Shopify Connection

Connect Shopify & eBay to inkFrog

To start using inkFrog, you can either sign up for an account on the website at https://www.inkFrog.com or install the inkFrog Open app from within the Shopify app market at https://apps.shopify.com/inkfrog-open.

Shopify Sync Settings

To manage the flow of information between Shopify and eBay, you can access the sync settings in inkFrog. To do this, go to your inkFrog dashboard, select "Apps", and choose "sync & inventory control".

Inventory & Order Sync

If you are tracking your inventory within Shopify, you have the option to sync inventory from eBay to Shopify and vice versa. However, if you are not tracking inventory in Shopify, your eBay listings will import with a quantity of 1 available and will automatically restock to quantity 1 on eBay each time the product sells. 

Additionally, you can also sync orders to Shopify. When this feature is enabled, orders placed on eBay for products linked to a Shopify product will automatically be created in Shopify, allowing you to fulfill the order and have the order status automatically update on eBay.


To update the payment status on Shopify, we must delete the order and recreate it. This is because Shopify does not permit third-party changes to payment status. To avoid this, use the "Immediate Payment Required" setting when creating listings through inkFrog on eBay.

 

When "Email Order Paid Status Changes" is enabled, inkFrog will send an email notification to you when the payment status of an order linked to Shopify changes on eBay.

 

The "Invalid Shipping Zone Action" allows you to select what action should be taken when an eBay order is placed for a shipping address that is not defined in your Shopify shipping zones. The options are:
  1. Automatically create the shipping zone in Shopify
  2. Don't create the order in Shopify
  3. Create the order using a dummy address 

Please note that Shopify does not allow inkFrog to create an order for a shipping address that is located in a country not defined in your Shopify shipping zones.

 

The "eBay Sales are Tax Inclusive" option allows you to include tax, such as Goods and Services Tax (GST), as part of the item price on eBay but have it displayed as a separate line item when the orders are imported to your Shopify store. This way you can separate the item price and tax in your Shopify store.

 

The "Ignore Sales Tax for eBay Orders Shipped to the Following States" option enables you to import orders to Shopify without the sales tax amount appearing from eBay. This is useful if eBay is collecting and remitting sales tax on behalf of merchants for certain US states. The states that eBay collects and remits tax for can be found on their website. You can select multiple states by holding down the "ctrl" key (Windows) or "command" key (Mac) while clicking on the desired states.

 
The "Temporary Address" option is used as a placeholder address when the buyer's address is unavailable on eBay or when "Create the order using a dummy address" is selected as the Invalid Shipping Zone Action. This address must be located in a valid shipping zone that you have set up in Shopify. It will be used to create orders in Shopify from eBay.

The "Allow Separate Inventory Quantity on eBay" setting allows you to offer a lower quantity of products on eBay than the quantity available on Shopify. If you enable this setting, you will also have the options to "Restock eBay Inventory" and "Automatically Restock eBay Inventory". 

The "Restock eBay Inventory" option updates the eBay quantity based on the restocked quantity on Shopify. For example, if you have an eBay quantity of 3 and a Shopify quantity of 5, and you increase your Shopify quantity to 11, the eBay quantity will also increase by 6 and become 9. You can also set a limit for this option. 

The "Automatically Restock eBay Inventory" option allows you to set a fixed amount that eBay will be restocked to when it reaches a certain quantity. For example, if you set "When Quantity Reaches 1, Set to Fixed Amount 2", when the eBay quantity of a product reaches 1 due to a sale, it will automatically be restocked to quantity 2 as long as 2 or more are available on Shopify and according to your overall sync settings. 

Additionally, you can use the "eBay Quantity Import Limit" to automatically set the quantity for imported products from Shopify to a certain amount, as long as the Shopify quantity value is at or below this amount. If this field is left blank, the full Shopify quantity value will import.

Title, Description, & Price Sync

In addition to syncing inventory, you can also sync the title, description, and pricing between eBay and Shopify. However, if you plan to make any changes to the product title, description, or pricing for your eBay listings, it is recommended to turn off these sync settings in both directions. This will prevent any accidental overwriting of changes made on either platform.


You also have the option to share sale pricing between Shopify and eBay. You can set the pricing to sync by increasing or decreasing the price on eBay using the "Set eBay price to sync" setting. For example, you can set the price sync to increase eBay pricing by 10% above Shopify pricing for all imported products by setting the value to 110% of the store price. Please note that to increase pricing, the value must be set above 100% of the Shopify pricing. If the value is set to 10% in this field, the eBay prices will be set at only 10% of the Shopify prices.

Additional Sync Settings

When these sync settings are enabled, if your Shopify product goes out of stock, is deleted, or is hidden, the associated eBay listings may end early. 

You can use "Consider item out of stock if store quantity falls below" setting to help prevent overselling if there is a delay with Shopify updating eBay after a sale. 

The "Import new variants" setting will import any new variants added to a Shopify product to an eBay listing that already contains other variants. 

If there are variants of a product on Shopify that you do not want to share on eBay, enable the "Allow Disabling Variants" setting and you'll be able to disable specific variants of a product if the listing is not live on eBay. 

The "Import limit" setting allows you to set a maximum number of products to be imported at a time, it's useful if you have a large number of products to import. Selecting "No limit" will build your entire product catalog on the import from store page. If you select any other option, the selected value will build on the import page and you can choose to import those products to list on eBay or import the next batch of products.

Send from inkFrog to Shopify (Export Feature)

If you plan to export eBay listings to create new Shopify store products, you need to set up the "Category" and "Duplicate product" options in the "Send from inkFrog to Shopify" settings. The "Export category" option allows you to choose what will happen if inkFrog cannot find a matching category on your store for the eBay category in inkFrog. The options are:

  1. Do not create new categories on store (use no category)
  2. Create categories on store to match eBay
  3. Use a default category "imported from eBay" (it will be created if it does not exist)

The "Duplicate product" option setting allows you to choose how inkFrog will identify duplicate products when exporting products from inkFrog to your store. The options are:

  1. Ignore (do not check for duplicates - export all products)
  2. Match by title This way you can avoid creating duplicate products on your Shopify store.

eBay Default Listing Settings

In this step, you will set up the default listing settings for your eBay listings. These settings will also create default shipping, payment, and return profiles for your eBay listings.

  1. General: Select your country, enter your Zip/Postal Code, and your location (city, state/province). Select your eBay market. Note: If you plan on selling on eBay Motors, select eBay Motors as the market. Click "Continue"
  2. Categories: Select the parent eBay categories that your products will fall under. Choose all possible top-level eBay categories that the products would use. This ensures that the products will only be placed within those categories. If none are selected, we will still attempt to match all of the products, but this will increase the likelihood of some products ending up with the incorrect eBay category. 
The opportunity to change these category selections is available on the import & list step. 

Note: If your Shopify products have variations, you will want to review this eBay multi-variation category lookup tool to ensure the top-level categories selected support variations - https://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/sellingresources/multiplevariationslist.html 

You can select 0 to 5 categories, then select "Continue".

The subcategories will be addressed just prior to product import in future steps.

Payment

In this step, you will set up your payment and tax settings for your eBay listings.
  1. Enter your Paypal email address.
  2. Select your Sales Tax settings.
  3. Checkout instructions are not necessary unless there are special circumstances, such as with custom-made products where there is an extended wait period before the item will be shipped to your customer.
  4. Select "Continue" to proceed with the next step.

Shipping

In this step, you will set up your shipping settings for your eBay listings.
  1. Select your shipping type. You can choose from flat, calculated, or a combination depending on whether you ship domestically only or domestically and internationally.
  2. Select your handling time. The shortest time between receiving payment from your customer and the product being handed over to the shipping carrier. It is best to be realistic and not over-promise on your handling time.
  3. Select "Continue" to proceed with the next step.

In this step, you will set up your domestic and international shipping services for your eBay listings.

  1. Choose your Domestic Shipping Services. You can select "Add additional shipping service" if you want to offer your customers a selection at checkout.
  2. Choose your International Shipping Services. You can select "Add additional shipping service" if you want to offer your customers a selection at checkout.
  3. If you do not ship internationally, leave the international setting as is.
  4. Select "Continue" to proceed with the next step.

Returns
Set up your default Return Policy settings. If you do not accept returns, un-select the returns accepted box. 

  1. Select the number of days the item must be returned within. eBay recommends 30 days 
  2. Choose how the refund will be offered, who will pay return shipping, and whether or not you charge a restocking fee. 
  3. Add any return policy text. 
Note: Do not include any direct contact information within the return policy test such as email, phone number, website url, or physical address. 
Select Finish 

Once Finish is selected, a list of products available to import from your store will begin to build. When the build of that list is complete, you’re able to import all or manually select which products to import and publish to eBay. 

The shipping, payment, and return profiles for eBay may be edited at any time under Profiles.

