Scanning & Cataloging

Scanning a Barcode

The barcode field is the primary input on the scanning screen. It accepts UPC, EAN, ISBN, Amazon ASIN, FnSKU, and any other string that GlobalSKU can resolve.

1. Make sure the cursor is in the barcode field (it auto-focuses when you enter the scanning step).
2. Point your USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner at the item's barcode and pull the trigger.
3. The scanner sends the barcode digits followed by an Enter keystroke, which triggers the lookup automatically.
4. ListerLeo queries its product database (GlobalSKU) to find a matching product — manifest pre-fill takes priority when a manifest is selected.
5. If a match is found, the title, brand, size, color, description, and an estimated starting bid are auto-filled.
6. If no match is found, the station auto-opens the photo-lookup flow so you can identify the item from a photo. You can also fill in the details manually.

Barcode Types

• UPC-A (12 digits) — The most common barcode on US retail products.
• EAN-13 (13 digits) — Standard international barcode, commonly found on imported goods.
• ISBN (10 or 13 digits) — Used on books. ListerLeo recognizes these and looks up the product data.
• Amazon ASIN (10 characters) — Amazon's unique product identifier, starting with "B0". ListerLeo can look up product data using ASINs.
• FnSKU — Amazon's Fulfillment Network SKU, found on items sourced from Amazon warehouses or liquidation pallets. These are often printed as barcodes on Amazon fulfillment labels. ListerLeo resolves FnSKUs to their underlying product data.
• Internal Serial — ListerLeo's own serial numbers. Format is {serial_prefix}{5-digit-sequence} (for example DW00042); the prefix is resolved via the settings cascade and defaults to the first three letters of the organization name.

Photo Identification

Photos are critical for auction listings. ListerLeo supports multiple ways to add photos to an item.

Adding Photos

• Webcam Capture — Click the Webcam button to open a live webcam feed. Position the item and capture. You can take multiple shots and they are staged in the review panel before saving.
• File Upload — Click Upload to browse and add a photo from your computer.
• Stock Photos — When GlobalSKU returns product images and your organization has use_stock_photography enabled, stock photos are added to the staging list automatically. You can remove or reorder them before saving.
• Mobile Camera — When using the mobile app, tap the camera button to take photos directly with your device's camera.

Photo Order

The first photo is used as the primary listing image. Photos persist in the order shown in the staging grid (drag-and-drop reorders them), so put your best angle first. Most auction platforms use the first image as the hero image.

Reviewing Item Details

After scanning a barcode and adding photos, review and complete the item details before saving.

Item Fields

• Title — The primary name of the item. This becomes the auction listing title. Required.
• Brand — The manufacturer or brand name.
• Size / Color — Item variant attributes.
• Description — A detailed text description. This appears in the auction listing body.
• Condition — Required. Drawn from your organization's condition codes (cascade-resolved). Has a "Sticky" toggle that auto-fills the condition you just used on the next scan.
• Condition Notes — Optional notes about scratches, damage, etc.
• Quantity — How many physical units this scan represents. Use values greater than 1 for multi-pack lots.
• Starting Bid / Reserve Price / Buy Now Price — Optional pricing fields. See Pricing Items below.
• Dimensions & Weight — Length, width, height, weight (with unit pickers). Only visible when the resolved include_dimensions setting is true. The AI Estimate button asks the dimension service for an estimate based on the title and description.

Condition Codes

Every item needs a condition code that describes its physical state. Condition codes are configured by your organization admin and resolved through the settings cascade — so a vendor-specific list can override the org-wide list.

Default Condition Codes

Newly provisioned organizations get this seeded list (see OrganizationSetupService::seedConditionCodes()):

• N — New — Brand new, unopened, original packaging.
• LN — Like New — Opened but unused, all accessories present.
• G — Good — Minor cosmetic wear, fully functional.
• F — Fair — Noticeable wear, fully functional.
• P — Poor — Heavy wear, may have functional issues.
• S — Salvage — For parts only, not functional.

Select a condition from the dropdown on the review step. The Sticky checkbox next to it makes the condition you just used carry forward to the next scan — useful when working through a pallet of mostly-same-condition items.

Pricing Items

Item pricing in ListerLeo is flexible. You can set prices at the item level, or let GlobalSKU and export-time defaults fill them in.

Price Fields

• Starting Bid — The opening bid price for the auction. Pre-filled from GlobalSKU's estimated value when available.
• Reserve Price — The minimum price the item must reach to sell. Optional.
• Buy Now Price — A fixed purchase price if the auction platform supports it. Optional.

Settings Cascade

Most non-price settings in ListerLeo (label template, workflow steps, default condition, stock-photo behavior, Vendidit export defaults, etc.) resolve via the cascade in SettingsCascadeService:

1. Lot.
2. Parent Lot(s) (walking up the parent chain if present).
3. Vendor.
4. Auction.
5. Organization.
6. System Default from SettingsCascadeService::SETTING_DEFINITIONS.

