eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

25 Jul 2007, 21:14

#1

Totally Zenned

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eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Firstly, I would like to thank the Zen Cart members who have supported my contributions both monetarily and non-monetarily (a simple thank you goes a long way too).

I have currently released editions of the Google Base Feeder based on the original script by Andrew Berezin. I have adapted this script to work with websites such as ePier.com (not currently released publicly) and I am now planning a public release for eBay.

This script will be similar to the GBF. It will be completely admin configurable and it will create a bulk file with values pulled directly from your database. The key differences will be that the file will be comma delimited to match eBay's Turbo Lister 2.0 import specifications, it will have more features for controlling what is exported, and it will export the descriptions in HTML.

Once you have created the CSV file, you will import it using Turbo Lister where you can select the appropriate category, store category, and shipping options.

Some of the additional features from the GBF will be:

Price markups[LIST]
Since eBay fees are siginificantly higher than to sell in your own store, you can enter a percentage to markup the price by X amount.

[*]Additional exporting limitations

The GBF currently allows limitations by product category, and max number of items. I plan to allow limiting inclusion by price as well so that items under/over X amount of dollars are not included in the bulk file.

[/LIST]I will begin writing this contribution before the end of this week and it should be ready sometime next week. I will be away from Friday to Monday and will not be able to reply to PM's or posts until Tuesday. I thank those in advance who are willing to provide monetary support for the writing of this contribution.

Please post any other ideas or features that should be implemented such as further methods for limiting what is included in the bulk file.

25 Jul 2007, 21:23

#2

arrse

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Numinix,
Given the quality of your other contributions (notably GBF), can I just say that I'm really excited about this. I'm probably getting ahead of myself here but a couple of features that I think would be really useful:

1. International support (I'm UK based) - as a Canadian I'm sure you'll be doing this anyway but just in case .....

2. I like your idea of having a price filter as well as the category filters that already exist. Would it be possible to have the facility to save multiple versions of this and then just load them when you needed them?

3. Integration with postage modules is likely to be quite complex but would obviously be desireable.

Cheers

25 Jul 2007, 21:50

#3

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

ARRSE:
Numinix,
Given the quality of your other contributions (notably GBF), can I just say that I'm really excited about this. I'm probably getting ahead of myself here but a couple of features that I think would be really useful:

1. International support (I'm UK based) - as a Canadian I'm sure you'll be doing this anyway but just in case .....

2. I like your idea of having a price filter as well as the category filters that already exist. Would it be possible to have the facility to save multiple versions of this and then just load them when you needed them?

3. Integration with postage modules is likely to be quite complex but would obviously be desireable.

Cheers

1. Turbo Lister 2.0 supports all/most of the eBay websites. There will be an admin configuration to select which eBay site Turbo Lister will use.

2. The filters can be turned on or off individually. I don't fully understand the question. Give me an example.

3. Yes, this is much more complex but definitely something to look into in future releases if the support is there. I have released edits to the Canada Post Module and the Fedex Module. But there are many different shipping modules especially internationally which would make this difficult. It would be better to have a shipping module integrated directly with eBay and then have the product weights and dimensions (if you've installed dimensional support) fed into the Turbo Lister file.

SIDE NOTE: I've publicly released the ePier Bulk File Generator v1.0.1 on my website. I'll be uploading the Quick Updates v2.0.3b for use with it shortly.

26 Jul 2007, 05:20

#4

pastgentoys

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Could this also work in the opposite fashion? Could you take a TL .csv and convert the ebay listing into cart items? I have 400+ items in my ebay store that i would rather have in my cart.

26 Jul 2007, 05:58

#5

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

PastGenToys:
Could this also work in the opposite fashion? Could you take a TL .csv and convert the ebay listing into cart items? I have 400+ items in my ebay store that i would rather have in my cart.

That would be another script which could be something to consider in the future depending. I haven't tried this before so it would take me a lot longer to write. But, I am sure I could do it.

