Upload inventory using the Inventory Loader

While the files below can be used by all sellers with a Professional selling plan, some files contain macros that can be used only by sellers with MWS credentials. The macros provide optional features that are not required to use the files. To obtain MWS credentials, you must be compliant with the requirements set forth in the Acceptable Use Policy and Data Protection Policy, described here. Note that the Upload File macro that was available in the legacy versions of the Listing Loader, Inventory Loader, and Price & Quantity File, is no longer available in the new versions of these files.

Inventory Loader features

Please click here to download the Inventory Loader.

The Inventory Loader allows the sellers to upload thousands of listings in a single file for matching against existing product pages at Amazon. (It is not for creating new product pages.) You can use the Inventory Loader to keep your listings up to date by modifying existing items, adding new stock, and deleting stock quantities for unavailable items. You can even purge and replace all the listings with a single upload.

To use the page-matching features of the Inventory Loader, sellers must provide a product identifier and specific information about their offering. Sellers can use a SKU and selected listing data when modifying existing listings.

Because Inventory Loader is not for creating new product pages, sellers do not have to provide detailed product data as they would have to when using a category-specific inventory file. Also, a single Inventory Loader file can be used to upload or modify listings in multiple product categories at the same time.

The Inventory Loader File Template

To create an Inventory Loader file, you must first download the Inventory Loader File Template to your hard drive. The template will open as a Microsoft Excel file and contains a pre-formatted worksheet where you provide your product data. The file includes additional worksheets to help you to complete the template. You can also enable optional file macros to automate some of the steps for creating and uploading your file.

There are four basic steps for using the Inventory Loader File template:

1. Please download the Inventory Loader File template from the templates table on the Inventory File Templates page.
2. On the InventoryLoaderTemplate tab, please enter a SKU, product identifier, and listing data for the items that you want to offer for sale. You can manually enter listing details one-by-one, or if you have macros enabled, then you can import an existing file containing your listing information using the Import File macro.
3. Please check the information that you entered for errors. If you have macros enabled, then you can automate this process by clicking the Validate button from the file menu. The macro checks data completeness and greatly reduces upload failures due to input errors.
4. Please use the Upload File macro from the file menu and enter your selling account e-mail and password.

Inventory Loader File Tabs

When you open the template, you will see several tabs along the bottom of the workbook:

Tab Name	Description
Instructions	An overview of how to use the product template.
Data Definitions	A detailed review of each field in the inventory file, including label name, definition, use case, accepted values and an example. Yellow rows indicate required information. To have your product upload properly, you must complete all required fields. Orange rows indicate desired information. Desired columns give customers the basic information that they need to make an informed purchasing decision. It is highly recommended that you fill in all the desired cells. Not doing so may result in poor product descriptions, and/or make your product hard to find. For example, a product can exist in the catalogue, but it cannot be offered for sale without a price or quantity, in which case the product would not surface on the website. White rows indicate optional information. Optional information may be useful, but not critical, when offering a product for sale. We encourage you to fill out all optional cells that apply to your products.
Template	This is the actual worksheet in which you enter your product data using the specifications listed in the Data Definitions tab. This worksheet contains a row to help Amazon in knowing which template you are using and another row with column headings (label names) representing each of the fields in your inventory file. It has colour-coded column headers to indicate whether the field is required (yellow), desired (orange) or optional (white).

Inventory Loader File Macros

On the Add-Ins menu in the toolbar at the top of the template, you will find four macros: Validate, Upload File, Import File, and Update Template. With these macros, you can validate your data and learn how to correct any errors, as well as automate some of the tasks in populating and uploading your file. These macros are designed to simplify your experience and are highly recommended.

Please see Using Template Macros for detailed information about how to use each macro. To get started with macros, please see Enabling Macros in Excel.

Required Inventory Loader Fields

If a value is not included in the field below, then your listing will not go live on the Amazon website. Under certain circumstances, values are also required in other fields. (Please see details in the Desired Inventory Loader Fields section below.)

sku: A SKU is a "stock-keeping unit" that is used to track inventory. Each SKU that you create must be unique to an individual item in your current template and existing listings. A SKU can be any alpha-numeric string. Please avoid using symbols or spaces in your SKU.

Desired Inventory Loader Fields

The data that you enter for these desired fields gives customers the basic information that they need to make an informed purchasing decision. We highly recommend that you fill in all the desired fields. Not providing data in desired fields can result in poor product descriptions and make your product hard to find. If a product exists on Amazon but does not have a price or quantity, then the customers cannot buy it.

product-id

Each product sold on Amazon also includes an industry standard product identifier. This field is required for product matching when creating new listings.

