Export/save templates from online listing tool?

[revenue-collector]

Is there any way to save/export listing templates from eBay's new online listing tool and save them offline?

Given their track record over the years, I don't trust that one of these days eBay's system won't have a hairball, completely GACK! and wipe out my templates. At that point the overseas script readers won't be able able to provide any assistance and I'll be the one trying to pick up the pieces.

Yes, presumably I could export individual listings via File Exchange, but that's not the same as saving a listing template.

If this thing is supposed to replace Turbo Lister, there HAS to be a way to export/back up templates. The one good thing about TL is the ability to work and save things offline, a need that eBay is seemingly oblivious to, shifting everything to live online listing creation.

[dollybeauty]

Since you are a Turbo user, You can select (click on) one of the listings that contain the template, in your active listings display, then click on Edit>Copy.

Now switch to the Inventory display, and click on Edit>Paste (you may have to create a folder in the Inventory area, if you have not used this before).

You can now click on File>Export selected listings to create a FileExchange csv file. This  file will contain your complete item description. You can save that item description, deleting any info specific to that item, to your hard drive.

To save to your hard drive...

I would select and copy the description, while in your spreadsheet. And then open NotePad to paste the description and edit out the item specific info. Make sure you use NotePad. Word processing programs add control codes that may modify or make the template unusable.

Now save the NotePad "document" to your hard drive where you can find it at need.

[revenue-collector]

No, I *WAS* A TL user. When eBay announced that TL was being phased out and no longer supported, I proactively migrated to the new listing tool.

My point, which you apparently missed, is once TL cannot be used AT ALL, how can one back up or export listnig templates from this new online listing tool?

[dollybeauty]

You did not state that you were no longer a Turbo user, so you received a solution as such.

eBay has not yet provided the functions to replace Turbo and we do not know at this time which functions they will replace and which they will not.

You can do basically the same as I mentioned above through the online interface.

Select one of your active listings that contain your template. If you are using the Advanced listing form (not the Quick lister), you will have a HTML tab on your description area. Click on the HTML tab and select all info in the box, then open NotePad and  paste. Edit out the item specific data and save as a txt file.

[revenue-collector]

That just saves the raw HTML. It does not save any of the template settings.

eBay has a history of promising that functionality in existing applications which are slated to be phased out will be implemented in the replacement, but once the initial public furor over the phaseout goes away, they forget about that part of the equation (or plan on the outrage dissipating).

I saw this first hand at EPN when they phased out the Editor Kit. We were promised FOR YEARS before the phaseout that the Custom Banner replacement would have all of the features the Editor Kit had BEFORE the EK was actually phased out. It never happened. Affiliates were left holding the bag.

I do not have any faith that eBay actually cares about features/functions in legacy products that sellers rely upon. They have their intended feature set, existing functionality be damned. The eBay mindset is "You'll make do with what we give you and if a function you relied upon goes away that's YOUR problem".

At any rate, it sounds like screen captures of template settings in conjunction with raw HTML export is the only (clumsy!) solution at this time to have listing templates backed up.

[dollybeauty]

You are absolute corect, we do not know what functionality that we may see in the future, and it may be functionality that we would not request. I do not express an opinion on this, as eBay would not like my opinion and my opinion would make no difference anyway.

I have gotten used to this, as there is nothing I can do to change this. There are plenty of others to express their opinions (and many would mirror my own).

You ended with "At any rate, it sounds like screen captures of template settings in conjunction with raw HTML export is the only (clumsy!) solution at this time to have listing templates backed up."

Again, I say that eBay has not yet provided us with the solutions to replace Turbo.

We wait...

[shipscript]

@revenue-collector

I just wanted to add a few more options to the equation.

I'm not sure what parts of the listing elements File Exchange will capture @dollybeauty, but I do know that it won't return the item description or the photos.

If there is enough information in the most comprehensive File Exchange download, then you can use the Bulk Active Content Editor to preserve your item descriptions by item number and can hand correlate the files.  Open the FE download file to select the two columns for Item ID and Site ID and paste them into the special FE upload box on the Scanner (see the advanced instructions at the bottom of the scanner). That will ensure that you have a matching set.

Instead of concerning yourself with active content, you would ask the scan tool to save all originals and then download the zip files of raw originals and/or the FE CSV list of originals.  You can then correlate the scanner file with the FE file.

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ActiveContent_support/BulkEditorInstructions.htm

A bit convoluted, but better than no backup at all.

[dollybeauty]

Thanks, Shipscript! I had forgotten that that tool had that functionality.