ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
A variation spreadsheet uploaded through Seller Hub is the most efficient method for generating a variation listing, but the main difficulty is providing photos. The spreadsheet can not upload a photo. It can only upload the URL of an existing online photo. So supplying the photos may dictate how you start the listing.
It is possible to upload an entire listing via spreadsheet, complete with variations, if your photos are prehosted so that a URL is included in the spreadsheet. It is also possible to do the same with a single placeholder URL and then revise the listing to manually upload photos from your desktop.
Alternatively, it is possible to manually create a variation listing online with only a single variation so that the master record and photo are created using the listing form. Then use a spreadsheet to populate the full set of variations.
That is where you must decide if you will host your photos online and provide URLs with the spreadsheet; or whether, after uploading the variation spreadsheet, you will return to the listing and manually upload each variation photo.
Once you decide how to handle your photos, we can work out the rest.
@christr001 wrote:<Alternatively, it is possible to manually create a variation listing online with only a single variation so that the master record and photo are created using the listing form. Then use a spreadsheet to populate the full set of variations.>
You will need to publish your listing with the one variation before you can edit that listing with a spreadsheet. One method of avoiding a frantic catch-up is to schedule that listing a week or two into the future while you work on the details. That will assign an item number to use in your spreadsheet revision, and you can continue to work on it in private. Once all the revisions are complete, remove the scheduling so that it can appear live on the site.
@christr001 wrote:From this point I can decide how to handle photos either online or after uploading the finished file via ebay. Correct?
If using prehosted online photos, then the URLs to replace the master record, and to populate all of the variation photos, can be uploaded in that revision spreadsheet.
If supplying desktop photos, then after the spreadsheet revision has been uploaded, return to eBay's online editor and upload all of your photos from your desktop.
eBay does not allow a mix of desktop photos and online photos, so whichever you choose, you may need to redo photo uploads done with the other method.
You will have to actually list the item to get an item number because the spreadsheet will require an item number to apply a revision. Listing it with a scheduled start date is a way of creating a "draft" of sorts, that can then be edited with a spreadsheet before the listing becomes live on the site.
After you save your work to a scheduled listing, I'll put together a sample spreadsheet that you can use for adding variations to the revision.
@christr001 wrote:thank you shipscript. My draft is updated with a future start date
Have you actually listed the item? If so, you will have an item number, while the listing itself remains "scheduled".
Here is the minimum revision spreadsheet sample for fleshing out your variations. The cell for "Relationship" is empty in the master record, as are Quantity, StartPrice, and CustomLabel. You don't need the CustomLabel column if you are not using SKUs.
Your scheduled "draft" should already include one variation. You won't need to include it here, but it would help stay organized if you did. If you did not include the original variation, you would still need to include its value in the RelationshipDetails lineup in the master row, so it makes sense to repeat it here.
| Action | ItemID | Relationship | RelationshipDetails | Quantity | StartPrice | CustomLabel |
| Revise | 123456789012 | Theme=Spring;Summer;Autumn;Winter | ||||
| Variation | Theme=Spring | 1 | 5.25 | pin flower 123 | ||
| Variation | Theme=Summer | 1 | 6.58 | pin flower 52 | ||
| Variation | Theme=Autumn | 1 | 7.15 | pin leaves 337 | ||
| Variation | Theme=Winter | 1 | 8.05 | pin snowflake 24 |
As you add each new variation row, the attribute's value must be added to the parent record. In this example, the attribute is "Theme" and the values are Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
If you add a row called
Theme=Halloween
then the master row would be extended as:
Theme=Spring;Summer;Autumn;Winter;Halloween
Notice that the values are separated by semicolons.
Be careful that spelling and capitalization match.
You can control the order that these appear in the listing by ordering the master record values, so this arrangement will place your items in alphabetic order:
Theme=Autumn;Halloween;Spring;Summer;Winter
The arrangement of the rows won't matter.
One way to simplify creation of the master record lineup, and avoid typos, is to use the tool at the very bottom of this page:
https://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/VariationBuilder.htm
Copy your column of variation values from your spreadsheet, paste it into the tool, add the variation group label ("Theme" in my example), checkmark your preferences, and click the button to "Make cell data".
