The challenge
One brand owner, two established Etsy shops, and no Amazon presence. The catalogues overlapped, the variation logic differed between shops, and Amazon’s flat file requirements for the category were unforgiving. Uploading by hand and fixing errors listing by listing was not a realistic option at that size.
What was built
The catalogues were exported through the Etsy API and rebuilt for Amazon with Python flat file builders, producing the category’s macro-enabled templates with the correct product types, attributes and parent-child variations. Image kits were prepared for every product, with white main images that meet Amazon’s rules.
Five automation tools were built for the project and stayed with it: pre-upload flat file validation, distribution of approved main images across every ASIN, a reader for Amazon’s processing reports that separates real errors from residue, a listing content workflow, and an organic-search audit of the live listings.
The result
Both shops now sell from a single US Amazon seller account with a consistent catalogue structure. The flat file and validation process became a reusable Amazon playbook, and later launches for other brands, like a handmade leather goods brand, started from it instead of from scratch. What typically breaks in a move like this is written up in moving an Etsy catalogue to Amazon.