The primary force that drives the eBay model is the sale of things to buyers. The first step in selling to buyers is listing an item on the eBay marketplace.
An item can be listed with the eBay user interface, which is referred to as the Sell Your Item pages (or SYI for short). An item can also be listed using an application.
Item listings created on an eBay marketplace and through an application are functionally the same. When an item created using an application is viewed on the eBay marketplace, it looks and behaves the same as an item listed using the eBay marketplace. The reverse is also true.
In the Trading API, an item listing is represented by the Item object. There are a number of aspects to an item, from the title and price, to the amount of time the listing appears on eBay, to how the item appears visually. These aspects translate directly to properties of the Item object. So when an application lists an item with values specified by the seller, it is closely analogous to the seller supplying the same values on the SYI page.
Some item properties affect the appearance of the listing on various pages where items are viewed (the View Item page, Search Results page, etc.) Other properties affect how a prospective buyer goes about purchasing the item and how much that buyer needs to pay. Still other properties do not have an effect until later on, in the checkout process.
This section provides information about how item listings are created and published, including:
- An overview of applicable Trading API calls;
- Identifying and assigning effective Categories to listings;
- Required and optional fields/containers;
- General information such as business policies, shipping options, and fees.