Introduction

Auction Expediter is a tool that allows you to export multiple products to a file that can be uploaded to eBay or Yahoo Auctions.  This article helps you learn how to use this tool.

Auction Expediter requires a Pro, Deluxe, or Platinum eMerchantClub e-commerce Web site.

Step 1:  Choose Products to Export

From the Site Manager, click on the Product List link.

Next to each product that is in stock you will find an  link and a  link.  Click the link associated with the auction you wish to export to.  This opens the item export wizard.

Step 2:  Set up values in Item Export Wizard

On the first row of fields, select the Auction Site (probably US), Currency (probably US$), and Duration of the auction (1, 3, 5, 7, or 10 days) in the appropriate box.

On the second row of fields, set:

• Starting Price (base price your auction item begins at)
• Reserve Price (minimum price you will accept for the product – this price is hidden from the auction bidder.  See Ebay’s Web site for more information.)
• Buy-It-Now Price (price a bidder can pay to end the auction early)
• Shipping Cost (amount you will charge for shipping this product)

Each price and cost is figured by multiplying the base price by the % box associated with that field.  For example, in Starting Price, if we want to charge 65% of the Retail price, we will select Retail in the Starting Price selection box, and then enter a value of 65 in the % box (as shown in the example below).

On the third row of fields, select:

·         Title (the title of the product)

·         Category ID (which category or department the product belongs in)

·         Description (html description of the product, including an image of the product - this can be changed by altering the text in the Description text box)

Verify that the Starting Price, Reserve Price, BIN (Buy It Now) Price, and Shipping are all set as you like.  (Prices on this row will change by altering rows 1 and 2, then clicking the calc-all or re-calc.)

Delete and Recalculation options found on the right:

·         del-all (clicking the del-all link will delete all of the items that have been added to the export wizard)

·         delete (clicking the delete link will delete the product on that row)

·         calc-all (clicking the calc-all link will re-calculate all of the items in the export wizard with the information changed in rows 1 and 2)

·         re-calc (clicking the re-calc link will re-calculate the items on the same row with the information changed in rows 1 and 2)

Clicking the  button in the Description area will show how the auction will appear on eBay or Yahoo Auctions.

To add additional product, click on one of the  links above or below the item listing.  Then click the  link on another item to send that item to the export wizard.

Step 3:  Export items to a file

When everything is set to your satisfaction, the next step is to export the items to a file.  Click the  link.

This begins the File Download, which displays a “File Download – Security Warning” box.  Click the button.

After clicking the  button, the  dialog box appears.

Save the file in a place that can be easily found in the future, such as to the Desktop or another easy-to-find location.

The default filename is eBayItems.csv, but any filename that ends with .csv should work.  Using the date works well.

The “Save as type:” should be Microsoft Office Excel Comma Separated Value (CSV).

Once all of the options have been set properly, click on the  button.

If the filename selected already exists, a new  dialog box appears to ask whether or not you wish to overwrite the existing file.  Choose  to overwrite the existing file, and choose  to go back and change the filename.

Once the download has finished, the  box appears.  Click the  button.

Step 4:  Ready to upload

To upload these files to eBay, use eBay’s free tool called Turbo Lister, which can be downloaded from their Web site at http://www.ebay.com

To upload these files to Yahoo Auctions, use Yahoo’s free tool, which can be downloaded from their Web site at http://auctions.yahoo.com/

Advanced options

The template used to design the auction template can be changed by clicking the  link:

This will show the Auction Description Template screen.

The following codes work to present dynamic text for the auction:

#TITLE# (will be replaced by product title)

#DESC# (will be replaced by production description)

#START_PRC# (will be replaced by product initial start price)

#RESERVE_PRC# (will be replaced by product reserve price)

#BIN_PRC# (will be replaced by Buy-it-now price)

#SHIPPING# (will be replaced by product shipping cost)

#IMG_URL# (will be replaced by product image)