1. Introduction
2. Creating and Uploading Inventory Files
   1. File Naming
   2. File Formats
   3. Data Format
   4. Field Definitions
   5. Data Deliveries: Full vs. Partial
   6. Communication Protocol
   7. Scheduling Options
   8. Reporting
   9. Errors
   10. .done Data Format
   11. .done Field Definitions
3. Retrieving and Processing Order Files
   1. File Naming
   2. File Formats
   3. Data Format
   4. Field Definitions
   5. Communication Protocol
   6. Scheduling Options
4. Creating and Uploading Confirmation Files
   1. File Naming
   2. File Formats
   3. Data Format
   4. Field Definitions
   5. Communication Protocol
   6. Scheduling Options
   7. Reporting
   8. Errors
   9. .done Data Format
   10. .done Field Definitions
5. Creating and Uploading Refund Files
   1. File Naming
   2. File Formats
   3. Data Format
   4. Field Definitions
   5. Communication Protocol
   6. Scheduling Options
   7. Errors
   8. .done Data Format
   9. .done Field Definitions

Introduction

This document will address the requirements for making use of the Valore Books automated Inventory and Order processing systems. If you require more information on automated processing or find any discrepancies in our documentation, please contact your Valore Books account representative or email us at sellers@ValoreBooks.com.

Valore Books has developed an automated system that allows sellers to deliver inventory data, receive orders, deliver order confirmations, and provide refunds in bulk. This system provides sellers with a streamlined way to list thousands of inventory items and handle large volumes of orders in an automated way. Primarily used by Large sellers (1,500 and up products) This process allows you to add/edit/delete Inventory, process Orders, create refunds, and process results using batch processes with little to no human interaction. In this process your system creates a file and automatically uploads it to our servers using FTP with a user name and password that we will give you on your request to startup automation.

Orders contain the necessary information in order to identify an item and ship it to a buyer. Orders are sent from Valore Books to the seller. Confirmations contain the necessary information for the seller to let Valore Books and the buyer know that an item will be shipped or cancelled. Confirmations are sent from seller to ValoreBooks.

Order and Confirmation delivery is done via FTP. Using this method, multiple orders are combined into a single text file and Retrieved by the seller via FTP. A seller then sends a text file back to Valore Books that includes confirmations and cancellations. The text Confirmation file is then processed by Valore Books and the status of the orders is updated.

This document will address the requirements for making use of the FTP method for Valore Books Automated Order Processing; it is broken up into two main sections, Orders and Confirmations.

Creating & Uploading Inventory Files

File Naming

File Naming Convention	Example	Comments
membername_YYMMDD.part.csv	bookworld_040916.part.csv	This is a partial upload file for Sept. 16, 2004.
membername_YYMMDD_HHMM.part.csv	bookworld_040901_2145.part.csv	This is a partial upload file for Sept. 1, 2004, 9:45pm.
membername_YYMMDD.full.csv	bookworld_040901.full.csv	This is a full upload file for Sept. 1, 2004.
membername_YYMMDD_HHMM.full.csv	bookworld_040815_2145.full.csv	This is a full upload file for Aug. 15, 2004, 9:45 p.m.

If you provide just one inventory update file per day, you should include the date in your file name. If you provide multiple updates in a day, you should include a time stamp. Note that embedded spaces within a filename are not acceptable. Separate values within the filename with an underscore "_" character as in the examples above.

Full Replacements must include ".full" or ".purge" in the file name and we strongly suggest including ".part" in Partial Replacements in the filename. If nothing is specified we assume a Partial Replacements.

If there is no file extension in the file name tab delimited is assumed.

File Formats

Accepted External Inventory File Formats - in the interest of becoming the most widely used marketplace we also accept inventory file types to in the Amazon and Monsoon file format.

Valore Inventory File Format - All inventory data (not one of the accepted external inventory file formats) delivered to Valore Books must be saved as a "csv" ( comma ',' separated fields), "pdl" ( pipe '|' separated fields), "txt" ( tab '/t' separated fields). A header row containing the field names designated by Valore Books must be included. Field names must match the specified field names exactly (case insensitive).

