As of 12/3/08 BuyItSellIt no longer supports upload via tab-delimited files!!!

Please use this tutorial!

http://www.bisidesigns.com/pages/xmlimport

This tutorial is an attempt to guide a new BISI user through the bulk upload process. While there are often many ways to accomplish the same task, we feel that this method is the most simple and successful path. We have uploaded many products to our own BISI stores using the steps outlined below. Some of the instructions may be overly simple but the goal was to make this understandable and usable to someone who only has moderate computer skills. We are certainly willing to answer bulk upload questions but we ask that you post them in the BISI community forum so that everyone can benefit from the information. Please do not email asking for personal help with the bulk uploads. Not that we wouldn't love to chat, but our time is sometimes limited.

1. You will need a spreadsheet program to create your file in. This tutorial will demonstrate Excel but the principles should work in any program. If you need a spreadsheet program, we suggest that you check out Open Office. It's free and has other office programs as well as the spreadsheet.
2. Now you should download and save the sample Excell file found here. With Windows XP, the download box that will open on your computer screen will look like this. Select Save File and click OK.
   
   
3. You should now see an icon on your desktop that looks like this:
   
   
4. Open this file and you will see content that looks like the image below. The cells in the first row are your column titles which you will always need in all uploads. The next three rows which are highlighted in yellow are sample upload items. These sample upload items are there for example purposes only.
   
   In the instructions that follow, we will go through each column individually and briefly outline the content that you should place in that cell. Please refer to the highlighted content as examples.
   
   
5. Column A
   product_name
   This should be your product title as you wish for it to appear in your BISI store. It should be text only with a strict limit of 60 characters and spaces. Anything over 60 characters will cause the bulk upload to fail. Refer to Image A below.
6. Column B
   product_desc
   This is your product's description that will appear in your BISI store. You may enter this as text or as html. There is a maximum limit of 10,000 characters in this cell. Refer to Image A below.
   
   If you choose html, be aware that excessive empty rows can sometimes be interpreted as tab separations and can then throw off your data spacing. I would suggest using straight text in the product descriptions initially unless you are an advanced user.
7. Column C, D & E
   category_id, category_id2 & globalcategory_id
   In your BISI admin, select Catalog> Import/Export to find your stores Category IDs and the Global Category IDs.
   
   
   
   Category_id and globalcategory_id are required. categoryid_2 is not a required field and totally optional.
   
   Global Category IDs are the general BISI categories that are found on http://shop.buyitsellit.com. From the Global Category drop down select the BISI category you would like to list your item in. An exact match may not be found so just select the category that best fits your product. Once selected, you will be shown the ID for that category. Enter that number under globalcategory_id.
   
   Before you can retrieve your store category (local category), you must have them set up in your admin panel. Now you can select the category from the drop down list. We suggest making a list of all your categories and their id's for future reference so you do not have to come back to this page. Enter the number for the category you need into category_id. To put your item in a second store category, you can enter a different category number in categoryid_2
   
   If you do not wish to put your product in a second store category, you should enter 0 in the cell. Refer to IMAGE A.
8. Column F
   image_url
   If your image is hosted on the internet somewhere, this is where you can enter the url to that image and BISI will grab it for you. Do not include www. in your image link. This will cause the upload to fail. If your image is on your computer only, you should leave this cell blank. You will be able to upload an image from your computer for each item after the bulk upload has been received and processed. Refer to IMAGE A.
   
   
   IMAGE A
   
9. Column G
   product_price
   The format for this column is numeric. This is the price of your product. Do not enter the dollar sign. If it automatically shows up, you will need to format the spreadsheet to save data as the text that is entered. Refer to IMAGE B below. The price of the sample product is $5.99.
10. Column H
    weight
    This is the weight of your item measured in pounds and the format is numeric. This field is required for bulk upload regardless of how you choose to charge for shipping. Refer to IMAGE B below. The weight of the sample product is 12 ounces.
    