The Vendidit export processor uses this cascade at export time to fill in shipping, pickup, MSRP %, opening-bid calculation, and other policy fields. Item-level starting_bid, reserve_price, and buy_now_price are stored on the item itself rather than cascading.

AI-Assisted Lookup

ListerLeo uses AI in two specific spots during scanning: photo lookup (when no barcode is available or GlobalSKU can't identify the barcode) and dimension estimation (when you don't have a tape measure handy).

Photo Lookup

Photo lookup opens automatically when you scan a barcode that GlobalSKU can't resolve. You can also trigger it manually via the No UPC - Photo Lookup button on the scanning step.

1. Use the live webcam capture (or file upload) to send a clear photo of the item.
2. The photo is sent through GlobalSkuService::enrichByImageQuick() for fast interactive results (typically around 10 seconds).
3. If GlobalSKU recognizes the product, the title, brand, size, color, description, and an estimated starting bid are pre-filled into the review form.
4. The captured photo is automatically staged as the first photo of the item.
5. Review and adjust the fields, then save as usual.

AI Dimension Estimate

When the resolved include_dimensions setting is on, the review step shows a Dimensions & Weight panel with an AI Estimate button. It sends the item's title and description to DimensionEstimationService and fills in length, width, height, weight, and the corresponding unit fields with a confidence score.

Lot Modes

The lot dropdown on the context-selection screen is a tri-state picker. The three modes map 1:1 to the values stored in the auction's settings:

• Manual Lot Control (manual_lot_control) — A single auto-created lot collects every scan until you click New Lot in the header. Best for processing a batch of related items into one lot.
• Lot Per Item (lot_per_item) — A fresh lot is auto-created for every scan. Use this for one-off or single-item lots.
• Specific Lot — Pick an existing draft/cataloging lot from the optgroup. Every scan is added to that lot until you change context.

Auction-Level Locks

An auction can pre-decide the lot mode for everyone scanning into it:

• When the auction has lot_per_item set in its settings, the picker is locked to that mode at the station and the operator can't change it.
• When the auction has forced_lot_id set (the New Auction wizard's "Specific Lot" mode), every scan into the auction is hard-locked to that lot. ScanningStation::applyAuctionLotModeLock() re-applies this lock even if a tampered form tries to bypass it; the same logic guards the API POST /api/scan endpoint.

You can also reassign items to different lots after scanning from the item's detail view or using bulk actions in the item list.

Force Put-Away

When the resolved workflow_steps include force_putaway, every saved item is held in a two-step put-away flow before the station returns to the scanning input. This prevents items from piling up on the bench without a known destination.

Step 1 — Scan the printed label

After you save the item, the station prompts you to scan the label that just printed. The scanned value must match either the item's auto-generated serial number or its original barcode. If it doesn't match, you're asked to try again.

Step 2 — Scan the destination

Next, scan a destination. The station accepts any of:

• A pallet barcode.
• A location barcode or location code (shelf, row, bin, etc.).
• A brand-new label string — PalletService::resolveDestination() auto-creates a Location for it on the fly so you don't have to pre-print every shelf.

If you need to bail out, the Skip put-away button skips the placement step. The item is still saved — only the location is not recorded.

Scanning on Mobile

The ListerLeo mobile app is a Flutter app for iOS and Android. It uses the phone's camera as a fallback barcode scanner, supports hardware (USB / Bluetooth) scanners that emulate a keyboard, and mirrors the desktop's context-selection, scanning, review, and force-put-away flows.

See the Mobile App > Scanning section for complete mobile scanning instructions.

Bulk Scanning Tips

When processing large volumes of items, efficiency matters. Here are strategies for maximizing throughput at the Processing Station.

• Pre-sort by auction — Group items by auction before scanning. Since the vendor is derived from the auction, you only change context once per batch.
• Enable auto-print at the right level — Set auto_print_labels to true on the org (or vendor, or lot) so labels print immediately after each save.
• Keyboard-first workflow — Use Tab to move between fields and Enter to save. Avoid reaching for the mouse.
• Sticky condition — Toggle the "Sticky" checkbox next to the condition dropdown when you're working through a pallet of mostly-same-condition items so you only adjust outliers.
• Skip unknown barcodes — When GlobalSKU can't identify a barcode, the photo-lookup flow opens automatically. If you'd rather batch them, fill in just the title and come back later.

Printing Item Labels

After scanning an item, ListerLeo can print a label with the item's serial number barcode, title, and lot number. Labels are used to track items through the warehouse and during picking.

Label Formats

• ZPL Labels — For Zebra thermal printers. The most common option for warehouse labels.
• ESC/POS Labels — For receipt-style thermal printers.

Both formats are generated by LabelService from a label template. Templates and the active template per context are resolved via the settings cascade (label_template_id).

Auto-Print on Save

When the resolved auto_print_labels setting is true, the station dispatches a browser event after each successful save and a hidden iframe loads the print page, which calls window.print() on load. No extra click is needed.

Login badges for users are printed from the Users resource via the Print Login Badge row action. Pallet and location labels are printed from their respective resources.