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Posted by John Darrow in Documentation
Friday, Jun.26.2009, 11:30 AM PT
Please remember to use a test environment when updating applications to use a new schema version.
To find out when a version of the API will be available, see the table at the top of the Release Notes for that API.
You can find the latest API documentation at the eBay Developer Documentation Center.
Trading
Trading Release Notes
Release Highlights
- Fees Returned in ReviseInventoryStatus
- Integrated Merchant Credit Card: New Enum for Supported Sites
- New Green and Silver Shooting Star Ratings
- New Updated Time and Detail Version Fields for GeteBayDetails
- ListingDuration Now Returned for ActiveList in GetMyeBaySelling
- Find Your Seller Qualifications with GetUser
- Retrieve All Features for a Category
- Platform Notifications Include EIAS Token
- Removal of Remaining RESTToken Fields
- Answer Seller with a Longer Message
See the Trading API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.
Shopping
Shopping Release Notes
Release Highlights
- New Green and Silver Shooting Star Ratings
- Handling Time is Returned for GetSingleItem and GetMultipleItems
- ShippingCostSummary for GetMultipleItems
- New Search Options for FindItemsAdvanced
- GetUserProfile Includes Percent of Feedback that is Positive
See the Shopping API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.
Client Alerts
Client Alerts Release Notes
See the Client Alerts API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.
Merchant Data
Merchant Data Release Notes
See the Large Merchant Services API System Announcements for bug fixes included in this release.
John Darrow
API Tech Docs and Tools
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Posted by Laurel in Product News & Critical Notes from Tech Support
Thursday, Jun.25.2009, 6:39 PM PT
It's important to manage your listings to maintain your Recent Sales score. Having strong Recent Sales can give you a promotion in Best Match.
Editing a Live Listing
There has been some confusion about how to avoid resetting a listing's Recent Sales score. These are the only edits that that will reset the Recent Sales score:
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Increase price
- Change title
- Remove item condition
- Change category
Updating Item Description, Quantity, and so on will NOT reset your Recent Sales score.
Relisting an Item
The ONLY way to maintain the Recent Sales score for a relisted item is to use RelistItem, and include the ItemID of the original item. Some developers use RelistItem only in cases where they know the seller will get a relist credit. You should use RelistItem in ALL cases, so you get the maximum benefit of recent sales on the item.
In addition, you should relist as soon as the original item ends, to take best advantage of the moving window for Recent Sales calculation.
Also, a multi-quantity listing has more impact on Recent Sales than a single-quantity item, so single-quantity listings should be combined when possible. You'll save on listing fees too!
For listings with multiple variations, RelistFixedPriceItem will help you carry over your Recent Sales score.
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Posted by Laurel in Categories and Item Specifics, Critical Notes from Tech Support & International
Tuesday, Jun.30.2009, 11:39 AM PT
eBay will soon enable catalogs for a number of categories in US and CA. We want to make sure that this has minimal impact to your application and your sellers, so we will be running some small tests first.
Test 1 - June 29
The first test will be June 29, when we enable catalogs in the Video Cards category. The changes will be live the morning of June 30.
Video Cards catalog:
Computers & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > Graphics, Video & TV Cards > Graphics, Video Cards (3762)
Update 30 June, 2009: The Video Cards changes are now live. If you notice any issues with your application in this category, please contact us
Test 2 - July 8
The second test will be July 8, when we enable catalogs in CPUs, Motherboards, Hubs&Switches, and Keyboards.
CPUs Catalog:
Mapped Categories:
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > CPUs (3671) > AMD (15918) > 11 leaf categories
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > CPUs (3671) > Cyrix (3675)
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > CPUs (3671) > Intel (14291) > 16 leaf categories
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Laptops & Notebooks > CPUs (86711) > AMD (86712)
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Laptops & Notebooks > CPUs (86711) > Intel (99251)
Motherboards Catalog:
Mapped Categories:
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > Motherboards (4613) > For AMD (101195) > 16 leaf categories
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Desktops > Motherboards (4613) > For Intel (101198) > 23 leaf categories
Computer & Networking > PC Components > For Laptops & Notebooks > Motherboards (60265)
Keyboards Catalog:
Mapped Categories:
Computer & Networking > Keyboards, Mice & Input > Keyboards (33963) > 10 leaf categories
Networking Hubs & Switches Catalog:
Mapped Categories:
Computer & Networking > Networking & Communications > Networking Hubs (11178) > 4 leaf categories
Computer & Networking > Networking & Communications > Network Switches (51268)
Possible Issues
We have thoroughly tested this change, and do not expect any breaking changes to your application. However, we can't anticipate all of the ways in which the API is used, so are giving you advance warning so you can keep an eye out for issues.
