How do I enter costs for many items at once?
Last updated: 3 November 2026 · The MargenOptimierer app is in German. Button and menu names are shown exactly as you see them, with the English meaning in brackets.
For many items, download the list of your items as an Excel file on the Produkte (products) page. Enter the costs in the file and upload it again. Before anything is saved, a preview shows you every change, and MargenOptimierer applies either the whole file or nothing. Your costs never go to OTTO.
How it works
- On the Produkte page, click Importieren (import) above the table.
- In the window, click Aktuelle Liste herunterladen (download current list). You get an Excel file with your items.
- In the columns „Einkauf“ (purchase price), „Versand“ (shipping) and „Sonstiges“ (other costs), enter what one unit costs you, in euros and without VAT. Then save the file.
- Drag the file into the box in the window, or click the box and choose it. MargenOptimierer checks it and shows you the preview.
- Above the preview, choose the date the costs apply from. ab heute (from today) is preselected.
- Check the changes and click the button with the number of items, such as 40 Artikel übernehmen (apply 40 items).
Example: New purchase prices for 40 garden furniture items
Your supplier raises the purchase prices of 40 of your garden furniture items on 1 December 2026. On 15 November 2026 you enter the new amounts in the „Einkauf“ column and upload the file. In the preview you choose ab Datum (from date). Below that you enter 1 December 2026 as the day the amounts apply from. After you click 40 Artikel übernehmen, the Marge (margin) page calculates with the old amounts up to 30 November 2026 and with the new ones from 1 December 2026.
What else matters when you import
Empty field or dash
If you leave a field empty in the file, the amount in MargenOptimierer stays as it is. If the field contains a dash, meaning - or —, MargenOptimierer deletes the amount, and nothing is entered for the item after that. If something really costs you nothing, write 0.
If an amount is unusually high
If an amount in the file is more than 3 times the amount that currently applies, the preview names it. If you then click 40 Artikel übernehmen, MargenOptimierer doesn't apply anything yet, and the button changes to Trotzdem übernehmen (apply anyway). If the amounts are right, click Trotzdem übernehmen. For an item's first amount, MargenOptimierer doesn't ask. 3 times is the default, and you can change it in Einstellungen (settings) in the Vorgaben (defaults) tab.
If the preview names an error or the file is too large
If the file contains a SKU that doesn't exist in your OTTO account, MargenOptimierer applies nothing from the file. The same goes for an amount MargenOptimierer can't read. The preview names each such row with its reason. Correct or delete those rows and upload the file again.
A file can be up to 20 MB. That's enough for the costs of far more than 10,000 items. If your file is larger, split it, for example by product group, and import the parts one after the other.
Next
- How do I enter purchase price and shipping costs?
- How do I read the margin?