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Automated Auction Process


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Sorry disregard my previous question/problem. I was under the impression that this automatically pulled my auctions off of eBay, I did not realize I had to manually enter each auction in the Auction listing admin section first.

 

I suppose i should have rtfm eh :blink:

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Thanks for such a cool contribution :) One thing though. When

downloading and installing this, I thought that the items already

in the OSC database could be added to the Auction list (just like

special). It turns out that the auctioned items need to be re-entered.

Wouldn't it be better to use the same product data instead of

re-entering and disabling the existing ones in the categories?

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dimports and Mooligan I think I found out your problem. If you had hit update auction info before you had your auction listings in it will not show up in current auctions because it did not have a pID to link it to. The easiest way to fix this problem is to goto your database editor (I use phpMyAdmin) and goto the auction_data table and delete the rows of the auctions not showing up. Now go back to your admin set up the Auction listings. All you really need is a title matching your auction title. After you do this for all of your current auctions, then hit the update auction info button. This should work, I just played around with it for a while to try and figure out what you were talking about. And for future purposes it is very importatnt to set up your auction listing first.

 

Mooligan it does pull the info from eBay, but it still needs a pID to link to.

 

Earthkeeper a seperate hiddin category for auction listings is important because the price is always changing. The auction listings are more of just a template for your auctions only. Why would you need to dis-able the existing ones anyways.

If you sell this product on your website wouldn't you want people to see it?

I guess I am not sure what you mean by that.

 

:D :D

Edited by smitty1
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Earthkeeper a seperate hiddin category for auction listings is important because the price is always changing. The auction listings are more of just a template for your auctions only. Why would you need to dis-able the existing ones anyways.

If you sell this product on your website wouldn't you want people to see it?

I guess I am not sure what you mean by that.

 

:D :D

What I meant is that I have all items already in the shopping cart system.

Since all items are unique (only 1 piece available per item), when I post an item

on ebay, I normally have to disable that item in OSC (red light) so that people will

not see it.

 

I just looked at Auction Manager and it can use existing items to add to the auction

list where the winners can checked out. When checked out, the quantity of the

item within OSC decreases by 1. This seems really logical as I've to post almost

40 items to ebay a day.

 

Unfortunately Auction Manager doesn't allow the winning bidder to create an

account or supports bidders who already has an account with us. :(

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Oh OK, I understand now. Yeh if you did not want the customer to see the item in the regular catalog you would have to disable it. Also you would have to add it to the auction listings. The main reason for the auction listing is to create a template for your auctions. By creating the auction listing you can take advantage of the generate code link to post your auctions to ebay and create an auction listing for your catalog. I did this so customers would be able to differ between catalog items and auction items. Also, if you have more than one of the same item to auction at eBay you only need 1 auction listing. You can link multiple auctions to one auction listing. Hope that helps.

 

Unfortunately Auction Manager doesn't allow the winning bidder to create an

account or supports bidders who already has an account with us.

 

Automated Auction Process can do this!

:rolleyes:

Edited by smitty1
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dimports and Mooligan I think I found out your problem. If you had hit update auction info before you had your auction listings in it will not show up in current auctions because it did not have a pID to link it to. The easiest way to fix this problem is to goto your database editor (I use phpMyAdmin) and goto the auction_data table and delete the rows of the auctions not showing up. Now go back to your admin set up the Auction listings. All you really need is a title matching your auction title. After you do this for all of your current auctions, then hit the update auction info button. This should work, I just played around with it for a while to try and figure out what you were talking about. And for future purposes it is very importatnt to set up your auction listing first.

 

Mooligan it does pull the info from eBay, but it still needs a pID to link to.

 

Earthkeeper a seperate hiddin category for auction listings is important because the price is always changing. The auction listings are more of just a template for your auctions only. Why would you need to dis-able the existing ones anyways.

If you sell this product on your website wouldn't you want people to see it?