If you do notice any issues with your application in these categories, please contact us.
Why Catalogs are Important
Catalogs provide additional technical and descriptive information about your item, without the seller having to enter it manually. That info makes the item easier to find in search, and can answer many buyer questions about the item without the buyer having to contact the seller. Catalogs can even provide a stock photo. We think catalogs are a very good thing.
We appreciate your working with us as we move to bring more catalogs to eBay.
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Posted by Delyn Simons in Developer Community & Developers Conference
Wednesday, Jun.24.2009, 12:25 PM PT
We're currently working on putting together the keynote and session videos for you, but in the meantime here are some useful links you've been asking for:
Thanks again to our great crowd. We hope you walked away with the insight, inspiration and connections that will make it easy to build your business with us. Keep your eye out for the videos coming your way soon! - Delyn
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Posted by Delyn Simons in Developers Conference
Monday, Jun.22.2009, 1:58 PM PT
Hi -- Delyn here. I'm posting a terrific update from one of our eBay platform architects, Farhang Kassaei. He did a great write-up of the PayPal session with Damon Hougland from the PayPal platform team that happened on Wednesday @ eBay DevCon. I think you'll recognize a lot of the platform requests, especially better integration between the eBay and PayPal platform.
Enjoy!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My name is Farhang, and I am a platform architect @ eBay Marketplaces. We just opened up Selling Manager Pro to eBay developers and I wanted to see what our colleagues on the other side of Highway 85 were up to, so when I heard about the "Next Gen PayPal platform" session, I figured I'd check it out.
Now I have to say, I have been in so many "Next Generation ...." presentations that quite frankly I don't expect a lot when I attend one anymore. Human beings are simply not very good at predicting the future. This one however turned out much better than I expected.
For starter, Damon didn't have a presentation. Instead he opened with a story:
"... This blacksmith wanted to be the greatest archer in the world! Finally he decided to act on his dream and started looking for the greatest archer in the world to mentor and train him. He looked long and hard, and in one of this trips came across a tree with a target painted on it and a perfect dead-center shot. Right next to it, he saw another tree with a perfect shot. Then, tree after tree with targets painted on them and all with perfect shots in the center. "I have finally found the master," he though. He asked around to find the master archer. "He lives down in the woods some place," he was told. He went there and begged him to become his mentor and to teach him how he makes every shot a perfect shot. The master said, "It is easy son: I shoot arrows randomly and wherever they land I paint a target around them!"
Made perfect sense! He wants to see where the arrows land so that he can paint his target around them for the next year. It was clear this was not going to be another "Next Generation ...." I am happy to be here.
Just one thing, why didn't I think of that?
Damon's whole team was also there with a lot of Post-It Notes and Pens! They distributed Sticky notes among the attendees and ask people to write down what they would like to see.
The easel papers were filling up with sticky notes. Granted some of them were funny, but there were plenty of interesting ideas. Here is sample:
- Better integration without redirect to PayPal: I'd love it and we get the same request at eBay, but there are security ramifications that are not simple to solve for now.
- Support for Micropayment
- Better and wider International presence
- Ability to update tracking
- More features for donate button
- Shopping Cart for Multiple-Vendors
- Widgets
No elaboration from the originator, and I don't want to speculate what they meant. However there is a need for generic Payment APIs for the Widget/Gadget universe and PayPal certainly has something to contribute there. Open Source community, including Open Social, is working on such APIs, and PayPal should make sure its voice is heard.
- Password-free authentication login
I would love that. Technologies exist but none is compelling to consumers yet.
- Better Sandbox
Amen! We get that all the time as well. Sandbox is part of developer product development lifecycle. We have a responsibility to make sure it is up-to-date, available, and robust.
- Project Echo for PayPal
Now we are talking! We have asked our PayPal colleagues to write a few apps for Selling Manager Pro too.
- PayPal on all gaming platforms including XBox, PS2 and WII.
- Payroll processing
Is PayPal really going there? But this is what I love about these sessions: You can figure out what developers are working on, and decide what is the best way to add value to what they do.
