The purpose of this article is to address common issues with importing an item import using item categories, and then demonstrate how to successfully assign categories to items in bulk.

If you haven't already reviewed our guide on categories, click here to review that article before proceeding.

The most common issue when importing a catalog with categories is a failed import that results in errors that look like the following:

The "Record not found for 'category_id' " error means that the data entered for a particular lot under the column mapped to "Category" was not a number or name that matches identically to a pre-existing created category. Assigning categories to items via an import must be done via the category ID number OR with the category name that matches exactly to the category's name in the Admin Portal.

Before proceeding, make sure the categories you would like to assign have been created, which is covered in our Categories Guide. The guide will also cover where to find Category ID numbers if you are using ID number instead of Category Name.

To import an item import with categories you will need to enter the Category Name or the ID Number. Below, you can find an example an import where the Category Name is being used to assign item categories:

Then this import is an example of using Category ID Number to assign item categories.

Lot Bulk Actions also allow you to select all items for a given category, then update them in bulk. Simply filter for all items in that sale, scroll to the bottom of the page and make sure you are viewing all items in that sale, then select all items under a category. "Selected Items" > "Update Items" will bring you to a page where you can select the category you wish to add to all the previously selected items as shown below: