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Google Attribute-Product listing changes still not accurate
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mediafromthepast



Posts: 43

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 11:12 am    Post subject: Re: Vogue Pre-sale Reply with quote

THANXXX for the advice on the Vogue Sept Pre-sale..
I'll remove it.. It should arrive by next Friday..
I have a few Blogs that let people from America know who will be on the cover of a Present or Future Fashion magazine... about 95 % of the cover in my blogs,I have a subscription for..
I usually dont list any magazine as Brand new,even it is unread and practically perfect.. most of the time,I will list them as Near Mint..or Very Good-Plus condition..
Thanx!
Chloe
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually Media, what you mentioned is not unusual.

Somtimes I think google just can't make up their mind what they want which would explain why they are constantly changing their rules and requirements. I had some books listed with no upc or isbn numbers a few years back before google started requiring attributes to be included in google shopping (we call it GS here for short). At a later date google came in and said uh, you have to list a upc or isbn otherwise we will not display these items in google shopping anymore. So I followed their rules and listed the isbn. With every new feed it kept saying invalid numbers, even though I re-checked the numbers like 6 times checking for typo errors on my end and there were none. So I tried it again with just the upc instead, same error message, then tried a final time with both upc and isbn just as a trial.

No matter what numbers I typed in google was NEVER satisfied, they always told me I had entered in the wrong number for the books and double checking the number 6 times always showed that I did NOT have one single digit entered incorrectly. WTH? So then I'm like you know what, forget this, this is getting old fast so I am removing all numbers and I don't care if you list my book in GS or not. Well, as soon as I removed any codes, by the next feed my items were suddenly approved again! The whole reason I started entering in those codes is because google complained when I did not have a upc or isbn so I listed one or the other and they still complained, but when I went back to the way they were at first, they were approved again.

So with books and magazines it seems like google is never happy no matter what I do. I have sent photos of the barcode and photos of my attributes section for those items and asked ecrater to double check and see if there is a number I am accidentally skipping each time or getting it wrong and they said no, all sets of numbers match up. It only seems to be a problem for me with cook books and most magazines. Other books though, they always accept the isbn or upc I type in with no problems and I am not including any spaces or dashes in the numbers like ecrater told us not to do so I don't know what the deal is.

But also, is it possible you are entering in the upc or isbn with spaces or dashes in between, or including "isbn10 or isbn13" at the beginning of the codes? If so, that will cause them to be rejected.
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mediafromthepast



Posts: 43

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 12:40 pm    Post subject: Re:GS-Barcode numbers Reply with quote

Hi Tiger..
On some of the 2015 Vogue magazines (or another magazine) I noticed that they have started to ADD numbers Vertically at the beginning of the codes,BEFORE they start listing the Horizontally numbered codes.. That would make the total count to either 14-15 numbers.
Im not sure if im suppose to add Every Digit that surrounds the bar code or just add the Horizontal codes,or just 10 of the horizontal codes??
So my solution will be to not add the codes at all..
Also.. I have some 2015 Car and Driver magazines that I will be listing this weekend that only feature the "Lined Barcode Style" (those with just vertical short lines and no numbers".. The only way a seller could decipher those codes is with a scanner,which I dont have,so,even though the magazines are from 2015, I still can put a code on them..
Im just going to have to accept the fact that some magazines will,and,will not be included in my GS... I will have to post those on my Facebook,Pinterest,Google Blogger,Google Sites,Adwords,Twitter,YouTube,Wordpress,Tumbler,Google + accounts,etc,etc..and have the magazine LINKED to my Ecrater sales site. That way I will know that,the magazine will still get posted...(somewhere) One thing that I never did on Ebay was contact the various Car Clubs,Celebrity Clubs,etc,to generate business and try to make a sale that way..
That option can be even more valuable than GS..
Dont forget though.. If you have a GOOGLE-BLOG SITE like Google Sites,or GOOGLE BLOGGER,you can list you products on one of those sites and use the words "FOR SALE" at the end of the product,and,it will (or should) be listed on the 1st page on Google's Main Search.. (at least it was listed when I use to do it that way..You should get the same results from Google Plus.
Your listings from WORDPRESS,and,GOOGLE SITES,should also be listed within the 1st 1-2 pages..
THANXXXXXX for your assistance!!!
Chloe-out
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
So with books and magazines it seems like google is never happy no matter what I do.


