ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
BAF.Error.5 > Unable to find Task Action Id for task add
This is a fatal error that usually indicates the file format is corrupt. The "Action" heading is the first one in the file and it could not be found.
It was frequently a problem using an older version of Excel with UTF-8 that would add hidden characters to the front of the file. The file format had to be changed to ISO-8859-1 to eliminate the hidden characters.
This error could also appear if you have a linebreak in the middle of one of your cells, like the description. Check all of your data to make sure there are no linebreaks in any of the cells.
Are you selling on the FR site? If so, did you download the FR version of the CSV template? It is actually more convenient to download the XSLX version of the spreadsheet for the category you wish to list. That version has prefillable data in droplists. The droplists are within each cell, and you must fill the data left to right, since some requirements may change after certain selections are made.
I looked at your CSV file posted on Google sheets. There are stray DOM characters in front of the first info row. What tool did you use to generate the code? It would appear that an older version of Excel was used and it added the DOM code as part of UTF-8. eBay can not read that code. The invisible code is actually displayed in Google sheets as 
You can delete that top line and then save the file from Google as a CSV. Without editing, upload that CSV to eBay. It should get past the file error and return smaller data errors due to the missing columns.
Can you point to a listing that is similar to what you want? Then I can find the correct category template.
When there are a lot of errors, they will not all be found. Each time you fix one error and resubmit your file, the next error will be found.
The error regarding item "Location" is because the field may be expecting a city and postal code. I have changed that column to "PostalCode" and only your postal code will be required.
I don't know any French, so it took some time for Google to translate ( https://translate.google.fr/ ) the things I needed in order to download a template from the ebay.fr site.
It seems you are selling earrings, so I discovered by using a "sell similar" what the path and category number would be for earrings, within costume jewelry.
> Bijoux, montres > Bijoux fantaisie > Boucles d'oreilles
With that information, I downloaded both the CSV template and the XLSX template from the french seller hub to see what might need to be entered for earrings.
https://www.ebay.fr/sh/reports/uploads
- Annonces
- Créer des annonces
- Catégories
The CSV file used semicolon delimeters, while the XLSX uses comma-delimeters.
I used the XLSX file because it has helpers to populate cells. I then exported the CSV file, which ended up with an extra thousand empty rows (we occasionally see this complaint). I had to manually remove those rows. I don't know how to advise what spreadsheet setting would prevent that, but I believe there is one.
The exported file is UTF-8, but it is the newer version and should not have any hidden characters at the beginning.
I also added all of the extra package columns that are required for calculated shipping. If you use flat rate shipping, you won't need those columns until you print a shipping label on eBay.
Here is the file:
https://shipscript.com/test/zirco1/FR_earring-category-utf8.csv
Ship: The error regarding item "Location" is because the field may be expecting a city and postal code. I have changed that column to "PostalCode" and only your postal code will be required.
Zirko1: have you changed? do you mean that you made a correction on the CSV that I gave you?
Ship: I did not use your spreadsheet. I downloaded a template from eBay and created a new spreadsheet for earrings and added new columns to the spreadsheet. That new spreadsheet is here:
https://shipscript.com/test/zirco1/FR_earring-category-utf8.csv
Ship: The CSV file used semicolon delimiters, while the XLSX uses comma-delimiters.
Zirko1: don't understand, in the tutorials I watched I understood that the CSV format must be saved separated by commas and not by ;
Ship: eBay will accept three different delimiters (semicolon, comma, tab). You can use whichever one works for you.
Ship: I used the XLSX file because it has helpers to populate cells. I then exported the CSV file, which ended up with an extra thousand empty rows (we occasionally see this complaint). I had to manually remove those rows. I don't know how to advise what spreadsheet setting would prevent that, but I believe there is one.
Zirko1: I don't really understand what you mean, have you looked and corrected and tried to load my catalog with my test product, I mean the first video game test product I'm trying to create,
Ship: I did not use your video game test because there was not enough information to make a listing. I used your earrings because you had more information in that inventory list. Once you get one spreadsheet working, it will be easy to fix the other spreadsheet. Much of the data is the same.
I uploaded the earrings spreadsheet to ebay.fr here:
https://www.ebay.fr/sh/reports/uploads
It had no errors, but did have warnings. Warnings usually still allow the item to post as a listing. The warnings were:
Warning - La valeur du code produit eBay Ne s'applique pas n'est pas valide. Il a été supprimé de l'annonce.|Ne s'applique pas||Warning - Le champ relatif aux Conditions de retour Refund a été ignoré.|Refund|
Since I don't know the eBay rules and customs in France, I probably added data that was not needed.
