Variations

[thedieselofdoowop]

We find that the "Variations" feature for selling on Ebay saves time and money for multiple listings.  But we find the software a little awkward when corrections are made such as not being able to replace or correct an item in the same spot as it was originally entered.  Also, word proessing features like alphabetizing and adding more than one variation combination at a time is not allowed.  Are there improvements coming along in the future on this topic?  

[shipscript]

A variation listing must be published with at least one variation, while the remaining variations can be populated using a CSV spreadsheet uploaded to Seller Hub:

https://www.ebay.com/sh/reports/uploads

A spreadsheet upload through Seller Hub can help streamline the revision  process as well. See this recent thread for some ideas:

 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Seller-Tools/Can-I-create-listings-fixed-price-variations-offline-and-...

To replace a variation using a spreadsheet, one spreadsheet row would be used to delete the item you don't want, and another would add the new item. The master record must show the list of all variation values, which you can arrange in the order you would like the list displayed.

Taking the example from that other post, suppose I want to delete "Autumn" and replace with "Halloween". Then I want the list to display in alphabetic order. The ordering is arranged in the RelationshipDetails of the parent row

"Delete" leads the row I want to remove, and the replacement is added as a new row, as shown below.  Additionally, the parent record must be edited to remove "Autumn" and add "Halloween" to the RelationshipDetails cell:

Action	ItemID	Relationship	RelationshipDetails	Quantity	StartPrice	CustomLabel
Revise	123456789012		Theme=Halloween;Spring;Summer;Winter
		Variation	Theme=Spring	1	5.25	pin flower 123
		Variation	Theme=Summer	1	6.58	pin flower 52
Delete		Variation	Theme=Autumn	1	7.15	pin leaves 337
		Variation	Theme=Winter	1	8.05	pin snowflake 24
		Variation	Theme=Halloween	1	7.15	pin pumpkin 91

Need a list of existing variations?

Seller Hub > Reports > Uploads  

https://www.ebay.com/sh/reports/uploads

has a template to "Edit Price and Quantity" that should have your variation data that you can use in your spreadsheet revision. 

You can also get that data from this online tool:

https://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/VariationScanner.htm

[candd205]

I like using variation listings too, and unfortunately found the same issues with editing the listings. No solution of course, just agreeing with you.