Export your catalog from Lotdesk to LiveAuctioneers
The file LiveAuctioneers reads is strict about its headers and its title length. Lotdesk writes it exactly, shortens a long title at a word boundary and tells you which ones, so nothing is cut without your knowing.
What you click
- Open the sale and choose Export for your platform, with photographs.
- Find LiveAuctioneers and choose Download with photographs (ZIP).
- Open
import-steps.txtin the ZIP. It is the vendor's own import screens, in order, with the field names this file uses.
What is in the ZIP
- The CSV:
liveauctioneers-catalogue.csv(9 columns), one row per lot in lot order. - An
imagesfolder: every photograph under the name the platform matches by, like771-1.jpg. warnings.txt: what to look at before you import, in plain sentences.import-steps.txt: the steps, ready to print.
What Lotdesk does to fit the format
- Titles: 49 characters at most. A longer title is shortened at a word boundary, trailing punctuation dropped, and the original and the result are both listed in warnings.txt.
- Start price: LiveAuctioneers refuses one above the low estimate, so Lotdesk brings it down to the low estimate and says so. A missing estimate, or a high estimate not above the low, is listed too.
- Descriptions: written as simple HTML, with each line break as <br>. Markup typed into a description is escaped, so it shows as typed and no link gets through.
The columns it writes
| # | Header in the file | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LotNum | the lot number (a sublot keeps its letter, like 27A) |
| 2 | Title | the lot title |
| 3 | Description | the description |
| 4 | LowEst | the low estimate |
| 5 | HighEst | the high estimate |
| 6 | StartPrice | the start bid |
| 7 | Condition | the condition note |
| 8 | Reserve | the reserve (private) |
| 9 | Consignor | the consignor's own code, or the consignor's name |
Open the sample sale's file now
This is the real output for the sample sale, from the same code a house's own sale goes through. The reserve cell is always blank in a public file.
What the free lots include
Your first 25 lots are free, with their photographs and the printable catalog. The export files, CSV and ZIP, come with the $79 a month plan. A house whose plan has ended can still take its sale out.
The same files read back in: Lotdesk recognizes LiveAuctioneers's headings when you bring a sale in, so a sale can go out and come back. See bringing a sale in from a spreadsheet, and the other direction, how LiveAuctioneers reads the file.
What this format rests on
| Status | What it says | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor documentation | Mandatory headers: LotNum (up to 10 characters; 27A is allowed), Title (49 characters at most), Description (simple HTML, <br> for a line break, no links), LowEst, HighEst, StartPrice. | LiveAuctioneers' detailed guide to its catalog text format (PDF) |
| Vendor documentation | StartPrice may not be above LowEst; left empty it defaults to 50% of LowEst. Optional headers: Condition, Reserve (for your own record, never shown online), Consignor (internal), ImageFile.1 to ImageFile.10. | The same guide |
| Vendor documentation | Photographs can be matched by a lot-number file name, listed in the ImageFile columns, or given as links. | The same guide |
| Unverified | The exact image file naming rule is in LiveAuctioneers' separate image guide, which has not been read. Lotdesk names photographs {lot}-{n}.jpg. | Not confirmed. Per the vendor's published documentation; check against your own import screen. |
Date these sources were read: 2026-10-01. A format can change without notice; if your import screen shows something different, trust your screen and tell us.
Open a book — free for your first 25 lotsLook at the sample sale first