Reminder: DevCon Call for Papers Closes Feb 26!

Time is running out to submit your topic for a possible eBay Developers Conference session. The Call for Papers closes Feb 26.

We are looking for interesting subjects and points of view that address real world challenges and advancements in e-commerce, from both business and technical perspectives. Do you know all about shipping, security, storage, checkout or marketing your solution to your customers? Then please share!

If selected, you'll get a free conference pass, plus one free night hotel stay. Plus the awe and admiration of your peers!

Where? When? DevCon 2010 being held this summer at a NEW location in the San Francisco Bay Area that we'll be announcing soon. Don't miss your chance to be a part of it. Submit your topic today!

Reminder: Lowest Supported Version is 577

As of February 2010, the lowest supported Trading API version is 577. (Version 577 was released in August 2008.) Objects that were deprecated prior to version 577 no longer work, or may stop working at any time without notice. We recommend that you remove deprecated objects from your applications as soon as possible.

Here are examples of objects that were deprecated 18-24 months ago:

• In GetUser: User.CharityAffiliations (use User.SellerInfo.CharityAffiliationsDetails instead)
• In GetAdFormatLeads: AddFormatLead.FirstName, LastName, Phone, Phone2 (use AddFormatLead.Address instead)
• In GetFeedback: SellerAverageRatingDetailArray (use SellerRatingSummaryArray instead)
• In AddItem and related calls: Item.BuyerRequirements (use Item.BuyerRequirementDetails instead)
• In AddItem, GetSearchResults, and related calls: DigitalDeliveryDetails

For information about how Trading API versioning works and a more complete list of the objects that have been deprecated, see:

• Version Support Schedule
• List of Deprecated Objects

We Heard Your Requests! Longer Message Fields

By popular request, we have increased the message size in four Trading API calls.

Creating messages

AddMemberMessageRTQ
AddMemberMessageAAQToPartner

You can now create messages up to 4000 characters long using the MemberMessage.Body field.

Retrieving messages

GetMemberMessages
For versions 653 or higher, this call will return messages up to 4000 characters long using the MemberMessage.MemberMessageExchange.Question.Body field.

Note that versions lower than 653 will only return 2000 characters of that field, so messages may be truncated. We recommend that you update your request version to avoid the risk of truncated messages.

GetMyMessages
For all versions, this call can return up to 2 MB using the Messages.Message.Text field. This should support most threaded messages. There is no need to update your request version to take advantage of this larger field size.

DE Sellers with Under 50 Feedback Must Include PayPal

Starting Feb 25, 2010, sellers who have less then 50 feedback and want to list on the German site, are now required to provide PayPal as one of the payment options. Otherwise the listing will fail. PayPal does not need to be the ONLY payment option.

The PayPal option is not required for Cars or Real Estate listings.

Developers can help sellers comply with the new requirement by flagging non-compliant listings for their review. Also by offering bulk editing tools to so sellers can search live listings and revise.

For more information, see the DE announcement and the DE Info Hub.

New Recoupment Agreement for Cross-Border Sellers

As of 657 (mid-Feb), sellers registered on Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore sites will need to accept an agreement before they can list on the US and UK sites. For example, an HK seller would need to accept an agreement before listing for the first time on the US site. Otherwise those listings will be blocked. Sellers registered on other sites may be served this agreement in the future if we expand this requirement.

The agreement must be accepted on the site, but the API will provide which sites require those agreements (GeteBayDetails), and what agreements users have accepted (GetUser). You can use this to verify in advance that sellers are eligible to list on the US or UK sites.

More information:
US Agreement
UK Agreement

657 Trading, Shopping, Client Alerts, Merchant Data API Docs Now Available

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.

Video Interview with 2009 eBay Star Developer Award Winner inkFrog

"No secret, it is hard work...If we see a big demand for this new (eBay) feature from our sellers, we'll make it a priority...eBay sellers are our #1 priority" — Sergey Petrenko of inkFrog on how they innovate and help eBay sellers stay on top of eBay changes.

inkFrog's Sergey Petrenko and Debbie Levitt joined us at our 2009 eBay Developers Conference in San Jose to discuss their win in the Rapid Evolution category of the 2009 eBay Star Developer Awards.

New eBay features and changes in policy often require eBay sellers to evolve rapidly to the changing marketplace. inkFrog is a company exemplifying how eBay developers can create solutions to help sellers efficiently evolve, incorporate and adapt to new eBay seller standards and marketplace enhancements. To assist sellers in evolving with eBay, inkFrog created two unique features within their Sales Manager solution for eBay; Globals and Find & Replace.

Globals — Easily Update eBay Listings

Globals provides eBay sellers the ability to bulk update live listings! All a seller needs to do is set a new "rule" or "update" within Globals and apply this to all their listings or specify which listing groups, i.e. saved listings, live listings, scheduled listings. Globals can be created and applied in bulk to change or revise payment options, checkout instructions, shipping, return policy and more.

Find & Replace — Revise eBay Item Descriptions

Find & Replace targets eBay item descriptions. Sellers can "find" specific words/text within their item descriptions and "replace" with new updated text/information. For example, a seller can "find" all item listings with the text money order in the item descriptions, and "replace" with new text such as; I accept PayPal and payment upon pickup.

