Monat: Juli 2023

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Updated Amazon integration creating problems

We are running an Amazon integration, allowing us to sell selected products on Amazon.de (and before Brexit Amazon.co.u).
We do not sell on other EU markets because we can neither provide support nor descriptions in the local languages.

A new version of this integration now replaces the mechanism of how product categories, description and attributes are handles.
Luckily this only requies effort for new products.

The problem is, the first step to sell new products on Amazon is to create a „Product Type“ and these require us to select from a fixed list of product types.
However the non-public category of sex toys is simply not listed to choose from.
So it is impossible for us to add products we have in the shop to our Amazon listing at this time.

They also changed the value we have to enter into the EAN/UPC field for products that don’t have an EAN/UPC/ISBN. Without telling anyone.
So now we have to change the value already entered in hundreds of products.

…and here I though the 5 hour printer jam was the worst that would happen on this lovely Sunday.

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Paper jam – an existential crisis

The less glorious parts of running a dildo shop:
Instead of enjoying a sunny Sunday,
we just spend the better part of an evening fixing a paper jam in our (reasonably) big printer.
Down to the point of going through the service manual to take it apart (with some very scary steps).

It may sound benign but having to prepare customs paperwork for Monday and printing invoices and postage for shipping as well as (legally mandatory) product packaging, this is critical.

At this point we know every single photo-interruptor and levered microswitch that has anything to do with paper detection.
Turned out a tiny piece of paper was stuck in a hidden part, used only for duplex printing.
Of cause when we found out, every other part of this hellish contraption was already inspected, cleaned and tested a dozen times over.

Print quality is crap for the time being but good enough for customs paperwork.
In the past, this has solve itself by just having enough unimportant things to print until the last spec of paper dust and microscopic air bubble has left the system.