Bulk Revising Shipping Services/Costs:

Here are instructions on how to load a File Exchange shipping revision template file and use it to bulk revise the shipping services/costs in your eBay listings. I am assuming that you are a US seller and have already taken the steps to get your File Exchange subscription and can see a link for it in your My eBay's My Subscriptions nav bar. If you have not yet subscribed, see Subscribing to eBay's File Exchange.

To get instructions on how to download a file with a list of all of your active eBay listings, see File Exchange Download Instructions.

I have tested and used this process using Internet Explorer 6.0 and Excel 97. Other combinations of programs may require slightly different steps.

Whether you are intimidated or not by these instructions, I highly recommend that you experiment with revising a single listing until you are comfortable with this process.

1. Open Excel if it is not already loaded, else a confusing shell instance of Excel will likely open up in step 5. The Excel shell may even load despite Excel already being open - I have not discovered a pattern that explains this seemingly inconsistent program behavior.

2. Open the File Exchange Shipping Template into your browser.

3. Choose File, then Save As... from the browser menu in whatever fashion you are most comfortable doing so. Type a file name into the File name box, such as shipchge, and select if necessary an Excel workbook file type from the Save as type dropdown selection box. You may also want to click on the Save in dropdown navigation box at the top of the Save As dialog box to select another folder or to be sure that you know the full path of the folder so that you can find the file later without having to search for it. When you are ready, press Enter or click the Save button to save the template file.

4. Either close your browser or go to any web page to clear the downloaded file out of your browser so that you can open it in Excel. Click on the No button if prompted to save your changes.

5. Switch to Excel - if you have an object worksheet window, you can maximize it if you like or close and reopen Excel; if you have an Excel shell that doesn't look right, just close it and switch to or open Excel, then open the file you just saved from your browser. If you have any trouble finding the file or just do not want to browse through computer folders for the file, you can use the Search option from the Windows Start Menu, click to search on All files and folders, enter the name of the file you just saved into the All or part of the file name box, press Enter or click on the Search button, and wait for Windows to find the file and any shortcuts to it. Once Windows has found the file, doubleclick on the file name or right- click on the file name and select the Open option. You should then find the file opened in Excel. You probably want to switch back to the Search window to close it and then switch back to Excel.

6. Column A is the Action column. Cell A1 has to be left exactly as you see it now. The column A cells for all listings to be revised must end up containing the action word Revise. Once you have set up your item numbers to be revised in step 7, come back and copy cell A2 so that every row with an item number in column B has the word Revise in its column A cell.

7. Column B is where you put the item numbers of all of the listings that you want to revise. See File Exchange Download Instructions to learn how to retrieve a file from eBay with the item numbers for all of your active listings that can be copied and pasted into this template file. I will assume for this example that you have now copied all of your active listing item numbers into column B from cell B2 down and have copied the word Revise from cell A2 to all other cells in column A for which there is an item number in column B.

PLEASE NOTE: The values in all of the remaining columns can be the same or different for each listing that you plan to revise. Obviously this process will be more complicated if you don't use the same values for all listings. If you have a group of listings with one set of shipping services/costs and another group of listings with another set of shipping services/costs, you can revise them with one file submission or separate file submissions. I will not cover this topic further but will discuss how you would apply the same set of shipping services/costs to all listings that you want to change.

8. Columns C-F are where you specify your first domestic shipping service and cost.

All of the possible domestic shipping service choices are listed in cells C4-C15. Copy the appropriate choice into cell C2 and erase the choices in cells C4-C15. Copy cell C2 into all other cells in column C for which there is an item number in column B.

Column D is where you specify your cost for your first domestic shipping service choice. Enter your cost in cell D2 and copy cell D2 into all other cells in column D for which there is an item number in column B.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to end up with a single domestic shipping service for all listings you will be submitting, you just need columns A-D in your submission file and can delete the other columns E-Z and skip to step 14. This is true even if you already have international shipping services specified but do not want to change them. If you want to end up with a single domestic shipping service plus change one or more international shipping services, you can skip to step 11 and delete columns E-N just before you submit your file.

PLEASE NOTE: You have to specify all of the domestic shipping services that you want to end up with in your listings. If you currently have 3 domestic shipping service options and want to change the first one, you still have to include the appropriate information for the other 2 domestic shipping services in your submission file or you will end up with just the one domestic shipping service submitted. If you submit a file that only has shipping service information for option 2, option 3, options 1 and 3 or options 2 and 3, your submission will return a Failure result for all listings.

I haven't found that the AdditionalCost column E actually affects anything, but it does not hurt to keep it and copy the 0.00 from cell E2 to all other cells in column E for which there is an item number in column B. If I ever find out what the AdditionalCost columns do, I will come back and revise these instructions.

