{"slug": "listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings", "title": "Listing Writer: An Open-Source AI Tool That Writes Etsy & eBay Listings", "summary": "A developer built Listing Writer, an open-source web app that turns a product name and a few details, plus an optional photo, into a ready-to-paste Etsy or eBay title, description and 13 search tags. The roughly 90-line Python app runs Gemma 3 4B locally via Ollama inside a three-cell Google Colab notebook, avoiding paid APIs. Testing on four tech products exposed hallucinated details such as an included charging cable and invented specs, prompting a rewritten system prompt that restricts output to seller-provided or photo-visible facts.", "body_md": "*This is a submission for the [Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 2: Side Hustle](https://dev.to/challenges/hacktoberfest-week2-2026-10-12)*\n\nWriting a good product listing takes a small seller 15-20 minutes per item, and most of them hate doing it. Listing Writer turns a product name and a few details (plus an optional photo) into a ready-to-paste title, description and 13 search tags for Etsy or eBay. It runs on Gemma, Google's open-weight model, so there's no paid API behind it.\n\nListing Writer is a small web app for people who sell physical products online: Etsy makers, eBay resellers, and people flipping used tech.\n\nYou fill in four things:\n\nYou can also add a photo, since Gemma 3 can read images. The app returns a keyword-first title under 140 characters, a short description with a bullet list of specs, and 13 tags sized for Etsy's tag limit.\n\nThe idea is simple on purpose. A seller listing 30 items a week loses hours to writing. This gives them a solid first draft in seconds that they only need to check.\n\n**Who would pay?** Sellers who list a lot of items, like eBay resellers flipping used phones and Etsy shops with big catalogues. The selling point is time: seconds instead of 15-20 minutes per item. **As a seller myself, I'd pay around ₹99 a month for this, or a one-time fee for a version that runs on my own laptop.**\n\nEarbuds on Etsy with a Friendly tone. The title, description bullets and tags all stick to the five details I typed in.\n\n*Refurbished iPhone 13 on eBay, Professional tone.*\n\n*20000 mAh power bank on Etsy, Friendly tone.*\n\nTurn a product name and a few details (plus an optional photo) into a ready-to-paste Etsy or eBay listing: a title, a description and 13 search tags.\n\nBuilt for the Hacktoberfest 2026 Open-Source AI Challenge (Week 2: Side Hustle).\n\nNo paid API: every listing is generated by an open model running on your own hardware or a free Colab GPU.\n\n`listing_writer_colab.ipynb` in `gradio.live` link printed by Cell 3.\n\n```\n# 1. Install Ollama\n```\n\n…\nThe repo has one Colab notebook with three cells: install Ollama and Gradio, start Ollama and pull Gemma, and run the app. Open it in Google Colab, pick a T4 GPU runtime, run the cells in order, and open the `gradio.live` link it prints. The same Python code also runs on a laptop with Ollama installed.\n\nThe stack is three open-source pieces:\n\n`ollama pull gemma3:4b`).` share=True` option gives a public link, so anyone can try the app from their phone.\nThe app itself is about 90 lines of Python. A system prompt tells Gemma how to write listings and fixes the output format (TITLE, DESCRIPTION, TAGS). Each request sends the seller's details, chosen platform and tone, plus the photo if there is one.\n\nI didn't want to install anything on my machine, so I ran it all in Google Colab. My first attempt failed with \"Failed to connect to Ollama\" because the Ollama server wasn't running when the app started. I split the notebook into three cells in a fixed order and added a check that waits until Ollama replies before going on.\n\nI didn't have a real seller to test with in time, so I tested it myself as a seller, with four tech products: wireless earbuds, a mechanical keyboard, a 20000 mAh power bank and a refurbished iPhone 13.\n\nThe first earbuds listing looked great at a glance, but it invented things I never gave it:\n\n| What I typed | What the first version wrote | \n|---|---|\n| Type-C charging | \"Type-C **Charging Cable Included** \" | \n| Touch controls | \"Touch Controls - **Volume, Play/Pause, Next/Previous Track** \" | \n| (nothing) | \" **I've been really impressed** with how smoothly they connect\" | \n| (nothing) | An intro line: \"Okay, here's a product listing draft...\" | \n\nFor a real seller this is dangerous. If the listing says a cable is included and it isn't, the buyer complains or asks for a refund.\n\nI rewrote the system prompt with strict rules: only use facts the seller gave or that are visible in the photo, never add accessories or specs, never write as if you used the product, and start directly with \"TITLE:\". After that, the bullet list contained exactly the five details I typed, and the fake review and intro line were gone.\n\nIt still isn't perfect. One tag said \"waterproof\", but IPX5 only means splash and sweat resistant. A small model still needs a human to check before publishing, and I'd say that clearly to any seller using it.\n\n**The iPhone and power bank listings were also clean: the iPhone listing kept \"minor scratches\" and \"89% battery health\" clearly in the description, which matters a lot for a refurbished item.**\n\nFor a side hustle, the cost per listing decides whether the business works at all.\n\n`MODEL = ...`). If a provider raises prices or shuts down an API, nothing breaks.\nWhere closed models were better: a big hosted model probably wouldn't have invented the cable and controls in the first place. With a 4B model, I had to be much stricter in the prompt. For this use case, that trade was worth it.\n\nNext I want to:\n\nThanks for reading! Feedback and ideas are very welcome in the comments.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/anshika_pandey/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings-3jm4", "published_at": "2026-10-15 09:09:59+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-15 09:19:18.334153+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "generative-ai", "large-language-models", "ai-products", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Listing Writer", "Etsy", "eBay", "Gemma", "Google", "Ollama", "Gradio", "Google Colab"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/listing-writer-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-writes-etsy-ebay-listings.jsonld"}}