Importing Item Specifics

Modified on Mon, 15 Apr at 1:39 PM

Please note that importing item specifics replaces the existing item specifics for a profile. If you wish to perform an update of existing information you must specify all the item specifics instead of just those that require updating.

By using the 'Bulk Import' feature you can quickly specify item specifics for new or existing profiles, cutting down the time it takes in listing to eBay. Importing of item specifics is done through two special 'relationship' fields in your import file. An example import is shown below.

	profile_name	relationship	relationship_details
1	Blu-ray
2		item_specific	Format=Blu-ray Disc
3		item_specific	Genre=Comedy
4		item_specific	Sub-Genre=Sci-Fi;Zombies
5		item_specific	Rating=PG
6		item_specific	Region Code=Blu-ray: Region Free
7		item_specific	Edition=Collector's Edition;Director's Cut
8		item_specific	Special Features=B-Movie

This example shows the importing of a profile called Blu-ray that has several item specifics. Profiles and their item specifics follow a hierarchical relationship. What this means is that profile information is entered on one row with item specifics appearing on subsequent rows beneath. Rows for profiles leave the fields relationship and relationship_details empty while item specific rows specify item_specific in the relationship field and use the relationship_details field for the item specific information.

Specifying item specifics

Item specifics describe well-known aspects of a product in a standard way. By entering this information you help buyers to find that type of product more easily. Below are some examples.

A book may have 'Publication Year' as an item specific.
A gold bracelet could have item specifics such as 'Carat Weight', 'Clasp' and 'Chain Length'.
A shirt may have an item specific such as 'Brand'.

Item specifics are specified in a single row with subsequent rows containing other item specifics. Entering the required information is done as follows.

Enter item_specific in the relationship column.
Within the relationship_details column specify the item specific using the format described below.

Entering item specifics is done using a name value pair separated by the equals sign, i.e., <name>=<value>. Multiple values are separated by a semicolon, e.g., Edition=Collector's Edition;Director's Cut.

Note that the names and values which you can enter for an item specific are very much dependant upon which eBay category you are listing in. In order to help sellers, we have a free tool where the recommended item specifics for any eBay category can be looked up. This tool is available HERE.