    For items weighing less than 1 pound, divide the number of ounces by 16 to get the right fraction to enter here. Example: 12 ounces divided by 16 = .75
11. Column I
    taxable
    Is your item taxable? Most items are. The format is numeric for this column. Refer to IMAGE B below.
    0 = not taxable
    1 = taxable
12. Column J
    product_condition
    This column specifies whether the item is new or used. The format is numeric. Refer to IMAGE B below.
    0 = New
    1 = Used
13. Column K
    shipping_method
    This column specifies a shipping method for this item. The format is numeric. Do not enter the dollar sign. Refer to IMAGE B below.
    0 = Free Shipping
    1 = Weight-Based Calculated Shipping
    2 = Flat Rate Shipping
14. Column L
    flatrate_fee
    This is the shipping fee you are charging if you have selected the Flat Rate shipping method in the previous step. The format is numeric. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you have not selected the Flat Rate shipping method, then enter a 0 in this field. Refer to IMAGE B below.
15. Column M
    flatrate_feeadditional
    This is the shipping fee you are charging for additional items if you have selected Flat Rate shipping. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you have not selected Flat Rate shipping method, enter a 0 in this field. If you do not wish to offer discounted shipping for additional items, enter the same fee in this field that you entered in Column L. Refer to IMAGE B below. In this example, the item has a flat rate shipping fee of $5.95 and if more than one is purchased, the shipping fee on additional items is $2.00.
    
    
    IMAGE B
    
16. Column N
    handlingfee
    This column is the handling fee you are charging for this particular item IF you have selected the Flat Rate shipping method. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you did not select Flat Rate shipping method, enter 0 in this field. Refer to IMAGE C below.
17. Column O
    handlingfeeadditional
    This is where you specify the handling fee you are charging for additional items IF you have selected the Flat Rate shipping method. If you did not select Flat Rate shipping method, enter 0 in this field. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you do not wish to offer a discounted handling fee for additional items, enter the same fee in this field as you did in column N.
    
    Refer to IMAGE C below. In this example, the customer purchasing this item will be charged a $2.00 handling fee. If they purchase more than one of these items, the handling fee on each additional item will be 50 cents.
18. Column P
    flatrate_fee_int
    This is the fee you are charging for international orders if you have selected Flat Rate shipping method. If you have not selected Flat Rate shipping method, enter 0 in this field. Do not enter the dollar sign.
19. Column Q
    flatrate_feeadditional_int
    This is the shipping fee you are charging for international customers who purchase more than one of the same item if you have selected the Flat Rate shipping method. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you have not selected the Flat Rate shipping method, enter 0 in this field. If you do not wish to discount shipping for multiple purchases of the same item, enter the same fee here that you did in Column P.
    
    Refer to IMAGE C below. In this example, the international customer is being charged $15.00 shipping for one item. If they buy more than one, the additional items are shipped for an additional $8.00 each.
    
    
    IMAGE C
    
20. Column R
    handlingfee_int
    This is the handling fee specified for international orders if you have selected Flat Rate shipping. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you have not selected Flat Rate shipping, enter 0 in this field. Refer to IMAGE D below.
21. Column S
    handlingfeeadditional_int
    This is where you specify the handling fee charged to international orders for additional items if you have selected the Flat Rate shipping. If you have not selected Flat Rate shipping, enter 0 in this field. Do not enter the dollar sign. If you do not wish to discount the handling fee charged for additional items, enter the same fee here that you entered in Column R.
    
    Refer to IMAGE D below. In this example, the international customer is being charged a handling fee for this item in addition to the shipping fee. The handling fee is $2.00 and if the purchase multiples of the same item, the handling fee for those is 50 cents.
22. Column T
    track_inventory
    Do you want BuyItSellIt to track inventory on this item for you? Format for this column is numeric.
    0 = No
    1 = Yes
23. Column U
    quantity
    If you have specified that BuyItSellIt is to track inventory for this item, you should enter the quantity available here. If you are not tracking inventory, enter 0. Format for this column in numeric. Refer to IMAGE D below.
24. Column V
    allow_purchase
    Do you want BISI to allow purchase of an item that is out of inventory? This questions only applies to items that have inventory tracking. If you have no tracking on this item, enter 0.
    0 = No
    1 = Yes
25. Column W
    product_SKU
    This is a code assigned by you to keep track of your stock. Format is text and the maximum length is 50 characters.
    Example: SKU12345 If you do not use an sku assignment, you may enter NULL in this field. Refer to IMAGE D below.
26. Column X
    google_product_type
    In this field, you should enter your item's product type. Here is a link to Google's recommended product types. Format for this field is text. If you do not wish to enter a product type at this time, enter buyitsellit in this field.
    