This is an example of how a single item record in your spreadsheet might look for five quantities of the ISBN number "0131001914".

add-modify-delete	product-code-type	product-code	sku	price	quantity	item-condition	item-note
A	1	9780471749554	12345	17.99	15	Like New	Book is used and in great shape

Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length, Max Value	Required or Optional	Example	Notes
add-modify-delete	Text	1	Required	A
product-code-type	Number	1	Required	1	The type of product code, ISBN, UPC, etc
product-code	Text	13	Required	9780471749554
sku	Text	40	Optional; Required in certain circumstances. See definition below.	12345	Must be unique. This field will be passed back with order details.
price	Text	8; $20,000,000	Required	14 or $14.00 or $14	Minimum Price is $0.01
quantity	Number	5; 65535	Required	99	The quantity you have available for that listing.
item-condition	Text		Required	Like New	Required Values: New, Like New, Very Good, Good, Acceptable
item-note	Text	512	Required	Still in shrink wrap!	Displays with your listing

Field Definitions

Data Deliveries:

Communication Protocol

Inventory data files are delivered to Valore Books via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Your Valore Books Account Representative will create a Valore Books FTP account and provide you with a user name and password. You will use this account to deliver inventory data files. Upon logging in to your FTP account, you will need to place you Inventory files into the subdirectory labeled Inventory. After the system completes processing the Inventory Files the file will be moved to the InventoryHistory directory. A .done file will be created as a list of errors that occurred in the upload process. There will be additional subdirectories in your FTP account folder for order automation.

Scheduling Options

Inventory Files are processed on the half hour in a first in first out basis (queue). A file will only be processed after it has existed on the server for at least 5 minutes without change or modification to ensure that the file has been completely uploaded. Uploading through the Online Seller Program will cause all files in the directory to be processed immediately.

Reporting

An overview of the file being processed will be sent in an email. A complete list of processing errors that occurs will be listed in a .done file will be created in the InventoryHistory Subdirectory. The .done file will have a the same name as the file that was uploaded followed by .done and then a file extension based on the file format you would like to be exported. The default file format is .csv (Comma Separated Values). Other options are:

• ".csv" - comma ',' separated fields (csv = Comma Separated Values)
• ".pdl" - pipe '|' separated fields (pdl = Pipe DeLimited)
• ".txt" - tab '/t' separated fields (tab = TABular format)

Talk to your Valore Books representative to have this setting changed or send an email to sellers@valorebooks.com

Errors

Line Errors
1001	The price field contains characters that are not accepted in a price field
1002	Contains characters other then 0-9 and 'x'
1003	Product code is not 12 or 13 digits after the '-' characters are removed.
1004	SKU exceeds 40 characters
1006	Non numeric quantity in quantity field
1007	Numeric quantity exceeds 10 digits
1010	Not a valid Valore Books condition
1026	The current Row has more or less fields then the header row
1031	Condition unknown when loading an Amazon file
1040	Usually caused by miss-matched quotes in file when escaping characters
1044	Product not found in Valore Books Catalog
1047	SKU missing
1045	Another entry shares the same SKU value
1048	SKU did not exist in our database
1049	Contact your Valore Books representative or email sellers@valorebooks.com for additional help.
1053	The type of book is not allowed to be sold on ValoreBooks.com
1054	In order to perform a delete operation ( or zero out a quantity ) a SKU must be provided
1055	A delete operation or a zero quantity book will be ignored in a purge and replace file

File Errors
Header missing	No header found in file
Blank file	Empty file (contains no data)
Unknown file type on file	File extension doesn't match file type ( tab delimitated, comma separated, pipe delimitated)
Unable to determine file format type	Unable to determine if the file was an Amazon, Half, UIEE, homebase or Valore format
.part or .full was not specified. Partial inventory load chosen by default (.part)	".part", ".full" or ".purge" wasn't specified in the filename

Required Field Missing Errors
1030	Price column missing or field is blank
1030	Quantity column missing or field is blank.
1030	Condition column missing or field is blank.
1030	Product Code column missing or field is blank.
1030	Product Code Type column missing or field is blank.

.done Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Example	Notes
Line	Number	10	2	Line Processed
Code	Number	4	1001	Error Code
Product Code	Text	13	0131001914	ISBN Processed
SKU	Text	40	08-1255-8	SKU Processed
Processed	Boolean	1	0 or 1	0 is false, 1 is true
Message	Text	255	Confirm	Error message

.done Field Definitions

Retrieving and Processing Order Files

File Naming

Orders_(marketUserName)_(DateTimeYYMMDD_HHMM).(extension)

Example: Orders_bookworld_050520_1300.csv
This file is for the seller "bookworld" and was created May 20, 2005 at 1 PM and is comma separated.

