Reminder: eBay Developer site migration

Hi folks!

Just a reminder that on September 29th, the eBay developer site will become part of X.commerce and the x.com web site.

All of the information on the current eBay developer site including forums, product information, API downloads, etc. will be migrated over to x.com including your login and profile.

To prepare for the migration, developer.ebay.com will be read-only on September 21-28th. You'll be able to search for information on the site — but no content will be able to be updated or added.

We're excited for the migration of the eBay developer site as we combine our developer communities. We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, feedback, or concerns let us know by sending an email to feedback@x.com.

Thanks,
JoAnn Peach
eBay Developer Program

739 Trading, Shopping, 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.

Change in UK Parts & Accessories - Selling parts that fit specific vehicles

Parts compatibility allows sellers to show all the cars that are compatible with a part or accessory in a single listing, helping to save time and money and giving buyers an easy way to find the right parts for their vehicle. Starting mid October 2011, parts compatibility will be available for use by eBay sellers.

When sellers assign compatible cars to a listing, buyers will find the parts they are looking for more quickly, and be more confident that they are buying a part that fits their model. This should help result in fewer queries and returns. Sellers can choose compatible cars from a Master Vehicle List (MVL) of more than 16,000 models.

Want to know more? Read the eBay’s seller release information which shows all the seller benefits, categories, and timeline here.

The eBay’s seller help page includes the Master Vehicle List (MVL) and how to create and modify listings using the MVL.

Want to plan for this addition?

Find the API documentation and Sandbox here and be prepared for the scheduled launch mid October.

Have questions? Feel free to contact me at jpeach@ebay.com!

737 Trading, Shopping, 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.

Heads up! Upcoming changes to your eBay Developer site

Hi All!

We wanted to let you know that on September 29th, the eBay developer site will become part of X.commerce and the x.com web site. You may have recently heard that the leaders of commerce: eBay, PayPal, and Magento, have joined together to create a new company, X.commerce. The eBay Developer Program will be an important part of redefining the marketplace with X.commerce.

All of the information on the current eBay developer site including forums, product information, API downloads, etc. will be migrated over to x.com including your login and profile.

A few important items to note:

To prepare for the migration, developer.ebay.com will be in read-only mode a few days before September 29th. You'll be able to search for information on the site — but no content will be able to be updated or added. Please check http://developer.ebay.com/ for more details on the migration during this time.

When the site goes live on September 29th, you will have the ability to log in with either your eBay or PayPal login credentials at x.com. If you have both accounts, you will be able to choose which credentials you wish to make your primary account. Once selected, your community activity and forum history from both accounts will be merged to create one new account and user profile on x.com. If you only have an eBay account, your current account and user profile will not change.

We're excited for the migration of the eBay developer site as we bring our developer communities together. We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, feedback, or concerns let us know by sending an email to feedback@x.com or email me directly at jpeach@ebay.com.

80 character Title API Call details

We at eBay understand that sometimes 55 characters is just not enough to get your message across. Sellers have long complained about this and we are pleased to announce that as of September 6^th we enabled the use of up to 80 characters in titles.

What is the change:

Previously sellers were limited to only 55 characters for their item titles. Now sellers can use up to 80 characters. All eBay listings flows and tools have been updated. This applies to all sites globally.

Why is this change an improvement and what other efforts does it support:

Sellers have for years been asking for longer titles to allow a more complete and differentiated explanation of what they are selling. Not only does this change bring us more in-line with competitors but the longer title space will help us:

1)      Allow more complete support of our catalog titles. Many product titles are over 55 characters in order to distinguish one product/model from another and previously sellers had to edit those title and carefully choose the words needed to succinctly describe their item.

2)    Following our removal of duplicate items, sellers struggled with how to distinguish their truly different listings which are currently being flagged as policy violations. Giving sellers 45% more title space allows them to more accurately differentiate their inventory.

3)      By allowing more terms in the title we better allow search engines off eBay to surface our most relevant items.