- Multi-user account with different authorization level
We get the same request all the time, as both eBay and PayPal moving up the market from individual users to business users we both have to have this.
- Much more robust affiliate program
- A developer shouts, "When I find a bug in your API, fix it and fix it fast! (I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! Google it, if you are not familiar with the movie Casablanca. )
- Marketplace for developers to sell tools and code to other developers
Here is an interesting one from Damon himself:
- Payment processing on devices like GPS, TV, Game Consoles, Kindle (maybe not!), Washing Machine, Vending Machines, Slot machines, Gas Stations.
Wow, I wonder what is the size of those markets and how PayPal would penetrate all those devices, but isn't what developer community exactly for?
I see this theme all over the web: Platforms are not longer about enabling apps, they are about enabling businesses. It's the central theme for Selling Manager Applications (formerly Echo).
Finally, I got my hat into the ring too:
- How about you guys do multi-tier commission payment so people (like eBay) can administer multi-tier affiliations much easier e.g. payout both publisher and widget developers when a publisher embed a widget on their site?
- How about if PayPal told me what the risk profile of a transaction would be and what might make it safer BEFORE processing the payment?
Someone suggested using the PayPal email ID as identity and reputation outside PayPal, like when you visit an Open House.
Now that is really interesting: This house is shown only to eBay or PayPal user with minimum of 50 feedback!
Here is a good one: Lower transaction cost for lower merchant risk.
And finally what I was waiting for, Proximity Payments thru mobile phone, PayPal's original business plan.
All in all this was a very eye-opening session for me, a lot of good ideas from developers and a lot of entertainment. Damon deserves credit for conducting the meeting in a professional way and effectively soliciting ideas.
I wonder how many of these ideas they really get to do, but I am sure it helps a lot with coming up with their road map. eBay should probably do something like this next year (or maybe tomorrow in our feedback session).
- Farhang
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Posted by Delyn in Developers Conference
Friday, Jun.19.2009, 9:00 AM PT
eBay's Rolf Skyberg talks about embracing the economy of "open" at eBay DevCon 2009
- Delyn
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Posted by Bradburn Young in Developers Conference
Friday, Jun.19.2009, 5:04 PM PT
This morning about forty developers gathered at eBay for a Q and A session with some of the SMApps creators. Max Mancini, Farhang Kassaei, Tina Mazzei, Madhu Gupta, and Mike Maffeo answered probing questions for an hour. You can read the fourteen most discussed questions below.
Q: What are the billing options?
A: Selected from developer feedback, we're offering the most popular billing options: free, one-time fee, regular subscription fee, and usage-based fees.
Q: What is the vetting process for getting my app into Selling Manager Applications?
A: The vetting process involves two levels of review. The first level is a review of your security, hosting environment, development process, and customer handling. The second level of review, after you have created the application and are ready to go live, is to determine whether your application does what your description says it does, has a reasonable billing plan, doesn't violate security and other requirements, and looks good (conforms to SMApps UI Guidelines). The review is serious, because when you include your application in SMApps, eBay's customers become your customers.
Q: Do I need a big group of developers, or to be a big company, to participate?
A: No.
Q: What's the deal with basing SMApps technology on the Gadgets Specification?
A: Developers are using that technology, and applications created with it are re-usable across the web. We have created an implementation of it that has a few special features, but basically we are compatible with OpenSocial. (About 25% of the developers in the audience raised their hands when asked if they had developed using the Gadgets Specification.)
Q: There are two different kinds of gadgets? What are they, and why should I use one instead of the other?
A: You can expose your existing application as a Selling Manager app by just specifying its URL in your deployment descriptor and implementing a subscription listener. That's a URL-type gadget. Or you can write your gadget completely in the deployment descriptor, and it will be hosted on eBay. That's an HTML-type gadget.
Q: What types of application are good candidates for SMApps?
A: Based on our research, we think email management, customer management, shipping and fulfillment, bulk editing of listings, UPI process management, and inventory management are all pretty good bets. But that doesn't preclude other types. We know that we have not anticipated all the directions developers might go with this opportunity, and we expect to be pleasantly surprised by innovative implementations.
Q: What about multi-channel applications that might compete with eBay?
A: We are very mature and understanding about that. We know you have choices, and we try to be your best option.
Q: Why still require subscriptions to Selling Manager, since it's now free?
