Uploading Listings in Bulk

Modified on Tue, 24 Oct, 2023 at 2:02 PM

How to Upload Your Listings to BIBLIO

There are a bunch of ways to upload listings to BIBLIO, and we can accept almost any file type you can throw at us!

NOTE: Sellers can always add or edit listings one-at-a-time manually right through BIBLIOdirect. To find the edit listing page for an item, just type the SKU/BookID in the search bar at the top of BIBLIOdirect.

Uploading vs Manually Uploading Listings

There are two methods for posting listings to BIBLIO: Uploading in bulk and adding manually. Either method is perfectly fine, but uploading listings can be a lot quicker and more efficient.

Tip: If you want to post listings manually, you can always do so by navigating to Inventory > Add a Listing.

Basic Field Requirements for Upload Files

If you want to upload multiple listings at once, just send us a file with all the listing details, and we'll build a custom filter that makes sure your listings are display correctly on the site.

No matter what software or file format you choose, your upload file MUST contain these five fields:

SKU/BookID
Title
Author
Description
Price

IMPORTANT: What is a SKU/BookID?

A SKU is a unique record number assigned to each item by the seller. "SKU" stands for "Stock Keeping Unit". An inventory number is also sometime called a record number, listing ID, dealer book ID, book number, or item number. You are welcome to assign your inventory numbers according to any system that works for you.

Those are the most important details for customers and collectors, so make sure they're included! But beyond that, you can include any other information you'd like, including popular fields like 'publisher', 'edition', 'condition', etc.

Where are my Upload Settings?

You can always check your upload settings by navigating to Inventory > Upload Settings. There's a lot of great information on that page, including your software and FTP settings.

What Upload Formats does BIBLIO Accept?

There are many different software products sellers use to manage their inventory, and BIBLIO can work with pretty much all of them! Check out this list of just some of inventory software programs we can work with:

The Art of Books
Basil Bookstore Software
Bookhound
Booklist
Bookmate
BookBookRouter
HomeBase
Neatoscan
Access
Excel

When submitting custom upload formats, please ensure the following:

1. Delimiters: We recommend using tabs or pipes as delimiters since they are less common in book descriptions compared to commas.
2. Data format: Uploads should be in regular delimited text files, including tab, pipe, and comma-delimited files, as well as UIEE format. These files can be generated from popular software like Excel and Access. If you use a spreadsheet program, export your book information in tab-delimited .txt (text) format.

To avoid any misunderstandings, it's advisable to include a header line or data dictionary as the first line of the upload file. This line should define the fields you are sending. If no header is included, please contact [email protected] with a list of field definitions. The order of the fields in your uploads can be customized according to your preference.

For Excel users, we recommend using the tab-delimited option to create a tab-delimited file for upload. If CSV is used, ensure that you save the sheet with " (double quotation marks) as the delimiter.

Boolean fields can also be included to indicate true or false values for specific attributes. Examples include book status (for sale or sold), first edition, signed, and dust jacket present.

For example, "STATUS(A=add)" is a boolean field. In that case, "add" is the "true" value, and indicates that the listing should be active (listed as for sale). If any other word is present in that field, such as "delete" or "sold", or if the field is left blank, then the listing would be filtered as inactive (not for sale). If the listing is already present in your active inventory, it would be removed. If the listing is not already present in your active inventory, it would simply be processed as an inactive listing.

If you include boolean fields which use "yes" as the true value, please note that the case does not matter. In other words, you are welcome to upload that data as "Yes" or "No". You can also simply use "y" or "n" as well. Using "1" or "0" will also work. Whichever expression you choose, please be consistent, to avoid any errors in processing your upload. Just let us know what your "true" value is for any of your Boolean fields.

What is FTP and do I Need to Use it?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it's just another method you can use to send us your upload files. It's not necessary to use, but if you're interested, we have all the information you need!

How do I Upload Photos?

There are a few options to add photos to your listings, and they deserved their own help article!

Where can I Find My Upload History?

If you ever want to see a detailed history of your uploads, you can always check it out right through BIBLIOdirect.

TIP: Want to find your upload history? Just navigate to Inventory > Upload History

When You'll See Your Listings on BIBLIO

Generally speaking, you should see your listings on BIBLIO about 30 minutes after you send in your upload file. If you're uploading a file to us for the first time, or if your file is structured differently than your previous uploads, it takes us about 24 hours to build a filter, at which point you'll then see your listings.

Troubleshooting Uploads

If your uploads aren't processing correctly, there are a few things you should check.

Your file format. Make sure your file name ends in .csv or .txt.
Missing fields. You need all five required fields in your file!

If you receive an error message when trying to upload a file, get in touch with BIBLIO straight away, and we'll be able to hunt down the problem.