Buying Guide
How to prepare Excel catalogs for B2B marketplace upload
By Cusket Editorial · Published · Updated
A spreadsheet-first guide for suppliers who already have product data but need it cleaned before marketplace import.
# How to prepare Excel catalogs for B2B marketplace upload
An Excel catalog is often the best starting point for B2B marketplace onboarding. Unlike a PDF, a spreadsheet already has rows, columns, SKUs, prices, and product families. But most supplier spreadsheets were built for internal sales teams, not for public buyer pages. They may contain hidden columns, outdated prices, private notes, mixed currencies, inconsistent units, and product names that only make sense to the seller's staff.
Before uploading an Excel or CSV catalog, the supplier should clean the file so it can produce reliable product drafts.
Create one row structure the importer can understand
The first question is whether each row represents a product, a variant, or a price tier. If the spreadsheet mixes all three, the import will create messy drafts. A clean file usually has one main sheet for products and optional separate sheets for variants, price tiers, documents, and images.
At minimum, each product row should include product name, SKU or model, product family, category, short description, active status, price status, MOQ, lead time, and image references. If the seller does not want public pricing, the price column can be blank, but price status should say inquiry-only.
Normalize units and currencies
Buyers compare products across suppliers. If one row says "10cm", another says "100 mm", and another says "0.1m", the importer may preserve the inconsistency. The seller should normalize units before upload or clearly label each unit column. The same rule applies to weight, capacity, voltage, pack quantity, and carton dimensions.
Currency should also be explicit. A column called "price" is not enough. Use currency, unit price, price tier, and price basis when possible. If prices are internal only, remove them before upload or mark them private.
Keep private notes out of public fields
Internal comments can be useful, but they should not become buyer-facing text. Columns such as margin, cost, supplier memo, old customer name, negotiation floor, or discontinued reason should be moved to a private notes sheet or removed from the upload.
The public draft should only include information that the seller is willing to show or confirm to buyers.
Link images by filename
Spreadsheets often reference images poorly. A cell may say "see folder" or "same as model A". That creates manual cleanup. A better file includes a column for image filenames or public image URLs. The image folder should use matching names so the importer can attach the correct photos.
Useful labels include front, side, detail, package, dimension drawing, application, and certificate. These labels help create stronger product pages after import.
Review the first batch before expanding
Do not upload every sheet at once if the catalog is large. Start with one product family or twenty clean rows. Review the generated drafts, fix the field mapping, then continue. Spreadsheet import works best when the first pass improves the next pass.
Continue with Cusket:
- Prepare structured spreadsheet columns before import.
- Use /guides to plan seller onboarding.
- Use /products to inspect the product fields buyers actually see.