Why does an exact VLOOKUP return #N/A?
Short answer
An exact VLOOKUP returns #N/A when it cannot find the selected key in the first column of its lookup table. Check the key itself, whether one side is text and the other numeric, unintended spaces, and whether the lookup range includes the record. Do not replace every missing match with zero: a missing price and a zero price mean different things.
For an exact lookup, include FALSE: =VLOOKUP(B8,A11:C70,3,FALSE). A code outside A11:A70 cannot match even if it appears elsewhere on the worksheet.
How do you check a lookup before changing the formula?
Use =COUNTIF(A11:A70,B8) to inspect occurrences. Zero identifies a missing key; more than one identifies an ambiguous source. Microsoft explains exact matching in its lookup guide.