Shopify Multi-Inventory Location in inkFrog

When syncing inventory with inkFrog, the software will automatically use the Shopify default location. It is important to note that the inventory location cannot be changed once the listing is live on eBay and may only be changed prior to importing from the store on the review, map, list page. Any orders syncing to Shopify from inkFrog will contain the inventory location details required by Shopify.

Importing from Shopify

On the import page, there is a Refresh or Rebuild button at the top right of the screen. The refresh button will refresh the available products to import from Shopify, and the rebuild button will rebuild every available product for import from Shopify that has not yet been imported. This could take some time depending on the number of products in Shopify.

Select Products to Import & Review

When it comes to importing products from Shopify to eBay, there are two options: "Import all products" will import all available products in one import, while "Manually select which products to import" will give you the ability to choose which products to import. If you have chosen to import all available products from Shopify, you will need to select the "Next" button to proceed. The settings button on the import page allows you to access your initial set-up settings, create additional set-up settings, and access your sync settings.

If you have chosen to manually select which products to import from your Shopify store to inkFrog, please select the "Select Products" button.

If you have chosen to import all products, you will be taken to the "Review, map, and list" page where you can review, map, and list the products that are being imported.

If you have chosen the option to Manually Select products to import from your Shopify store to inkFrog, you will be taken to the "Select Products" page.

On this page, you have the option to set filters or use search keywords to display products that will be in the same eBay subcategories. Once you have found the products you want to import, use the button to the right of each title to select them for import. You can navigate through multiple pages of products using the pagination arrows at the bottom left of the window. Once you have completed making your selections, click the "Done" button.

The products you have selected for import will appear on the "Review, map, and list" page. If you need to add additional products to the import, click on "Add more products". If your product selections are complete, click on "Next".

During the review process, you should use eBay's best practices to ensure the products are listed with a Good 'Til Cancelled listing duration (if available), "New" item conditions and other item specifics. It's best to review individual listings for accuracy. Also, you should review eBay categories, confirm brands and product identifiers, provide accurate item condition, and provide additional item specifics.
At the "Review, map, and list" page, you may see a few different notifications that are indicated by different symbols.

  • Yellow triangle: indicates a warning, it means that the software detected that there are product variations associated with that particular product, but the eBay subcategory selected does not allow for variations. To help determine a better subcategory to allow the variations to import and be listed, you can use an interactive link: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/sellingresources/multiplevariationslist.html. If you choose not to update the eBay category, the product will import, but only the first variant of the product will import and be sent to eBay.
  • Orange triangle: indicates a potential issue, it means that the software was unable to determine an appropriate eBay subcategory for that particular product. To resolve this, you can click on the product title, view the product detail on the right side of the page, and then under listing details, click “Browse” and select the eBay category & subcategory. Fill in any other required information such as item condition or item specifics and scroll to the bottom of the product details and select “save settings”. If you choose not to update the eBay category, the product will not import.
  • Blue link: indicates a suggestion, it means that the software determined that this product already exists within your library and that library listing is not yet linked to a store product. When eBay listings are products that exist currently in Shopify and you attempt to import them, the software will attempt to match the listings. When this occurs you will see the blue link to the left of the listing title. This indicates that upon import, that particular product will be mapped to an existing eBay listing instead of imported and launched as a new listing.
  • Green checkmark: indicates that everything is correct and ready to be published.


If you've chosen to import products from Shopify that share the same eBay category, you're able to bulk set the category on the "Review, map, and list" page.

To do this, select the "Change category for all products in list" button and choose the appropriate eBay category for your products. This will set the category for all the selected products, making it easier to manage and list them on eBay.

You can also bulk set the brand for all your listings prior to importing them. To do this, select the title of one product on the left side of the review, map, and list page. If the "Brand" field is offered in this eBay category, scroll down to that field on the right side of the page. Type in your brand, then choose the gear icon next to "Brand" and select "Apply to all products". The brand designation that you entered will apply to all products on the ready to import list.

Additionally, you can also review and edit any other fields such as item specifics, pricing, and shipping options before importing the products. Once you have reviewed and made any necessary changes, you can proceed to import the products by selecting the "List All" button.

Please note that it's important to double-check all the information before importing the products to ensure that they are listed correctly on eBay and avoid any issues or mistakes.

Please note that if you choose to "Import and list to eBay", you will be charged eBay insertion fees for each listing. These fees vary depending on the category and the listing duration. It's important to be aware of these fees before finalizing the import to avoid any unexpected charges.

