Importing auction items from a CSV file

With the Auctions app, you can add or update many auction items at once from a CSV file, rather than entering each one by hand. This is the fastest way to get a donated-item spreadsheet into an auction, and the same tool updates items you have already created.

To import items:

1. Open the Auctions Manager.
2. Click the title of the auction you want to import into.
3. Click the Items tab.
4. Click Import in the toolbar. On an auction with no items yet, click Import Items.
5. Under Import File, choose your CSV file.
6. Click Next.
7. Review the preview. See below.
8. Click Import.
9. Click Done.

Note: Nothing is written until you click Import. Clicking Next only shows you what would happen.

Preparing the file

The file must be a CSV saved as utf-8. Click Download sample import file on the import screen to get a working example with the correct headers.

Rules the file has to follow:

• The first row must be the column header row, and it must include a name column. Columns may be in any order. A column the importer doesn't recognize stops the whole file, with a message listing the columns it accepts.
• Rows with a blank id create new items. Rows with an id update that item.
• Every row needs a name and a type. A row with a blank or missing type is rejected, even when it updates an existing item.
• A row that creates an item also needs a category, and the prices its type requires: starting_bid and bid_increment for Silent and Live, or buy_now_price for Fixed Price. If has_quantity_limit is Yes, it needs a quantity too.
• Categories are matched by name, and created if they do not already exist.

You can leave out any other column. On a row that updates an item, a missing or blank column doesn't always leave the item alone:

• A blank text or price column keeps the item's current value.
• A blank Yes/No column is read as No, except published, which is read as Yes.
• A blank visibility is read as Public.

To update only some values safely, start from an export of the auction's items, as described in Updating items you already have below.

Columns

Purpose	Columns
Identity	id, name, number
Type and grouping	type, category, featured
Pricing	starting_bid, bid_increment, buy_now_price, reserve_price, retail_price
Value shown to bidders	fair_market_value, fair_market_value_priceless
Descriptions	description_online, description_print, donated_by
Visibility	visibility, published
Shipping	requires_shipping, track_fulfillment, shipping_cost
Inventory	has_quantity_limit, quantity
Internal	fulfillment_details, internal_notes

Values are written the way you would say them, not in code:

• type: Silent, Live, or Fixed Price
• visibility: Public or Private
• featured, published, requires_shipping, track_fulfillment, has_quantity_limit, fair_market_value_priceless: Yes or No

Item types the auction includes

The type column accepts only the item types your auction includes. Silent and Live need People Bid on Items, and Fixed Price needs Items Sold at a Set Price. See Choosing what's in an auction.

A row with any other type is held back. Its Status shows a message naming the type in your file and the types this auction accepts, for example:

Error: Invalid selling format "Silent" — expected Fixed Price

A row that updates an existing item in this auction may keep that item's current type, even if the auction no longer includes it.

Note: track_fulfillment matters only for fixed price items. Silent and live items are always tracked, and any item with requires_shipping set to Yes is tracked. A fixed price row with track_fulfillment blank or missing is imported as No, including when it updates an existing item. The sample import file does not include this column yet, so add it yourself if you are importing fixed price items that guests collect. See Choosing which fixed price items are tracked for pickup.

Note: Photos cannot be imported. Add them on each item, or bring them across with Copying items from a previous Auction.

The preview

The preview lists one row per item with its Action, Number, Item, Category, Type, Visibility, Price, Increment and Status.

Read the Action column first. It tells you whether each row will create a new item or update an existing one. If a row you expected to update shows as a create, its id is usually blank or wrong.

Rows with a problem are marked in the Status column, and they are the only rows held back. Everything else still imports, so you do not have to fix an entire file to make progress.

Changes that are blocked

Once an item has bids or purchases, the import will not let you change the things bidders have already acted on:

• The item's type
• Its prices: starting bid, bid increment and reserve price for bidding items, and buy now price for fixed price items
• A decrease in quantity on an item that has been purchased. Increases are allowed, so you can restock.

A blocked row shows a message naming the activity and what it refused, for example: Item has 3 bid(s) — blocked change(s): starting bid. Edit the item directly to change these.

Two things make this less restrictive than it sounds. The check compares values, so re-importing an unchanged file never trips it. And everything else about the item stays editable no matter how much activity it has: name, descriptions, donor, fair market value, retail price, notes, fulfillment details, featured, and quantity increases.

For these items, a blank price column counts as a change, so keep the prices in the row.

If you genuinely need to change a price on an item with bids, edit that item directly.

Updating items you already have

The reliable way to update in bulk is to export first, edit, then import the same file back:

1. Export the auction's items. See Exporting auction items to a CSV file.
2. Edit the values you want to change, leaving the id column untouched.
3. Import the file.

Because the export includes each item's id, every row matches an existing item and updates it rather than creating a duplicate.

Related articles:

• Exporting auction items to a CSV file
• Copying items from a previous Auction
• Choosing which fixed price items are tracked for pickup
• Choosing what's in an auction
• Managing Auction Items