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Table of Contents
Amazon Ordering
Amazon does not offer EDI ordering or MARC downloads. However, there is a workaround to get MARC downloads so you can populate your purchase orders for Amazon purchases.
Requirements
- You will need a program called MarcEdit, which can be downloaded from here.
- You will need Excel on your computer.
- <fc #6495ed>(Optional)</fc> You will need to download the PINES-created MARCEdit template from here. If you do not download the template, you will need to define the MARC fields and subfields yourself.
Downloading Data
Amazon offers an option to download your order history via Order History Reports. You can access this area here.
Your search should be set to search for Items, with Start Date and End Date both as today's date. Name the report something explanatory (like 9.5.2019-Adult) and then click Request Report. This will download a CSV file with your order date.
Creating Brief MARCs
With this method, you do get very brief MARC records, particularly with DVD purchases since there's not much info to include other than the title. However, if you're just trying to populate your lineitems with price, quantity and title then this is the fastest method to do so.
As an example, your MARC records will end up looking something similar to this:
1. Open MARCEdit.
2. From the main screen, choose Delimited Text Translator.
3. From the next screen, click the yellow folder icon next to Source File and find your CSV file you downloaded from Amazon.
4. In the Output File box, click the yellow folder icon and create a name for your output file. It should be file format .mrk or .mrc.
5. In the Delimiter Values area, select the Delimiter drop-down box and choose “Comma”.
6. Click Next.
7. Toward the bottom of the page, ensure that “Ignore Header Row” is checked.
8. Click “Load Template”. Locate the template file that you downloaded from PINES. Its file format will end in .mrd. Once you have selected it, click Open.
9. You will be returned to the translator page, and you'll notice that there are now arguments listed in the “Arguments” box.
10. You may now click the Finish button. After a moment, you will receive the notification popup to tell you that your records have been processed, and where the file is located.
11. From here, upload your new MARC file via Load MARC Order Records and proceed with your purchase order as normal.
You may view a screen recording of the MarcEdit process below:
