ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
Good news File Exchange Sellers! As part of eBay’s commitment to make our products more intuitive and accessible, File Exchange has migrated into Seller Hub in the Reports Tab!
File Exchange users can try the new Reports tab now! Go here to try the new Tab and here for more information.
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Common Questions & Answers |
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Questions |
Answers |
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What is the Seller Hub Reports tool and what does it allow you to do? |
The Seller Hub Reports tab allows you to run common business operations in bulk. We offer actions for listing management, marketing, and order fulfillment. You can create, revise, relist, and end listings. You can also download orders for recording keeping or upload tracking for fulfillment purposes. If you are an advanced seller, you can also integrate programmatically with the same file feeds, through the Feeds API, using eBay O-Auth. |
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What is a flat file? |
Flat files are used to store and exchange product listing information in Excel or CSV format. A flat file includes a table with one record per line delimited by commas to separate the fields. |
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What can I do with a Report?
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Our reports allow you to import listings/sales data into your own bookkeeping applications or give you the opportunity to exercise manual status/performance audits. Note reports are not meant to be uploaded and they do not contain data about returns or refunds. Learn how to download your various Reports from our Downloadable reports guide. |
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What report types are available for Orders Reports? |
We offer all the order reports that you have access to from the Seller Hub Orders tab, in file form. For details, please check out our comprehensive guide here. |
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Can I schedule my Order Reports? |
You can schedule your order reports for hourly, daily, weekly or monthly downloads. Learn more about scheduling your order downloads by viewing our Downloadable reports guide. |
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What fields are included in the Listings Report? |
The Listings report will include key pieces of information about your listings including your item number, eBay category and UPC/EAN/ISBN. This data can be used for auditing purposes. Learn more at the Downloadable reports guide. |
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How far back can Seller Hub Reports download data? |
Seller Hub Reports can download data for the last 90 days. To obtain data beyond this timeframe, sellers would need to request their eBay data by clicking here. |
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How long do I have access to uploaded\downloaded files in Seller Hub Reports? |
Your uploaded files can be accessed in Seller Hub Reports for 90 days starting from the original upload date. Downloads are available for 30 days. |
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What is a template and how can I use it to create a listing? |
A template is a file with predefined column headers that is meant to be re-uploaded for listing or fulfillment related business activities. The following templates can be downloaded: Add order tracking and shipping info Create new listings Create new drafts Relist unsold listings Learn more about downloading your templates by reviewing the Uploadables guide. |
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What format do I need to save my files in? |
All files should be saved as CSV (comma delimited) (*.csv) or XLSX prior to upload. |
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What format do I need to save my files in when using a MAC? |
The available file types can differ depending on the version of Excel, and OSX being used, but one of Windows CSV, CSV for Windows, or CSV (MS-DOS) should be available. |
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I'm not able to upload a .CSV file on Seller Hub Reports using MacOS, is there a workaround? |
This could be because the file is not saved in Windows .CSV format. When you create a .CSV file on a Mac, you have to select the Windows CSV format rather than just the CSV format when saving the file. |
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How do I add photos into a CSV file? |
Use the PicURL field to add images to your listing. Photos need to be provided in the file template via links to the web-hosted images in the file template. There are many photo hosting services available and most are compatible. The photo URL needs to start with the hypertext https:// and end with a file extension like .jpg or .png. eBay recommends using an image that is at a minimum of 500 pixels on the longest side. Use an image that is at least 800 pixels on the longest side if you want the image to zoom on the listing page. An image of 1200 pixels on the longest side is optimal. Pictures can be self-hosted, hosted by a third party, or hosted by eBay Picture Services (EPS). |
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How do I find both eBay and eBay Motors Parts & Accessories category IDs? |
You can find all category ID numbers needed for Seller Hub reports here. (Download the new category structure after October 2021; category IDs may vary depending on the locales that you’re selling in) |
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Where are eBay Motors Parts & accessories catalogs and Master Vehicle List found? |
Master Vehicle Lists and catalogs for eBay Motors can be found here. |
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Can I move my listings from one eBay account to another? |
While Seller Hub Reports doesn't currently have the capabilities to move listings from one eBay account to another, as a work around, sellers can use a 3rd party program such as SixBit to make this happen (https://www.sixbitsoftware.com/) |
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How do I add various formatting into my listing descriptions? |
HTML can be used to format item descriptions (change color, font, start new paragraph, etc.). HTML is optional, but if it is not used, item descriptions would be a single block of unformatted text. A free online HTML editor, or an eBay draft listing, can be used to generate the code. For those unfamiliar with HTML, it is recommended to keep things simple to avoid compatibility issues (paragraphs, bullet points, etc.). HTML should not contain hard line breaks (carriage returns). |