Column F is not required if you are specifying only one domestic shipping service, but otherwise copy the value 1 in cell F2 to all cells of column F for which there is an item number in column B.

9. Columns G-J are where you specify your second domestic shipping service and cost.

All of the possible domestic shipping service choices are listed in cells G4-G15. Copy the appropriate choice into cell G2 and erase the choices in cells G4-G15. Copy cell G2 into all other cells in column G for which there is an item number in column B.

Column H is where you specify your cost for your second domestic shipping service choice. Enter your cost in cell H2 and copy cell H2 into all other cells in column H for which there is an item number in column B.

I haven't found that the AdditionalCost column I actually affects anything, but it does not hurt to keep it and copy the 0.00 from cell I2 to all other cells in column I for which there is an item number in column B.

Column J is required if you are specifying more than one domestic shipping service, so copy the value 2 in cell J2 to all cells of column J for which there is an item number in column B.

10. Columns K-N are where you specify your third domestic shipping service and cost.

All of the possible domestic shipping service choices are listed in cells K4-K15. Copy the appropriate choice into cell K2 and erase the choices in cells K4-K15. Copy cell K2 into all other cells in column K for which there is an item number in column B.

Column L is where you specify your cost for your third domestic shipping service choice. Enter your cost in cell L2 and copy cell L2 into all other cells in column L for which there is an item number in column B.

I haven't found that the AdditionalCost column M actually affects anything, but it does not hurt to keep it and copy the 0.00 from cell M2 to all other cells in column M for which there is an item number in column B.

Column N is required if you are specifying three domestic shipping services, so copy the value 3 in cell N2 to all cells of column N for which there is an item number in column B.

11. Columns O-R are where you specify your first international shipping service and cost plus where it applies.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to add or change any international shipping service(s), you must also specify all of your domestic shipping services, even if you are not changing them. If you submit a file with only international shipping services, you will end up with your shipping costs shown as Not specified and you won't have any shipping services listed at all AND your insurance option selection will revert to Not offered on all listings submitted. FYI, if this happens and you want to use another File Exchange submission file to fix your listings, you can add 1 or 2 more columns to the template: an InsuranceOption column can be added to specify whether insurance is NotOffered, Optional, Required or IncludedinShippingHandling. If the InsuranceOption is set to Optional or Required, you also need to add an InsuranceFee column to specify the insurance cost.

All of the possible international service choices are listed in cells O4-O14. Copy the appropriate choice into cell O2 and erase the choices in cells O4-O14. Copy cell O2 into all other cells in column O for which there is an item number in column B.

Column P is where you specify your cost for your first international shipping service. Enter your cost in cell P2 and copy cell P2 into all other cells in column P for which there is an item number in column B.

All of the possible international destination choices are listed in cells Q4-Q13. Copy the appropriate choice into cell Q2 and erase the choices in cells Q4-Q13. Copy cell Q2 to all other cells in column Q for which there is an item number in column B. Regions are spelled out as shown, but countries must have the specific abbreviations CA for Canada, MX for Mexico, GB for Great Britain, DE for Germany, AU for Australia, and JP for Japan.

Column R is not required if you are specifying only one international shipping service, but otherwise copy the value 1 in cell R2 to all cells of column R for which there is an item number in column B.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to end up with only one international shipping service, columns R-Z are not necessary and can be deleted. You can also delete columns K-N if you have two domestic shipping services or columns E-N if you have one domestic shipping service, and then skip to step 14.

12. Columns S-V are where you specify your second international shipping service and cost plus where it applies.

All of the possible international service choices are listed in cells S4-S14. Copy the appropriate choice into cell S2 and erase the choices in cells S4-S14. Copy cell S2 into all other cells in column S for which there is an item number in column B.

Column T is where you specify your cost for your second international shipping service. Enter your cost in cell T2 and copy cell T2 into all other cells in column T for which there is an item number in column B.

All of the possible international destination choices are listed in cells U4-U13. Copy the appropriate choice into cell U2 and erase the choices in cells U4-U13. Copy cell U2 to all other cells in column U for which there is an item number in column B.

Column V is required if you are specifying more than one international shipping service, so copy the value 2 in cell V2 to all cells of column V for which there is an item number in column B.

13. Columns W-Z are where you specify your third international shipping service and cost plus where it applies.

All of the possible international service choices are listed in cells W4-W14. Copy the appropriate choice into cell W2 and erase the choices in cells W4-W14. Copy cell W2 into all other cells in column W for which there is an item number in column B.

Column X is where you specify your cost for your second international shipping service. Enter your cost in cell X2 and copy cell X2 into all other cells in column X for which there is an item number in column B.

All of the possible international destination choices are listed in cells Y4-Y13. Copy the appropriate choice into cell Y2 and erase the choices in cells Y4-Y13. Copy cell Y2 to all other cells in column Y for which there is an item number in column B.