File Formats

The Order files will have the file extension based on the file format you would like to be exported. The default file format is .csv (comma separated values). The options are:

".csv" - comma ',' separated fields
".pdl" - pipe '|' separated fields
".txt" - tab '/t' separated fields

Talk to your Valore Books representative to have this setting changed or send an email to sellers@valorebooks.com

Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Example	Notes
order-id	Number	10	65551	This is also known as "TRANSACTION_ID"
order-item-id	Number	10	48694
created-datetime	Date		2005-06-09 22:25:00	Date the order was placed
confirm-by-datetime	Date		2005-06-09 22:25:00	Date the order must be marked as shipped or cancelled by
product-name	Text	255	Hobbit Or There and Back	Product Information
product-code-type	Number	1	1
product-code	Text	13	9780618002219
sku	Text	40	00-123-8-2
item-amount	Number	10	3.97	Item sale price
shipping-amount	Number	10	3.95	The shipping reimbursement
total-amount	Number	10	3.95	The total of item price and shipping reimbursement
shipping-method	Text	20	standard expedited second-day next-day digital
shipping-name	Text	100	John Doe
shipping-address-line-1	Text	40	8 West Main
shipping-address-line-2	Text	40	Apt B
shipping-city	Text	40	Fredonia
shipping-region	Text	2	NY
shipping-postal-code	Text	14	14063
shipping-country	Text	2	US
special-comments	Text	256	Special notes about the order item from the customer

Field Definitions

Communication Protocol

Order data files are retrieved from Valore Books via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Your Valore Books Account Representative will create a Valore Books FTP account and provide you with a user name and password. You will use this account to retrieve Order data files. Upon logging in to your FTP account, you will need to move into the subdirectory labeled TempOrder and fetch then delete your latest order files. A copy of your order file will be created in the subdirectory TempOrderHistory. Valore Books only saves the last 10 order files in the TempOrderHistory subdirectory.

Scheduling Options

Order Files are created according to the Export Frequency set with Your Valore Books Account Representative.

Export Frequency

Never

Every 20 minutes

Creating and Uploading Confirmation Files

File Naming

File Naming Convention	Example	Comments
membername_YYMMDD.csv	bookworld_040916.csv	This is a upload file for Sept. 16, 2004.
membername_YYMMDD_HHMM.csv	bookworld_040901_2145.csv	This is a upload file for Sept. 1, 2004, 9:45pm.

If you provide just one confirmation file per day, you should include the date in your file name. If you provide multiple files in a day, you should include a time stamp. Note that embedded spaces within a filename are not acceptable. Separate values within the filename with an underscore "_" character as in the examples above.

If there is no file extension in the file name tab delimited is assumed.

File Formats

Valore Confirmation File Format - All confirmation data delivered to Valore Books must be saved as a "csv" ( comma ',' separated fields), "pdl" ( pipe '|' separated fields), "txt" ( tab '/t' separated fields). A header row containing the field names designated by Valore Books must be included. Field names must match the specified field names exactly (case insensitive).

ORDER_ID	ITEM_ID	ORDER_STATUS	REPLY
65551	48695	Cancel	Out of Stock
65551	48695	Confirm

Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Required or Optional	Example	Notes
ORDER_ID	Number	10	Required	65551	This is also known as TRANSACTION_ID
ITEM_ID	Number	10	Required	48694
ORDER_STATUS	Text	10	Required	Confirm	Must be Cancel or Confirm
REPLY	Text	255	Optional	Item out of Stock	Note added to Email sent to buyer
TRACKING_ID	Text	40	Optional	98X2768
TRACKING_SOURCE	Text	5	Optional	UPS

Field Definitions

Communication Protocol

Confirmation data files are delivered to Valore Books via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Your Valore Books Account Representative will create a FTP account and provide you with a user name and password. You will use this account to deliver confirmation data files. Upon logging in to your FTP account, you will need to place you Confirmation files into the subdirectory labeled Confirm. After the system completes processing the Confirmation Files the file will be moved to the ConfirmHistory directory. A .done file will be created as a status report for each line of the processed file.

Scheduling Options

Confirmation Files are processed on the hour in a first in first out basis (queue). A file will only be processed after it has existed on the server for at least 5 minutes without change or modification to ensure that the file has been completely uploaded. A warning will be given in the email or the .done file if an Order-Item that has already been updated by either BookSamurai™ or a previous confirmation entry.

Reporting

An overview of the file being process will be sent in an email. The complete list of processing errors that occurs will be listed in a .done file that will be created in the ConfirmHistory Subdirectory. The .done file will have the same name as the file that was uploaded followed by .done and then a file extension based on the file format you would like to be exported. The default file format is .csv (comma Separate). Other options are:

".csv" - comma ',' separated fields
".pdl" - pipe '|' separated fields
".txt" - tab '/t' separated fields

Talk to your Valore Books representative to have this setting changed or send an email to sellers@valorebooks.com

Errors

Line Errors
1013	Non-numeric characters in string
1014	exceeds 10 digits
1015	Non-numeric characters in string
1016	Exceeds 10 digits
1017	Not 'Confirm' or 'Cancel'
1018	Exceeds 255 characters
1026	The current Row has more or less fields then the header row.
1030	missing ORDER_ID, ITEM_ID or ORDER_STATUS missing
1038	the ORDER_ID or ITEM_ID do not coincide with an order from your seller account

File Errors
Header missing	No header found in file.
Blank file	Empty file (contains no data)
Unknown file type on file	File extension doesn't match file type (tab delimited, comma separated, pipe delimited).

