Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What
is the eBay Developer Network?
A. The eBay Developer Network is a knowledge and
community centre for developers, enterprise-sized businesses and independent
software vendors that wish to tap into the eBay global marketplace and provide
innovative commerce-related solutions to their customers.
The eBay developer network provides:
-
Tools, API documentation and tutorials for
developing applications that interact with the eBay platform
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Forums for discussion and knowledge
exchange
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Provides commerce solution providers a
large customer base for their applications and services
For more information about the eBay Developer network,
visit http://developer.ebay.com
Q.
How do I join the eBay Developer Network?
A. To become a member of the eBay Developer
Network complete the online registration at http://developer.ebay.com/join
Q. How
do third-party applications interact with the eBay platform?
A. The eBay platform provides an Application
Programming Interface (API) in the form of Web services through which
third-party applications gain access to the eBay platform.
Q.
What are the supported formats for the exchanging data with the eBay platform
API?
A. Data requests to the eBay platform API can
be formatted using:
-
SOAP
-
REST
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XML
-
URL query parameters
Depending on the API used the same request can be
issued using one or more of the formats listed above.
Response data from the eBay platform can be formatted
using:
-
SOAP
-
REST
-
XML
-
JSON
When more than one data response format is supported,
the desired format can be specified in the matching request.
Q.
What languages are supported by eBay Platform API?
A. Communication with the eBay Platform API
is language-neutral and is based on open industry standards for web services
and HTTP-based communication including WSDL, SOAP, REST, XML, JSON and URL
query parameters.
Language-specific tools and software development kits
(SDKs) can be downloaded from the eBay Developer Network website. These are
designed to simplify and shorten the development time of third-party
applications. Currently SDKs exist for Java
and .Net.
Q.
What is required for a third-party application to use the eBay platform API?
A. Third-party applications are required to provide
one or more of the following security information when accessing the eBay
platform API:
-
An AppID which uniquely identifies the
application
-
An application user token which identifies
the user on whose behalf a request is made
-
A CertID which authenticates the
application when making API calls
-
An Affiliate ID which is used for tracking
and attributing traffic originating from third-party applications of members of
the eBay Partner Network
In order to request any of the security information
listed above, a DevID is required. This is obtained as part of the eBay
Developer Network registration process.
Q.
What is a sandbox environment?
A. A sandbox environment is a simulated test
environment in which third-party applications can create test sellers, buyers,
stores, products …
In order for an
application to execute in a sandbox environment a sandbox box AppId is
required.
Note that not all APIs are available to use in a
sandbox environment. Check the API documentation for details of supported
environments.
Q.
What is a production environment?
A. A production environment is the live eBay
marketplace. In order to run in a production environment an application is
required to provide a production AppID.
Q.
What are the eBay platform APIs?
A. The eBay platform APIs are grouped into
the following categories:
This
is a buyer-centric API used to build applications such as selling and
post-sales management applications, manage User information, and initiate the
item purchase flow on eBay.
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This
is used to perform and refine advanced search operations for items, products,
categories etc.
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This
is a buyer-centric API for lightweight and performance-optimised search
operations.
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This
API provides developers with an easy way to surface available items and
products on eBay that provide good value or are otherwise popular with eBay
buyers.
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Use
the Research APIs for eBay to retrieve pricing, statistics and trend analysis
on historical eBay data
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This
is a set of APIs that are used to manage notification preferences for
applications and users. Applications receive Users notifications on a configured end point. This functionality
enables developers to build real time notification applications to react to events affecting
eBay users.
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This
provides lightweight access to updates to eBay data. Client Alerts provides
developers with a way to retrieve updated data on eBay. Keep your users and
applications informed with up to date information about business events
happening on eBay. With Client Alerts, developers can build lightweight
alerting and notification applications
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This
is an asynchronous bulk-oriented interface for exchanging large amounts of
data between third-party applications and the eBay platform. Features of LMS
include SKU-based inventory management, order status reports etc.
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Feedback
APIs provide an easy way to manage account-level Feedback data, specifically
Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs). DSR data can help sellers understand
particular strengths and weaknesses in their business model as well as
possible areas for improvement.
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This
is used by seller applications list items on eBay along with compatible
parts. For example, Parts Compatibility enables sellers to specify accurately
and comprehensively the vehicles on which a headlight or a rim will fit.
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For more
information on the APIs listed above and others visit https://www.x.com/developers/ebay/products
Q.
Where do I find the XML schemas for XML-based data exchange?
A. For information on the XML schema of data
exchange through an API, visit the documentation page for that API.
Q.
Where are the WSDL files located for SOAP-based data exchange?
A. For information on the WSDL used to define
the web services exposed by an API, visit the documentation page for that API.
Q. Where
can I find code samples for the eBay platform API?
A. Code samples can be found at https://www.x.com/developers/ebay/documentation-tools/code-samples.
Q.
Are software development kits (SDKs) provided for developing third-party
applications that use the eBay platform API?
Q.
Are development tools provided to help with developing third-party applications
that use the eBay platform API?
A. Yes. A number of development
tools are available. In particular:
-
WSDL
Pruner Tool used to prune a bulky WSDL down to the
operations you want to use.
-
Item
Specifics Lookup Tool used by seller to retrieve item specifics
for their category selection.
-
Sandbox
User Registration Tool used to create and validate new test
users in eBay.
-
User
Token Tool used to create a token for a single user.
Q. Where
can I find information about the Google Maps API?
A. You can find information about the Google
Maps API at:
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