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How do I revise prices and quantities? |
To simplify the revision process, you can download a template file that contains existing listing information, which you can then update with only minimal changes before uploading back to the site. For information on how to accomplish this, please visit our Uploadable templates guide. |
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How do I format the ItemID, tracking number and\or other fields to the correct number display before I save my .CSV? |
Excel tends to display long numbers in scientific notation. Before you save your file, you should format the cells containing eBay item numbers, UPCs, ISBNs, EANs, or other long numbers. Right-click at the top of the column. Choose "Number" for category and set the number of decimal places to 0. For tracking numbers that are very long, you may need to format the cells as text. Right-click at the top of the column and choose "Text" for category. |
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What is the word “Variation” used for in a template? |
Also called multi-SKU, it identifies multiple variants of the same single product (such as colors or sizes). Variation helps to define products in addition to item specifics. |
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I am in the process of listing a product, which option should I choose, the StartPrice or the BuyItNowPrice? What is the difference? |
When you list on Seller Hub Reports, you have a choice between two listing formats: Auction-style or Fixed Price. The StartPrice option is used for both Auction-style and Fixed Price listings. BuyItNowPrice is used only for an Auction with a Buy It Now price. |
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Are the field values in Seller Hub Reports case sensitive? |
Values defined by eBay are generally case sensitive. For example, values for Format would need to be entered as FixedPrice (with capital "F" and "P") and Auction (with capital "A"). Variation details are defined by seller. The variation details on a listing should be consistent. For example, if there is a color defined as "Blue" (with a capital "B") on the parent row, it should be entered that way on child rows. |
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How do I offer multiple item buyer discounts for shipping? |
You can create flat shipping rules, offering a discount to buyers who buy items from more than one of your listings. You can also create promotional shipping rules offering special discounts to buyers who spend over a certain amount, or buy multiple items (promotional shipping rules take priority over flat shipping rules if both apply to a listing). For detailed steps to create these shipping rules and discounts, visit http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/shipping-discounts.html If your listing has multiple quantities, you can also set a shipping discount on your file for buyers who want to buy more than one quantity from the same listing. See field: ShippingService-n:AdditionalCost |
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What is the difference between warning and error messages in the Load Results Report? |
A warning message calls your attention to something that may or may not be of minor importance and will not prevent you from successfully uploading a file feed template.
An error message, however, is to call your attention to something that has prevented you from successfully uploading items and the error absolutely needs to be corrected before you can successfully upload items. Common Error Lookup can be found here. |
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How do I track my inventory? |
You can track your inventory by downloading a Listings Report. Please visit our Downloadable reports guide to learn about a Listings report. |
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How do I update tracking information on a listing? |
You’ll want to use the Revise Shipping Template to update tracking information on each order with your tracking number and shipping carrier. Buyers can then start tracking their order. Learn more about updating your tracking information by viewing our Uploadable templates guide. |
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I uploaded a file template, and it shows me that the upload was completed successfully. Why can’t I see any upload results? |
You may have missed the "download results" pop-up at the bottom of your screen. You can find the download results by following these steps:
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| What are the upload and download limits for a file? | For upload limits, we have an upper limit set to ensure all sellers have the best experience and to protect our systems from abuse. Our daily limit is set to be high on purpose and subject to change, however most sellers won’t reach the limit. For download limits, the available limit is 2 million rows. |
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Can I post Feedback in bulk on a file? |
Yes, the easiest way to do that would be when you update your tracking information from the “Add order tracking and shipping info” template. See complete instructions in the Learning Resources Uploadable templates guide. |
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Where can I find out more about Seller Hub Reports? |
Look for the “Learning Resources” link on Seller Hub Reports page where you can learn about the uploadable templates and downloadable reports as well as the “Create new listings” guide. Or, to download a PDF file of each guide: Click here for Reports Overview |
I know you had only "one quick question" and this is not one quick answer.
Turbo Lister was designed around INET, the antiquated Internet Explorer 6 browser engine, so it only ran on Windows computers, and would need a full overhaul to bring to Windows Edge, a whole new browser engine; and then eBay would have to ignore, or add, the Apple computers and mobile devices.
Instead, they moved out of that proprietary environment into a web-based system, where one tool should work more universally.
While I would have loved to see it fully updated as an offline desktop solution, as a programmer who has also used the same Internet Explorer 6 INET browser engine in desktop programs, I can state that trying to bring that program forward would be like starting over from scratch, and there weren't that many sellers still using the tool (or willing to pay a subscription fee to fund the makeover). I have abandoned updates to my INET based desktop tools as well, in favor of finding web-based solutions.
