eBay Stores and Googlebase Stores Connector

[WayOutWest]

If you've been trying to use Googlebase's stores connection utility and have been getting errors, here ya go  (note: this will only feed your store items to googlebase, not auctions and not core BINs)

How to Schedule your eBay Store Items for automatic upload to Google
Base:

1. Go to eBay and click "My eBay"

2. Click "Manage My Store" on the left side of the page

3. Click on "Listing Distribution" under promotional tools

4. Click "Activate your Store listings via RSS. (not sure if this
is needed for Google)

5. Click "Make a file of your Store Inventory listings available"

6. May need to wait at least 12 hours before you continue with
these instructions

7. When eBay provides you with a URL of your Google Base-specific
file, COPY THE URL - looks something like: http://esssl.ebay.com/GetListings/yourstorename?fmt=g

8. Login to Google Base

9. Click the "Settings" tab

10. Change your Website URL to match the Google Base URL provided by
eBay - again, looks something like: http://esssl.ebay.com/GetListings/yourstorename?fmt=g

11. Click the "My Items" tab

12. Click on the "Data Feeds" link

13. Click the "New Data Feed" button

14. Type a file name with the .xml extention - should be the name of
your store with no spaces - for example, "mystorename.xml"

15. Change the item type in the drop down menu to "Products"

16. Click the button that says: "Register data feed and continue to
formatting instructions"

17. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the button that
says: "I'm done formatting my file. Continue to upload"

18. If you need to, click the "My Items" tab, then click on the "Data
Feeds" link (or continue to step 19 below)

19. Click the "create" link next to Schedule

20. Choose when and how often you would like Google to upload your
file

21. Type the URL of the file - should match the URL provided by eBay
- the same one used in step 10 above

22. CLICK THE SCHEDULE BUTTON

23. Come back and check to see if your products have been uploaded as
scheduled - login to Google Base, click the "my items" tab, click the
"active items" link. You should see all of your store items listed
(they will not upload auction or fixed price listings)



source: http://www.powersellersunite.com/post-180348.html

[Rick Bradford]

Thanks for this, Steve.

Anybody know how it's possible, using the method above, that items can fail based on the error of missing the "description" attribute? Isn't description built into the store listing?

I also got errors based on "recommended" attributes upc, mpn, isbn, condition and brand -- most of which don't apply to most of what I sell so I'm not sure what that means.

Some of my listings failed because "Your data feed contains an invalid character for the current encoding setting or contains a disallowed character." It looks like it might be "×" (alt 0215 in the character map), except that character is in almost every one of my listings and only half failed.

The errors have line numbers next to them -- does this mean it's possible to access the file for reference?

Can you tell it's my first Base upload?

[Sade]

23. Come back and check to see if your products have been uploaded as
scheduled - login to Google Base, click the "my items" tab, click the
"active items" link. You should see all of your store items listed
(they will not upload auction or fixed price listings)

How long does it take to shwo items? Immediatley, I show nothing.

[kolstromkreations]

From http://base.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=71476&topic=9331

I have an eBay, Yahoo!, or osCommerce store; how do I submit my items to Google Base?

To submit your items to Google Base using the Google Base Store Connector:
After you've downloaded and installed the Google Base Store Connector, you'll need to run the program to establish a connection with your online stores.

To create a Google Base store connection, select the store you'd like to import your items from using the I want to get items from pull-down menu.

Enter the email address and password for your account.

Choose a name for your connection. Please note that this name will only be used by you to identify and modify your connection, or to upload additional items. This name won't be published online.

Once you've filled out the necessary information, click Copy items from my store. You'll be taken to a new tab which will be labeled with the name you specified for the connection. You'll also see a link to your store and to your Google Base account. Finally, you'll see the date and time of the last update of your items and a list of the items and their categories in your store. Please note, because your items have not yet been published, "never" will be displayed as the date last published.

<edit>
Download: http://base.google.com/base/storeconnector/index.html

[Sade]

Thanks. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

[Sade]

I downloaded it but it won't open. Says Windows doesn't support that file. 

[kolstromkreations]

You likely got some file that ended in y23 or something such.

From forums:

It's a bug that happens with certain browsers.

the workaround that should work is to
download the file and then rename the
file to setup.exe


then, click on the file -- it should run and install.


or, this direct link may work for you:
http://dl.google.com/storeconnector/Setup.exe

Mine quit working a couple months ago and fixed it with option 2.

[Sade]

or, this direct link may work for you:
http://dl.google.com/storeconnector/Setup.exe

This worked. Thanks. 

[kolstromkreations]

After importing using Store Connector, do most folks make a seperate page on Google?
Old one of mine, that's different from the unedited import:
http://www.google.com/base/a/2322339/D4454465550053748726

[Sade]

How do you make a page?

[kolstromkreations]

On the Active Items tab, click edit.  Scroll down to the Desription and Select All the text.
Then click Edit HTML, edit as you see fit, and Save, Publish.
One good thing is that when the page expires, it will go inactive.  Unedited Store Connector listings, as far as I know, just go poof.
   

[Sade]

I got notification that my GoogleBase upload (eBay items) failed. 

[kolstromkreations]

Are you saying Store Connector didn't work?  Your ebay items, by this time, should be showing published and searchable.

If they are, at this point, you shouldn't be uploading anything, all you should be doing is editing.  Your items should be showing up on your Google Dashboard, via:
http://www.google.com/base > My Items (top of page)
which will have a URL that looks like this:
http://  www.google.com/base/dashboard?hl=en&gl=us  (broken on purpose because it's a loop)
You can only edit one page at a time. 
 

[Sade]

Are you saying Store Connector didn't work?  Your ebay items, by this time, should be showing published and searchable.

I think it was the 1st submission when I couldn't get it to work, becasue I looked and ebay items are there.

[Rick Bradford]

Based on personal experience, anybody have any insight about my questions up above in my August 9th post?

[Sade]

My 1st upload failed as well but Franks link worked for me http://dl.google.com/storeconnector/Setup.exe

[Rick Bradford]

Yeah, I was wondering if the method really mattered. My uploads have been working (technically) -- except only about half of my items are successful. But the rest I can find in Shopping, no problem.

The mystery to me is why the others actually failed...

[kolstromkreations]

I always get failed listings using Store Connector.  One reason is when CS pulls the ebay listings, it grabs everything including auctions.
There's big differences between the steps listed in the original post and running SC by itself, standing alone.  There are, at least, two distinctly different methods.

[Rick Bradford]

Thanks, Frank. I guess I'll try Store Connector and see if it makes a difference...

[Lilygiftsandmore]

  I have been selling on Ebay and having the same issue.

Lily