HomeBase is AbeBooks’ free inventory management software. You can work with it offline to catalog and manage your inventory, as well as connect by FTPS to upload your listings to AbeBooks.
Click here for information on installing HomeBase.
Below is a basic guide to the most-used functions of HomeBase 2.3. Everything else you should need to know can be found on our HomeBase 2.3 User Guide, including how to add and edit book listings, how to manage catalogs, and much more.
HomeBase 2.3 has an FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Secure) facility built-in, making uploading files directly from HomeBase to AbeBooks quick and easy. Once you have registered and your bookseller account has been activated, you will need to enter your User ID into HomeBase in order to upload inventory files to AbeBooks. If you are not sure what your User ID is, you can check by signing onto your AbeBooks account and selecting [Account Details] in the ‘My Personal Information’ section of your Members Menu. Your User ID will be displayed at the top of the screen. (Note that FTPS is only available in HomeBase version 2.3.30 or later.)
After installation, the first time you open HomeBase 2.3 a Setup Wizard will run, where you will be asked to enter your UserID. If you choose to skip the Setup Wizard, you can enter your UserID by following the steps below:
The first file that you send to AbeBooks should include all the books you have added to HomeBase. To send a file that includes all your books:
A message is displayed stating that, “Connection to ftp.abebooks.com successful.”
* To send only your updates, ensure the [Changes since last load date] option is checked and skip Step 4 above.
** To purge your books, follow the steps above and during Step 4, also check the “Purge” box. This will ensure that the full file you send us replaces everything that you have online. This will correct any discrepancies and help keep your data up-to-date.
Once you have uploaded a file to AbeBooks, you will receive an email confirming the file has been received and additional details about the file.
It is important to ensure that your online inventory is up-to-date, especially after books have been sold. A book ordered via AbeBooks will automatically be removed from your online inventory, however it is extremely important to also update the book’s status in HomeBase. Marking that book as ‘Sold’ will ensure that the book is not erroneously re-listed with future uploads. It is also important that books sold through other channels are marked as ‘Sold’ in HomeBase so they are removed from your online inventory.
To remove books from the AbeBooks online system using HomeBase 2.3, you are required to change the status of your sold books to [Sold] and then send these changes to AbeBooks.
Important Note: It is very important that you do not delete book records from HomeBase 2.3. Your books will only be completely removed from your AbeBooks inventory if you have marked them as [Sold] and sent the changes to AbeBooks. It is imperative that you send your [Sold] book records to AbeBooks on a regular basis, in order to prevent orders for previously sold books.
Note: There is a shortcut for marking books as [Sold]. On the [Find Books] screen, select the sold books. You can select multiple books by using Ctrl+click. Right-click and select [Mark Selected Books as Sold].
The best way to keep track of sold books in HomeBase is to create a “Sold” catalog and move all of your sold books into it.
All books marked “Sold” will now be moved into your “Sold” catalog. You can now send your books to AbeBooks as you normally would.