Additionally, I suspect eBay is no longer employing "desktop" programmers (those who know the ins and outs of an operating system), and is only employing web programmers and device programmers.
I agree that confusion abounds.
This is a 'new listing tool'. But there are tons of references to the poorly named 'new listing tool' which is not this new tool and which won't be "new" when the next tool (the "new new tool"?) is released (it also says "The new tool provides a unified listing experience across desktop and mobile web browsers … The new listing tool is not currently available in the app." ... HA!)
...and the way-too-many-names for a limited number of tools (New Unified Lister, Business Tool,Business Lister, Quick Lister, Unified Lister, Mobile App, New tool, Seller Reports, File Exchange, RYI/SYI, etc. etc.).
We all agree there are too many names for the listing tools, and we all agree that "new" is not very descriptive after the first few months, particularly when referenced in the forums.
The one-at-a-time listers:
- Business Lister, Business Tool, Advanced Lister/Tool, SYI (Sell your item) are all names for the same legacy listing tool that has been updated over the years.
- The Quick Lister replaced the Easy, or Simple, Lister and is the one most new sellers see.
- The Mobile Apps consist of an iOS version and an Android version.
- The Unified Lister (internally referred to as Helix) is touted as the New listing tool, where one can convert back to the Classic Tool (which would be either the Business Lister or the Quick Lister, depending on which tool you were on when you tried out the Unified Lister.) The Unified Lister is intended to replace the other single-listing desktop tools and will be made to look like the Mobile tools.
Then there are the bulk listers:
- Seller Hub Bulk Lister includes includes BEAR (Bulk Edit and Relist) to create and edit multiple listings.
- File Exchange (now retired) allowed listing creation and editing through a spreadsheet upload.
- Seller Hub Uploads replaces the File Exchange spreadsheet templates and uploader. This uploader, like File Exchange, also has an optional API interface so that one's web server can upload without logging into eBay.
You are correct that Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro are not listing tools. The listing function is in Seller Hub. Selling Manager has been integrated into Seller Hub and no longer exists. Selling Manager Pro (SMP) is also being discontinued (no new signups), and will be phased out at some point. SMP is generally an add-on to stores, but my guess is that all of its features will be integrated into Seller Hub, with the higher-level features made available to store subscribers.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-tools/selling-manager?id=4098
The instructions for uploading a new listing says this:
Choose .xlsx file type if you plan to use Excel, otherwise choose .csv file type.
Which contradicts this, elsewhere in the docs:
Once your template is downloaded, you'll need to convert it into a .csv file.
The reason there is an XLSX and CSV version of the downloadable template is because the XLSX version includes droplists of data examples, whereas the CSV version does not. My older system does not recognize XLSX, so I had to download the CSV version without the helpful droplists. Once either file is opened in a spreadsheet, underlying codes are added to format the spreadsheet. In all cases, whether starting with XLSX, XLS, or CSV, the completed spreadsheet must be saved or exported as a CSV file for uploading to eBay. The parser will not work with the coding structure of an XLS or XLSX file. This is the way the old File Exchange also worked. But, eBay certainly did not explain this in detail.
The Seller Hub Reports link says this: "Templates and reports created or scheduled in the legacy File Exchange tool will not be carried over to the new Reports tool. To generate new templates and reports in Seller Hub, follow the instructions above."
That statement meant that the names of the report files generated by File Exchange could not be found in Seller Hub. So, when requesting a report from File Exchange, it would not be found in the downloads list of Seller Hub. Seller Hub templates, uploads, and response files now have more meaningful file names than those created by File Exchange.
Aside from that, templates created by File Exchange are still usable in Seller Hub. The Seller Hub tool was designed to accept the data format of File Exchange and should correctly parse the upload. You will notice that File Exchange headers are generally concatenated words, whereas the words in Seller Hub headings are spaced. The data assignable to those columns should be similarly translated. However, there will surely come a time, as more features are added to eBay, that the older File Exchange data will become less usable and may require more patches.
My impression is that the documentation is written before the tools are, or are released on a date when the tools are expected to be finished (which is never on time), and no one ever goes into the docs and fixes them when new info becomes available. ...
...("basic" is not an option, and there are more steps, and far more templates to choose from than implied, with no clarification on whether you need a unique template for each small number of categories it covers).
You are right. The Seller Hub Uploader documentation was written for the release of the Seller Hub spreadsheet tools, and then the tools morphed and expanded.
