I'm trying to print a consignor's report. I have four items for one consignee but the report only shows two items. I've tried rebuilding the database, restarting the program, removing consignors and readding them but it just doesn't seem to get it right. How can I fix this, please?

Hi,

Which report are you using? And how are the filters configured?

Judy/blue

Hi Judy,

I've actually tried all the reports with every possible configuration of the filters. When I mark paid, unpaid or paid and unpaid, I still get the same results. If I specify a Consignor, I only get that consignee's auction listings but not all of them and sometimes none for a consignee I know I have in my database.

Help! This is critical to my using AW as I'm opening an eBay drop off store and expect lots of consignees (it wouldn't be much of a drop off store without them...lol.)

Thanks,

Kathy

Kathy,

I understand. I use the consignor reports myself almost everyday to track inventory and sales. Let me see if can assist you.

Are you creating Inventory Items for each Item you have? Or are you simply creating Auction lots?

Judy/blue

I'm simply creating Auction Lots

Kathy,

Okay. I will be happy to help you. But I am closing down my computer system at work. I will be home in about 45 minutes or so. I will get back online so I can help you with the reports.

I'm sorry you have to wait a bit.

Judy/blue

Hi, Kathy,

Made it home. Delivered all the safety equipment to the construction office for next week. shoes off and ice water in hand. Ready to work on those reports

I noticed that you said you had deleted the consignors and re-created the same consignors. You'll need to check each auction lot. If you delete a Consignor once it is assigned to any Auction lot(s), the Consignor field will clear. Just for the deleted Consignor. Not all the Consignors. You will find the Consignor field in the Auction lots window | Additional fields tab. Located directly under the "Reference Id" field.

If the Consignor field is blank, hit the down arrow on the right side of the field. Then select the correct consignor. Be sure to Post changes so the new entry will save. You'll want to be sure the Auction lots Consignor fields are correct so the Consignor reports will work right when you generate invoices for Sold Auction lots.

The next thing you should check is your Invoice items. Go to the Invoices window. Check each Invoice Item on each Invoice. Be sure the Consignor field contains a Consignor. If the Consignor field is hidden and you have to scroll over to see it, you can move the Consignor column. Click on the Consignor header, hold down your mouse, then drag the Consignor field where you want it and let go of the mouse.

Let me know after you go through your invoices and check the Consignor fields. I'll help you try running a couple of reports and see if we can get it to work better for you.

I'll be around all evening. I am "Home Alone" Hubby is in Gulf Port working on hurricane clean up---again. I am not sure they will ever get that place cleaned up from Catrina.

Judy/blue

Edited by bluepennylady on 08/12/06 03:40 PM (server time).

Hi Judy,

Thanks for trying to help. I checked all the invoices and made sure there were consignors on each invoice item. I'm still getting incorrect results for the consignment report. I find the invoicing process a bit confusing with the switching from the invoice screen to the item screen so maybe I'm missing something there.

That brings to mind another question though. If an item doesn't sell, can I do a report for an individual consignor showing the listing fees?

Sorry for the delay in responding, I took the day off yesterday and mowed grass, did the grocery shopping and all that type of fun stuff. I'm back in the office today and ready to figure out this report generating.

Thanks,

Kathy

Kathy,

No worries. I did the same "fun" stuff. I did the laundry, vacuumed and changed sheets yesterday. Mowing-- I did some this morning. But I only got the front yard mowed and the weed eating done at the front of our house. I have almost 4 acres to mow. So it takes a while. I understand completely :o)

It's a Monday :o) And of course, half my staff did not come to work today. So I will be online all day. I am more than happy to help you. If you and I can't figure out the problem, we'll holler for Thom to help. He is a genius at figuring out what is wrong.

Let me be sure I understand. You have 4 consignors. And only 2 of the 4 consignors are appearing on the reports?

Are there sold Auction lots that have invoices for all 4 consignors? What I mean is, have you sold items for all 4 consignors and generated invoices for all the Sold Auction lots?


The answer to your question about the listing fees. Yes you can. Go to "Auction Lot Reports | Standard Reports | Auction Lot by Consignor. You can customize the report to better meet your needs including a database calculation for fee sums. Which is what I have done. I can show you how later.

I am not quite sure I understand about "Switching back and forth" from the Invoice screen to the Item screen" Do you mean you are moving back and forth from the Invoice window to the Auction Lots Window?

