Troubleshooting EPS Image Upload Errors

When uploading additional product images to eBay Picture Services (EPS), you may encounter validation errors that prevent your gallery images from appearing on your listings. This guide will help you resolve these issues quickly.

Update (October 2026): eBay announced plans to retire the underlying upload API (UploadSiteHostedPictures) that EPS depends on, effective September 30, 2026. As of our last check (measured 2026-10-06 against live eBay accounts), this retirement has not actually happened — EPS uploads are still working normally. If you're seeing gallery/additional images missing from your eBay listings, it's most likely one of the classic causes covered below (FTP transfer mode, SSL/HTTPS, image accessibility) rather than this announcement. We're continuing to monitor eBay's own timeline, since an announced retirement can still happen later without further notice — if and when it does, we'll update this article.

Common Error Messages

You may see error messages like these during listing validation or revision:

English

• "Error: Copying 'ExternalPictureURL' failed"
• "Retrieving the file from the server specified in 'ExternalPictureURL' failed"
• "You need to add at least one image to your product"
• "ExternalPictureURL server not available"

German (eBay.de)

• "Error: Kopieren von 'ExternalPictureURL' fehlgeschlagen (#21916545)"
• "Das Abrufen der Datei von dem unter 'ExternalPictureURL' angegebenen Server ist fehlgeschlagen"
• "You need to add at least one image to your product"

Other Languages

Error messages will appear in the language of your eBay site (eBay.de shows German, eBay.fr shows French, etc.). These are returned directly from eBay's API.

Common error codes: #21916545, #21916543, #21916587

What's Happening

When you enable "Upload to EPS" in your listing profile, WP-Lister uploads your product gallery images to eBay's servers. During this process, eBay attempts to download the images from your website using FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

Sometimes this upload fails because:

• eBay cannot connect to your server using the default FTP transfer mode
• Your hosting environment doesn't support passive FTP mode
• Your SSL/HTTPS configuration isn't compatible with eBay's requirements

Important: Usually the main product image uploads successfully - it's the additional gallery images that fail.

Quick Solution: Change EPS Transfer Mode

The most common fix is to switch from Passive to Active FTP mode:

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. In WordPress admin, go to WP-Lister → Settings
2. Click the Developer tab (not Advanced - that's a different tab)
3. Scroll down to Debug Options section
4. Find the EPS Transfer Mode setting
5. Change from "Passive (default)" to "Active"
6. Click Save Changes
7. Return to your listings and Revise them to upload images again

That's it! Your additional images should now upload successfully to eBay.

Why This Works

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) has two modes:

Passive mode (default): The client (your server) initiates both the command and data connections. Works in most cases but can fail on certain hosting configurations.

Active mode: The server (eBay) initiates the data connection back to the client. Often works when passive mode fails due to firewall or hosting restrictions.

By switching to Active mode, you're telling eBay to use a different connection method that's compatible with your hosting environment.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

If changing the EPS Transfer Mode doesn't resolve the issue, try these steps in order:

1. Verify Your Images Are Accessible

Make sure your product images are:

• Publicly accessible (not behind authentication)
• Using HTTPS (secure URLs)
• Not blocked by security plugins or firewall rules
• Properly sized (eBay recommends at least 500px on the longest side)

Test: Open your product image URLs directly in a browser from a different device to confirm they load.

2. Check Your SSL/HTTPS Configuration

eBay requires secure HTTPS connections for image uploads. Verify:

• Your site has a valid SSL certificate installed
• All image URLs use https:// not http://
• Your SSL certificate is not self-signed (use a trusted CA like Let's Encrypt)
• Your SSL configuration passes basic security checks

3. Clear EPS Cache

Note: eBay announced plans to retire the EPS upload API on September 30, 2026, but as of our last check (measured 2026-10-06) this has not happened — uploads still work normally, so this step is safe to use as ordinary troubleshooting. The one thing to be careful about: if your galleries already display correctly on eBay today, clearing the cache forces a fresh re-upload on the next revise — only do this if you're actively troubleshooting a real problem, not pre-emptively "just in case."

Cached data can occasionally cause issues:

1. Go to WP-Lister → Tools
2. Click Inventory tab
3. Select Clear EPS cache
4. Perform a Deep image scan
5. Try revising your listings again

4. Verify Gallery Images Exist in WooCommerce

Confirm your WooCommerce products actually have gallery images assigned:

1. Edit your product in WooCommerce
2. Scroll to Product Gallery section
3. Ensure multiple images are added
4. The first image is your main product image
5. Additional images should appear as thumbnails

Note: WP-Lister uploads the product gallery images - not just any images attached to the product post.

5. Test with a Single Product

To isolate the issue:

1. Choose one simple product with 2-3 gallery images
2. Apply your listing profile with "Upload to EPS" enabled
3. Try to revise/verify the listing
4. Check for specific error messages

This helps determine if it's a configuration issue (affects all products) or a product-specific problem.

When Main Images Also Fail

If even your main product image isn't uploading, this usually indicates a more serious connectivity issue:

1. Check your hosting firewall: Some hosts block eBay's servers by default
2. Contact your hosting provider: They may need to whitelist eBay's IP ranges
3. Temporarily disable security plugins: Some security plugins block external connections
4. Check if your site is behind Cloudflare: May require specific configuration

About eBay's announced EPS retirement

eBay announced plans to retire the Trading API call (UploadSiteHostedPictures) that EPS image uploads rely on, originally effective September 30, 2026. As of our last check (measured 2026-10-06 against live eBay accounts, two accounts, two sites, all calls returning HTTP 200 with a retrievable image URL), this has not actually happened — the API is still live and uploads work normally. We are not aware of any customer who has lost gallery images because of this announcement.

• There is currently no need to change your "Upload to EPS" setting on existing or new listing profiles because of this announcement. If you do change it anyway, remember that switching an existing profile with live galleries to "No" drops those galleries down to a single picture on the next full revise/relist.
• If you're seeing missing gallery images right now, treat it as one of the classic causes covered earlier in this article (FTP transfer mode, SSL/HTTPS, image accessibility) rather than this announcement — the troubleshooting steps above still apply and are the more likely explanation.
• We're continuing to watch eBay's own announcements, since a retirement that hasn't happened yet could still happen later. If and when it does, we'll update this article and ship a fix.

If you believe you're seeing a problem specifically caused by this announced retirement, please contact support and reference this article — we'll check your specific situation against eBay directly rather than assume.

Error Codes Reference

Still Having Issues?

If you've tried all the steps above and are still experiencing problems:

1. Gather Diagnostic Information

• Exact error message (including error code)
• Your hosting provider
• Whether SSL/HTTPS is properly configured
• Screenshots of the error in WP-Lister

2. Contact WP Lab Support

• Email: support@wplab.com
• Include your diagnostic information
• Mention you've already tried changing EPS Transfer Mode
• Reference this documentation article

We're here to help! Most EPS upload issues can be resolved quickly once we understand your specific hosting configuration.

Pro Tip: If you're just starting with WP-Lister Pro and planning to use EPS, try both transfer modes with a test product first to see which works with your hosting before listing your full catalog.