Ebay excel listing instructions

If you have lots of items to list on eBay, it will save time to use a spreadsheet to submit listings in bulk. The following is a workflow outline for this that works for me. If anything is confusing, you can ask me questions at the bottom or try some Google searches.

• Set up business policies
  • Register for a seller account
  • Go to your account page
  • Click on Selling/Business policies
  • Click on existing item to edit
  • Click on “Create policy”
  • Select Payment, Return, or Shipping – Make one for each
  • Generate an informative name
  • Edit the policy
  • Put this name in the appropriate column in the listing excel file
• Download template for chosen categories
  • Go to seller account
  • Click on the reports tab
  • Click on uploads on the left
  • Each category will be on a separate sheet
  • There can be up to 10 sheets per excel workbook
  • Click on “Get template”
  • Source: Listings
  • Type: Create or Schedule new listings
  • File type: Excel Spreadsheet (.xlsx)
  • Categories: Select up to 10 categories
  • Note that and item such as lamps may be in several categories
  • Select one or more categories up to 10 categories such as
    • /Home & Garden/Lamps, Lighting & Ceiling Fans/Lamps
    • /Collectibles/Decorative Collectibles/Boxes, Jars & Tins
    • /Entertainment Memorabilia/Music Memorabilia/Rock & Pop/Artists G/Grateful Dead/Posters
    • /Pottery & Glass/Decorative Cookware, Dinnerware & Serveware/Platters
  • Use the downloaded complete list of categories to search for example lamps: https://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/categorychanges.html
  • When done find file in downloads folder and open with excel and save with a good name
• Take photos of items
  • Fill out work sheet SaleFormV06.docx with unique item number
  • Print numbers on sticky labels:
    • Open House/Ebay/Number labels merged v2.docx
    • Edit: Mailings/Edit recipient list
    • Filter numbers greater than next number needed to print
    • Send to printer and save with new version number
  • Stick the correct number label to the item
  • Take multiple photos of the item making sure the first photo has the number
  • Import the photos into Lightroom
  • Crop and adjust the color if needed
  • Add Ebay key word
  • Export with eBay preset so file names look like M:\WebSites\de\Images\eBay\ eBay-25022840.jpg
  • Use Dreamweaver to upload images to site
  • View in explorer with large icons sorted by file name
• Fill out the listing spreadsheet
  • Open eBay listing file and select sheet for appropriate category
  • If adding additional items, cut and paste one or more new rows
  • Fill in Action in first column
    • Options for this column are:
    • Add: Adds a new listing to be live and will duplicate existing one
    • VerifyAdd: Only checks for errors, does not add
    • Blank: does nothing so can leave items uploaded earlier
    • Note: to change a listing use Add again and remove old one by ending the first listing then deleting it – this will remove watchers etc
    • To change price and quantity, download “Edit price and quantity” template
  • Enter SKU: letter E for ebay and item number so for example E229
  • Category number and name are already filled out
  • Title: start with [SKU] and add descriptive title up to 80 characters eg: “[“&B5&”] HP70 Cyan Ink 130 ml cartridge genuine C9452A Expired”
  • Add a column after Title called Title length and enter =LEN(E5) (so you can check if over 80 – eBay will ignore this column
  • Enter Start price such as 25.34 and Quantity (probably 1)
  • Photo URL: Paste this multiple times and correct the image numbers: https://davidelmore.com/Images/eBay/eBay-25022842.jpg|
  • Condition: Select from drop down
  • Description: Start with Title: =E5&” new words here.”
  • Format: FixedPrice
  • Duration: GTC (Good Til Cancelled) until all sold or listing ended
  • Delete many columns here and later that are not listed below (even red ones)
  • Shipping profile name from business policies
  • Return profile name from business policies
  • Payment profile name from business policies
  • Enter data in category specific columns such as Type, Brand, Color, Time period – Red is required, Blue is suggested
  • Add these shipping columns by cut and paste from a previous category item:
    • ShippingType: Calculated
    • PostalCode: 47906
    • PackageType: PackageThickEnvelope or Package (for box min 4x6x1)
    • WeightMajor: Number of pounds rounded up except 0 if less than 1
    • WeightMinor: Number of ounces rounded up or blank
    • WeightUnit: lb
    • PackageLength: Largest dimension rounded up or down
    • PackageWidth: Next largest dimension rounded up or down
    • PackageDepth: Smallest dimension rounded up or down
    • PackagingHandlingCosts: Number of dollars to add
• Upload template
  • Refresh the web page reports/uploads
  • Click on “Upload template” under “Proceed to upload”
  • After a short time you will see Status and Action
  • Click Download results and examine file for any errors
  • View active listings and check them
  • If you want to revise some or all of them immediately after listing, change the spreadsheet and reupload which will add a second listing for the items – you will then need to end the first one, view unsold ones and delete from there
  • If you want to revise after some time, it is best to edit directly by clicking on the Edit button in the Active listing page
• Change prices and quantity for many items
  • Under reports/uploads click on “Get template”
  • Click on Source/Listings
  • Click on Type/Edit price and quantity
  • Download csv file and open it
  • Make changes to price and quantity
  • Important: Change format of the collumn “Item number” to Number with 0 decimal places or else it will change to exponential notation which eBay can’t read
  • Upload the changed spreadsheet

-- David Elmore