How to Upload Listings to Etsy (No Variations)

Shop Uploader lets you bulk upload listings to Etsy with a simple spreadsheet.

This tutorial will show you how to upload a single listing.

It covers:

• Show you how to prepare a product upload
• Complete from an empty template
• And explain every step of the way

Let’s get started.

Where do I begin?

First, download the Bulk Upload Template (must be logged in). You will enter the information for the listing you want to upload into this file.

Click this link to play around with the Example Spreadsheet (must be logged in). Shop Uploader only takes information from the first sheet in a workbook.

For this tutorial, we will be listing a metal ship figurine.

Title and Description

First, you need to fill out the title and description of your listings. Having a proper title, helps customers find your products on Etsy. Titles can only be 140 characters long. This limitation means you need to be both descriptive and concise at the same time. Lastly, your title needs to follow Etsy's Title Requirements.

For this example, we have 1 product resulting in 1 title:

You have a lot of free reign over what your descriptions can say about your product. However, you need to follow Etsy’s Seller Policy to avoid getting into trouble. Additionally, Etsy only shows the first 160 characters in its search results.

You will need to format your description before uploading your listings. If you submit a block of text with the template, you will have a block of text on Etsy. To format, you can use either Excel or some third-party application. We recommend using a third-party application to increase ease of use. When using Excel, Alt-Enter adds line breaks into the active cell.

For this example, here is our description:

SKU and Parent SKU

SKUs help differentiate between variations of the same product. They are mandatory even for a single variation listing.

Your listing Needs to have a Parent SKU. They are mandatory and are limited to a max of 32 characters.

For this example, here is our SKU and Parent SKU

Price and Quantity

Price is how much you want your product to sell for. You will want to set the price high enough to cover Etsy’s various fees.

Quantity indicates how much inventory you have for your listing.

For this example, we have one unit for sale at $15.65.

Option#_name and Option#_value

Option#_name defines a changeable aspect of your product. For our example, we chose sails and hull composition as Option1_name and Option2_name. These options mean we can vary which metals we use for the sails and hull.

Option#_value is how the variations are different based on the option#_name.

For this example, the figurine has nickel sails with a copper hull.

Images

You need to supply a publicly viewable URL for your images. One website you can use to upload your images is Imgur. Imgur is quick and easy, but you can use any uploading platform. A image’s minimum size is 50x50 pixels while its recommended size is at least 3000 pixels.

Image_url tells which image is linked to the specific listing variation. You can only have one linked image per listing.

Image_# are unlinked images that you can add to your listing. You can have at most ten images per listing.

Image_positions is where the images will show up in the Etsy slideshow. 1 is the first position.

Here is how to set up images for a single listing:

Product Properties

Length, width, and height are the dimensions of the packaging, not the product. You can tell customers how big the product is elsewhere but this section deals with shipping information. One important note is that Length >= Width >= Height.

Dimensions_unit are the units you are measuring your packaging in. Your options for dimensions_unit are in, ft, mm, cm, m, yd, or inches.

For our example, our packaging size is:

Weight is the combined weight of both the product and the packaging.

Weight_unit are the units you are measuring your packaging in. Your options for weight_unit are lb, kg, oz, or g. However, we recommend you use oz or g when inputting your listings. Etsy does not accept fractions for weights. However, it does automatically convert from smaller units to larger units. Instead of putting 1.5 pounds, you should put in 24 ounces. Etsy will auto convert this weight to 1 pound and 8 ounces.

For our example, this is our product + packaging weight:

Shipping and Processing

Listing_id is generated by Etsy. You can find your listing ids on the Download Listings page (must be logged in). The product must already be listed to have a listing id. If you are uploading a new product, do not worry about this section.

Shipping_profile_id is generated by Etsy. You can find your id code by visiting the Shipping Profiles page (must be logged in).

Processing_min is the minimum number of days required to process this listing. This category must be greater than or equal to 0 but cannot be greater than processing_max.