    IMAGE D
    
27. Column Y thru Column AR
    google_attributename & google_attributevalue
    This is where you will enter all your Google names and Google values. This tutorial is not intended to cover the complexities of google attributes, but I should mention that you should not include the following attributes. BuyItSellIt will automatically submit these attributes with your item and if you include them here in your upload, it will be a duplication which can cause your item to disapproved by Google Base. The following statement is a quote from the BuyItSellIt wiki.
    
    "BuyItSellIt will automatically submit the following: Price, Title, Description, Link, and Image."
    
    Here is a Google page with more information on Google Attributes. Remember when you read that page that BISI does all the submitting for you so you do not need to pay any attention to the formatting suggestions by Google. You just need to decide what attributes to use and what value they should have when they are referring to your item. In the example file shown below, the attribute "brand" has been chosen and entered into the google_attributename1 cell. The brand of this item happens to be Old Navy so "Old Navy" has been entered into the corresponding cell of google_attributevalue1. See IMAGE E below.
    
    It is not required to use Google attributes. You may use all or just some of the 10 available but the word NULL must be entered into any attribute cell that you do not wish to use. If you enter a google attribute name, you MUST enter a value for that same attribute or your listings will not list on Google Base.
    
    IMAGE E
    
28. One final note on completing your spreadsheet file. The last column of your spreadsheet should ALWAYS be AR as underlined in red below. See IMAGE F. If you finish with any other column, you have either too few or too many columns.
    
    
    IMAGE F
    
29. Repeat these steps until you have included all the items you wish to upload. It is generally best to limit your item number per upload until you are comfortable with the process. For the very first try, I would suggest just starting with four or five items.
30. Now go back to the top of your file and delete the example rows shown highlighted in yellow. Be sure you delete the entire row, not just the contents. There should be no blank rows at the top of your file. Drag your cursor over the numbers at the far left to select rows 2, 3 and 4. Right click and choose Delete. DO NOT DELETE the first row that has the column titles in it.
    
    IMAGE G
    
    
    Now your file should look something like this image below with no more sample items. Your own products should now be in the appropriate columns as shown in IMAGE H.
    
    IMAGE H
    
31. Again drag your mouse over the row numbers on the left to highlight all your rows. Right click and select Copy. See the screen shot below.
    
    IMAGE I
    
32. Now open a Windows program called Notepad. In most cases, you will find it on your computer under Programs>Accessories>Notepad.
    In Notepad, right click and chose Paste. This will move your file contents into Notepad and format it as tab delimited text. See IMAGES J & K below.
    
    IMAGE J
    
    
    
    IMAGE K
    
33. Save this file in a folder where you can easily find it. Notepad should automatically save it as a .txt file by default. Refer to IMAGE L below.
    
    *You may be thinking I should have instructed you to "Save As" from the Excel file and choose to save it as "text (tab delimited)". That would be a reasonable assumption but neither of us at BISI Designs have been able to upload files successfully that have been saved that way. We can only tell you what has worked for us and the copy and paste method is what we have found will always work.
    
    IMAGE L
    I
34. Now go to your BISI admin. Go to Catalog>Import/Export.
    
    On this page, under the Bulk Import tab, select the Browse button. This will open up a box for you to browse to the file that you just saved.
    
    Select the file and click Open. See IMAGE M below.
    
    IMAGE M
    
35. Hit the green Upload button and wait. If you have followed instructions carefully, you will quickly see a green message box that tells you that your file upload has been successful. See IMAGE N. Congratulations!
    
    The status box on the left of that page will now tell you that you have items pending. Once the items in the file have been processsed and begin displaying in your store, the pending items will go back to 0. Usually uploads are processed very quickly but I have had to occasionally wait for several hours.
    
    If your status shows any Failed items, it is because some of them were formatted properly to upload but had wrong information in the cells. Example: a non-existent local category number would cause that item to fail.
    
    IMAGE N
    
    
    
    
    

    *Please note that this tutorial is offered as a public service to our customers and does not represent any association with the BuyItSellIt management.

May you have many happy hours of bulk uploading and many, many sales in your BISI store!