A: Historically, My eBay and Selling Manager serve different kinds of sellers. Some eBay sellers report that Selling Manager is more complex than their needs require. Long-term goal: it would be nice if Selling Manager and My eBay could merge. If ever we are able do that, we promise we will limit the interruption for everyone, including users of your Selling Manager application, to a minimum.
Q: What's going to happen with customer reviews and ranking of applications?
A: This is a big part of our plans for SMApps, because it assures sellers and makes them comfortable choosing to subscribe to a well-reviewed and popular application. We are already collecting data, but we are still defining the logic we will use in the ratings. Our intention: to drive sellers to the best possible experience, and to make sure that excellent applications are seen by potential subscribers.
Q: What should I know about authorization and authentication?
A: The subscription process is going to be pretty much what subscribers will expect a subscription process to be. It is simpler than the auth and auth flow for other eBay APIs. We were able to make it that way because we decided to rely on you, the application developer, to verify the subscription requests we send you. Subscription requests that eBay sends to your application are signed and encrypted. We have made instructions and code samples available to help with that necessary step.
Q: If a seller unsubscribes from my application, is his or her token revoked?
A: Yes.
Q: What if one of my existing subscribers wants to use my application as a Selling Manager application?
A: If the seller doesn't recognize the application, on subscription you will have a user ID, EAIS token, and email to check against your current subscribers.
Q: If I don't charge for my application, what happens to the 80/20 split?
A: We get 20% of nothing. We don't mind, if you don't.
Q: What about sellers with multiple eBay IDs?
A: The challenge of managing multiple inventories and businesses under different seller IDs is not solved yet. It is pretty common, though, so we are trying to solve it.
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Posted by Bradburn Young in Developers Conference
Thursday, Jun.18.2009, 6:38 PM PT
The feedback forum is a Developers Conference tradition. Adam opened by inviting people to mock his octopus-themed Hawaiian shirt, and then Adam, Madhu, Hema, Catherine and Kristina invited questions from the developer community.
The discussion wandered all over eBay. The following is a list of requests and questions and intentions that surfaced during the hour-long exchange.
- There should be more video demos. The one for Selling Manager applications was cool. "Making Your First API Call" would be good.
- Back when the Sandbox was less reliable we used to tell people not to bother with it. We think it's better now, and should be used. We don't deny that we said that back then, but we don't say it anymore.
- There should be code samples for Ruby on Rails. On the other hand, it's hard to maintain many code samples for many features and keep the samples accurate. And inaccurate code samples waste people's time.
- Smarter messaging that highlights really crucial news, such as upcoming changes that might break your code if you don't watch out, from chatty or less pressing news, would be good.
- There should be special communications about seller changes, now that they are bundled into two or three releases per year. There are special communications, but it is possible for a developer to miss them.
- The Sandbox should completely mirror the Production environment, almost.
- There should be debugging in Sandbox beyond just the error messages.
- Know that there is love for the Shopping API ("a nice bite-sized chunk, easy to get into"), and for the Token Generation Tool ("oh, my hand's being held here!").
- Developers would benefit if knowledgeable members of the Developers Program put together a list of the top ten little-known but very useful features of the eBay APIs.
- The Developers Program could issue requests for applications to the developer community, and could pass along user requests for applications.
- It should be easier to get associated PayPal data while executing an eBay transaction. It is no trivial thing to switch over to the PayPal APIs in the middle of eBay business.
- The Developers Program should know the developers' applications as well as the developers know the APIs, and be able to tell developers about upcoming features that will affect specific applications.
- There should be someone at eBay who can discuss big-picture questions and policy questions. This is complicated because if the program formally tells someone that a particular practice is acceptable, legal issues could arise.
- There sure are a lot of services now. Is it going to become easier or harder to know where to look for functionality? We are trying to make it easier. Some of the apparent overlap is actually between calls that are asynchronous and calls that are synchronous.
- How large do your merchants need to be to qualify for Large Merchant Services? Answer: large enough to feel the pinch on their throughput, or to see timeouts on huge listing calls. Ask us about it.
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Posted by Delyn in Developers Conference
Thursday, Jun.18.2009, 6:00 PM PT
Michelle Waldorf of eSeller Street, INC. tells us her thoughts about Selling Manager Applications:
- Delyn
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Posted by Delyn in Developers Conference
Thursday, Jun.18.2009, 4:15 PM PT
Neil Mansilla of Mansilla Dev talks about the highlights of this year's eBay DevCon 2009: - Delyn
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