LiveAuctioneers CSV template and catalog text format, field by field
LiveAuctioneers reads a text file with its own header names. Six are mandatory, a title stops at 49 characters, and a start price above the low estimate is refused. This is the format as the vendor documents it, and how to get a catalog into it.
The mistakes that cost an afternoon are small ones: a header renamed to something friendlier, a 55-character title, a start price set above the low estimate, or a link in a description. The format has no patience for any of them, so check each before you upload.
How sure is this page. Part of this format is not published by the vendor, or comes from a third party. Each fact is labeled at the foot of the page. Per the vendor's published documentation; check against your own import screen.
The file, column by column
9 columns; the header names follow the vendor's documentation.
| # | 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 |
Photographs
Photographs are named after the lot: 771-1.jpg is the first photograph of lot 771 and 771-2.jpg the second. A sublot keeps its letter (27A-1.jpg). The first photograph of a lot is its cover.
A sale with more than 1,000 photographs is split into numbered folders of up to 1,000 files, whole lots only, so a lot's photographs are never separated.
The rules the file has to meet
- Titles are limited to 49 characters. Lotdesk lets a title run to 200, so a longer one is shortened at a word boundary and listed in warnings.txt.
- The description is read as simple HTML: a line break is written as <br>, and anything in a description that looks like markup is escaped so it shows as typed.
- dimensions has no column of its own, so it is added to the description, one per line.
- Money is a plain figure in the sale's currency: no symbol, no thousands separator, and a trailing .00 is dropped (180, 180.5).
- The reserve is written into this file for the house's own use. Do not post the file where a bidder can read it.
The steps in LiveAuctioneers
LiveAuctioneers reads a spreadsheet with its own column names, and the photographs by name.
- Unzip the file you downloaded. You will have liveauctioneers-catalogue.csv and a folder called images.
- The file's headers are LiveAuctioneers' own: LotNum, Title, Description, LowEst, HighEst, StartPrice, Condition, Reserve, Consignor. The first six of those are mandatory; do not rename them.
- Check warnings.txt. Every Title is at most 49 characters including spaces; longer ones were shortened at a word boundary and are listed there.
- LotNum is up to 10 characters; a sublot keeps its letter (27A) with no space.
- Description is simple HTML. Line breaks are written as <br> and links are not allowed. Lotdesk escapes anything in a description that looks like markup, so it shows as typed.
- LowEst may not be above HighEst or below StartPrice; StartPrice may not be above LowEst (left empty, LiveAuctioneers sets it to 50% of LowEst). No currency symbols are written.
- Upload the CSV and the photographs as LiveAuctioneers' own guide directs for your auction. Its last page, Now to the upload, is not something Lotdesk can read for you.
- Reserve is for your own record: LiveAuctioneers says it will not display online. Consignor is internal too; Lotdesk writes the consignor's code, or the name where there is no code.
- LiveAuctioneers matches photographs to lots by name, or from ImageFile.1 to ImageFile.10 columns. Lotdesk names them {lot}-{n}.jpg. The exact naming rule is in LiveAuctioneers' Guide to Image Formats, which Lotdesk has not been able to check: read it before you upload, and rename if it asks for something else.
- If you already export from auction software to LiveAuctioneers, the CSV is theirs to read; this file follows their headers directly.
What each fact 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.
Skip the typing: have Lotdesk write this file
Lotdesk writes this file from the lots you wrote at the piece, with the photographs named the way LiveAuctioneers matches them and a list of anything to look at before you import. Here is the real output for the sample sale, so you can open it before you decide:
The first 25 lots are free; the export files come with the $79 a month plan. More on exporting from Lotdesk to LiveAuctioneers.
Open a book — free for your first 25 lotsLook at the sample sale first