Sports and TCG / Non-Sport. Click any one to insert it where your cursor is.
The variables above will be replaced with the actual card data when you list an item.
| Group | A few of the variables |
|---|---|
| Basics | card.title · card.player · card.year · card.brand · card.card_number |
| Grading | card.grading_company · card.card_grade · card.cert_number · card.pop_count |
| Sports | card.team · card.league · card.season · card.sport |
| TCG / Non-Sport | card.franchise · card.set_name · card.rarity · card.illustrator |
Already written one you like? Use Import description from to copy it out of another template rather than writing it twice. Then press Save Template.
Back on eBay ▸ Listing Templates, each template has its own row showing the eBay category it points at.
| Template Name | eBay Category | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Basketball – Graded | Sports Mem > Sports Trading Cards > Singles | Apply · Verify Data · Copy · Edit |
| Football – Raw ⚠ Configure for eBay | Not Set | Apply · Verify Data · Copy · Edit |
Choose Collection ▸ My Collection, tick the cards you want, and pick a bulk action.
Run Check eBay Ready (no listing) before you list anything. It tells you exactly which field is missing on which card — Card Number, Franchise, Brand and so on — and puts nothing on eBay. Fix what it names, then list.
Then choose List on eBay (Bulk) and press List Selected Items.
Listings go up at a fixed price — the card’s Asking Price — with the option of taking offers. Listing a card as a timed eBay auction is not something you can do from here today.
When you list a single card you can tick Allow Offers and, if you want, set an Auto-Accept Price and an Auto-Decline Price so offers above or below those figures are answered without you.
Automatically accept offers at or above this price.
Auto-Decline PriceAutomatically decline offers below this price.
Titles are capped at 80 characters — that is eBay’s limit, not ours. A longer title is shortened for you, so if the ending matters, write it short yourself.
Thank you for your support and God Bless ~ Otis