A Product Catalog custom attribute is a field you name yourself - Stone Shape, Ring Type, Gold Color - and fill in per product. With the {catalog-custom-attributes[attribute-name]} placeholder you print that value inside a 3Dsellers Listing Designer template, and each eBay listing shows the value of the catalog product it is linked to. The placeholder prints text inside your description only, so it adds nothing to the listing's eBay item specifics.
⭐ This needs the Product Catalog, and it works on listings that are linked to a catalog product. A listing with no linked product prints nothing where the placeholder sits.
💡 Open Products → Products Settings → Custom Attributes to create a field, and Listing Designer → Saved Designs to put it in a template.
In this article
What the catalog custom attribute placeholder does
Listing Designer templates already print a listing's own data with placeholders such as {title}, {description} and {itemspecific[Brand]}. The {catalog-custom-attributes[attribute-name]} placeholder adds one more source: the custom attributes of the catalog product that the eBay listing is linked to.
The catalog custom attribute placeholder does this:
Prints the value of one custom attribute for each listing's own linked catalog product. A template can hold several placeholders, one per attribute.
Prints wherever you place it in the template's HTML - a specification table, a heading, a bullet list.
Leaves the listing's eBay item specifics untouched.
The catalog custom attribute placeholder does not do this:
It does not create, read or change eBay item specifics.
It does not invent a value. A listing with no linked catalog product, or a product with no value for that attribute, prints nothing where the placeholder sits.
Step 1 - create the custom attribute
Go to Products → Products Settings → Custom Attributes. Name the custom attribute exactly the way you want to refer to it later, because that name is what goes inside the placeholder.
Click + Create Custom Attribute.
Type the Attribute Name, for example
Stone Shape.Type defaults to String (Text). Add a Description if your team needs one.
Click Create.
Step 2 - give each product its custom attribute value
A new custom attribute is empty on every product until you fill it in. Open a product in Products and go to the Custom Attributes section of the product editor.
Open the product and click Custom Attributes in the product editor's left menu.
Find the custom attribute - type its name in the Search Attribute box if the list is long.
Type the value in the Custom Attribute Value column, for example
Round Brilliant, and save the product.
Filling in many products at once with a CSV
For a whole catalog, import the custom attribute values from a CSV instead of product by product. Go to Products → Import and use Create New Products from CSV or Update Products. Each custom attribute is its own column with the header C: followed by the attribute name - C: Stone Shape - and the file needs a SKU column so each row reaches the right product. A custom attribute that does not exist yet is created by the import. The full format is in Import and Update Custom Attributes (Item Specifics) via CSV.
Step 3 - insert the placeholder in your listing template
Open a template from Listing Designer → Saved Designs and click Advanced Edit. In the Dynamic Placeholders panel on the right, scroll down to Product Catalog Custom Attributes.
Pick the custom attribute instead of typing the placeholder
Click Pick a custom attribute... and type part of the name. The list shows your own catalog's custom attributes, so there is no syntax or spelling to remember.
Choose the custom attribute and the panel shows the finished placeholder. Copy it into the template where the value should appear. For a custom attribute named Stone Shape it is {catalog-custom-attributes[Stone Shape]}.
💡 Insert the placeholder from the picker and paste it as one piece. If formatting such as bold is applied to only part of it, the placeholder can break and stop printing the value.
⚠️ Editing a template that is already on live listings? Saving the template with its changes applied re-applies it to every listing that uses it. To try the placeholder first, duplicate the template in Saved Designs and add the placeholder to the copy.
Step 4 - apply the template to your eBay listings
Go to Listing Designer → Listings, tick the listings you want, and open Bulk Actions. Each listing prints the custom attribute value of its own linked catalog product.
What you want | What to click in Bulk Actions |
Put the template on listings for the first time | Apply Template |
Rebuild listings that already use a template, with today's values | Re-apply Current Templates |
Take the 3Dsellers template off listings | Remove Template |
New listings can get a template automatically too - see How to automatically apply a design to new listings with Automation's Rules.
How a changed value reaches your eBay listings
A listing that is linked to its catalog product receives catalog updates - including description and custom attributes - through your Catalog Channel Settings. When 3Dsellers revises a linked eBay listing, the Listing Designer template is applied as part of that revise, so the placeholder prints the current custom attribute value.
To push a changed custom attribute value to specific listings right away, select them in Listing Designer → Listings and use Bulk Actions → Re-apply Current Templates.
Placeholder or eBay item specific - which should I use?
A catalog custom attribute can reach eBay in two ways, and they suit different data. You can use both for the same custom attribute.
| Printed with the placeholder | Mapped to an eBay item specific |
Set up in | Listing Designer template | Mapping Templates in the catalog |
Where buyers see it | Inside your listing description | In eBay's item specifics section |
Used by eBay search filters | No | Yes |
Wording and layout | Yours, anywhere in the design | eBay's item specifics format |
Good for | Spec tables, care notes, product details in your own words | Brand, size, colour - anything buyers filter on |
A practical rule: if a buyer would filter on it, map it to an item specific. If you want it worded and laid out your way in the description, print it with the placeholder.