If you need to find the exact Auction lot for some reason for an Invoice item, you can click on the "Red Hammer" on the Invoice window. Highlight the Invoice item by clicking on it. Directly above the Invoice items is a blue world, which will take you to the Auction listing at the Auction Site. There is the "red hammer" which will take you to the Auction lot in AW2K. And next to that is the Inventory Items icon. That icon will not be active as you are not using Inventory items.

I would recommend you try using the Inventory Items to control your inventory. Especially since you are working with consignors. There are reports that are not accessible if you do not use the Inventory Items. Just a thought.

Judy/blue

Judy,

I have been trying to generate an accurate report for a single consignor with multiple auction lots. The one I was trying to generate last week was for a consignor that I sold 4 different items for. The report was only showing two...and still is only showing two for that matter. As far as I can tell, there are no differences in the item status, the consignor is showing on the auction lot screens and the invoicing screens too.

The switching thing I was talking about was going from the Invoice screen to the invoice item screen. Maybe screen isn't the right word, it's really just switching the tables on the same screen. I find it difficult to tell what invoice I'm on when I'm on the Invoice screen. Clicking back and forth to see the Item descriptions was awkward for me. As I was going through it this morning it made a tad bit more sense that it ever had before so maybe it's one of those things that gets easier with time.

On another note, since I have the resident AW wizard's attention, is there a way to modify an eBay listing after it's been posted using AW?

Thanks again for all your help,

Kathy

Kathy,

Okay, you answered one of my questions. You have generated invoices for all the Sold Auction lots. Have you marked the consignment fees as "Paid' on any of the Invoices? If so, Depending on which report you are using, could be a cause for the issue.

Could you tell me which report you are using so I can take a look at the same one?

As far as editing the Auction lot after it is listed, you have to go to the Auction site to do that. You can click on the "World" on the Online Auction lot which will take you to the Auction page, hit Revise item. Which is what I do if I have to edit anything.

On the Invoice window, are you using the Grid view? Or is the Description hidden over to the side and you have to scroll over to see it? If the "Description" is over too far, just drag it over and drop it where it is easier to see.

Your Invoice for each buyer should be divided into 3 sections. Invoice info which includes the Profile, Invoice date, sale price, etc. Then the Buyer info on the right of the Invoice info. The Buyer section has several tabs which I am sure you have already found. Then the lower section which contains the Auction information such as Auction id, fees, Description, etc. Each Invoice item listed on the Invoice has a whole slug of information that you usually have to scroll over to see. But you can move any of those columns around to make it easier for you.

I don't know if that is what is happening to your description field or not. Meaning the Invoice item description field is too far over to the right so you are having scroll over to see it. Or are you clicking to the Auction lot to read the description?

If that is the case, you can see the Invoice belonging to that Sold Auction lot by clicking on "Buyers" Tab on the Auction lot. That is in the center of each Auction lot page. After moving to the "Buyer" tab, there is a green grid looking button on the right side. Right next to the Invoice number. When you place your mouse over it, you receive the "Tool tip" Go to Invocie. Click that green Invoice button, you will go directly back to the Invoice for that Auction lot. Gee I hope that makes sense. And I hope that makes it easier for you.

The whole program is all hooked together. I can move from any Inventory Item to the Auction lot by simply clicking on the Lot # in the Committed qty box. Or the Invoice # displayed in the Committed qty box.

Or I can move to any Invoice from the Sold Auction lot by clicking on the Buyer tab and clicking the Go To Invoice button. Or I can find the Sold Auction lot by clicking the Red hammer in the Invoice for each Invoice item.

Let me know which report you are using. And sorry I am answering you slow. I am so understaffed today.

Judy/blue

Judy,

I'm using the Summary by Consignor. Actually I've tried all the reports. I was staring at the Invoice screen again and realized something though...

I had a brain fart when I originally installed the program and somehow had duplicate auction lots. I wound up deleting the original lots and just downloaded everything from eBay to start fresh. Some of the invoices that I have are still associated with those old auction lots. I deleted the Invoices associated with those old lots and it seems to have worked. The report looks right (so far!)

Now, I've duplicated a payment and can't figure out how to delete the incorrect one. This is the sort of little stuff that drives me bonkers.

As for the Invoicing screen being difficult to navigate: I'll keep adjusting the settings and maybe I'll find a scenario that feels comfortable. Hopefully.

