BidSpotter (GAP) and Wavebid provide an integration allowing users to export a catalog and photos directly, re-export changes to a catalog, and pull in sale results directly from GAP Toolbox to Wavebid. This article describes the process for linking a Wavebid account and/or auction with GAP Toolbox, exporting an auction to GAP Toolbox, and importing post sale data back into Wavebid.
This article contains the following sections:
- Linking an Account
- Linking an Auction
- Configuring Bidder Paddles
- Exporting an Auction
- Importing Bidder and Sale Data
- Special Considerations
- Item (Lot) Location
- Troubleshooting
Linking an Account
The linking process itself only needs to be done once. However, if a user changes their GAP Toolbox password, they will need to update that information in Wavebid (per the instructions below) before auctions can be imported or exported.
The fastest way to link Wavebid to GAP Toolbox is to have both the GAP Toolbox and Wavebid open in separate browser windows and switch back and forth.
Only users with company Admin permissions will be able to link the company Wavebid account to GAP Toolbox.
- From the Wavebid Dashboard, navigate to My Links > Company > Cataloging Settings > Export.
- Select BidSpotter (GAP) from the Select an Export Format drop-down.
- Enter the GAP Toolbox account username in the GAP Username field.
- Enter the GAP Toolbox account password in the GAP Password field.
- Enter the GAP Client ID.
- The GAP Client ID can be found under the GAP Toolbox > Settings labeled as 'Reference'.
- The Reference field is the GAP Client ID.
- Click the Save button in the top right corner of the page.
Linking an Auction
After linking an account, auction workspaces can be linked under the Auction Attributes page to pass information to GAP Toolbox. Auctions do not have to be approved in GAP before they can be linked to Wavebid.
- Navigate to the applicable auction on the Dashboard, then select Auction > Edit Auction.
- On the Auction Attributes tab, select BidSpotter from the Auction Software drop-down.
- Enter the BidSpotter Reference ID in the GAP Reference ID (Manual) field.
- To locate, open GAP Toolbox and navigate to the auction's Auction Details page or create a auction (if one does not yet exist for the sale).
- To locate, open GAP Toolbox and navigate to the auction's Auction Details page or create a auction (if one does not yet exist for the sale).
- Click the Disk icon in the top right corner of the page to Save. This linking process will need to be done for every auction that is to be exported to GAP Toolbox.
Configuring Bidder Paddles
When looking to integrate a catalog to GAP Toolbox, Wavebid will need to have a listing to send the information to, with certain settings activated.
Within the GAP Toolbox listing, the Numbers starting from option must be selected as the Paddle Type. This ensures that winning bidder information will be able to be linked to the winning lot/sale information.
- Paddle numbers can only contain numbers. If letters are included in paddle numbers, sale data cannot be imported.
- If Customer Reference is selected as the Paddle Type, bidder and sale data will have to be manually exported from GAP Toolbox and then manually imported into Wavebid.
Exporting an Auction
An auction must be linked prior to exporting. Please review the special considerations and lot location information listed below to avoid errors when exporting. Auctions do not have to be approved in GAP before they can be exported from Wavebid to BidSpotter.
- Navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Auction > Export Auction.
- Set the Lot Options.
- Export all lots or just a range of lots.
- Set the Catalog Options:
- The Generate Catalog box should be checked.
- The Data Mapping should be left to the default (Maxanet).
- The Save as .CSV box should be checked.
- Set the Photo Options:
- The Zip Photos box should be checked.
- The New Photos Only box should not be checked.
- If using Thumbnails, select a pixel size from the drop-down.
- Click the Export Auction button. Depending on the size of the catalog and how many photos are within each lot, the export process can take up to 15 minutes for the data to arrive in GAP Toolbox.
- The Export Monitor page will provide a status of the export and indicate whether or not it was successful. For more information, see Export Monitor.
- See the Troubleshooting section below if the Export Auction button is grayed out.
Importing Bidder and Sale Data
Once the auction is complete, closing data for bidders and sales can be imported back into Wavebid to generate invoices and reports.
- Navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Accounting > Import Buyer Info (Auto). The Person Import Results page will load indicating if the import was successful. If an error occurred, see Troubleshooting.
- Navigate to the applicable auction from the Dashboard, then select Accounting > Import Sale Info (Auto). The Lot Import Results page will load indicating if the import was successful, and winning bidder and sale information should be imported. If an error occurred, see Troubleshooting.
If, for some reason, the sale data needs to imported manually, see Importing Post Sale Data.
Please note, lots listed as being "provisionally sold" in GAP Toolbox will need to be marked as either "sold" or "unsold" prior to importing to Wavebid. "Provisionally sold" lots will not import to Wavebid.
Special Considerations
Fields that will be exported from Wavebid to GAP Toolbox
| Wavebid Field | |
| Lot Number | Lot Tax |
| Lot Title | Buy It Now Price* |
| Lot Description | Low Estimate |
| Lot Sequence/ Sale Order | High Estimate |
| Quantity | Photos |
| Reserve | YouTube Videos |
| Starting Price | Item Location (only from metadata)** |
| Lot Category |
If a field is not included in the list above, it won't be transferred to GAP Toolbox. Adjustments may need to be made to those fields in GAP Toolbox directly.
