Importing this into HiBid

HiBid takes a CSV and photographs named after the lot numbers. HiBid's own import page is behind a login; this follows an account of it by a catalogue-software maker, and says so.

This file holds 69 lots and 69 photographs.

Steps

1. Unzip the file you downloaded. You will have hibid-lots.csv and a folder called images.
2. The columns are, in this order: Lot Number, Lead, Description, Quantity, High Estimate, Low Estimate, Starting Bid, Reserve. Note that High Estimate comes before Low Estimate.
3. Lead is the short title bidders see in search results and on thumbnails. Lotdesk writes the lot's title there.
4. Description is basic HTML. Line breaks are written as <br>. Lotdesk escapes anything that looks like markup so it shows as typed.
5. Photographs are named {lot}_{n}.jpg: 1_1.jpg is lot 1's first photograph and becomes its thumbnail. They are JPEG and should be under 5 MB each. The lot number in a file name has to match the lot number in the CSV exactly: no zero padding is added.
6. Open the file in a text editor, not a spreadsheet, if you want to check it: every row has the same number of commas.
7. Upload the CSV and the photographs as HiBid, or Auction Flex if you upload to HiBid through it, directs. Lotdesk could not read that screen, so it does not list its buttons.

Columns in the file, in order

1. Lot Number
2. Lead
3. Description
4. Quantity
5. High Estimate
6. Low Estimate
7. Starting Bid
8. Reserve

Good to know

- This format is checked against a third-party guide (Gavelist, 2026-03-25), not HiBid's own document.
- A photograph that is not a JPEG is listed in warnings.txt.
- The reserve is in the Reserve column; the house's own file, not to be posted where a bidder can read it.