I do like the program, I just find it a little hard to navigate in some places. I'm a web designer and former dBase programmer so I wouldn't think I'm too dense for such a thing but, then again, I'm almost 40 so maybe I'm just getting old...lol.

Thanks for all your help, Judy.

Kathy

Kathy,

Cool! You will get the hang of it in no time. Why you will have your listing templates etc done in a jiffy and they'll look like dynamite. You will get the settings how you like them. That is part of the beauty, being able to configure some of the options to your own liking.

To delete the duplicate payment, go to the "Ledger" window. Click on the duplicate payment and hit the "minus" button on the Toolbar. You will receive a prompt asking if you want to delete the payment.

I knew it had to be something like that. That is why I have been fishing so hard on the Auction lots and consignor thing. You will be good to go.

If you think 40 is hard, try being over 50. Married with kids and grandkids. YIKES!

As you well know, becoming accustomed to a piece of software is half the battle. I have tested umpteen Auction management software programs. Nothing compares to Auction Wizard.

You are most welcome. I enjoy helping new users get up and running.

So the reports are working correctly now.

Judy/blue

Well, just when you think you have it all figured out....

I went through the Invoice and Ledger and deleted all the references to the old auction lots I had deleted. Now, I can't figure out how to generate new Invoices and input the payments for the actual auctions that have ended. When I try to generate Invoices (Tasks, Generate Invoices) it tells me "All sold auction lots have been invoiced."

I'm getting a headache..lol

Kathy

Kathy,

Yep, I understand. I have done the EXACT same thing. And now that I have staff, well sometimes they create their own messes I have to fix. You see, there are reasons I know how to fix this stuff. It is because I have made some HUGE messes and had to learn what to do. It is a correctable problem. Aren't you relieved

Go to the Sold Auction lots and click on the Buyer tab. Go to the far left pane that displays the end date and buyer user id. Right click. A pop up appears. Select re-invoice buyer. Repeat for each Auction lot that needs to be re-invoiced. Then you can go to "Tasks | Generate invoices. And you 'll be good to go.

The other option is to delete the buyers from all the Auction lots, update the Auction lots and then generate invoices. Either method will work fine.

I usually just re-invoice the buyer.

Judy/blue

Yay!

I did that and it seems to have worked. Tomorrow, I'll put back in all the payments I've received and see if it's accurate.

Thanks Judy, you're a lifesaver!

Kathy

Kathy,

Cool! That is great. Let me know if the reports work correctly or not. If they don't, I bet we can figure it out.

By the way, seeing you are a web-designer, do you have your own website?? I would love to take a peek. And what is your user id on eBay. I want to peek at your auctions as well. I love to see what others are doing.

Judy/blue

Hi Judy,

Well, I got in all the payments (for the 3rd time...so far.) All of the consignors that have successfully sold items are coming out on the Consignor's Summary report fine. I still can't see any information on consignors with items that failed to sell or have items up for sale currently. Is that possible? I thought I asked that once and you said it was but I must have something else set up wonky because it's not working for me.

BTW: My website address is www.rollasos.com. My eBay ID is rollasos and my store is sosauctionsonline. If you see something there I could be doing better, I always appreciate advice from seasoned pros.

Kathy,

I am glad everything seems to be working better for you.

You can pull up Auction lot reports by Status and Consignor as well as Profile by going to Auction Lot reports | Auction Lot List by Consignor. You can set the filters for any range. The basic report does not calculate the fees automatically. However, it can be customized. Just click Customize. The edit the report using a database calculation. I can show you exactly how if you would like.

Thanks for your website and user id on eBay. I'll go look :o)

Judy/blue

Hoorah!

I edited the Auction Lot List report to include a total for fees and it works beautifully.

Is there any way to automatically email consignor's the auction lots that I post for them?

Thanks again for all your help, Judy.

Kathy

Kathy,

There is not an automatic email option. However there are a couple of things you can do. The Auction lot reports can also be filtered to generate only the Auction lots listed that day or week, etc. And the reports can be exported into Excel. And Excel, as you know, can be emailed. The report would contain the Auction id number.

The other option is to configure an AW2K generated website for each consignor and then when you queue the Auction lot(s), Use "When Online include in website x" You would need to add a page and links on your website. But that isn't a bad idea. As if someone enters your eBay store from your website and purchases something, you receive a Store Referral Credit to the tune of 75% off the Final Value fee.

You could then send the URL to your consignors.

Just a couple of ideas.

I am thrilled the reports are working for you.

Judy/blue