I also changed the Action from "Add" to "VerifyAdd". This means the spreadsheet will be tested, but a listing won't be created. When you are happy with your spreadsheet performance, you can change that back to "Add" to actually post real listings.
Zirko1: I'm trying to load it into ebay myself but every time but gives me an error report which is all the time different
Ship: eBay will test the spreadsheet from left-to-right. Each time it finds an error, it stops and reports. When you fix that error and upload again, it finds the next error. It is tedious when first learning. One by one you will fix all the errors and will then understand what is expected for future uploads.
Zirko1: ...that's why I wrote to you because you are probably more used to it than me and it will be resolved quickly, the problem is that eBay support tells me things all the time different ones which don't work, this is also the reason why I asked you if it doesn't seem possible to chat on Facebook
Ship: Sorry, I don't do Facebook or private tutoring. I help as I can here on the forums where others can also learn. I hope this is helping.
Ship: The exported file is UTF-8, but it is the newer version and should not have any hidden characters at the beginning.
Zirko1: I don't understand what you mean, what are hidden characters?could you make me an example file with a test product for a video game for example and could you make me a second test product for an earring
Ship: I gave an example in an earlier post. The 3 hidden characters that denote an older UTF-8 file are  and they were actually displayed in the top left cell of your Google sheets. It would appear as if a template was created elsewhere (using older UTF8) and was pasted into Google where the hidden characters were exposed.
Ship: I also added all of the extra package columns that are required for calculated shipping. If you use flat rate shipping, you won't need those columns until you print a shipping label on eBay.
Zirko1: I have difficulty understanding, do you know if I could find documentation to understand, I did not find the solution on the PDFs on ebay but available
Ship: The package columns state the weight and dimensions of your package. If you charge a single shipping rate for your item, that is called flat rate shipping. FlatRate shipping is the default. Otherwise, you must have a "Shipping Type" column when using "calculated" shipping.
When you print your shipping label, if you don't have package specs in your listing, you may need to add the weight and dimensions of the package for the label cost.
With calculated shipping, carrier cost is based on distance. The cost to ship nearby is less than the cost of shipping farther away. In the US, our distances are quite vast, so the near and far rates different quite a bit. By adding the package weight and dimensions to the listing, eBay is able to quote actual shipping to the customer based on the customer's location.
International shipping is also an option. But if you have "eBay International Shipping" or "eBay Global Shipping", you would ship only to the local eBay export hub and would not need to list any international shipping options.
In the prior message, I stated that my "earrings" test file was accepted with "warnings".
The two warnings were for an EPID value and for a Return Refund.
Warning - La valeur du code produit eBay Ne s'applique pas n'est pas valide. Il a été supprimé de l'annonce.|Ne s'applique pas|
|Warning - Le champ relatif aux Conditions de retour Refund a été ignoré.|Refund|
I changed the file to have an empty EPID column (the entire column could be deleted for your unbranded jewelry).
The column for "Refund option" is now also empty, since there may be no value that works in France. Or, the column could be deleted entirely.
Here is the file that uploads with "Success".
https://shipscript.com/test/zirco1/FR_earring-category-test5_utf8.csv
It has several #INFO rows that you can keep or strip off. I added some notes for you in those info lines, and you can make your own notes in #INFO lines. eBay will ignore #INFO lines.
Download the file and upload it to https://www.ebay.fr/sh/reports/uploads to test for yourself.
Below is the same test file data, comma-delimited. It can be saved to a plain text file (TXT). The filename can then be changed to a CSV suffix to make it load into your spreadsheet tool.