@tiger, I had a knitting magazine that had been on the site since before the attributes came into being. Suddenly about a year and half later they said I hadn't gotten the attributes correct, and so I tried to fix. About this time a lot of other sellers were having 'surprises' with long listed items. This was actually my FIRST attribute that ever got flagged. So I tried to fix it a couple of times and it kept coming back red flagged. Then we heard that it can take up to a month for the fixes to work their way through the system so I just ignored it for about 6 weeks and then one day all was well. It eventually sold. I don't know if google is doing this to ALL countries and their sellers or what, but it had been an been an UK publication so the numbers would have been different than a US magazine possibly.

All I know is I try my best and then ignore what I have to until the day Google starts paying me for setting up their sewing pattern catalog. Who knows better about my product, me or them??? Shocked
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Media here's how I do it. We have been told that if a book or mag has both an isbn-13 and an isbn-10 code, that we should always use the 10 digit code. Horizontal numbers only. And if a bar code appears like this:

0 1148 5569 0

To ignore any spaces or dashes too (1148-223-5480) and just type the numbers only like this 0114855690.

It would be nice if google would CLARIFY some of this BS but they don't. This is something we had to figure out on our own or ask the ecrater staff about. They make something so easy, so daggon over complicated and then don't even tell you how to do it correctly. I am so glad I finally asked one of the staff here to tutor me on everything, and working with her, I have not had one single item flagged or disapproved since. What she told me, I realized google really does leave a lot of information out that we need to know in order to provide attribute the correct way. It's like google expects us all to be psychic.

But Media, if you contact the ecrater staff and ask for help with your attributes, they will happily work with you even if it takes 15 emails back and forth to help you understand. They will provide screenshots too and links to articles. They don't consider it as a bother to them, they actually tell us if we are having problems to contact them for help. So you might consider that because those attributes, even though a pain in the arskee, can make a huge difference with your sales.
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mediafromthepast



Posts: 43

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:26 pm    Post subject: Thanx for the Advice updates Moon and Tiger Reply with quote

THANXXXX VERY MUCH for the GS updates,Moon,and Tiger
I was going to try a "Trial and Error" Barcode posting using both 10-13-and even 14 digits to see what works,but then I just realized that probably 75-85% of ALL of the items that I will be posting later DONT have Numbered Codes at all.. Those items are MAXIM,and STUFF magazines from the present to 2005,National Geographic magazines from 1922? to 2013,Old Records,from 1932-2008,Posters,Photos,Encyclopedias,VHS Tapes,etc and even some CURRENT 2015 magazines like Cosmopolitan,which I just got last week..All of those items will have to be posted as "Identifier False"..so,its probably best if I make all of my listings like that,that do not have the codes.. we'll see how it works..
Thanx again for all of your replys!
I read all of them,and I am happy that you took the time to explain the system to me..
Chloe-out
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kathys



Posts: 82

PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



I really think the only attribute you must add is Identifier_exists with a value of FALSE

Sorry. . .

Is not supported by Ecrater.

There are only a few attributes you need to add yourself. Ecrater does the rest
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kathys



Posts: 82

PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

..
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kathys wrote:


I really think the only attribute you must add is Identifier_exists with a value of FALSE

Sorry. . .

Is not supported by Ecrater.

