February 2009

Table of Contents

	Featured Article: Doba's Data Export Tutorial Learn how to use Doba's Data Export Tool to help save you time while running your business.
	Marketplace Spotlight: Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Deadline Jeff Knight, Doba's Vice President of Marketplace, discusses the online retail marketplace.
	Member Q&A: Turbo-Charging the Push to Marketplace Tool Kay Russon, Doba's Support Team Lead and technical liaison, explains how to keep the Push to Marketplace Tool running like a Porsche instead of your mother's old Cadillac. Do you have a question you want answered? Email education@doba.com.
	Supplier Information: New Suppliers Added to the Doba Product Catalog Expand your niche with new products and suppliers added to the Doba Product Catalog.

Featured Article: Doba's Data Export Tool Tutorial

Doba has an available resource that seems to be neglected by most it's members. The Data Export Tool may seem a little hard to understand, but with the right approach and a little help, you can start using this resource to push your business further along. The following is a tutorial that will help you better understand how to use and fully benefit from Doba's Data Export Tool.

What is the Data Export Tool?

The Data Export Tool is a quick and easy way to export a large amount of product data without having to visit each individual product.

How Can I Use It?

Data exports can be used for a variety of purposes including populating product data into a website database or performing data analysis. The data export tool is designed to get the product information into a spreadsheet file that will allow you to manipulate the data to help meet your business needs.

Note: Education and experience with spreadsheet applications (like MS Excel®) will save you time and help you benefit from the data export file as much as possible.

The product information in the export files will include:

• Brand Name - The manufacture of the product.
• Product Description - Details about the product given by the supplier.
• Item Image URL - Location of where the image is located.
• Quantity in Stock - Number of items available as of the last update.
• Item Number - Unique Doba identifier for the specific (size, color, etc.) item. (Doba specific)
• SKU - Model or part number for the item.
• Product ID - Identifier for the general item. (Doba specific)
• and more!

How Do I Get to the Data Export Tool?

After you login to Doba's site, click the "Catalog" icon at the top of any Doba webpage. Then click the "Data Export" tab at the top of the catalog page.

How Do I Create a Data Export?

By default, a "Standard Data Export" is selected. These contain a data file with information concerning the products from your "Open Orders." Open Orders are orders that you placed on Doba's site, and are in payment pending or action pending status. In other words, the orders have not been funded yet. This is done so you can export order data. However, you can also customize your export to better suit your needs.

Customizing Your Export
Custom Exports contain a data file with information on products based on custom criteria through "Saved Searches", and "Watch Lists".

• Saved Searches. A Saved Search allows you to save any product search or set of browsing criteria (inside product catalog) so you can easily return to the products you view most.
• Watch Lists. A Watch List is a handy tool that can help you keep a close eye on specific products in the product catalog. This can be done two different ways:
  1. Static Watch List
     A static watch list contains a fixed group of products, and while the details of those products (such as in-stock quantity, price, etc) may change and be updated in the watch list, the products that are being watched will not change.
     
  2. Dynamic Watch List
     A dynamic watch list contains a set of products specified by a saved search, but the products being watched might change based on the search parameters.
     
     Example: If you had a saved search for "black shoes", the search might return 50 results today. If you created a dynamic watch list from that saved search then your watch list would have those 50 products on it. However, if tomorrow Doba were to add a new supplier that carries an additional 100 kinds of black shoes, then the dynamic watch list you created would automatically change to include the shoes from the new supplier because they would also be found by a search for "black shoes." Your watch list would then contain 150 products.

Creating a Data Export

Follow these steps to create a data export:

1. Go to the "Data Export" page
2. Select a "product group" to export.
   Choose your input data group (Standard, Watch Lists, or Saved Searches).
3. Select export type.
   The information in the data files are separated different ways."Tab Delimited" (or Tab-seperated format) files are when the information is separated by the space created when you hit the "Tab" key on your keyboard. "Comma Delimited" (or Comma-separated format) are separated by the comma symbol that is created when you hit the " , " key (comma key)on your keyboard. Both "Tab" and "Comma" separated formats can be opened by spreadsheet applications like MS Excel®.
   Note: If Doba has created a custom data export for your webstore, it will be listed here.
4. All data or recent changes.
   Click the box next to the desired data type; "all data" or "recent changes only".
   Note: Choose "recent changes only" to keep products uploaded on your website up-to-date.
5. Click the green "Create Data Export" tab to create the data export.

