Convert Products

May 26, 2026

↩️ Converting private products into public ones is easy in the eTailPet Product Manager. This is important because it's best that whenever you submit a catalog request, you first set the product to private so you can sell it right away. Then, when a Private product in your catalog is added to the Product Universe, you'll have to convert private products to public and merge historical data from when the product was private. This article will detail how to convert your products so you can better manage them.

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Step 1: Review Private Products

If a product is in both your Private and Public product catalogs, the eTailPet system will not know which one to add to a transaction in the New Sale screen. New products are added to the Product Universe often as well. Because of this, it's a good idea to first check which items need to be converted. Here is what to do:

Go to Manage Catalog > Product Manager, as highlighted in the image below.
Click on Convert Products from Private to Public.
Click on the button that reads Run the Review, next to I want to see if some of my private products are now part of the universe statement.
You'll be directed to a table showing which of your Private Products are in the Product Universe already. In the case of the image below, there are no Private Products that are already in the Universe.

Step 2: Convert Private Products to Public Products

After you've run a Review of Private Products in step 1, you can convert any that appear in the table. Here's how to do the conversion:

Select Products in the table using the individual checkboxes. You can also click on the checkbox in the column header to check all displayed Products on the page, as highlighted in the image below.
Click on Convert to Public.
The conversion process may take a few minutes depending on how many Products you selected. Once the conversion is finished, you'll see a message in the upper right stating Products converted successfully.
Go to Manage Catalog > My Products to review the converted Products. The Quantity on Hand (QOH) and other Product data will now be in your public catalog.

Please Note: When an item is converted from Private to Public, Vendor details and the product’s history goes to the new public system. If a private item is on a Purchase Order, ordered, and then converted to a Public item, you can use the old Private product ID, along with the UPC barcode, to check in the order.

Common Errors and Troubleshooting

If you have an existing Private Product and add it as a new Public Product without converting, you may have issues accessing the Inventory tab on either Product since the system doesn't know which UPC to open. A common error message for this reads No Value Present, as shown below. To solve this issue, you'll have to remove the Public Product and convert the original Private Product as described above.

Image of the No Value Present error message.

Remove the Public Product

Here is how to remove the product:

Go to Manage Catalog > My Products.
Select the product you want to remove by clicking on its checkbox.
Click on Batch Actions above the data table, as highlighted in the image below.
Check the box for Remove Products.
On the right of Remove Products, click on Yes.
Click on Save to remove the product from your Public Catalog.
After you've removed your Public Product, follow the steps outlined in the section Convert Private Products to Public Products above to convert the original Private Product to Public.

Manually Archive the Public Product

If your Private Product is not in the list described in the Convert Private Products to Public Products section above, you can archive it manually by following these steps:

Go to Manage Catalog > My Products.
In the Catalog Type filter, select Private.
Click on the Search button to find your Private Products.
Open the full details of the Private Product by clicking on its name.
Remove the UPC.
Archive the Private Product using the button highlighted in the image above.
Go back to the My Products area using the Back Button in the upper left (highlighted in the image above).
In the Catalog Type filter again, select Public.
Click on Search.
Open the full details of the Public Product by clicking on its name.
Click Save in the upper right corner to resync the product with the eTailPet system and Product Universe.

You now should be able to access the Inventory tab without encountering an error.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do I need to convert a Private Product to Public instead of just leaving it as-is?

A: If the same product exists in both your Private and Public catalogs, the system won't know which one to ring up on the New Sale screen. Converting keeps it as one correct record.

Q: What happens to my vendor info and sales history when I convert a product?

A: Both carry over automatically. Vendor details and the product's history move over to the new public record.

Q: I ordered a private item on a Purchase Order and then converted it. How do I check it in?

A: Use the old Private product ID along with the UPC barcode to check in the order.

Q: What causes the "No Value Present" error, and how do I fix it?

A: It happens when the same product exists as both a Private and Public item without being converted. Remove the Public Product, then convert the original Private Product using the steps above.

Q: What if my Private Product doesn't show up in the conversion review list?

A: Archive it manually instead. Remove its UPC, archive the Private Product, then open and save the matching Public Product to resync it with the Product Universe.

Q: I have a question, but I can't find my answer here. How do I get more assistance?

A: You can ask any question at the number listed here. Contact our support team at (323) 370-0738 for the U.S. and (888) 370-2363 for Canada.

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Convert Products