The following are recognised by Amazon as product IDs:

• ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A unique number assigned to each book published in the world. It can usually be found on the back cover of a book, next to the bar code, following the identifier "ISBN". It can also be found in the inside page along with the copyright notice.
• UPC: Universal Product Code. A number used to identify the items that are sold in the United States. (Books are also typically assigned a UPC, but the ISBN is more commonly used.) The UPC can be found under the bar code that appears on the product label.
• ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Number. A number uniquely assigned to each product that is sold on Amazon. Our system will recognise any product by its assigned ASIN, regardless of whether the product has an assigned ISBN or UPC.
• EAN: European Article Number. An identifier assigned for products sold in Europe. EANs are used in Europe in the same way UPCs are used in the U.S.

product-id-type

The product-id-type is a numerical entry that indicates if the product-id is an ASIN, ISBN, UPC or EAN. This is a required field if product-id is provided. The options include:

• 1 = ASIN
• 2 = ISBN
• 3 = UPC
• 4 = EAN

item-condition

This is a numeric entry that indicates the condition of the item. This field is required for creating a new listing.

Condition types:

• 1 = Used; Like New
• 2 = Used; Very Good
• 3 = Used; Good
• 4 = Used; Acceptable
• 5 = Collectible; Like New
• 6 = Collectible; Very Good
• 7 = Collectible; Good
• 8 = Collectible; Acceptable
• 9 = Not used
• 10 = Refurbished
• 11 = New

price

The price per item, in Rupees (Rs.). Please do not include the "Rupees" symbol. The price has to be greater than zero (0.00). This is a required field if product-id is provided and you are creating new listings. You must provide a price to make the item available for purchase on Amazon.

quantity

You must enter a quantity when adding a new SKU. You can set the quantity anywhere between 1 and 1000. This is a required field for seller-fulfilled items if product-id is provided, and to make the item available for purchase on the website. Items must be in-stock and on-hand at the time a purchase is made.

item-note

Please use this field to describe any differences that your item has from the new item sold by Amazon (for example, if your hardcover book is missing the dust-jacket). This field is limited to 1000 characters for all Used, New, Collectible and Refurbished items.

will-ship-internationally

A code that indicates your dispatch preferences:

• 3 = UK Only
• 4 = UK, EU Only
• 5 = UK, EU & United States
• 6 = UK, EU, United States and Rest of World
• Valid values for column expedited-shipping are "3" for Express Delivery within UK or "N" for "None, no express delivery offered".

If you do not enter an option, then the general setting that you chose when you signed up to sell will be used as the default.

If you do not enter the value "international" in the expedited-shipping column, then only Standard International shipping will be available. You can offer Standard International, Expedited International, both, or neither.

By selecting to ship internationally, your item will appear on other Amazon sites when there are no offers from a marketplace seller. You are solely liable to comply with the laws and regulations of the country from which you are shipping your products and also for the country to which you are shipping, as applicable. The international buyer may have to pay customs duties, taxes and processing fees for your product.

expedited-shipping

Please enter "n" if you will not offer expedited shipping at all for the item. Please enter "y" if you will only offer Domestic Expedited, but not 2-Day Domestic, 1-Day Domestic or Expedited International.

These are the valid expedited-shipping values for BMVD Items:

• n: Please use when you will not offer any expedited shipping option at all.
• y: For domestic expedited shipping other than 2-Day or 1-Day Domestic. Please use this value when you will offer only this expedited shipping option.
• domestic: For domestic expedited shipping other than 2-Day or 1-Day Domestic. Please include this value when you will offer this expedited shipping option and others as well.
• second
• next
• international: When you use this option, please be sure to select "y" for the will-ship-internationally column.

If you offer more than one expedited shipping option for a BMVD item, then please do not use the "y" value; use only the words domestic, second, next and international, in any combination. Please use the words exactly as listed and separate them with commas. Here are some examples of valid entries for the expedited-shipping column:

• domestic, second, next
• domestic, second, next, international
• domestic, second
• second, international
• domestic, next
• next, international
• second

Optional Inventory Loader Fields

add-delete

Please see Inventory Loader SKU Deletion for more information about deleting SKUs.

Options include:

• a: Please add new items
• d: Please delete items (remove all inventory from sale)
• x: Please delete offer and item data, including the SKU.

To remove offers from Amazon without deleting the SKU, please use 'd' or set your inventory quantity to '0' (zero).

If you do not populate the add-delete field, then our system will use these defaults:

• For new SKUs: Please add a listing
• For existing SKUs: Please modify listing data

minimum-price

This optional field helps Amazon to identify potential pricing errors with your listings. To use this service, please enter your minimum allowable price for this product. If you attempt to set your price for the product below your minimum allowable price, then your offer will become inactive and you will be notified via email. You can always change your minimum allowable price by modifying the value in this field and uploading the updated file to Amazon.

maximum-price

This optional field helps Amazon to identify potential pricing errors with your listings. To use this service, please enter your maximum allowable price for this product. If you attempt to set your price for the product above your maximum allowable price, then your offer will become inactive and you will be notified via email. You can always change your maximum allowable price by modifying the value in this field and uploading the updated file to Amazon.

fulfilment-centre-id

This field is only required if you use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). If you do not use FBA, then please leave this column blank.

leadtime-to-ship

The time, in days, between when you receive an order and when you can ship the item. The default leadtime-to-ship is one to two days (excluding Sundays and Public Holidays) from the date of receipt of order.

• Please use this field if your leadtime-to-ship is greater than two days.
• Please do not enter more than one value.
• Please use whole values only.
• Please do not specify a range of days or use the word "days" at the end.