Export Status

The following are the different types of status' that will show during the data export process:

• Queued - The data export request has been submitted and is waiting to be processed.
• Processing - The data export is processing.
• "Completion Date" - The data export process has completed. A date and time of when the data export process completed will show under the "Completion Date" field. (example: 01-29-09 2:01PM)
• Error - The data export returned with no results. The specific error can be found under the "Description" section. To fix the error, refine the "group" (Watch List, Saved Search) you selected to export, and try again.

Downloading a Completed Data Export

Follow these steps to download a completed data export:

1. Click on the name of your export under the "Description" field of the "Completed Exports" section to download the export file.
2. Choose "Open" or "Save" from the pop up box.

Saving a Data Export

When saving, keep track of the location of where you saved the file. All export files will save with a name similar to, "Product_Data_(Numbers)". You can rename the file (not the zipped folder) after it has been saved to your computer.

Opening a Data Export

Double click on the file with your mouse from the saved location. Or, right click the file icon, and select "Open". By default, the file will open in MS Excel® if you have MS Excel® installed on your computer.

Note: Most Data Export files save in a zipped folder and will require the appropriate software to unzip the folder and access the file.
Tip: The Data Export Tool works best with MS Excel®.

Understanding/Using the Data

You can use the information in the data export file for different reasons. You can work, sort, manipulate, and/or view the data to obtain your desired result.

Note: Education and experience in MS Excel® will help you research, sort, filter, understand and use the data presented appropriately.
Tip: Contact your website host for information on how to import the data from the export file to your website.

Conclusion

The Data Export Tool lets you get a lot of organized product info from the Doba product catalog in a short amount of time. Whether you are populating a website database or performing data analysis, knowing how to benefit from the use of the Data Export Tool will help save your business time and money.

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Marketplace Spotlight: Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Deadline

By Jeff Knight, Vice President of Marketplace - Doba

The Marketplace spotlight this month will discuss the February 10, 2009 deadline for compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The discussion of the CPSIA will largely be a warning to carefully understand the liability of selling children and juvenile products. The act has been largely criticized as being overly constrictive and as such, there has been a lot of confusion about what exactly the CPSIA means for the retailer selling juvenile products.

In 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, or HR 4040, a retroactive rule mandating that all items sold for use by children under 12 must be tested by an independent party for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has determined that this new requirement will apply to goods in inventory, as well as goods made on or after that effective date. For all resellers, whether they are manufacturers, distributors or retailers – goods that are not certified cannot be legally sold after the deadline. Penalties range from $5,000 to $100,000 per incident and up to 5 years per incident of jail time.

For lead, there is a ban products, as of August 2008, can contain no more than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight of any part of the product (the limit will be lowered to 300 ppm as of August 2009). Concerning the Phthalate ban; Section 108 of CPSIA, prohibits the manufacture, import, distribution, or sale of children's toys or child care articles containing more than 0.1% of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), on products manufactured after February 10, 2009. Subsection 108(b)(1) further prohibits, on an interim basis, the manufacture, import, distribution, or sale of certain "children's toys that can be placed in a child's mouth" or child care articles containing more than 0.1% of diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), or di-n octylphthalate (DnOP), pending the determination of a Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP).

The ban of products contain lead apply to "products designed or intended primarily for children 12 and younger". For Phthalates, the sale of limited items is defined by subsection 108(e). Subsection 108(e) defines "children's toy" as "a consumer product designed or intended by the manufacturer for a child 12 years of age or younger for use by the child when the child plays." Further qualification is provided in that a toy is considered a "toy that can be placed in a child’s mouth"…"if any part of the toy can actually be brought to the mouth and kept in the mouth by a child so that it can be sucked and chewed. If the children’s product can only be licked, it is not regarded as able to be placed in the mouth. If a toy or part of a toy in one dimension is smaller than 5 centimeters, it can be placed in the mouth."

What does this all mean for you, the retailer or for Doba?

Simple, it means that all products offered in Doba's catalog, under the broadest interpretation of the law, require that the manufacturer certify all products listed. This is true for products you may be carrying in your own inventory. Before February 10, Doba may remove products and suppliers that we feel expose Doba and retailers using Doba's platform to risk. That said, however, it doesn't mean that every product in your inventory must be tested. According to Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) counsel Jim Locker, "The CPSIA also provides that distributors and retailers may in good faith fully rely upon the general conformity certifications provided by their suppliers. This will eventually eliminate the need for costly, redundant testing by multiple laboratories. CPSC General Counsel has confirmed this as follows:

"The law specifically provides that CPSA section 19(a)(1) and (2) of the acts prohibited by the statute (which includes sale and distribution) “shall not apply to any person (1) who holds a certificate issued in accordance with section 14(a), [15 U.S.C. § 2063(a)] to the effect that such consumer product conforms to all applicable consumer product safety rules, unless such person knows that such consumer product does not conform. . ." 15 U.S.C. §2069(a)(2). Because section 14(a) includes both general conformity certificates and certificates based on third-party testing, it is reasonable for a retailer or distributor to rely on a general conformity certificate until the requirements for third-party testing for the lead content of children’s products go into effect in August 2009."

