Spreadsheet vs software for eBay listings: which one fits your store and when to switch

Spreadsheet vs software for eBay: the short answer

The spreadsheet vs software for eBay question comes down to one thing: how often your listings need to change, and whether you can make those changes in time. A spreadsheet is a record you update by hand. Listing software is connected to eBay and, usually, to your supplier, so it can change listings itself. If your prices and stock are stable, a spreadsheet is cheap and perfectly good. If they move daily, a spreadsheet becomes a list of things that were true yesterday.

Most sellers start with a spreadsheet, and many keep one even after they add software. This article compares the two honestly and gives you clear signs for when to move.

What does a spreadsheet do well for eBay sellers?

A spreadsheet is flexible, familiar and costs little or nothing. For a seller with a few dozen listings that change rarely, it does the job.

• Planning. You can draft titles, list item specifics and work out prices before anything goes live.
• Bulk changes through eBay's own tools. eBay describes Seller Hub's Reports tab as the place to use file uploads to update listings and orders, so a spreadsheet can feed a bulk edit.
• Record keeping. Costs, sale prices and fees in one place make your tax records easier. See our guide to record keeping for eBay sellers.
• Your own formulas. You can build a pricing sum that includes your cost, eBay's fees, postage and the profit you want.
• No lock-in. Your data stays in a file you own and can open anywhere.

Where does a spreadsheet break down?

The weakness of a spreadsheet is not the sheet itself but the gap between the sheet, eBay and your supplier. Nothing in the file knows when something changes.

Stale data

A supplier price in a spreadsheet is only as fresh as the last time you typed it. If the price rises after you checked, your eBay listing can sell at a loss before you notice. If the supplier runs out, you can sell an item you cannot get.

Manual errors

A formula copied one row too far, a column sorted without its neighbours, or a price typed in the wrong row can all go live through a bulk upload. The larger the file, the harder these are to spot.

Time

Checking prices and stock by hand grows with every listing you add. At some point the checking takes longer than the listing work, and it is the first job to slip on a busy day.

Several accounts

Running two eBay accounts from one sheet invites mistakes, such as uploading a price meant for one account to the other. Separate files help, but then you have twice the checking.

What does listing software add?

Listing software connects to eBay through eBay's official APIs and makes changes directly. Depending on the tool, it can also read your supplier's price and stock. What it adds is mostly speed and consistency.

• Price updates from your formula when your cost changes, often several times a day.
• Quantity set to zero when the supplier is out of stock, and restored when it is back.
• Limits that hold a price change that looks wrong, instead of pushing it live.
• A log of every change with the reason, which a spreadsheet only has if you write it.
• Order and tracking help after the sale.

Software also has costs: a monthly fee, time to set it up, and the need to trust its rules. A tool with poor rules makes mistakes faster than a person with a spreadsheet. For more on choosing, see inventory management software when you do not hold the stock yourself.

How do you set up a listing spreadsheet that holds up?

If a spreadsheet is right for you now, build it so it stays useful as you grow. A few habits prevent most of the errors described above.

• One row per listing, one column per fact. Item number, SKU, title, supplier link, cost, date checked, eBay price, quantity, account. Never mix two facts in one cell.
• A date checked column. Sort by it each week so the oldest prices are checked first.
• A protected formula column. Keep the price formula in one place and lock it, so a sort or a paste cannot break it.
• A minimum price column. Your break-even price for each row. Any eBay price below it should turn red.
• A change log tab. One line for each bulk upload: date, file name, what changed. When a buyer queries a price, you can find out why it was set.
• Separate tabs or files per eBay account. Never upload from a sheet that holds two accounts.

These columns are also what a good tool should show you. If you later move to software, check that you can still see the cost, the time it was read, the price it set and the reason for each change.

Spreadsheet vs software for eBay, side by side

A worked example: what the checking really costs

Example, with hypothetical numbers: suppose you have 300 listings priced from a supplier whose prices change often. Checking one listing by hand (open the supplier page, compare, update the sheet, revise eBay) takes about 90 seconds. One full pass takes 450 minutes, or seven and a half hours.

If you can only manage one full pass a week, each listing's price is up to seven days old. Now suppose one listing in 50 sees its cost rise past your sale price during a week, and one in five of those sells before you catch it. That is about one or two loss-making sales a week from 300 listings, plus any sales of items that ran out of stock. Put your own numbers in: the cost of those sales and the hours of checking, against the price of a tool, is the real comparison.

When should you switch from a spreadsheet to software?

There is no listing count that decides it for everyone. Watch for these signs instead:

1. You regularly find listings priced from a cost that is out of date.
2. You have sold an item and found the supplier was out of stock.
3. Checking prices takes more of your week than finding new products.
4. You run, or plan to run, more than one eBay account.
5. You have uploaded a wrong price from the sheet at least once.
6. You want to grow but cannot add listings without adding checking time.

If two or more apply, a trial of software is worth the time. Our guide to free vs paid tools helps you decide how much to spend.

Can you use a spreadsheet and software together?

Yes, and many sellers do. Software handles the things that change: price, stock and the push to eBay. The spreadsheet stays for the things a person decides: research notes, products you are testing, your monthly profit summary and your tax records. Export the software's sales and fees once a month into your sheet, and you have both live listings and a record you control.

One rule applies whichever you use. If you do not hold the stock yourself, eBay's drop shipping policy allows fulfilling orders directly from a wholesale supplier, but not listing an item and then buying it from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your buyer. Read it on eBay's drop shipping policy page. Neither a spreadsheet nor software changes that rule, and you stay responsible for delivery and the buyer's satisfaction.

What to do next

Time one full pass of your price and stock checks this week, and count how many listings were out of date. That gives you your own hours and your own error rate. If the numbers are small, keep the spreadsheet and set a regular day for checks. If they are not, try software on a small part of your catalogue first, keep your spreadsheet for records, and compare a month of results.