New documentation for uploading CSVs through Reports?

[cordeliaflyte]

Now that you use the REPORTS page to upload CSV files for bulk listings instead of File Exchange, I see that the documentation has been updated (https://ir.ebaystatic.com/cr/v/c1/rsc/feeds/v1/guide-inventory-onboarding.pdf).

This doc is missing some of the field options that were available in File Exchange (for example: StoreCategory). I know that they still work, but my question is: are they deprecated, or is there an "advanced" version of the documentation somewhere that includes them? (There were beginner and advanced version when it was File Exchange). 

I want to help someone learn the system but I don't want to steer them wrong. Thanks!

[shipscript · Accepted solution]

The instruction manual is probably still be a work in progress.  eBay started with very simple instructions and then added the basics.

https://ir.ebaystatic.com/cr/v/c1/rsc/feeds/v1/guide-inventory-onboarding.pdf

"StoreCategory" is not deprecated. If applied within the new Seller Hub upload template, it might be called "Store category", since the new bulk uploader spreads out words and capitalizes only the first word.

The Seller Hub Uploader is supposed to tolerate and parse the older File Exchange nomenclature, so "StoreCategory" should work.  I would still keep the older File Exchange manual for the more esoteric fields, keeping in mind that it was last updated in 2015, so is missing a lot of newer field values. 

https://ir.ebaystatic.com/pictures/aw/pics/pdf/us/file_exchange/File_Exchange_Advanced_Instructions....

[cordeliaflyte]

Thanks @shipscript, that's good to know and what I was guessing. It would be awesome if eBay actually told people things like this (do they, somewhere?). I've been using my old templates with the camel case field names and asterisks that seem to have been phased out and not having any issues, though I'll update them eventually, just in case. I heart my old 2015 Advanced File Exchange PDF. Won't be ditching that! 🙂

[ducks2k]

I was just getting used to File Exchange after being dragged off TurboLister kicking and screaming.  The problem with just documenting(-ish) the required fields and hoping the the File Exchange documentation still applies, is that eBay keeps adding "stuff" and repurposing old "stuff".  I agree that the upload files based on old information still work reasonably well, but some of this information is impossible to track down.

I had never bothered with a "Store" before and did everything through 7-day auctions, but eBay REALLY doesn't want us to do that any more.  They want to be Amazon-lite.  OK, fine....  "Store" organization is carp, and undocumented carp at that.  The guidelines say "think like a buyer", but I can't seem to track down how to actually implement what I think a buyer wants to see.  OK - that was a side rant....

What I really wanted to say is that I THINK an item can appear in two store categories -- see edit/bulk item edit screen on categories.  The "On-boarding" (carp name...) only appears to support a single "StoreCategory" field.  Note - there is a random (seconds to hours) delay between editing an item Store Category and it actually appearing in the proper place.

The FileExchange documentation actually describes this and gives "StoreCategory" and "StoreCategory2" fields, but the current Seller page -> create item template builds a CSV (misnamed) template file with only a single "StoreCategory" field.  I guess all I can do is try to upload (excuse me "on-board") an item with 2 category fields and see what happens.

Heck of a way to run a railroad.....

[tools_apps_team@ebay]

Hi @ducks2k 

Thanks for your feedback regarding documentation.  As regards specifying a second store category, the correct column header would be StoreCategory2.

[ducks2k]

Thanks for that particular clarification, but it would seem like there is some middle ground where you can add a little to the "on-boarding" (terrible term) documentation saying -- "This is really a skin over FileExchange - most of that documentation still applies".

I worked hard in the early 2000s as a "ebay developer" , and some of my code still works, but the thousands of pages of API reference docs with an OAuth transport mechanism is so far beyond the majority of eBay sellers that it is not worth most of them even trying.

On the other hand - TurboLister was a great product and not beyond the skill set of most individual sellers.  There are still many, many things that TL did that did not get moved to the Seller web pages.  File Exchange was a small set of upload/download capabilities that has not been even duplicated, much less enhanced with the promise that the Seller pages would do everything that TL and FE did.  Sticking the functions 3 menu layers down and calling them "reports" is a terrible start.  It has probably been 2-3 years since TL was killed and 1-2 for FE.  That is a long time to leave sellers hanging. 

