"Error - Input data for tag <BrandMPN> is invalid or missing. Please check API documentation.

[sovrappensiero1]

Can anyone tell me how to solve this error?  There is no field called BrandMPN in the base template and I have filled out all the required fields.

Thanks.

[dollybeauty]

This is two fields. I am assuming you are speaking of the FileExchange base template.

You need to add these columns to your csv file...

C:Brand

C:MPN

C:UPC

Product:UPC

If you do not have a UPC number, place 'Does not apply' in the data field. The Brand and MPN fields are required fields in most all categories. Be prepared, the UPC field is required in many categories.

[sovrappensiero1]

Thanks.  Two questions:

In the template there is a field "Product: Brand," which I have filled in.  Should I add C:Brand or just change Product:Brand to C:Brand?  What's the difference?

Also, what is MPN?

I am selling clothes that I purchased myself (they're clothes that don't fit me or are not my style, etc. - most of them have tags because I never wore them, but I'm selling them at a major loss just to downsize).  Where do I find UPC codes on clothing?  Is there a recognizable format for UPC codes (like a certain number of letters/numbers, etc.)

Thank you.

[sovrappensiero1]

Also, what's the difference between C:UPC and Product:UPC? Thank you again.

[dollybeauty]

C:UPC is an item specific that displays on your listing with the other item specifics. The Brand an MPN will display there as well, along with any other item specifics that you define.

Product:UPC is a field to connect your item with the eBay Product catalog. This catalog has complete product specifics (item specifics for products). Also available for most items is a gallery image. The use of the product catalog will soon become manditory for all items.

The Basic template that you are using is really not the best. You  should use an item specific template. This will show you the item specifics that eBay wishes to see on listings in a particular category.

[sovrappensiero1]

 Thank you.  Unfortunately, I still don't understand the difference in the what the value should be for C:UPC and Product:UPC or C:Brand and Product:Brand.  I searched Google for the Product Catalog and I couldn't find it.  

I wanted to use an item specific template. However, on this page when I choose Item Specifics Category Template it just takes me to a page where I can shop eBay for items based on item specifics.  I can't actually access a template for a specific category.  Also, I decided it wasn't convenient to have 10+ different templates for each different kind of clothing item I want to sell (e.g women's skirts, women's jeans, women's altheticwear, women's tops, women's outerwear, etc.)  

I've been working on this for well over a month.  I'm ready to complete give up and donate everything.  I have like 150 pieces to sell, and if I could just understand how this process works it would be very easy.  Unfortunately, understanding it seems to be extremely difficult.  I do appreciate any advice and clarification you, or anyone, can provide.

[dollybeauty]

C:UPC and Product:UPC would have the same values. C:Brand can mbe used by itself, you do not need to use Product:Brand.

There will be only one template for clothing, not 10 different ones.

The Item specific template works fine for me. Enter the category number in the box, next to - 'Instead of selecting a category from the box, you may enter a category number:'

The direct link to that page is - http://bulksell.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?FileExchangeCategorySelector&IsSmpTemplate=true

Then click on Generate template.

[sovrappensiero1]

Thanks for the clarification. I guess what I meant is that I found via Google a list of the category numbers (when I click on “View category numbers” in that link you sent it takes me to a buyer’s page of all the eBay categories, with no numbers).  The list of numbers relevant to clothing is very long  (here is a copy of it: https://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/growing/categorychanges/clothing-all.html).  I’d need to download a template for each category and subcategory of clothes I want to sell. So there would be about 10 I think. Please let me know if I’m misunderstanding, but this is why I chose the Base template (and put category numbers for each type of item in the appropriate column.)

[dollybeauty]

Have you seen this page/link - https://ir.ebaystatic.com/pictures/aw/pics/pdf/us/file_exchange/CategoryIDs-US.csv

That is a csv file download. The file will download to your download directory and will be called - CategoryIDs-US.csv

Note: it will show you a blank page. Not to worry, the file does download. Look for it in your download directory.

[dollybeauty]

Don't click on numbers', enter a number in the small box and click on generate template.

If this is not working for you...Are you subscribed to FileExchange?

[shipscript]

I'm going to add these screenshots here because they are relevant, and I needed to post this info somewhere anyway:

There is no option to use category numbers if you start with a Product creation template:

File Exchange - Product Creation  

Instead, you will need to start at the File Exchange template page, where you can select an Item Specifics Category Template:

File Exchange - Jump to Item Specific Template  

That will bring you back to the Item Specifics Template selection page where you can enter the Category number to select a template.

File Exchange - Fetch Item Specific Template

The"View category numbers" link on the tool page is useless because the numbers are not displayed on the target page, nor are all the categories represented on that target page.  Perhaps @mypaymentstest  can influence changing the tool link.

All of the category numbers for the US site can be found in this downloadable spreadsheet file:

https://ir.ebaystatic.com/pictures/aw/pics/pdf/us/file_exchange/CategoryIDs-US.csv

[sovrappensiero1]

Thanks!  I have done all that...those are the steps I was trying to follow and when I needed to enter a category number I used Google to find the list.  I found the same list you linked and, in fact, I have it saved on my hard drive.  I used it to fill out my base template.