What the placeholder prints when there is no value
The catalog custom attribute placeholder fails quietly. In each of these cases it prints nothing and the rest of the template is unaffected:
The eBay listing is not linked to a catalog product.
The linked product has no value for that custom attribute.
The name inside the placeholder does not match a custom attribute in your catalog.
The account does not have the Product Catalog.
⭐ The placeholder removes only itself - an empty value cannot blank your {description} or any other part of the template, and an intact placeholder is never printed as raw text on a live listing.
Any label you type next to the placeholder is part of the template, so it stays. A row that reads Stone Shape: {catalog-custom-attributes[Stone Shape]} shows "Stone Shape:" with nothing after it on a product that has no value. If some of your products leave a field empty, keep that field in a row you are happy to see blank.
Moving product fields over from Kyozou or another tool
Kyozou lets sellers keep seller-named fields called references on each product and print them in a listing template with tags like #REFERENCE_..._VALUE#. In 3Dsellers the same job is done by catalog custom attributes and this placeholder:
Export the product fields from the old tool and import them with the catalog CSV import, one
C: Field Namecolumn per field - the import creates the custom attributes for you.In your 3Dsellers template, replace each old tag with the matching
{catalog-custom-attributes[Field Name]}placeholder from the picker.Apply the template to the listings, which must be linked to their catalog products.
For the template markup itself, see How to use other eBay Design Templates (InkFrog & Crazylister) with 3Dsellers.
What the placeholder will not do
The catalog custom attribute placeholder will not add anything to your eBay item specifics.
The placeholder will not print a value on a listing that is not linked to a catalog product.
The placeholder will not work on an account without the Product Catalog.
One placeholder will not print a whole table of every custom attribute - a specification table uses one placeholder per row.
Troubleshooting
The custom attribute placeholder prints nothing on my listings
Check these in order:
Is the eBay listing linked to its catalog product? Open the product, go to its Listings tab and check the linked status - see Understanding Linked and Unlinked Listings in Product Catalog.
Does that product have a value for the custom attribute? Open the product → Custom Attributes and look at the Custom Attribute Value column.
Is the name inside the placeholder the same as the custom attribute's name? Re-insert the placeholder from the picker to rule out a typo or broken formatting.
Re-apply the template to the listing: Bulk Actions → Re-apply Current Templates.
Some listings print the custom attribute and others print nothing
The listings that print nothing are usually unlinked from the catalog. Listings are linked automatically when you publish them from the catalog, create them from a catalog product, or when the listing SKU matches a catalog product SKU - so a listing without a SKU, or with a different one, often stays unlinked. Link it from the product's Listings tab or in bulk, then re-apply the template.
If you applied a template with this placeholder before 17 September 2026, listings without a SKU printed it empty because of a bug that has since been fixed. Re-apply the template to those listings.
The custom attribute picker shows nothing
The picker lists your own catalog's custom attributes and searches them by name. Check that the custom attribute exists in Products → Products Settings → Custom Attributes and that what you typed in the picker is part of its name.
I added the value but it is not in my eBay item specifics
That is expected: the placeholder prints inside your description and never writes an item specific. To put the value in eBay's item specifics section as well, map the custom attribute to an item specific in your Mapping Templates.
FAQ
Do I need the Product Catalog to use the custom attribute placeholder?
Yes - catalog custom attributes are created and filled in inside the 3Dsellers Product Catalog, so on an account without the catalog the placeholder has nothing to print and renders empty.
Does the custom attribute placeholder change my eBay item specifics?
No - the placeholder only prints text inside your listing description. It neither reads nor writes the listing's eBay item specifics.
Which eBay listings can print a custom attribute value?
Listings that are linked to a catalog product. The placeholder reads the value from the linked product, so an unlinked listing prints nothing where the placeholder sits.
Can one listing template print several custom attributes?
Yes - each {catalog-custom-attributes[...]} placeholder prints one custom attribute, and a 3Dsellers listing template can hold several of them, one per row of a specification table.
I changed a custom attribute value. Do my eBay listings update?
Linked listings receive catalog updates through your Catalog Channel Settings, and the template is applied again when 3Dsellers revises them. To update specific listings right away, use Bulk Actions → Re-apply Current Templates in Listing Designer → Listings.
What happens if I rename a custom attribute?
A placeholder that still carries the old name no longer matches, so the next time the template is applied it prints nothing. Update the placeholder in every template that uses it, then re-apply those templates.
Where is the custom attribute picker in Listing Designer?
The picker is in the Dynamic Placeholders panel of the Listing Designer Advanced Edit editor, under Product Catalog Custom Attributes. Open a template from Listing Designer → Saved Designs and click Advanced Edit to reach it.