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Keeping your own SKU when CardUploader managed inventory puts a CS- SKU on eBay

When CardUploader manages your eBay inventory, the listing's SKU field carries a CS- catalog SKU, one for each card in each condition and variant. Your own SKU does not go away. It stays on each copy in CardUploader's inventory, and the Orders page uses it to name the exact copy to pull. So the CS- SKU names the listing, your SKU names the card, and the work is keeping each copy's own SKU correct and pulling from the Orders page instead of from eBay.

Two SKUs, two jobs

With Combine identical cards on, three copies of the same card in the same condition share one CS- SKU and one listing of quantity 3. Each of the three still carries its own SKU. That is why a seller who sorts the shelf by their own SKU loses nothing by switching, as long as those SKUs are right.

Step 1: Export your inventory before you switch

CardUploader's inventory export is a CSV with every copy's own SKU next to its catalog SKU. It cannot be imported back, but it is the one record of your SKUs outside the app. Take one before you move anything, and another once the move is done.

Step 2: Check that every copy holds one SKU

Before managed inventory, copies of one card shared a listing whose SKU field was a comma-joined string such as SD-000140,SD-000141,SD-000142. If you merged duplicates or edited that string, check the copies of your multi-copy cards. Switch the Automatic Inventory page to All copies, which shows one row per physical card, and look at each copy's SKU.

Each copy should hold exactly one SKU: the one that card carries in your records. A copy showing a list needs its own SKU put back. Select it and use Edit, then Edit SKUs. Each edit syncs to eBay, so work in batches and let the sync catch up before the next.

Step 3: Move your listings over

Existing eBay listings cannot be linked to automatic inventory, only ended and relisted. That means new item numbers, no old sales history on the new listings, and every card counting against your monthly listing allowance. End the old listings on eBay first. A live listing with the same photo and title makes the new one fail as a duplicate.

CardUploader's guide says to test on one or two cards first. Do that, then check two things before moving the rest: the eBay listing shows a CS- SKU, and an order for it on the Orders page names your own SKU.

Step 4: Pull from the Orders page, not from eBay

eBay shows the CS- SKU, which says which card sold but not which copy. The Orders page names one copy by your own SKU. It hands out copies oldest first, across every pending order at once, so two orders do not point at the same card. The pick list PDF carries the same choices if you would rather pull from paper.

Pull the copy it names, then press Pick. Picking is what marks that copy sold. If you send a different copy, the copies left in your inventory stop matching the copies left on your shelf, and the next order for that card can send you looking for one that is gone.

Step 5: Get from the SKU to the shelf

The Orders page gives you a SKU. Your shelf has to turn it into a place. If you chaos sort, that is a lookup of which section the SKU went into, and the chaos sorting guide covers how to keep that record. If your SKU already spells out the location, such as a box and row, the SKU is the address.

Your own spreadsheets and eBay reports

Anything you keep that reads eBay's custom label, such as a sales sheet or a profit tracker, now sees CS- SKUs instead of yours. To get from a sale back to a copy, use the inventory export, which pairs each catalog SKU with the copies under it. If the group holds one copy, that is the card. If it holds several, the eBay report cannot say which one shipped, and the pick on the Orders page is the record of it.

If a custom label in an eBay report carries extra characters after an underscore, match on the part before it.

Where Stowdesk fits

Stowdesk reads the same inventory export and keeps your own SKU as each item's identity. It adds what each copy cost and where it sits on the shelf. When an eBay sale names a CS- group, Stowdesk resolves it to one of your copies, oldest first, and notes on the sale when the group held more than one. It does not list, price or change anything on eBay, so it runs alongside CardUploader's automatic inventory without touching it. How CardUploader and Stowdesk fit together.

The free plan holds 250 items, takes no payment details and does not expire. See the plans.

Questions

Can I put my own SKU back on the eBay listing?

Not without breaking the match. The CS- SKU on the listing is how an eBay order finds its catalog group, and CardUploader overwrites changes made to a listing on eBay at the next sync. Your own SKU belongs on the copy, where the Orders page reads it.

What happens to the CS- SKU when I change a card's condition?

The card leaves its listing and joins the listing for its new condition, which has a different CS- SKU. If there is no such listing, a new one is made. The card's own SKU stays the same.

Do I still need my own SKU if CardUploader picks the copy?

Yes. The pick is named by your own SKU. Without one on each copy, a multi-quantity listing has nothing to say which of its copies to pull.

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