*Action(SiteID=France|Country=FR|Currency=EUR|Version=1193),Custom label (SKU),Category ID,Category name,Title,Relationship,Relationship details,P:EPID,Start price,Quantity,Item photo URL,VideoID,Condition ID,Description,Format,Duration,Buy It Now price,Best Offer Enabled,Best Offer Auto Accept Price,Minimum Best Offer Price,VAT%,Immediate pay required,PostalCode,PackageType,WeightUnit,WeightMajor,WeightMinor,PackageWidth,PackageLength,PackageDepth,Shipping Type,Shipping service 1 option,Shipping service 1 cost,Shipping service 1 priority,ShippingService-1:AdditionalCost,Shipping service 2 option,Shipping service 2 cost,Shipping service 2 priority,Max dispatch time,Returns accepted option,Returns within option,Refund option,Return shipping cost paid by,Shipping profile name,Return profile name,Payment profile name,ProductCompliancePolicyID,Regional ProductCompliancePolicies,EconomicOperator CompanyName,EconomicOperator AddressLine1,EconomicOperator AddressLine2,EconomicOperator City,EconomicOperator Country,EconomicOperator PostalCode,EconomicOperator StateOrProvince,EconomicOperator Phone,EconomicOperator Email,C:Marque,C:Fermoir,C:Matière,C:Pierre dominante
VerifyAdd,4740,50647,"/Bijoux, montres/Bijoux fantaisie/Boucles d'oreilles",boucles d'oreilles grises,,,,7.99,10,https://koukoubijoux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/BO-OP-PLASTIQUE-la-semaine-derniere-scaled.webp,,1000,Des boucles d'oreilles grises élégantes qui ajoutent une touche subtile à votre look quotidien.,FixedPrice,GTC,,,,,,,56000,PackageThickEnvelope,kg,0,200,10,15,4,Flat,FR_ColiposteColissimo,3,1,0.5,,,,1,ReturnsAccepted,Days_30,,Buyer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sans marque/Générique,Clous,Plastique,
In this file, eBay provided the name of the category. The "Category name" is not required in an upload and is only for your information. It is there as a helper because you can include up to 5 categories in a template download from eBay. The "Category name" will be ignored by eBay, so that column can be removed if you wish. The "Category ID" number is required.
You can use this same test file to configure your Video Game listing and test it. Your test file for the video game will require different Item Specifics (C:headings). Only a few Item Specifics are "required"; but for better visibility in eBay searches, eBay recommends that you use all the Item Specifics that are relevant to your item.
To get those Item Specifics, I would recommend that you download a category template from Seller Hub.
https://www.ebay.fr/sh/reports/uploads
- Annonces
- Créer des annonces
- Catégories
Remember that I have changed the Action to "VerifyAdd" instead of "Add" in the spreadsheet that I built, and it will not create real listings. You can do the same. It is for testing your data. Once your data reaches "Success", you can change the Action to "Add" and upload real listings.
@zirko1, your English is quite good, so it is easy to assume you understand. When you complain you do not understand, could you let me know if 1) the language is confusing or 2) eBay's process is confusing? That would help in my explanations. I could either use simpler sentences or spend more time explaining the process. 😊
eBay's CSV upload to Seller Hub is based on eBay's older File Exchange.
The 2015 File Exchange Manual for France is here:
https://pics.ebay.com/aw/pics/fr/pdf/fr/file_exchange/File_Exchange_Advanced_Instructions.pdf
The manual is old, but most of it is still usable.
File Exchange uses headings that are made into one word, like "StartPrice".
Seller Hub CSV headings use separate words like "Start price".
The Seller Hub uploader will accept both (at least for now).
Thus, you can find most of the basic data formats in that 2015 manual.
The Seller Hub category templates all start out the same until the "Item Specifics" are added.
you are not from the ebay team?
No, we are all buyers and sellers here.
To answer your questions, I must read eBay documents and then try it. This takes much time. I don't read any French. I must translate every field.
but when eBay generates an error report for me in CSV, there is the error number but it is not indicated how I can correct the errors, you don't know how I could take in this case?
Post the full error message here and ask for help. We can guess what must be fixed.
also then what eBay corrects me it gives me false information which does not correct anything at all
When one error is fixed, the next one is shown. They are fixed one at a time.
regarding the template, I also downloaded an example template and I filled it out like in the tutorial but it doesn't work and, could you explain to me why it doesn't work but in correcting me on the Google sheet
The top line of your Google sheet has  . Delete that top row.
There is not enough data to even guess what must be added to your google template.
I had to go to the FR site and list a Game Cartridge to figure out what values might be required for an Atari game cartridge. Atari is not new, so I chose a used status. I will fabricate package dimensions, as I did for jewelry.
and to correctly fill out the template that you just gave me, could you give me instructions, are there written instructions?
The template I gave you has all fields necessary to make a listing. Use that as an example to test other categories.
because apparently the PDFs I downloaded give bad information
Have you ever listed an item on eBay? If not, then I suggest you go through the process of manually creating a listing on eBay. This will help you see what is required by each column of the spreadsheet. This is what I had to do to understand the french requirements to fill in the missing or incorrect data on your spreadsheet.
Here is an updated spreadsheet with "Success" for the Atari game console.
https://shipscript.com/test/zirco1/FR_earring-game-category-test9_utf8.csv
