How-To: Use the Bulk Lister?

Video Overview

Check out a brief tutorial of the Bulk Lister below:

Getting Started

The Bulk Lister allows you to list and manage your items in bulk, using a CSV file. In general, you can list multiple items much quicker using the Bulk Lister compared to using the standard Sell Your Item process. The Bulk Lister is also a great option if you would like to import, manage, or even keep your inventory in sync with an external database, spreadsheet or website. For more details on these advanced options, see the How-To: Use Bulk Lister - Advanced Usage page.

1. Select a template from the Bulk Lister page.
From the Bulk Lister page, select a template to download based upon your needs. In general, we recommend that you start with the Auctions (Basic) template for auctions, and Store Items (Basic) template for store items. If you need to add additional fields that are not included in the (Basic) templates, you can easily do so as explained below.

2. Open the template on your computer.
To open the template which you download (which is a CSV file), you'll need a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. If you do not have Microsoft Excel, we recommend the free WPS Office .

3. Fill in the template.
For each listing you want to create, fill in one row within the spreadsheet, where the values you enter correspond to appropriate values for each header (see Fields below).

4. Save the template.
Save the template within your spreadsheet program, ensuring that it is saved as a CSV file (and not a Microsoft Excel .xlsx, etc. file)

5. Upload any applicable images to the Bulk Lister > Image Manager.
If your images are hosted on your own computer, upload them to the Bulk Lister > Image Manager (see Images below).

6. Upload the template.
Upload the template to the Bulk Lister, by clicking on the green "Select File" button, leaving the "Field Mapping Template" set to "Default", waiting for your file to finish uploading, and then clicking on the blue "Submit" button.

7. Confirm and Submit.
Once you upload your file, you will be presented with the option to map different fields to our own, and set advanced options. If you're using a Basic template, simply proceed to the bottom of this page and click on the blue "Submit" button.

8. Review your newly created listings.
Once you submit your file, we'll process it within the next few minutes. Once it's processed we'll send you an email, along with a report to review - which can also be access from the Members Area > Selling > Seller Tools > Reports page. The Bulk Lister Report will show you, line by line, if we successfully created a new listing, and if not, you'll see an error message as to why a new listing could not be created.

Fields

Each field you enter within your spreadsheet will correspond to a specific header. It's important to note that not all fields are "free text", in that certain fields only accept specific values. For example, the "category_id" field can only accept numeric ids as specified within the Bulk Lister > Categories page. Before filling out any information within your spreadsheet, please review the Bulk Lister > Fields page in more detail, to become familiar with each field, and what values are accepted therein:

HipComic: https://www.hipcomic.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=structure

HipStamp: https://www.hipstamp.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=structure
HipPostcard: https://www.hippostcard.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=structure

Basic Fields

The Basic Fields which are included in the Basic templates are as follows:

Field	Description
name	This is the title of your listing.
category_id	This is the numeric category id which corresponds to your listing. Only valid numeric category ids as specified on the Bulk Lister > Categories page can be entered.
description	This is the description of your listing.
image	This is either a URL to your image (if hosted online) or the file name of your image (if hosted on your own computer - see Images below).
start_price orbuyout_price	The Starting Price (auctions) or Buy It Now Price (store items) of your listing.
private_id (optional)	The Private ID of your listing. While optional, we recommend that all listings include a Private ID (or SKU). Note that when using a Private ID, it must be unique across all of your open listings. Including a Private ID will help you to manage your inventory, and allow you to easily Bulk Update your listings in the future.

Images

If your images are hosted on your own computer, you can easily include them within your Bulk Lister CSV file, by following these steps:

1. Include the File Name in each row of your Bulk Lister CSV file.
Within the "image" column, simply enter the name of each of your images (file extension is optional, but recommended). For example, if your image is named item100.jpg include "item100.jpg" within the appropriate row in your Bulk Lister CSV file. Note that the full file path of your image should not be included (ie: do not enter C:\Users\Test\item100.jpg)

2. Upload your images to the image manager.

Before uploading your Bulk Lister CSV file into the Bulk Lister, proceed to the Bulk Lister > Image Manager page, and upload all of your images. Follow the on-screen instructions on the Bulk Lister > Image Manager page to upload your image.

Note: To include multiple images, place two pipe characters directly between the name of each within your field value, ie: image1.jpg || image2.jpg

Note: If you are using an external Image URL, the same external Image URL can not be reused for different images. If you need to provide a new image, you will need to provide a new Image URL. This is because once we download a copy of an image from an external Image URL, we can not re-download a new image.

Categories

As noted within the Fields section, certain fields only accept specific values, including the category_id field. You can review the list of acceptable numeric category id numbers from the Bulk Lister > Category page:

HipComic: https://www.hipcomic.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=categories

HipStamp: https://www.hipstamp.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=categories

HipPostcard: https://www.hippostcard.com/members/tools/bulk-lister/?filter=categories

Magic Categories

One of the best ways to speed up the bulk listing process is by using Magic Categories, which allow you to enter a single specific numeric category id number for all of your listings, which is then replaced by the correct category for you magically! The following Magic Categories are currently available:

Site	Magic Name	Category ID	Notes
HipStamp	Stamps	0	The Magic Category: Stamps will place each of your listings in the appropriate stamp category on HipStamp, based upon the Country included within your listing's title. If your listing does not include a Country do not use this magic category.
HipPostcard	Postcards	0	The Magic Category: Postcards will place each of your listings in the appropriate location based postcard category on HipPostcard, based upon the Country, State and/or City information included within your listing's title. If your listing does not include a Country, State and/or City do not use this magic category.
HipPostcard	Postcards by Topic	2056	The Magic Category: Postcards by Topic will place each of your listings in the appropriate postcard category under the Topics (Themes) main category on HipPostcard, based upon the information included within your listing's title.

Default Listing Settings

For any fields which are not included within your (Basic) Bulk Lister CSV file, such as shipping costs, your Default Listing Settings will be used. As such, please review the settings you currently have set within the Members Area > Selling > Seller Tools > Default Listing Settings page.

Shipping Costs

If you need to set different shipping costs for one or more of the items within your Bulk Lister CSV file (different than your Default Listing Settings), please see the How-To: Use Bulk Lister - Shipping Costs page for additional instructions.

Item Specifics

If you would like to provide value for Item Specifics, such as "Main Character", "Stamp Condition", etc., or to review which Item Specifics will be automatically filled in when omitted through the power of Magic Item Specifics, please see the How-To: Use Bulk Lister - Item Specifics age for additional instructions.