I guess to be clearer on what I am asking, here's a short list of some of the category numbers in my template:

63866, 63864, 185084, 185080, 185082, 11554, 63863, 53159, 63861, 11555, 3009

So how could I avoid having to use 12 different templates and still list all my items (using one template that is not the base template)?  I used the base template to avoid having to deal with 12 different templates.

Thanks again!

[shipscript]

@sovrappensiero1

That is a question that interests me as well, and my first thought was to either 1) use only the fields common to all categories, or 2) provide the headings for all similar categories, without duplication, and then populate only those that belong to each category.

The reason for my interest is that I've been approached by another seller to make a spreadsheet tool to handle this. The reason for their interest is that they and others have discovered that their clothing items were not surfacing on eBay when the item specifics were missing or wrong.

I have not tested the supposition that missing item specifics is the reason listings become buried, but I do believe the premise. eBay is building their entire catalog on item specifics.

So, I am also wondering if there is a way to handle more than one category within a single spreadsheet.  Here is the work-in-progress tool (loaded with UK items). Perhaps we can help each other decide how this can be done. And @dollybeauty  is handy with spreadsheets and may be able to come up with a spreadsheet formula that is faster and easier than this tool.

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ItemSpecificsTool15.htm

You will see that some attributes have defined answers (as in, pick one, no editing), while others have a list to which you can add your own. That is the mystery facing sellers who do not use the online tools. They don't know what values are acceptable, so the droplists on this tool will help there.

The seller asking for this tool wants to update existing listings - we'll figure out how to import their listings. You, on the other hand, want to create new listings, so you would start your base template in Excel, sorted by category, paste one category grouping at a time into this tool, and then add the Item Specifics list with this tool.   

Does that sound like unnecessary work? Need to know...

[dollybeauty]

@sovrappensiero1

@shipscript

You are correct there are different templates for each of the categories you listed.

Good news...Cat 53159 has no IS (item specifics).

Bad news...all the rest do and none are in the same order.

The order is understandable. eBay is listing the required IS first, then follows with the non-required IS, in each template. IS may be required in some categories, but the same IS may not be, in other categories. (Ship, this complicates your process).

I built a small spreadsheet that condenses the item specifics, but it would not be useable for FileExchange. And I condensed by hand. I am not sure I could build a Excel macro to do that. It would probably be done easier in PHP, or other scripting language, by creating/comparing arrays/objects.

To complicate this, there may be some IS that have different meanings/options, in different categories. There were just too many info lines for me to determine this from the simple spreadsheet I made. It would take a deeper look to make sure of this.

WOW.

@sovrappensiero1Anyway, the way I would tackle this, would be to separate the items to be listed by category, then fill in the correct template for each type/category of item. This will get you the most bang from eBay. Make sure you enter values for each required IS and as many of the others that apply to the item/category. This should give you good search rankings on the items listed.

Note: You may think that the correct template is not being generated/downloaded. It is. You may need to look in your download directory (eBay does not give you a message that the template has been downloaded). I would download them one at a time. Then rename each by the category number. eBay's filename will not allow you to tell which template goes to which category, and there is nothing internal to tell you what category the template is for.

Here is eBay's name for a category template download file - FileExchangeCategoryListingTemplate.csv

[shipscript]

@sovrappensiero1

@dollybeauty

I went looking for those 11 categories (63866, 63864, 185084, 185080, 185082, 11554, 63863, 53159, 63861, 11555, 3009) at

https://developer.ebay.com/tools/item-specifics

All under "Clothing, Shoes & Accessories > Women's Clothing"

I found only 8 -  3 did not show on the list because I did not find a women's activewear category on eBay's developer tool.

So File Exchange has downloads for all but 53159.

And the developer site has downloads for all but

185084, 185080, 185082

This is getting stranger and more complicated, and I hope we don't start seeing conflicting data. Another tidbit gleaned from eBay's API documentation is that the recommended list of values that eBay supplies for each item-specific attribute is based on "popular" terms used in listings, and the list of popular values can change daily or weekly. Just something to throw into the mix.

As @dollybeauty  points out, eBay names all of their downloads the same way. We have to be careful which attribute list is being downloaded and then rename as appropriate. All 8 files I downloaded were named "clothing".

"IS may be required in some categories, but the same IS may not be, in other categories. (Ship, this complicates your process)."

I could put the lists in alphabetic order to better match the overlaps, but Indeed, no matter which approach we take, it really seems that each category should have it's own spreadsheet template.

Or, all the columns could be laid out and overlapped and then an info line could be used in the spreadsheet to indicate which of the 11 categories are supported by each column. Only about 4 columns are "required fields" in each category and the others are optional.

I put the 8 found lists from the developer tool onto my test tool so we could play with each one and see how the fields vary. Each list has its own set of commonly chosen values, and that's where the complexity would become difficult for my tool.