Text in a CSV price or stock column: find and fix

Some rows in a product CSV hold words where a number should be, such as "N/A", "free" or "call us" in the price or stock column. Some programs expect only numbers in these columns. When a cell holds words instead, the program may skip the row, show an error, or read the value as zero. Which of these happens depends on the program.

Find the text values. 1. Work on a copy of the file. 2. Use the filter on the price column and look at its list of distinct values. Any entry that is not a number, such as N/A, free or call us, is a text value. 3. Or search the column for common words: "N/A", "free", "call", "TBD" and "-". 4. Repeat the same steps for the stock column. 5. Write down the row number and the text of each match.

Fix each one. 1. Decide what each text value really means for that product. 2. "Free": enter 0 only if the product is truly free; some programs treat a zero price as an error, see "Zero or negative CSV price and stock: find and fix". 3. "N/A", "TBD" or "call us": the price or stock is not known yet. Enter the real number if you have it. If you don't, leave the cell empty or take the row out of this upload, depending on what your program allows; an empty cell is then a missing value, see "Empty cells in your product CSV: why and how to fix". 4. Keep only digits and, for a price only, one decimal separator if needed; to remove currency signs and extra spaces, follow "Currency symbols in a CSV price column: find and fix". 5. Save the file as CSV again.

Recheck. Filter both columns again. Only numbers, and any cells you left empty on purpose, should remain. Compare your row count with the original so no rows were lost by accident.

The free CSV check looks at the price column in the first 20 data rows. It flags a price cell with letters, such as "N/A", "free" or "call us", as not a plain number. It flags an empty price cell the same way, so a price you left empty on purpose still shows up in its report. A price of 0 is flagged as zero or below. It does not check the stock column at all, so check stock yourself with the steps above.

To check the price column of your file, run it through the free CSV check.