3rd-party systems have a lot of expense and learning curve associated with them.  What I most wish is that eBay would pick a model and path and stick with them for decades, rather than a few years.

[libreria_scarpignato]

Hello,

please excuse for the disturb, but I'm encountering some problems in uploading the report with the items to publish in our eBay store... I downloaded the eBay-category-listing-template(.csv) and uploaded it with a test-row item, but It wasn't accepted... Could I send you an exemple file to try to find out the matter?

Kindest regards, thanks a lot

[ducks2k]

This reply is going to be terrible because the forum doesn't seem to allow me to attach a file.  CSV is not a true standard and eBay's interpretation has changed over the years.  Lines are separated with CRLF. Line 1 is a huge field name line, none of their names has a comma, so double quotes would not be needed.  Line 2 is a huge text line, comma separated fields and double-quotes around any field value that contains a comma. Required fields are required, optional fields are optional and (currently) extra fields are ignored.  

I'm now going to stuff a file containing 4 listing records.  This may or may not work or look sensible.  I'm using UTF-8, name line is 836 characters long.  Line 2 is 1028 characters long.

Action,Category,Format,Duration,CustomLabel,Title,StartPrice,M,MCost,PayPalAccepted,ShippingProfileName,ReturnProfileName,PaymentProfileName,PicURL,Quantity,Location,StoreCategory,Subtitle,C:Certification,C:Grade,C:Topic,C:Color,C:Place of Origin,C:Year of Issue,C:Denomination,C:Cancellation Type,C:Quality,C:State,C:Modified Item,C:Modification Description,C:Country/Region of Manufacture,C:California Prop 65 Warning,GalleryType,Description,BuyItNowPrice,PayPalEmailAddress,ImmediatePayRequired,PaymentInstructions,PostalCode,ShippingType,ShippingService-1:Option,ShippingService-1:Cost,ShippingService-2:Option,ShippingService-2:Cost,DispatchTimeMax,PromotionalShippingDiscount,ShippingDiscountProfileID,DomesticRateTable,ReturnsAcceptedOption,ReturnsWithinOption,RefundOption,ShippingCostPaidByOption,AdditionalDetails,UseTaxTable
Add,685,FixedPrice,GTC,"BRSF01","Bass Research Foundation Stamp 1981 $5",5.50,22,2.50,1,MyShippingProfile,MyReturnProfile,MyPaymentProfile,"http://www.ducks2k.com/IMAGES2/SOCIETY/BRSF01.jpg",1,"Oregon City, Oregon",78155736013,,Uncertified,F/VF (Fine/Very fine),,,United States,1981,$5,,Mint Never Hinged/MNH,,,,,,,"<p>Note - Photo is for identification purposes only. Actual stamp for sale will probably have a different serial number.<p>Stamp Condition: Mint, Never Hinged, full original gum. Fine-Very Fine centering.</p><p>Catalog Value: 7.00</p><p>Stamp Artist: Les Kouba</p><p>Animal Species Depicted: bass</p><p>Note - For the FixedPrice / Buy-It-Now listings, if you anticipate purchasing more than one stamp, please use the Add-To-Cart option and check out one time. It will save you quite a few clicks and makes a much easier order to process. (multiple buy-it-nows show up as separate orders and international buyers will see additional shipping fees.)",,h_richoux@yahoo.com,,,97045,,,,,,1,,,,ReturnsAccepted,,,,,