This means that retailers may rely on such certifications without requiring testing. Logically any protocol accepted by CPSC should be acceptable in the marketplace and as the CPSC accredits laboratories, the results from any accredited laboratory will suffice, without duplicative testing on production being reasonably required.

In the end, the spirit of the law favors protecting children and ultimately manufacturers who produce safe, children friendly products. Short term, the costs of testing may destroy or unfairly target smaller manufacturers and retailers who cannot afford expensive testing.

For more information on the JPMA, please visit them at http://www.jpma.org.

More information on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, please see: http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTML.

Disclaimer: The information contained herein represents the opinion of Doba and is provided for your information only. It should not be construed as legal advice or the opinion of the CPSC. Issues involving CPSIA compliance are evolving and subject to clarification and change by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

About the Author:

As the Vice President of Marketplace, Jeff Knight is responsible for all aspects of the merchandising strategy, supplier acquisition, and vertical category management and fulfillment operations of Doba's marketplace. Prior to Doba, Jeff was Director of Merchandising for Overstock.com where he developed the growth and management of the Computer and Home Office category. Jeff's background includes merchandising and technology leadership roles at DealDeal.com and BCI International. He earned Bachelor and Masters of Arts degrees in Communication from the University of Wyoming.

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Member Q&A: Turbo-Charging Your Push to Marketplace Tool

By Kay Russon - Doba

Is the Push to Marketplace Tool starting to run like your Mom’s old Cadillac,...does it taking forever to load and get going? Correct the problem and make it run like a Porsche again!

This is a common complaint we hear from customers; “The push tool takes for ever to load”. It is a very simple fix when you understand why it happens. After you have pushed a number of items (or group of items) to eBay or your eBay Store, the items stay in the push request list. This is what is making it run like an old car.

Let's pop the hood to have a closer look.

Say you have completed 10 pushes with 50 items in each push. That is more than 500 items that are still in the push request list. The next time you click on the Push to Marketplace link, the system has to load all the product information for every item you have in the push request list. That is over 500 pictures, descriptions, sizes, colors and pricing for each item. Depending on the items, this can take a long time and you must wait until it finishes before you can push that Ipod to eBay. The more items you put in, the slower that car is going to go. If you load it enough items, then engine dies and becomes unusable.

The Fix: Clean it up!

To make it run like that Porsche again, go to the Push to Marketplace Tool and delete all those items that you have already listed. You may wish to add then to the watch list so you can quickly find them again. You can select them by date by clicking the box in front of the specific date. Or, remove them the entire list by clicking in the box right at the top in front of the word ‘Date’. Then, all you have to do is to go to the bottom of the page and click remove.

Congrats, you have just turbo-charged your push tool!

We Want to Hear from You! Want to see your question featured in the eNewsletter Member Q&A? Well we want to hear from you! Please email education@doba.com if you have any non-account related questions or topics you would like us to write about. If you have questions concerning your Doba account, such as billing, product or order questions, please search our knowledgebase site content or contact our Customer Support.

About the Author:

Kay “Papa” Russon is an eBay Certified Consultant, Customer Service Team Lead, and technical liaison for Doba. His knowledge, experience, and expertise assist retailers daily in running a successful online business. Before Doba, Kay was a team leader, supervisor, trainer and manager for World Support, Digital Equipment Corp., Digital Remote, SBC, AT&T, Macromedia, Sun Microsystems, and Motorola and served in the Army National Guard.

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Supplier Information: New Suppliers Added to the Doba Product Catalog

Starting an online business is relatively easy. Making it a success takes hard work and the right mix of products. To help you achieve your business-related goals, we recently added new wholesale suppliers and manufacturer to the Doba Catalog:

Eiger - Trusted by thousands of customers worldwide, RCSEND is an established company that provides for all your remote controlled toys and hobby needs. We sell remote controlled helicopters, electric airplanes, almost ready to fly gas airplanes, nitro gas trucks, nitro gas cars, nitro gas buggies, mini micro electric cars, rc hovercrafts, micro remote controlled submarines, mini micro rc aircrafts, mini wireless spy cameras, large and small scale battle tanks, and many more toys for the general public and hobby people.