"Sale" Campaign process, manual edits, 60 day delay

[Ghaelen DLareh]

I have had a few scuffles with the sales campaign function. (Note: I actually understand why there are restrictions - what I don't understand is why they aren't explained with the other merchant instructions so that I know ahead of time what is going to happen during the process.)

Scuffle #1. I could not find instructions in the documentation for 'putting items in a sales campaign". But I wanted to give it a try. As I created a sales campaign I got this message
"After you create the sale, add products to it. Each product can have a different discount."

Great! I clicked OK and my campaign was created. I clicked on the name and then selected "category" and my group. Hmmm, why did I select those? No products appeared underneath.

Hmmm - what to do next? I clicked on "Add product". It wanted me to create a whole new listing for a product I already had listed. I understand duplicates are not encouraged, so I didn't want to duplicate - not to mention the extra work for me.

I could not figure out what to do, so I asked Oz (hugs!) He kindly gave me further instructions - I had to link back to my regular products page, select the products I wanted, and then select "action" up above all the products.

Ah - how in the world would I have known to do that?

So, request #1: Are there more explicit instructions somewhere I can't see? Or - is it possible to add a sentence in the Sales Campaigns area that says to us new merchants: "Remember to return to your main products page, select the products you want in this sale, then click 'action' and 'add to sale'."

Scuffle #2. Before I asked for help I and after looking for instructions, I manually changed the prices intending to put a note in the description. Once I added the product to the sale, the system would not let me change the price manually again because the product was scheduled to go on sale. So I removed the item from the sale, manually changed the price, and added it to the sale again. I got the message "The following products couldn't be added to the sale because their price was raised in the last 60 days. Products may not be put on sale for 60 days after raising their price." ???

Request #2: Could these restrictions be listed and explained somewhere other than at the point of action? Are they with the instructions I can't find? I did see a warning about something "because the item is scheduled to go on sale" but ignored it because I had taken the item out of the sale. (follow so far?)

Scuffle #3. I changed the price manually again and put a note in the description. I'm a very small store, so I'm not planning on a boatload of sales anyway. I finished my edits and clicked "accept changes".

Message: "Warning: this product is scheduled to go on sale on [date]. If it's still being Edited when the sale begins then the edited changes will be canceled. To prevent this, save your changes before the sale begins."

Request #3: Is this item in the sale or not? It doesn't show up in the campaign with the other items. But there was the warning. if it is in the sale, then I don't want to change the price manually. If it isn't in the sale, why is it giving me this warning?

Help - Need a little help here....

[Ilan Tochner]

Hi Ghaelen,

You're right, the required instructions don't appear in our wiki. It does, however, appear in our blog. Please see: https://www.kitely.com/virtual-world-ne ... ly-market/

[Ghaelen DLareh]

Great! Can you add the link to that blog post somewhere in the Sales Campaign pages? I did not think to look at the blog for a post that appeared before I started working with the Marketplace. I doubt other new merchants will think "I need instructions, let's hunt through the blog for them." So a link in the Sales Campaign working area would be very helpful.

Then, can you please answer the question regarding the item that says it is/isn't scheduled for a sales campaign?

Scuffle #3. I changed the price manually again and put a note in the description. I'm a very small store, so I'm not planning on a boatload of sales anyway. I finished my edits and clicked "accept changes".

Message: "Warning: this product is scheduled to go on sale on [date]. If it's still being Edited when the sale begins then the edited changes will be canceled. To prevent this, save your changes before the sale begins."

Request #3: Is this item in the sale or not? It doesn't show up in the campaign with the other items. But there was the warning. if it is in the sale, then I don't want to change the price manually. If it isn't in the sale, why is it giving me this warning?

Whichever one is true, I know what to do - but it has to let go of one restriction or the other.

[Ilan Tochner]

You can view your store's Sales Campaigns page here: https://www.kitely.com/market/store/650 ... scampaigns (other people will not be able to view this page)

I assume you're referring to this particular Sales Campaign which currently has two items listed: https://www.kitely.com/market/store/650 ... le=8100680

Which Item did you want to add to that campaign that isn't currently included in it?

[Ghaelen DLareh]

Yes, the HG Merchant Fair Campaign. I'd like to add this product: https://www.kitely.com/market/product/7 ... Dead-Trees

That would be great if you could (and would) add it!

[Ilan Tochner]

That product can't be added to a Sales Campaign as you've increased its regular price in the last 60 days. If you want to add it to a Sales Campaign you'll need to wait 60 days from the time you increased its price. I'm sorry but I have no way to override that marketplace limitation (for those who haven't read this already, the reasoning for why it exists is explained in the blog post).

[Ghaelen DLareh]

I get that Ilan, but when I try to manually change the price (as explained), I get the message that it IS in the sales campaign. I can take care of the pricing myself, but I do need to know which is true.

Is it in the campaign? If not, what does that message mean?

[Ilan Tochner]

We'll need to investigate why that message is displayed in the Edit Product page despite the product not showing in your upcoming Sales Campaign. I'll update you once I know more.

[Ghaelen DLareh]

Sounds good, Ilan. Thanks much.

[Ilan Tochner]

The message about it being included in a sales campaign is a bug we'll need to fix. That item is not currently included in your upcoming sales campaign.