Also, please keep in mind that your imported listings will be created with a "Good 'Til Cancelled" listing duration (if available) and "New" item conditions. It's always a good idea to review your listings individually to make sure all the information is accurate and meets eBay's best practices.

Once the import is complete, you can manage your imported listings in the library section of inkFrog. From there, you can edit, revise, or end your listings as needed.

When you select the "Map/Link existing" option, you'll be taken to the "Map/Link existing" page where you can match your existing eBay listings with your existing store products. You can do this by selecting the store product that you want to link to the eBay listing.

If the titles of your store products and eBay listings do not match, you can use the search bar to find the correct product. You can also filter the products by SKU, product type, or vendor to make it easier to find the correct product.

Once you've matched all the products and listings, you can review your mapping before finalizing the import. If you find any errors or need to make changes, you can edit the mapping before completing the import.

Please note that it's important to map your existing listings correctly to avoid any issues with your inventory and orders.

Automatically Map

You will see a section labeled "Linked eBay listing" with a button that says "Unlink and import as new listing". By clicking that button, you can unlink the store product from the existing eBay listing and import it as a new listing.

It's important to note that unlinking a store product from an existing eBay listing will not affect the original listing. The original listing will still exist on eBay, and you will be creating a new listing for the same product.

  1. Unlink Listing: If selected, the listing you have clicked on will be disconnected from its existing eBay listing and will be imported as a new listing on eBay.
  2. Unlink all listings: If selected, all listings, including those still waiting to be imported on the import from store page, will be disconnected from their existing eBay listings and will be imported as new listings on eBay.
  3. If you want to check which eBay listing the selected listing is linked to, select the listing title link that says "This product has been linked to the existing listing".

To finalize the mapping process, select the "Import & List" button and choose "Import & List to eBay" if the existing listings are not yet live and you want to send them to eBay or choose "Import Only" if you simply want to connect the store products to the existing eBay listings.

Manually Map

If your store products are not automatically linked to existing eBay listings on the review page, you can manually map them to create the sync.
  1. Select the title of the store product on the left side of the page that you want to map.
  2. On the right side of the page, click the "Map to existing listing" button. This will open a search box where you can search for the corresponding eBay listing by title or item number.
  3. Once you find the correct listing, select it and click "Map".

By manually mapping your store products to existing eBay listings, you can ensure that any updates or revisions made in inkFrog will be synced to the corresponding listings on eBay. This will help keep your inventory and pricing up-to-date across both platforms.

If your store product contains variants and you want to map it to an existing eBay listing, you'll need to match each variant from the store product to the corresponding variant in the eBay listing. This process is required to ensure that the correct variant information is synced between the store and the listing. Keep in mind that for successful mapping, the number of variants in the store product and the eBay listing must be the same.



Send From inkFrog to Shopify (Export Feature)

To export existing eBay listings from inkFrog to Shopify and create new products, go to Apps → Channel connector → Send from inkFrog to Shopify. Make sure to set the export settings in the Sync & inventory control section before proceeding with the export. You can choose what to do with categories that don't match on eBay and Shopify, and how to handle duplicate products. You can export all listings or manually select which ones to export. Test one or two listings first to review how they will appear in Shopify. The product in Shopify will be created using the eBay title, description, images, pricing, and quantity, and will be automatically linked to the eBay listing. Remember to set the product visibility to show in your Online Store.

If you've chosen to manually select which listings to export, you can use the search and filter options to narrow down the list of listings before making your selections. The available filters include:
  • Price is
  • Inventory is
  • Was created
  • Was updated
  • Has no variants
  • Has images
  • eBay status
  • eBay listing type
  • eBay market
  • eBay account
Once you've made your selections, click the "Done" button to export the listings to Shopify.
After making your selections, select "Next". On the review page, you can review your selections and make any necessary changes before exporting. To make changes, click on the title of a listing, make the necessary adjustments such as choosing the category and then click on the Save button. Once you are satisfied with your selections, click on the "Export" button to send the listings to Shopify.

Note that if you have chosen to use a custom description for your store product, it will be affected by your sync settings in inkFrog. To send a custom description to the store product, sync settings must be set to sync description from inkFrog to Shopify 'off' and sync description from Shopify to inkFrog 'off'.

Once the export completes, a status page will be displayed, indicating if the listings were successfully created as Shopify products. The status of each listing will be success, fail, or skipped. If the listings are failed or skipped, a status message will be provided with an explanation. There will also be links provided to view and edit the listing on the store.