Before the Seller Hub version of File Exchange was introduced last spring, my first complaint was that the templates were listed under the uploads tab. As you state, it is quite confusing to download from the uploads page. But, when considering the usage, the templates are only used to generate uploads. I still don't like it, but it makes sense in that context.
I did miss some issues as I was jumping around trying to condense similar issues. When the Seller Hub uploader came out, I spent a lot of time testing the details and reporting issues here on the forum, gaining some familiarity. But there were some features I could not test due to my older hardware and older Excel software.
My complaint about the phrase "Choose .xlsx file type if you plan to use Excel, otherwise choose .csv file type" was that it was on the UPLOAD instructions on the Seller Hub Reports help page. This is not a supported file type, and it's in the instructions on what is probably the most obvious page for learning how to use this tool. This was the first dead end I hit wading back into listing on this platform.
- Go back to the Upload section of the Reports tab - opens in new window or tab.
- Select the Upload template button.
- Choose .xlsx file type if you plan to use Excel, otherwise choose .csv file type.
- Select the template type you're uploading.
- Select Upload.
I certainly read the above paragraph too quickly on this page:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/reports?id=4096
The paragraph would seem to imply that a completed XLSX file could be uploaded back to eBay, and the upload dialog itself does have the option to choose XLSX or CSV, but I still don't have a spreadsheet tool for XLSX creation. It would be simple to test a small one-item revision, perhaps using the "Edit price and quantity" template, in order to upload an XLSX file to see if eBay will parse it.
I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of what a lay person would make of this: "Templates ... created ... in the legacy File Exchange tool will not be carried over to the new Reports tool...."
I agree that newcomers to the tool will have no idea what that means, and the documentation should be revised. I originally understood because I was here and involved during the transition. Others, coming along much later may have no clue what that is about, and it should be reworded.
There's a highly visible link called "create listing" in Seller Hub, from which you would never get to the file upload process, no matter how many links you clicked. There's a far less visible link called "Seller Hub Reports" which to someone new to the platform would be the last place they'd look to create data.
There should be a "tell us what you think" link or a "comment" link or floater on that page. I would recommend sending your comments directly to the owners of that page. The bizarre location of the new home for File Exchange was based on moving the experienced File Exchange users, and then making it more accessible to new users. As you say, it is not very well presented or documented for new users who have never used File Exchange.
I still have no idea what templates are required for which products (do I really need 50 different templates for 50 different categories??), and what a "basic" template might look like, if it even exists, as the docs imply it does. I'm simply adding headers as I get errors, which seems like lame trial-and-error, and not automatable (which is a requisite for me selling on this platform).
Last time I tested, the "Basic" template did not contain any category specifics. One of the last things eBay added was the list of category templates, with a tree of selections (and now I see they recently removed the Basic template —a documentation shortfall you mentioned). The template to create a draft would be the same as the Basic template, but it would be an unfinished/unpublished listing. Now every full listing template must contain item specifics.
As with File Exchange, you may find that related categories can use the same category template because the headings are the same, even if the answer/value for each category heading may be different. If you multi-select each of the XLSX leaf templates for related categories they will be downloaded into one spreadsheet, and that might be the best approach for listing related items.
Unfortunately, the item specifics for categories may tend to be a moving target. eBay will modify the required, the recommended, and the optional specifics based on buyer search trends. I used eBay's item specifics tool for a couple of years and watched those values jockey for top position. So the best I can say is that they may continue to change based on buyer input. eBay has a feature in Seller Hub to update Item Specifics, and I would probably look at that every so often to see if buyer search habits have changed enough to warrant updating the item specifics.
If you are using Variations, then do look at the item specifics for your categories. eBay is trending toward reserving Item Specific headings and not allowing them to be used for Variation headings. The best approach is to make up your own groupings by adding some characters, or a word, that won't be used as an item specific. eBay's current path is to avoid using symbols and characters and to use whole words. Thus, a variation that uses a symbol or punctuation will more likely survive the ongoing progress of Item Specifics. For instance, eBay has a reserved phrase called "Card Number", but is unlikely to reserve "Card#" or "Card No." While "Color" has been a problem for a couple of years, "Colors" or anything with an underscore, like "Color_Group" or "Basic_Color", has worked well, especially since eBay is now separating words with a space and has eschewed punctuation or abbreviations..
Sorry, I have to log off. If I have failed to address any issues, please let me know. I think we can (and should ) construct a revision request for the help pages. You have done a great job exposing many issues.
Will we be able to download what used to be the Seller Hub Report with sales data including:
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