Add,685,FixedPrice,GTC,"BRSF02","Bass Research Foundation Stamp 1982 $5",5.50,22,2.50,1,MyShippingProfile,MyReturnProfile,MyPaymentProfile,"http://www.ducks2k.com/IMAGES2/SOCIETY/BRSF02.jpg",1,"Oregon City, Oregon",78155736013,,Uncertified,F/VF (Fine/Very fine),,,United States,1982,$5,,Mint Never Hinged/MNH,,,,,,,"<p>Note - Photo is for identification purposes only. Actual stamp for sale will probably have a different serial number.<p>Stamp Condition: Mint, Never Hinged, full original gum. Fine-Very Fine centering.</p><p>Catalog Value: 6.50</p><p>Stamp Artist: Maynard Reece</p><p>Animal Species Depicted: bass</p><p>Note - For the FixedPrice / Buy-It-Now listings, if you anticipate purchasing more than one stamp, please use the Add-To-Cart option and check out one time. It will save you quite a few clicks and makes a much easier order to process. (multiple buy-it-nows show up as separate orders and international buyers will see additional shipping fees.)",,h_richoux@yahoo.com,,,97045,,,,,,1,,,,ReturnsAccepted,,,,,
Add,685,FixedPrice,GTC,"BRSF03","Bass Research Foundation Stamp 1983 $5",5.50,17,2.50,1,MyShippingProfile,MyReturnProfile,MyPaymentProfile,"http://www.ducks2k.com/IMAGES2/SOCIETY/BRSF03.jpg",1,"Oregon City, Oregon",78155736013,,Uncertified,F/VF (Fine/Very fine),,,United States,1983,$5,,Mint Never Hinged/MNH,,,,,,,"<p>Note - Photo is for identification purposes only. Actual stamp for sale will probably have a different serial number.<p>Stamp Condition: Mint, Never Hinged, full original gum. Fine-Very Fine centering.</p><p>Catalog Value: 6.00</p><p>Stamp Artist: Donald Blakney</p><p>Animal Species Depicted: bass</p><p>Note - For the FixedPrice / Buy-It-Now listings, if you anticipate purchasing more than one stamp, please use the Add-To-Cart option and check out one time. It will save you quite a few clicks and makes a much easier order to process. (multiple buy-it-nows show up as separate orders and international buyers will see additional shipping fees.)",,h_richoux@yahoo.com,,,97045,,,,,,1,,,,ReturnsAccepted,,,,,
Add,685,FixedPrice,GTC,"BRSF04","Bass Research Foundation Stamp 1984 $5",6.50,8,2.50,1,MyShippingProfile,MyReturnProfile,MyPaymentProfile,"http://www.ducks2k.com/IMAGES2/SOCIETY/BRSF04.jpg",1,"Oregon City, Oregon",78155736013,,Uncertified,F/VF (Fine/Very fine),,,United States,1984,$5,,Mint Never Hinged/MNH,,,,,,,"<p>Note - Photo is for identification purposes only. Actual stamp for sale will probably have a different serial number.<p>Stamp Condition: Mint, Never Hinged, full original gum. Fine-Very Fine centering.</p><p>Catalog Value: 8.00</p><p>Stamp Artist: Ralph McDonald</p><p>Animal Species Depicted: bass</p><p>Note - For the FixedPrice / Buy-It-Now listings, if you anticipate purchasing more than one stamp, please use the Add-To-Cart option and check out one time. It will save you quite a few clicks and makes a much easier order to process. (multiple buy-it-nows show up as separate orders and international buyers will see additional shipping fees.)",,h_richoux@yahoo.com,,,97045,,,,,,1,,,,ReturnsAccepted,,,,,

[ducks2k]

looking at what I just posted, I see that I have double-quotes around some data fields that do not have commas.  These appear to be ignored correctly.  Note that empty fields can be represented with simply two commas next to each other.  It did not used to be acceptable that way - now it appears to be OK.  Good luck.  Howard

[shipscript]

@libreria_scarpignato 

If the file is immediately rejected, then the server does not like your file format.

• A CSV file can not use Apple format. It must be saved in Windows format.
• The item description must be one long line of code in one spreadsheet cell. The description can  have HTML codes, but no line-breaks in the description code. No line-breaks in any cell.

If the file is accepted, but contains errors, then, on the same page, to the right, eBay will give a link to download the resulting file with errors. You will need to look at that file to learn the errors.

[libreria_scarpignato]

Thank you Shipscript, I understood the matter, now it works fine!

Kindest regards, thanks a lot