HOWEVER, what this script will do is allow you to create your listings within your store and then copy them instantly into your eBay store. You should aim to have a central place (i.e. your zen cart store) for managing and updating your listings which are then exported to Google, ePier, eBay, etc.

Due to major limitations by eBay, I wouldn't suggest using your eBay store as this central management system.

26 Jul 2007, 09:09

#6

heathenmagic

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

This is really exciting. I for one will contribute, and encourage others to do so if it helps them. Maybe appreciations fee is a better name for it.

26 Jul 2007, 19:51

#7

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Thank you. The mod will be ready late next week since I'll be on holidays til Monday.

27 Jul 2007, 21:59

#8

maxrisc

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Numinix,

I am on the thread now. Let me know about your sources when you get a chance.

Do you have CVS or SVN setup or are you working from a local repo?

Thanks

28 Jul 2007, 17:21

#9

maxrisc

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

I just wanted to let you know that I am holding off as I am waiting to hear back on your project status.

I can help you write the extractor if you are running into problems.

I also wanted to let you know that I am writing a commercial replacement for TurboLister/Blackthorne users now. Those two apps work fine until you start getting large lists and try to sync them up. So something needs to be done about that.

28 Jul 2007, 19:34

#10

arrse

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Join Date:: Nov 2006
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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

numinix:
1. Turbo Lister 2.0 supports all/most of the eBay websites. There will be an admin configuration to select which eBay site Turbo Lister will use.

2. The filters can be turned on or off individually. I don't fully understand the question. Give me an example.

3. Yes, this is much more complex but definitely something to look into in future releases if the support is there. I have released edits to the Canada Post Module and the Fedex Module. But there are many different shipping modules especially internationally which would make this difficult. It would be better to have a shipping module integrated directly with eBay and then have the product weights and dimensions (if you've installed dimensional support) fed into the Turbo Lister file.

SIDE NOTE: I've publicly released the ePier Bulk File Generator v1.0.1 on my website. I'll be uploading the Quick Updates v2.0.3b for use with it shortly.

Having thought about it please ignore my #2.

If you are looking at international shipping modules then can I suggest that those of us based in the UK would love to see Big Royal Mail included ........ please

Yours in anticipation

31 Jul 2007, 17:43

#11

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

I began working on the mod yesterday and so far I'm making good progress. The main difference between this mod and other feeders I've written, other than being comma delimited, is that the Turbo Lister file requires many more column headings even if they are not used.

If anyone is currently using Turbo Lister through eBay, please do the following an post your results:

Export a couple of products to a CSV file. Manually open the CSV file and delete the data found in the category fields while still leaving the headings (i.e. category, category2 remain).

Import this file back into Turbo Lister. Does it accept the feed and allow you to add the category after the import? This is important because if it doesn't allow importing the blank category, I will have to modify Zen Cart as I did for the ePier Bulk File Generator (EBFG) to allow storing the category numbers on a per product basis.

01 Aug 2007, 00:39

#12

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

I've finished the beta version of this mod. It works perfectly for me in exporting the csv file. However, I have not tested it with Turbo Lister 2.0 or uploaded it to ebay.

If you are interested in beta testing this module before it is released officially, please email [email protected] and a copy of the module will be emailed to you in zip format. There are no core overwrites for this mod and installation documentation is provided although it does not go into great deal. Experience with any of my other feed mods would be an asset.

There may also be a lot of changes needed to the mod to make it more worthwhile. So far, it will decrease your listing time by creating the html description, title (should be edited again in Turbo Lister for length), and pictures. It also allows you to set your listing features. However, since some sections must be left blank, as the information is not currently stored in the database, my one Turbo Lister tester has informed me that these fields will not be automatically filled by TL even if they are stored as defaults. For example, if you were to save your PayPal email address as a default in turbo lister, if you leave this field blank in the csv file, it will also be blank in turbo lister. Hopefully the beta testers can give feedback on whether or not this greatly saves time or not.