Processing_max is the maximum number of days required to process this listing. This category must be greater than or equal to 0 but cannot be less than processing_min.

For our example, it takes us 10 to 20 days to process a request:

Type declares if the product you are selling is physical, digital, or both. You could be selling a physical t-shirt, a digital book, or a cd + digital copy of your album. This will be the same for all variations of the same product.

For our example, our type is physical:

IDs

The shop_section_id is generated by Etsy. You can find your id here Shop sections (must be logged in). The id will always be the same for your shop.

The taxonomy_id is generated by Etsy. You can find your category in Etsy Taxonomy ID (must be logged in). We suggest starting a new Etsy listing to find your taxonomy category. Once you find your category enter the corresponding code from Shop Uploader into the template.

Here is the information for our example:

Product Information

Who_made is who made the product. The options are i_did, someone_else, and collective.

Is_made_to_order tells if you are producing items when you want to (FALSE) or only when an order is placed (TRUE). The options are TRUE and FALSE.

Is_vintage tells if the item is vintage or not. Your item must be at least 20 years old to be considered vintage. Shop Uploader determines the age of your product based on the year_made category. The options are TRUE and FALSE.

Year_made describes the year in which the product was made. Must be a whole number less than or equal to the current year.

Auto_renew describes if you want your listing to automatically renew upon expiration. Renewing your listing will still charge you the listing expense. The options are TRUE and FALSE. If set to TRUE when previously FALSE, Etsy renews the listing before it expires. The renewal period starts immediately rather than extending the listing’s expiration date. You will be charged and you will lose the remaining time you had from the previous listing.

Is_taxable indicates if a customer will be taxed at checkout when purchasing the item. When true, applicable shop tax rates apply to this listing at checkout. The options are TRUE and FALSE.

Is_supply determines if your product is a complete product or a supply item. If TRUE, it is a supply item. If FALSE, it is a finished product. The options are TRUE and FALSE. A supply is an object that is used to make a handcrafted item, IE craft materials, jewelry findings, etc.

The information in these categories will be the same for all variations of the same product.

For our example, we went with these options:

Customization and Personalization

Is_customizable means the items can be customizable. The options are TRUE and FALSE.

Is_personalizable means the item can be personalized in some way. The options are TRUE and FALSE.

Personalization_is_required indicates if the product must be personalized or not. If is_personalizable is TRUE personalization_is_required can be either TRUE or FALSE. If personalization_is_required is TRUE then is_personalizable must be TRUE.

Personalization_instructions tells customers what they should be typing in the personalization description box.

Personalization_char_count_max is the maximum number of characters allowed for personalization messages.

Here is the example for this listing:

Styles, Tags, and Materials

Style_# gives the overarching broad art category your product falls into. Etsy has various predefined styles you can choose from but you can also import your own. The predefined options differ slightly depending on what you are listing. We recommend going to Etsy, selecting your category, then taking a style option from there.

Tag_# is a word or short phrase that describes your item. Tags can be up to 20 characters long, and you can have up to 13 per listing.

Material_# is what materials make up the product. Each number will be for one material.

These are our style, tags, and materials:

Production Partner(s)

Production_partner_# is generated by Etsy.

You can access these on the Production Partners page (must be logged in).

Listing Actions

Action is the action you want to take with your listing. The options are update, inventory, and delete. Update will update and overwrite old information if a listing_id is given. If no listing_id is given update will make a brand new listing. Inventory updates the inventory. Delete deletes the listing.

Listing_state is the final state of your listing. The options are draft and active. The default status for this category is draft. That means if you forget to fill in the cell, you create a new draft listing. If you update a listing, the state will stay the same unless otherwise specified. You cannot take a listing from active to draft.

Overwrite_images will overwrite your images if set to TRUE. If set to FALSE it will add the new images to the listing.

Uploading Your File

Now that you've completed your template, head on over to the Upload Center (must be logged in) to complete your first bulk upload.