There are only a few attributes you need to add yourself. Ecrater does the rest
I have no idea where you got the idea that eCRATER does not support the attribute identifier_exists, but it is supported. It's in the list of attributes described in the help file in our admin section and we learned of the attribute from a posting made by the eCRATER staff here in the forum. When I made the statement above I did err when I capitalized the first letter. The attribute must be entered in lower case with an underscore between the two words. It must be entered as identifier_exists and the value must be entered as false. There has been some discussion as to whether the value should be entered as false, FALSE or False. It appears all three forms for the value are acceptable, however in Google Shopping instructions they list the value in all caps, ie FALSE.

Also, there are some attributes you MUST add yourself if you list in certain categories or your items will not be accepted in Google Shopping.
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kathys



Posts: 82

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just tried it, just now, and an error came up that it is not supported by eCrater. I can take a screen shot and post it here . . .
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SheilaDeesPostcards
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Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kathy, I just tried to duplicate the error you are seeing in my postcard store which has identifier_exixts on almost every entry. What I learned was interesting. At one time, if you used a capital letter to start or if you had a leading space, the eCRATER system would accept the attribute, but Google Shopping wouldn't. Today I learned eCRATER has coded in some corrections to help us! Thank you eCRATER. When you enter the Attribute Name identifier_exists a leading space is deleted, a beginning capital letter is changed to a lower case letter and all caps is changed to lower case.

However, I learned if you misspell the name OR if you enter a dash instead of an underscore, you get the message, "The attribute #5 is not supported by eCRATER." So, if you get that message while trying to enter the Attribute Name identifier_exists and receive the message it isn't accepted, check your spelling and/or check for an incorrect dash.

Thanks Kathy for bringing this up. Hopefully this will help other sellers reading the forum, will help me to help others having a problem with this important attribute AND it allowed me to send a big THANK YOU to eCRATER for coding the help with this attribute input.
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another thing I have noticed many times over this past year, google is very picky about items that go in the jewelry section. Now most of you know that even though beads for making your own jewelry is technically NOT an accessory, if you list jewelry making supplies in the jewelry category under loose beads, loose stones, jewelry display, or findings etc. they still require the same attributes that all fashion accessories require such as gender, age group, and size and also that the brand name is a must if no UPC or MPN exists.

Now for the longest time after ecrater helped me several months back I started including those attributes for beads and charms and my listings were suddenly approved again about 2-3 feeds later. At first I thought I had satisifed google and they left me alone. Now every week a new batch of my jewelry making supplies is getting flagged again. Upon checking, the attributes for gender, age, and size were still there however google is saying the listings are flagged because 2 out of 3 are missing such as UPC, brand, and MPN.

Well I had identifer_exists and false listed in there which normally excuses you from entering in a UPC or MPN because it tells google there isn't one and I did have the brand listed so I assumed it must be because of the lack of UPC code, but if so then why wasn't identifier_exists no longer satisfying them? Last time this happened, ecrater instructed me to remove the brand. I told them well at first I tried that because I figured maybe they didn't want you to list a brand if you also used identifer_exists but with the new feed it came back rejected for lack of brand name but to my surprise removing the brand a 2nd time, the listings were reapproved.

So now it seems I am having the same issue, that google wants me to remove the brand name but I got tired of fixing all these flagged listings that were fine a few months ago so I have just been moving the jewelry making supplies to the craft section when they get flagged because google never tells you the correct reason why the items are disapproved, they just say it's because of the UPC every time and leave it you to guess at the real problem over the next 10 feeds. As soon as I moved my items to the craft section they were approved again, and the craft section does not require all those extra accessory attributes either so I figured I'd just move them to a new category so they'd be approved again instantly and I could forgo playing the guessing game again for the next 5 weeks.

It's annoying, they are never satisfied. You jump thru hoops to appease them and every few months there is always something coming up disapproved then you change the attributes to suit them and 3 months later they say we changed our minds, we liked the old way better so go thru and redo all those again.
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kathys



Posts: 82

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"changed to a lower case letter and all caps is changed to lower case".

identifier_exists false


WAS ACCEPTED BY ECRATER.

Thank you

Kathy
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