01 Aug 2007, 00:57

#13

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Another member has requested inventory support be added. At the time I said this wouldn't be an option, however, what I can do is this:

If enabled, the user can have their zen cart stock debited the quantity that is placed in the feed. By default it includes your full inventory quantity but can be changed to any number you choose. So, if you were to manually change the quantity setting to 2, and you have 10 in stock, it will update your database as having 8 remaining. However, when your item doesn't sell on eBay, you will need to either update your Zen Cart manually, or continue to relist the product.

I'm going to add another limitation which will limit items with certain words in the title (i.e. "OEM", "GIFT CERTIFICATE"). These terms will be setup by the user. It will allow you to not include items which may infringe on the eBay terms and services. I know this first hand due to the first time listed above :(. I won't be adding a limitation to add only products containing certain terms as I don't see the reason for this. Another important note is that eBay title lengths are 50 characters or less. This mod automatically strips your title down to the character length (full words only). Thus, you'll need to edit the titles in eBay as they probably won't be the way you want them.

01 Aug 2007, 05:02

#14

pastgentoys

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

numinix:

Import this file back into Turbo Lister. Does it accept the feed and allow you to add the category after the import? This is important because if it doesn't allow importing the blank category, I will have to modify Zen Cart as I did for the ePier Bulk File Generator (EBFG) to allow storing the category numbers on a per product basis.

Although TL crashed on a few times, but it does that anyway, I was eventaully able to open a blank record and select any category eBay currently offers. Hope this helps!

01 Aug 2007, 06:08

#15

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Thank you, none of the fields seem to be mandatory but leaving them blank does override the turbo lister 2.0 defaults so over time I will release additional updates that include more options stored in the database. This will cause the module to run slower. It currently takes about 0.9 seconds to process 300 products or a 2MB file. According to eBay, they can process over a 15MB file or over a couple thousand products. Sure beats ePier's 25 product, 90KB max!

NOTE TO BETA TESTERS

Please send your results back to me directly via [email protected] or PM. I do not want to fill this thread with bugs and suggestions that will be fixed/implemented in the first public release.

01 Aug 2007, 19:52

#16

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

BETA TESTING UPDATE

The Turbo Lister 2.0 export sample I received from one of my beta testers wasn't correct. Seems he used the wrong export option and that is why the column headings are different etc. Luckily, I am able to use the Canadian version of Turbo Lister 2.0 and I am now beta testing the various exports to make sure the Zen Cart export matches the Turbo Lister export. Beta testing should be completed today.

02 Aug 2007, 18:25

#17

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

v0.9.1 EBAY TURBO LISTER 2.0 EXPORTER

PUBLIC BETA RELEASE

1. Bug Fixes;
2. Code Optimization;

This is being released to have a larger number of people test the script. However, beta versions are not available from the downloads section and must be downloaded from the Numinix Technology website by visiting the link above.

To beta test, follow the readme.txt instructions. Export your file (try limiting the number of products at first), import it using Turbo Lister 2.0 or Selling Manager Pro, edit the products, and upload to eBay after double checking to make sure the fees are being charged properly for the options selected. Please post to this forum all issues. Please note that to minimize problems, I have not included all options and these will be added in the public non-beta release.

02 Aug 2007, 21:23

#18

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

v0.9.2 EBAY TURBO LISTER 2.0 EXPORTER

1. Bug fix;

04 Aug 2007, 04:13

#19

numinix

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

Version 0.9.2 appears to be working properly.

There is current one bug which we have a temporary work around for: When you create the feed file, you need to open it in excel and then resave it by clicking YES to discard any non-compatible CSV features. You can then import your entire list into Turbo Lister 2.0 or Selling Manager Pro.

Some products may not import because of illegal characters in the description. I will look into adding additional filters to the description sanitization which should deal with this.

05 Aug 2007, 19:06

#20

maxrisc

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Re: eBay Turbo Lister 2.0 Exporter Support Thread

HTMLSaX Can Sanitize your HTML output tags. I use it in ALP when submitting content to eBay to remove all unwanted formatting.