.done Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Example	Notes
Line	Number	10	2	Line Processed
Code	Number	4	1001	Error Code
ORDER_ID	Number	10	65551	ORDER_ID Processed
ITEM_ID	Number	10	48694	ITEM_ID Processed
Processed	Boolean	1	0 or 1	0 is false, 1 is true
Message	Text	255	Confirm	Error message or action preformed

.done Field Definitions

Creating and Uploading Refund Files

File Naming

File Naming Convention	Example	Comments
membername_YYMMDD.csv	bookworld_040916.csv	This is a upload file for Sept. 16, 2004.
membername_YYMMDD_HHMM.csv	bookworld_040901_2145.csv	This is a upload file for Sept. 1, 2004, 9:45pm.

If you provide just one refund file per day, you should include the date in your file name. If you provide multiple files in a day, you should include a time stamp. Note that embedded spaces within a filename are not acceptable. Separate values within the filename with an underscore "_" character as in the examples below.

If there is no file extension in the file name tab delimited is assumed.

File Formats

Valore Refund File Format - All refund data delivered to Valore Books must be saved as a "csv" ( comma ',' separated fields), "pdl" (pipe '|' delimited fields), "txt" (tab '/t' separated fields). A header row containing the field names designated by Valore Books must be included. Field names must match the specified field names exactly (case insensitive).

This is an example of how a refund with multiple items might look.

ORDER_ID	ITEM_ID	REFUND_AMOUNT	REFUND_REASON	NOTE
65551	48694	14	0	Out of Stock
65551	48695	15.00	1	We are sorry but this item has gone out of stock
65551	48696	2.15	2
65551	48697	4.95	3
65552	48698	$0.65	4
65552	48699	17.99	5

Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Required or Optional	Example	Notes
ORDER_ID	Number	10	Required	65551	This is also known as TRANSACTION_ID
ITEM_ID	Number	10	Required	48694
REFUND_AMOUNT	Price	10	Required	14 or $14.00 or $14
REFUND_REASON	Text	1	Optional	1	Code shows a reason that the refund is being given
NOTES	Text	255	Optional	Item out of stock	Note added to email sent to buyer

Field Definitions

Communication Protocol

Refund data files are delivered to Valore Books via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Your Valore Books Account Representative will create a FTP account and provide you with a user name and password. You will use this account to deliver refund data files. Upon logging in to your FTP account, you will need to place you Refund files into the subdirectory labeled Refund. After the system completes processing the Refund Files the file will be moved to the RefundHistory directory. A .done file will be created as a status report for each line of the processed file.

Scheduling Options

Refund Files are processed on the hour in a first in first out basis (queue). A file will only be processed after it has existed on the server for at least five(5) minutes without change or modification to ensure that the file has been completely uploaded.

Reporting

An overview of the file being processed will be sent in an email. A complete list of processing errors that occurs will be listed in a .done file and will be created in the RefundHistory Subdirectory. The .done file will have a the same name as the file that was uploaded followed by .done and then a file extension based on the file format you would like to be exported. The default file format is .csv (comma separated). Other options are:

• ".csv" - comma ',' separated fields (csv = Comma Separated Values)
• ".pdl" - pipe '|' separated fields (pdl = Pipe DeLimited)
• ".txt" - tab '/t' separated fields (tab = TABular format)

Talk to your Valore Books representative to have this setting changed or send an email to sellers@valorebooks.com

Errors

Line Errors
1001	The price field contains characters that are not accepted in a price field
1013	Non-numeric characters in string
1014	Exceeds 10 digits
1015	Non-numeric characters in string
1016	Exceeds 10 digits
1018	Exceeds 255 characters
1022	Field does not match valore refund code
1026	The number of fields in the current row do not match the number of fields in the header row.
1030	A required field is missing
1034	Exceeds max refund amount
1038	The state of the Item does not allow for a refund at this time
1038	The ORDER_ID or ITEM_ID do not coincide with a order for your seller account
1056	The refund exceeds the 60 day timeframe.

File Errors
Header missing	No header found in file
Blank file	Empty file (contains no data)
Unknown file type on file	File extension doesn't match file type ( tab delimitated, comma separated, pipe delimitated)

.done Data Format

Field Name	Data Type	Max Field Length	Example	Notes
Line	Number	10	2	Line Processed
Code	Number	4	1001	Error Code
ORDER_ID	Number	10	65551	ORDER_ID Processed
ITEM_ID	Number	10	48694	ITEM_ID Processed
Processed	Boolean	1	0 or 1	0 is false, 1 is true
Message	Text	255	Confirm	Error message or action preformed

.done Field Definitions