when using vlookup on a list - I often find that I get N/A as an
answer unless I retype the item I am looking up. When I retype the
value that I am looking up, the correct corresponding value is then
pulled from the list.... is there a workaround for this other than to
retype every value you have to look up?

Sometimes, a cell can have an extra space in a text string. You can't tell
by looking. Careful use of the TRIM function can help.