Column Z is required if you are specifying more than one international shipping service, so copy the value 3 in cell Z2 to all cells of column Z for which there is an item number in column B.

PLEASE NOTE: You have to specify all of the international shipping services that you want to end up with in your listings. If you currently have 3 international shipping service options and want to change the first one, you still have to include the appropriate information for the other 2 international shipping services in your submission file or you will end up with just the one international shipping service submitted. If you submit a file that only has international shipping service information for option 2, option 3, options 1 and 3 or options 2 and 3, your submission will return a Failure result.

14. Select File then Save As..., change the file name in the File name box if you wish (I recommend that you do so), select the CSV (Comma delimited) option in the Save as type dropdown selection box, change the folder in the Save in dropdown navigation box at the top of the Save As dialog box if you wish, then press Enter or click the Save button.

15. Switch to your browser program and go to EBay and then your My eBay. Regardless of your My eBay default view (unless it is My Messages or Dispute Console, in which case you should click on any other My eBay Views selection), you should see a My Subscriptions nav bar under your My eBay Views nav bar. Click on the File Exchange link to get to the File Exchange Center.

16. Click on either of the two Upload Listings and Updates links.

17. Enter your email address(es) to receive upload notifications if the Email address box is blank or needs to be changed (the box will be filled in for you on subsequent visits).

18. Either type the full path and filename including the extension into the File Location box or click the Browse button and navigate to the file you want to upload, then press Enter or click the Open button. If you have any trouble finding it or just do not want to browse through computer folders, you can use the Search option from the Windows Start Menu, click to search on All files and folders, enter the name of the file you just saved into the All or part of the file name box, press Enter or click on the Search button, and wait for Windows to find the file and any shortcuts to it. Once Windows has found one or more references to the file, right-click on the file name and click on the Properties option, then double-click on the location path name, then right-click the path name and select the copy option. You may want to close the Search window before returning to your browser program or else keep it open in case you have to go back to it. Go back to your browser program, right-click the File Location box and select the Paste option, then type a \ and the file name including the extension. However you get the full path name of your upload file into the File Location box, press the Enter key or click the Upload button.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have already submitted a file with the same name within the previous 24 hours, you will have to either browse to the same file again or retype the same full pathname of your file into the next File Location box, then press Enter or click the Submit file again button.

19. If there is a problem with the format of your submission file, you will receive an email from fileexchange@ebay.com with a subject starting with eBay File Exchange Error. If your file format is okay, you will receive an email from fileexchange@ebay.com with the subject eBay File Exchange Upload Successful once the file has uploaded successfully, with your file reference number. You will receive another email with the subject eBay File Exchange Processing Successful once the file has been processed. However, that does not mean that your file processed successfully. If you click on the link within the File Exchange Upload Successful email, your screen will switch back to your browser window and you will see a File Download dialog box - click on the Open button to open the CSV results file in Excel, which will load if necessary. You will need to switch back to Excel if it was already loaded. I do not know what will happen if you do not have Excel or don't have the CSV extension associated with Excel.

You can also ignore the emails and click on either View Upload Results link that you see in your browser after uploading your file. Refresh (press F5 or click on the refresh icon) to watch the progress of completed actions, until you eventually see a Download link in the Load Results Report* column for that download. Click on that download link, then click the Open button on the File Download dialog box to open the CSV results file in Excel, which will load if necessary. You will need to switch back to Excel if it was already loaded. I do not know what will happen if you do not have Excel or don't have the CSV extension associated with Excel.

20. The results file FileExchange_Response.csv will show line numbers corresponding to your submission file, the action Revise next to each line number, then the status of each individual submission (either Success followed by blank ErrorCode and ErrorMessage columns, or Failure followed by the ErrorCode and ErrorMessage for the Failure, followed by the ItemID/Item Number, ApplicationData, StartTime and EndTime columns, then by many columns indicating any additional fees for these revisions. Review the list to see what items were not updated.

PLEASE NOTE: You do know that listings with bids or listings ending within 12 hours cannot be revised. Such listings will return Failure messages in the response file. This will not affect listings ending in more than 12 hours that do not have bids. You cannot revise listings with bids in any case and you can note listings ending within 12 hours and revise them after they relist, whether manually or with another File Exchange submission. If failure messages bother you, delete listings with bids from your submission file and find a time when none of the listings you want to change are due to end in the next 12 hours.

21. Check out your revised listings to be sure everything worked as you intended.

Good luck. I hope that these steps will be clear to you as you work through them. If you have questions or comments or corrections or suggestions to improve these instructions, please direct any questions about this process to the eBay Stores Board thread Bulk Revising Shipping Services/Costs Redux.