I guess I am not sure what you mean by that.

 

:D :D

hmmm thats strange. i was looking into the auction_data sql file and theres nothing to browse. even though I have 2 auction listings that I've created, it doesn't show up in the auction_data table. why isn't it saving?

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by the way, ive completely uninstalled eBay Auction Manager. Another weird thing I noticed that I want to add is that when I click on the update button, it usually takes me to a blank page with nothing and comes back. What's weird is that it also sometimes displays "Updating... Please Be Patient" gray words across the screen. It's not doing the same thing every time. any ideas?

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OOOK. Its finally working now. I just dropped and recreated the tables and now its fine. Theres something I can't figure out. I tried creating and auction listing in admin first, then posted an auction on ebay. Auction listings were updated in admin fine. But when i create the auction first, then I create the auction listing on the admin side, it does not update at all in the auction listing. what im trying to figure out is why does sequence matter? How can we make the sequence irrelevant because I already have auctions up hat I would like to use this contribution for. Thanx for all the help!

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Sorry for all the posts.

 

I think I understand why sequence matters. It's because the eBay auctions are linked as they come into the SQL database. If they already exist in the database, its already sitting in the database without any linked auction listing in the contribution. Here's what I did, I went into the SQL and emptied the auction data. Then I went back to update and walaa, everything shows up no matter what sequence it is. So im thinking I put a SQL command in the Update Auction file to empty the Auction Data file BEFORE updating from eBay. I know it's hard to follow, but would this work or would this reset all the settings for existing auction listings?

 

Also Im having the same problems as I did in eBay Auction Manager contribution where any price over $999.99 just makes the price to $1.00 if $1340.00 or $4 if the price is $4290.00. Should I change the price format in the SQL section?

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oh you must have STS templates contribution installed. I think that's where the problem is but if you add <?php require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'column_left.php'); ?> to the beginning of the auctionout.php file and <?php require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'column_right.php'); ?> to the end of the file it should work ;)

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I got my updating to work by dropping and re-inserting the table as well. One question though, I receive this error when I attempt to go to auctionout.php

 

Warning: main(admin/includes/functions/get_auction_info.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/html/auctionout.php on line 62

Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required 'admin/includes/functions/get_auction_info.php' (include_path='.:/php/includes:/usr/share/php') in /var/www/html/auctionout.php on line 62

 

Is this a cURL problem?

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dimports,

The auction listings does not get updated, only current auctions. Auction listings is where you put in the info for your auction. Think of it as a template for your item to sell.

 

by the way, ive completely uninstalled eBay Auction Manager. Another weird thing I noticed that I want to add is that when I click on the update button, it usually takes me to a blank page with nothing and comes back. What's weird is that it also sometimes displays "Updating... Please Be Patient" gray words across the screen. It's not doing the same thing every time. any ideas?

The update button is a little delayed. Think of it this way. It takes a few seconds to log in at eBay, download a cookie, get the search by seller page, check the cookie for verifiation, read auction info, return the results, and update the cookie.

 

This may take a little extra depending on if you have a lot of auctions.

 

So im thinking I put a SQL command in the Update Auction file to empty the Auction Data file BEFORE updating from eBay. I know it's hard to follow, but would this work or would this reset all the settings for existing auction listings?

 

Also Im having the same problems as I did in eBay Auction Manager contribution where any price over $999.99 just makes the price to $1.00 if $1340.00 or $4 if the price is $4290.00. Should I change the price format in the SQL section?

 

You should not need to dump auction_data. This is how it works, the items come back from ebay, mysql compares the auction number with the ones auction_data.

 

If found it updates the necessary info.

 

If not found it compares the title with the ones from auction listings and grabs the pID number. This is how the current auction gets linked to auction listings. Than it creates a new entry into auction_data with all of the necessary info.

 

I looked into the decimal issue and I don't think it is a mysql issue because I entered large numbers manually and they went in just fine. I think this may be a PHP issue.

