Is Private ID No Longer Unique

Robert Parkin

I used one of my items that has a private ID as a template to post a few stamps, not realizing that it had a private ID. Now I have a bunch of stamps in my inventory with the same private ID. At one time this field had to be unique.

Greg Doll

Robert, I don't recall that the Private ID was required to be unique or, for that matter, even required at all. I have used "Add Similar" before and forgot to change my Private ID and found there were a couple of my listings with the same Private ID. The listing ID has always been unique, but it is assigned by the HS platform, not the seller/dealer.

John Eckhardt

Greg, Robert is correct. Please see Mark's comment on this thread:
558 items missing from upload
Mark Rosenberg
by Mark Rosenberg · May 2022
because it appears that you've reused the same Private IDs on several hundred listings - and Private IDs must be unique. Otherwise, this will not create a new listing - but update the existing listing

It does seem strange to have multiple listings with the same ID. I normally use bulk updates with unique ID's, but when I make a change via the list similar item, I simply add an "A" to my previous ID.

Greg Doll

Hmm...ok. I stand corrected. I actually use my private ID to file items listed so I can find them when they sell so they absolutely must be unique to each item for my purposes. Am I correct though that whether listing one-by-one or using bulk lister, one must actually specify a private ID (or not leaving the field blank)...meaning they are not automatically generated. I think the item ID is generated by HS as it is the way they can keep track of listings by all the stores they host.

John Eckhardt

I also file items using private ID. I always assign my own number, but I believe I read on another thread that they can be auto assigned, but that feature, if true, would not interest me.

Greg Doll

You got that right unless that isn't of use to someone I suppose.

Michael Duehr

It's on the listing form under preferences

Preferences
Auto-Generate Private IDs
When auto-generating Private IDs, you'll enter in a prefix, and we'll add an auto-incrementing counter to each new listing.

(To the right is a little grey circle that you have to click to use it.)

John Eckhardt

Thanks for showing this option, but as previously stated, I will not use it. While it says auto-incrementing, I wonder if it counts by one's , two's or three's or some other method? Their invoice numbering system makes no sense to me. I see the numbers generally increasing, but then a random number appears which I would have thought would have been previously used.

Greg Doll

I remember that now. Just never use it. I generate my own in a prefix that means something to me then in numerical order. Makes it really easy to evaluate the sales performance on any given lot I acquire then it makes it easy for me to find them when they sell by the numerical order they are filed.

Bill O'Malley

I learned back in the '90's when I was selling on line and at shows that I had to have my own private ID to keep track of my inventory. It became very handy and I know that Hip will generate one for you but I would never use it. I can imagine that it makes no sense and that there could be a problem with it.

Michael Duehr

John,

Someone else may want to use it and they may not know where to look for it. It looks like it does the same thing that Greg does. The seller puts in the prefix and then it generates a suffix on the next listings that are posted.

And the only reason I knew where to look for it it, is because I have been listing FDC sets with a lot of pictures and it's a bit quicker to use the sell similar form than by using the bulk lister.

John Eckhardt

Is the next number generated always the same increment or does or does it vary and skip like the invoicing system?

Michael Duehr

It most likely goes up by 1 each time. The invoice system is a different matter as those on the invoice are given numbers when the order is made. Those are Hipstamps invoice numbers. those are not broken down by seller per se.
I would think the reason they jump up is because between the time you got the last invoice number and the next one,
Hipstamp has processed multiple other orders which where each given the next number in line. It's for their book keeping.

John Eckhardt

Thanks Michael. If it goes up by 1, I might try it as I increment by 1. I know the invoice numbers are not unique to a seller. The point I was trying to make is of my last 21 orders, the numbering generally range from 4299697 to 4326344; however the number on my 11th sale was 2930615. That just seems "out of place" to me.

George DeKornfeld

I'm guessing those are the item (listing) numbers. If the 2930615 order was listed in your store at an earlier date than the others, that would explain the lower number.

John Eckhardt

Those are the invoice numbers for my last 21 sales.

Robert Parkin

I'm selling some items for friend so I only use the private ID on his listings. The stamps in question are not part of his inventory. I would have appreciated getting the error message so I could have fixed the problem immediately before creating quite a few which I now have to fix.

Mark Rosenberg

When listing an item through the Sell Your Item page, the Private ID is optional and is not required to be unique. When listing through the Bulk Lister, Private IDs are required to be unique - because that is a key part of how the Bulk Lister works.

This has always been the case.

When using the auto-generate Private IDs option on the Sell Your Item page, yes, the Private IDs will auto-increment by 1.

Robert Parkin

I know it used to be unique when it was BidStart. I never use the bulk uploader and anytime I did not use an unique Private ID while posting manually, I would get an error message. I will manually fix them because there are not too many but when I do a search for my friends stamps by partial ID, these come up in the list. I now have to be mindful not to use any of his listings as a template for new listings.

John Eckhardt

Thanks Mark for the clarification.