*Buy It Now Prices can only be exported to Timed events in BidSpotter.
**In order for Item Location to be sent to BidSpotter, the lot must be assigned a category and the location must be entered into the lot's metadata using the correct fields. See below for more information.
Lot Tax
- If a specific lot has a tax code defined, that tax code will be included in the export to GAP Toolbox.
- If a tax code is set at the auction level in Wavebid, all the lots will assume that tax code if an individual lot tax code hasn't been defined.
- If the lot or auction is listed as "tax exempt", the result will be a 0% tax in GAP Toolbox.
- If the auction doesn't have a tax code defined, the result will be a 0% tax in GAP Toolbox.
Watermarks
Image watermarks cannot be exported to GAP Toolbox. GAP Toolbox only accepts text watermarks. For more information, see Watermarking Photos.
Image Settings
The maximum photo size when exporting to BidSpotter is 6MB. The photos should, preferably, be no bigger than 1000x1000 pixels. Loading images to Wavebid larger that 6MB and integrating them to BidSpotter can cause issues with the BidSpotter auctioneer displays and slideshows.
Deleting Lots
If a lot is deleted in Wavebid, it will automatically and immediately delete the corresponding lot in GAP Toolbox without the need for exporting.
Item (Lot) Location
(United States and Canada Locations only)
A Category must be selected for each lot in Wavebid before the lot location can be set. If the lots were created without selecting a Category, Lot Bulk Actions can be used to add a Category to all lots.
Once a category is selected, additional metadata location fields will be visible under View/Edit Category Meta-Data.
In order to set a lot location in BidSpotter, the City, State, and Country fields under the View/Edit Category Meta-Data section must be completed.
If a lot location is going to include information in either the Address field or the Postal/Zip Code field, then all the Item Location fields must be completed to successfully export the lot. The export monitor will produce an error if only some of the Item Location fields are completed.
Item locations will appear under the Address section of the lot's details in BidSpotter.
Importing Lot Locations
If the location fields need to be completed for a large number of existing lots, the data can be imported in bulk, rather than making the changes within each lot.
To do so, a .CSV spreadsheet will need to be created containing separate columns for Lot #, Item Location City, Item Location State, and Item Location Country (and Item Location Address and Item Location Postal/Zip Code, if needed). The spreadsheet can then be imported just as a catalog would.
- The Item Location State and Item Location Country columns cannot contain abbreviations. For example, the US must be entered as 'United States' and TX must be entered as 'Texas'.
When mapping columns, the columns should be mapped to the Wavebid Headers found under the Category tab.
Please note that lot location information can be imported without lot category information, but the lot location data will not export to BidSpotter unless the lot has been assigned a category.
Troubleshooting
An "Error Has Occurred" Message
This message can appear when trying to save an auction, link an auction, or import sales results.
- Verify that the GAP Toolbox password and account have not changed.
- If either have changes since linking with Wavebid, those credentials will need to be updated in Wavebid to re-link the accounts.
- Verify that the GAP Client ID field is complete under My Links > Company > Cataloging Settings > Export.
- Verify that the username/password are only tied to one GAP Toolbox log-in.
- If a GAP Toolbox user's credentials are the same as those used for other Gap auctioneer accounts, the user will not be able to link Wavebid auctions to GAP Toolbox and will receive a "NullPointerException" error.
Nothing Happens When Attempting to Auto-Import Buyer and Sale Info
- The auction may not have been configured properly in GAP Toolbox.
- Check the Paddle Type field. The Numbers starting from option must be selected.
- If this was not set, the bidder and sale data can be imported into Wavebid manually. For more information on manual imports, see Importing Post Sale Data.
- Try refreshing the invoices to see if any additional invoices appear. If so, the system is working to create the details and may need more time to complete the process.
- If invoices still do not appear, import buyer information, then navigate to Accounting > Reports > Registered Bidders.
- If bidder information is listed, try to import sales information again.
- If sale data is not importing for specific lots, verify that the lots are not listed as being "provisionally sold" in GAP Toolbox. "Provisionally sold" lots will not import to Wavebid. The lots must be listed as either "sold" or "unsold" before they will import.
Errors Relating to Item Location
If lot locations are being used, verify that they follow the rules listed above.
Duplicate Lot Error
The GAP Toolbox integration exports the catalog in batches of 100 lots. As such, there are some rare scenarios where users may encounter an error message that a duplicate lot was created. Scenarios and remedies to fix are outlined below:
- When lot numbers get swapped in combination with only exporting a partial catalog with the Lot Range feature.
- Example: A catalog with 10 lots is created and exported to GAP Toolbox. In Wavebid lot numbers 2 and 9 are swapped. The catalog is exported using the Lot Range export feature (rather than the full catalog) and only lots 1-5 are exported. Since lot 9 is not included in this export, GAP will create a duplicate lot and an error message will occur in Wavebid.
- To remedy this situation, simply re-export the full catalog (all lots) and the duplicates will be removed.
- When a lot with quantity of zero (= 0) gets its lot numbers swapped out.
- Example: A catalog with 10 lots is created and exported to GAP Toolbox. In Wavebid, a quantity of 0 exists on lot 2. Lot numbers 2 & 9 get swapped, and then a full export of the catalog is sent over to GAP. This will create a duplicate on the GAP side.
- To fix the duplicate, simply update the quantity on the lots to any positive integer and re-export the full catalog. This will remove the duplicates in GAP.
Export Error "Long Description is Required"
When exporting to GAP Toolbox, the Export Monitor page may display a "Long Description is Required" error message. GAP Toolbox requires that content be in the Description field in Wavebid in order to export. Text entered into the Description field in Wavebid will appear in the Long Description field in GAP Toolbox.
To correct this error, enter text into the Description field in Wavebid and re-export.
Sale Data Not Importing For Specific Lots
If sale data is not importing for specific lots, verify that the lots are not listed as being "provisionally sold" in GAP Toolbox. "Provisionally sold" lots will not import to Wavebid. The lots must be listed as either "sold" or "unsold" before they will import.
Reserves Didn't Export to GAP Toolbox
If Reserve amounts were entered into Wavebid, but they did not export. Confirm that the company level catalog settings aren't preventing the export of Reserve amounts.
- Navigate to My Links > Company > Profile.
- Click on the Preferences tab.
- Click on the Cataloging option on the left side of the page.
- Uncheck the Do Not Export Reserve values box.
- Click the Disk icon in the top right corner of the page to save the changes. The event can now be exported again.
Edited Photos Did Not Update in GAP Toolbox
If photos have been exported to GAP Toolbox, then edited in Wavebid, the changes made in Wavebid will not be sent to GAP Toolbox when re-exported. This is because GAP Toolbox only receives new photos from Wavebid.
To correct the issue, delete the photo from Wavebid, re-upload the photo to Wavebid, make any necessary edits to the photo in Wavebid, and then re-export the lot (with the photo) to GAP Toolbox.
Watermark Does Not Appear on Photos
Image watermarks cannot be exported to GAP Toolbox. GAP Toolbox only accepts text watermarks. The Add Watermark checkbox must be checked each time the images are exported in order for it to be added. For more information, see Watermarking Photos.
Problem While Exporting Auction: Start: New Date: get Time
If exporting a specific lot or lot range, verify that the lot number(s) entered match the lot number(s) in the catalog exactly. For example, if the lot number in the catalog is 0001, then the lot must be entered as "0001" on the export page. Entering the lot number as just "1" will result in an error.
This error may also be due to attempting to export an auction that either has no lots or contains a gallery lot. A gallery lot will appear at the end of a catalog in Wavebid and will generally be titled 'GALLERY' or another name, rather than a lot number.
To correct this, either delete the gallery lot or move it to another sale. Alternatively, export all of the lots in the catalog except for the gallery lot. This can be done by selecting Lot Range rather than All Lots under the Lot Options tab on the export page.
Invalid Image Extension
While Wavebid accepts .png images and .png images can be uploaded directly to the GAP Toolbox, the Wavebid/BidSpotter (GAP) integration does not accept .png images. This means that in order to successfully export images from Wavebid to GAP Toolbox, they must be .jpeg images. To correct this error, convert the image to .jpeg and export again. A tool like IrfanView can be used to convert images from one file type to another.
Could Not Download Image From Supplied URL
This error is likely due to a temporary server issue. Please wait and try exporting again. If the issue persists, please contact Wavebid Support.
Export is Waiting for Available Company Resources
This messaging will appear if a company is trying to export multiple auctions at once. Exports are started in sequence, not simultaneously. Once this messaging appears, it will stay in the 'Errors' column event after the export begins and finishes. As longs as the 'Status' column shows the export as 'Completed' and there are no additional error messages in the 'Errors' column, there should be no issues with the export.
Must Be a Valid Element
If location data is being imported, confirm that the state and country are not abbreviated. For example, the US must be entered as 'United States' and TX must be entered as 'Texas'.
Also confirm that the Country column was not inadvertently mapped to the Item Location- County Wavebid Header.
Approval Status: Pending or Declined
Wavebid only imports approved registered bidders from BidSpotter. If a bidder is pending or declined, Wavebid will display the message below upon import. This message is just an indication that the listed bidders were not imported due to their pending/declined registration status. This does not impact the successful import of approved registered bidders.
Unable to Export
If the Export Auction button is grayed out and says 'Missing Required Info' there is likely an issue with the credentials entered under My Links > Company > Cataloging Settings > Export. The correct GAP Client ID and GAP Password must be entered in order for Wavebid to export to BidSpotter. To correct the issue, update these settings and try to export again.
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