 

what is the STS templates contribution? I think I may have herd about this.

:blink: :rolleyes: :D

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Mooligan this means it can't find the get_auction_info.php file. This is where your admin directory is. You may need to adjust this to point in the correct direction.

You would have to edit line 62 to point to the get_auction_info.php file.

 

Hope that helps.

:rolleyes:

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dimports,

The auction listings does not get updated, only current auctions. Auction listings is where you put in the info for your auction. Think of it as a template for your item to sell.

 

So im thinking I put a SQL command in the Update Auction file to empty the Auction Data file BEFORE updating from eBay. I know it's hard to follow, but would this work or would this reset all the settings for existing auction listings?

 

Also Im having the same problems as I did in eBay Auction Manager contribution where any price over $999.99 just makes the price to $1.00 if $1340.00 or $4 if the price is $4290.00. Should I change the price format in the SQL section?

 

You should not need to dump auction_data. This is how it works, the items come back from ebay, mysql compares the auction number with the ones auction_data.

 

If found it updates the necessary info.

 

If not found it compares the title with the ones from auction listings and grabs the pID number. This is how the current auction gets linked to auction listings. Than it creates a new entry into auction_data with all of the necessary info.

 

I looked into the decimal issue and I don't think it is a mysql issue because I entered large numbers manually and they went in just fine. I think this may be a PHP issue.

 

what is the STS templates contribution? I think I may have herd about this.

:blink: :rolleyes: :D

I'm still puzzled why the auction listing in admin isn't linked to the ebay auction if the ebay auction was created beforehand, even though the titles are the same. I have to dump the auction_data file every time for it to work this way.

 

Here's an idea I had. How about as ebay auctions come in, they are compared to the auction listings titles in admin. If the title exists, then the ebay auction is put into the database and then linked to the admin auction listing. If not, then it is passed up and not put into the auction_data database at all. This way, the admin auctio listing will always exist before the ebay auction (from the admin's perspective).

 

It would be great if this is solved because I have many auctions active right now so I'm thinking that each time someone wins an auction, I can go into admin and fill out an auction listing (much like an invoice), update the auctions, and then that auction is taken care of from that point on. It would be such an incredibly smooth way to transition into your contribution.

 

I was playing around with your contribution and I gotta commend you for such an awesome program. I know there's no competition in opensource really, but your contribution blows eBay manager away because of how you shifted most of the transaction responsibilities to the shopping cart, which already has the shipping figured out, customer info figured out, catalog is available, etc. This contribution takes things to a whole new level. Thx :)

 

Regarding the decimal issue, can you pls point me to the php file that handles the prices. I'll try to figure out whats wrong and get back to you.

 

PS - The STS contribution (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1506) is a contribution that dresses your online store with a template.

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dimports,

I played around today here is what I did. This may be a solution to your actions that are already active.

 

Created a generic auction listing with the following params:

 

Name: eBay Auction Item

 

Title: eBay Auction Item

 

Description: eBay Auction Item

 

Quantity: 500

 

Image: ebay.gif

 

Weight: 1.0

 

Then I went to phpMyAdmin and deleted the rows from auction_data that were not showing up in the admin.

 

Went back to the admin and did an update from current auctions.

 

Then went back to phpMyAdmin and edited the product_id in the rows not showing up. I changed these to the pID number of the generic auction listing (eBay Auction Item).

 

And then they showed up in current auctions!

 

At this point you could always change the pID to any of the auction listings if you wanted too.

 

This theory could work all the way through the checkout process, depending on how you have your shipping set up. Mine is based on weight so this method would not work for me unless they all weighed 1.0 lbs.

 

I still recomend setting up an auction listing for all the items even the ones that are active. This is the way this contrib is meant to be.

Hope that helps.