Sellers are able to use inkFrog's Globals and Find & Replace to update, revise and edit all of their listings or in large bulks. Great news for large sellers and a huge time saver!

inkFrog was able to create such innovative features (Globals and Find & Replace) with the eBay API calls "GetItem" and "ReviseItem".

Watch our interview with Sergey and Debbie filmed on location at eBay DevCon (clip is 7:01 in length).

- Ginger

First eBay: On Location City Announced

eBay just announced the first of their eBay: On Location events happening in Atlanta March 19-20.

eBay: On Location is a new series of day-and-a-half long, in-person, educational and networking events designed to give part-time eBay sellers and small businesses on eBay practical information and business insights. Courses and interactive sessions will be presented by both eBay experts and third-party business and branding leaders.

Early Bird registration ends February 16.

eBay Sellers will find eBay: On Location a great way to learn from eBay and from each other. eBay Developers should keep their eyes on the Developers Program blog for information on the upcoming 2010 eBay Developers Conference.

The eBay DevCon call for papers closes February 26, so get your proposals in now and share your expertise with the rest of the eBay Developer Community.

For more information on eBay: On Location, see http://ebayonlocationevents.com.
For information on the eBay Developers Conference and the Call for Papers, see http://devcon.ebay.com.

February 2010 Categories & Item Specifics Changes Now Live

The category structure will be updated in two releases: one in February and another in March. The February release went live on Feb 7.

If you sell in the areas below, please click on the links to review the February changes.

Please note: March changes will be available for review closer to the release date.

Baby (February release)

• Strollers: Removing stroller subcategories in favor of more flexible Custom Item Specifics functionalities.

Business & Industrial (March release)

• Retail & Services: Moving the Jewelry Retail Packaging & Display to B&I, out of Jewelry & Watches

Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (March release)

• Children’s Clothing: Streamlining the category structure and using more flexible Custom Item Specifics to allow searching for clothing by size.
• Women’s Handbags & Bags: Creating new section for Handbag Accessories
• Women’s Accessories: removing various categories to be replaced by Custom Item Specifics

Collectibles (March release)

• Knives, Swords & Blades: Removing Brand categories in the Fixed and Folding Knives sections

Computers & Networking (February release)

• Minor changes, including adding new category in Wireless Networks for 802.11n.

Crafts (February release)

• Removing subcategories in multiple sections, to be replaced with more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Electronics (March release)

• Renaming “DVD Players & Recorders” to “Blu-Ray & DVD Players”

Health & Beauty (February release)

• Fragrances: Removing brand- and gender-specific subcategories in favor of more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Home & Garden (February release)

• Tools & Home Improvement: Splitting Tools and Home Improvement into separate sections, to simplify click-through to each.
• Plants, Seeds & Bulbs: Updating categories and Custom Item Specifics to improve classification and finding of items.
• Minor additional subcategory removals in multiple sections, to accommodate Custom Item Specifics and improve finding

Jewelry & Watches (February and March releases)

• Loose Diamonds & Gemstones (February): Removing cut- and carat-specific subcategories for Diamonds, and cut- and color-specific subcategories in Gemstones, to be replaced with Item Specifics.
• Designer Brands (March): Adding additional Brand categories. Removing jewelry type subcategories below each brand, in favor of Custom Item Specifics.
• Ethnic, Regional & Tribal (March): Removing jewelry type subcategories
• Fashion Jewelry; Men’s Jewelry (March): Removing metal, stone, and jewelry style subcategories, to be replaced by Custom Item Specifics.
• Jewelry Boxes, Cases & Display (March): Renaming “Jewelry Boxes, Cases & Display” to “Jewelry Boxes & Organizers.” Moving Retail Packaging & Display to Business & Industrial. See above.

Motors (March release)

• Adoption of Item Specifics will become mandatory for sellers in the following categories:
• Parts & Accessories> Car & Truck Parts> Wheels, Tires & Parts> Wheels
• Parts & Accessories> Car & Truck Parts> Wheels, Tires & Parts> Tires
• Parts & Accessories> Car & Truck Parts> Wheels, Tires & Parts> Wheel/Tire Packages
• Minor category additions in Parts & Accessories.
• Minor reorganizing of the category structure in Car Electronics.
• Adjusting the character limit allowed in certain Item Specifics, including Manufacturer Part Number and Interchange Part Number
• Renaming certain Item Specifics, including Rim Diameter and Bolt Pattern.

Music (February release)

• Combining DVD Audio and Super Audio CDs into the Other Formats category

Musical Instruments (February release)

• Removing subcategories in Guitars in favor of more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Sporting Goods (February release)

• Golf: Removing brand and condition subcategories, to be replaced with more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop (February release)

• Fan Apparel & Souvenirs: Removing team- and product-specific categories, to be replaced with more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Stamps (February release)

• Minor category changes for Australia and Asia.

Toys & Hobbies (March release)

• Action Figures: Removing subcategories under Transformers to be replaced with Custom Item Specifics.
• Diecast & Toy Vehicles: Updating categories and Item Specifics to improve classification and finding of items.
• Radio Control & Control Line: Updating categories and Item Specifics to improve classification and finding of items.
• Toy Soldiers: Removing material subcategories in favor of more flexible Custom Item Specifics.

Travel (March release)

• Minor changes in Vacation Packages.

655 Trading, Shopping, Client Alerts, Merchant Data API Docs Now Available

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.