:D :rolleyes:

Edited by smitty1
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After adding this mod, I am not getting on all my new customers, my cart is adding @_ in front of their name and in front of their email address, so it is not sending emails, and my customers are not able to log back into their account.

 

Any help would greatly be appreciated

Doug

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I'm having problems installing this contribution on my Loaded 6 install.

 

(Includes BTS, Infobox Admin and many other contributions).

 

My customer side pages will not come up at all. Completely blank screen.

My admin page comes up, but all of the left column content from Affiliate on down, is displaying the header title variable (BOX_HEADING_GV_ADMIN, BOX_HEADING_CATALOG, BOX_HEADING_MODULES, etc) rather than the desired heading. Any hints or tips on adapting the contribution to this install??

 

David

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Would anyone be willing to install this great contribution for us for a price? I just do not have the time to do it and with my limited knowledge of this stuff it will take me a lot more time than I actually have.

 

If someone would be willing to do this please PM me and we can discuss the details.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

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After adding this mod, I am not getting on all my new customers, my cart is adding @_ in front of their name and in front of their email address, so it is not sending emails, and my customers are not able to log back into their account.

 

Any help would greatly be appreciated

Doug

Doug:

 

That looks just like what the "Guest Account" contrib does... Do you have that installed?

 

Jas

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I'm having problems installing this contribution on my Loaded 6 install.

 

(Includes BTS, Infobox Admin and many other contributions).

 

My customer side pages will not come up at all. Completely blank screen.

My admin page comes up, but all of the left column content from Affiliate on down, is displaying the header title variable (BOX_HEADING_GV_ADMIN, BOX_HEADING_CATALOG, BOX_HEADING_MODULES, etc) rather than the desired heading. Any hints or tips on adapting the contribution to this install??

 

 

OK. Got most of this fixed. Problem with the headers revolved around uploading files edited on my microsloth windows box to the Linux server. PHP really doesn't like windows EOL characters.

 

When I fixed this problem, I had no "auction listings" box under the Customer side information box. So, use the source luke! Edited the template files and, viola. It's all appearing on the web site. So. Progress is being made. :ph34r:

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After adding this mod, I am not getting on all my new customers, my cart is adding @_ in front of their name and in front of their email address, so it is not sending emails, and my customers are not able to log back into their account.

 

Any help would greatly be appreciated

Doug

Doug, this may be a similar problem to mine. What kind of server is your site on? What platform are you editing on?

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OK. Got it working. A few comments.

 

1. I agree, reentering each description over again from scratch is not a very efficient use of time. This basicly duplicates one of my dissatisfactions with using Turbo Lister. I'm a one man operation and entering descriptions for products at my website and in Tubo Lister kills my productivity. An Oscommerce Auction Manager (any of them) should eliminate this wasted time.

 

2. Using the auction number from ebay as the product model with no connection to existing store stock concerns me. I suspect linking an auction to the stores model number for the same product would be VERY helpful in a number of ways. Decrementing the websites product quantity when an item in stock is offered for auction would help prevent selling out before the auction ended, and incrementing it on completion without sale would keep the records current. It would allow importation of the product description from the existing database. It could allow the store's price to be used as a "Suggested Retail Price" entry in the auction if the merchant so desires (something that has been very helpful in increasing my ebay sales). It might require some care to avoid database problems, but I think this could be a worthwile tweek.

 

3. Another productivity issue. (and I know, purists will see it as kind of a conflict with Open Source principles, but they're principles, not a suicide pact). I can upload bulk listings very rapidly with turbo lister, and with this packages ability to embed pictures hosted on our own sites in the auction description a module that generated a CVS file that can be imported to Turbo Lister would greatly speed auction postings and make an excellent feature. I rarely if ever use EBay's web tools to post. The ability to check my auction costs before upload is just too crucial.

 

Joe, I hope you find these comments helpful. I know that development takes a LOT of time! I intended this to help further the evolution of an already great piece of work, not as a flame. Thanks.

 

David

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