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Published: May 07 2010, 3:21:00 AMUpdated: August 19 2022, 2:03:16 AM

My AddItem requests which used to work earlier now return the following warnings:

Error Code 21916886 - Item condition definitions have changed. Severity - Warning
Error Code 21916885 - Dropped condition from Item specifics.  Severity - Warning

Why am I getting these warnings?

Clearly specified item condition is a good way to reduce buyer questions and preventlow DSRs for Item as described. To make this easier eBay introduces more descriptive item condition values in many categories.

  

Over the next few months, you will find more categories supporting the new way of defining item condition. By the end of July 2010, *only* the new way of specifying item condition will be supported. During this migration phase, the current method of specifying condition will continue to be accepted in eBay's APIs with the above warning messages to the sellers in the response. You can read more about the item condition changed here: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/itemcondition.html

  

After July 2010, the new item condition will become mandatory in the relevant categories and only the new values accepted in all the AddItem and ReviseItem family of calls.

  

These error messages are only warning messages and just to inform the seller that the item condition definitions are changed and they need to update accordingly.

  

To know the changes in item condition values call GetCategoryFeatures API call with the <CategoryID> and <DetailLevel> set to “ReturnAll”. For example let us take the CategoryID:3312 (Cell Phones & PDAs : Cell Phones & Smartphones) on the US site.

  

GetCategoryFeatures Request

  

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<GetCategoryFeaturesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">

  <RequesterCredentials>

    <eBayAuthToken>*****</eBayAuthToken>

  </RequesterCredentials>

  <DetailLevel>ReturnAll</DetailLevel>

  <ViewAllNodes>true</ViewAllNodes>

  <CategoryID>3312</CategoryID>

</GetCategoryFeaturesRequest>

  

  

  

GetCategoryFeatures Request

  

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<GetCategoryFeaturesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">

  <Timestamp>2010-05-07T09:57:31.940Z</Timestamp>

  <Ack>Success</Ack>

  <Version>667</Version>

  <Build>E667_CORE_BUNDLED_11142706_R1</Build>

  <CategoryVersion>3320</CategoryVersion>

  <UpdateTime>2010-05-07T09:44:14.000Z</UpdateTime>

  <Category>

    <CategoryID>3312</CategoryID>

    <BestOfferEnabled>true</BestOfferEnabled>

    <BestOfferCounterEnabled>true</BestOfferCounterEnabled>

    <BestOfferAutoDeclineEnabled>true</BestOfferAutoDeclineEnabled>

    <ExpressConditionRequired>true</ExpressConditionRequired>

    <BestOfferAutoAcceptEnabled>true</BestOfferAutoAcceptEnabled>

    <ItemCompatibilityEnabled>Disabled</ItemCompatibilityEnabled>

    <MinItemCompatibility>-1</MinItemCompatibility>

    <MaxItemCompatibility>-1</MaxItemCompatibility>

    <ConditionEnabled>Enabled</ConditionEnabled>

    <ConditionValues>

      <Condition>

        <ID>1000</ID>

        <DisplayName>New</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <Condition>

        <ID>1500</ID>

        <DisplayName>New other (see details)</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <Condition>

        <ID>2000</ID>

        <DisplayName>Manufacturer refurbished</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <Condition>

        <ID>2500</ID>

        <DisplayName>Seller refurbished</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <Condition>

        <ID>3000</ID>

        <DisplayName>Used</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <Condition>

        <ID>7000</ID>

        <DisplayName>For parts or not working</DisplayName>

      </Condition>

      <ConditionHelpURL>

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/contextual/condition_1.html</ConditionHelpURL>

    </ConditionValues>

  </Category>

  ...

  ...

  ...

  ...

</GetCategoryFeaturesResponse>

 

 

  

  

A sample VerifyAddFixedPriceItem request will look as follows:

Sample AddItem Request

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<VerifyAddFixedPriceItemRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">

  <WarningLevel>High</WarningLevel>

  <Item>

    <Country>US</Country>

    <Currency>USD</Currency>

    <Description>Description</Description>

    <DispatchTimeMax>3</DispatchTimeMax>

    <ConditionID>1000</ConditionID>

    <ListingDuration>GTC</ListingDuration>

    <ListingType>FixedPriceItem</ListingType>

    <PaymentMethods>PayPal</PaymentMethods>

    <PayPalEmailAddress>test@test.com</PayPalEmailAddress>

    <PostalCode>95410</PostalCode>

    <PrimaryCategory>

      <CategoryID>57991</CategoryID>

    </PrimaryCategory>

    <Title>Test Item - Variation lisitng</Title>

    <PictureDetails>

      <PictureURL>http://i12.ebayimg.com/03/i/04/8a/5f/a1_1_sbl.JPG</PictureURL>

    </PictureDetails>

    <ReturnPolicy>

      <ReturnsAcceptedOption>ReturnsAccepted</ReturnsAcceptedOption>

      <Description>Text description of return policy details</Description>

      <ShippingCostPaidByOption>Buyer</ShippingCostPaidByOption>

    </ReturnPolicy>

    <ShippingDetails>

      <ShippingServiceOptions>

        <ShippingService>UPSGround</ShippingService>

        <ShippingServiceCost>2</ShippingServiceCost>

        <ShippingServiceAdditionalCost>1</ShippingServiceAdditionalCost>

        <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>

      </ShippingServiceOptions>

    </ShippingDetails>

    <ItemSpecifics>

      <NameValueList>

        <Name>Brand</Name>

        <Value>Ralph Lauren</Value>

      </NameValueList>

      <NameValueList>

        <Name>Style</Name>

        <Value>Polo Shirt</Value>

      </NameValueList>

    </ItemSpecifics>

    <Variations>

      <VariationSpecificsSet>

        <NameValueList>

          <Name>Size</Name>

          <Value>M</Value>

          <Value>S</Value>

        </NameValueList>

      </VariationSpecificsSet>

      <Variation>

        <SKU>12345</SKU>

        <StartPrice>17.99</StartPrice>

        <Quantity>4</Quantity>

        <VariationSpecifics>

          <NameValueList>

            <Name>Size</Name>

            <Value>M</Value>

          </NameValueList>

        </VariationSpecifics>

      </Variation>

      <Variation>

        <SKU>12346</SKU>

        <StartPrice>17.99</StartPrice>

        <Quantity>8</Quantity>

        <VariationSpecifics>

          <NameValueList>

            <Name>Size</Name>

            <Value>S</Value>

          </NameValueList>

        </VariationSpecifics>

      </Variation>

    </Variations>

  </Item>

  <RequesterCredentials>

    <eBayAuthToken>****</eBayAuthToken>

  </RequesterCredentials>

</VerifyAddFixedPriceItemRequest>

 

 

  

If you notice in the response the new tag <ConditionEnabled> is returned. This tag indicates that the category supported the new item condition definition values and the corresponding values are available in the <ConditionValues> container. The description of each condition is available in the <ConditionHelpURL> tag.

  

In the AddItem/ReviseItem family of calls the condition can be specified using the <Item><ConditionID> tag. http://developer.ebay.com/devzone/xml/docs/reference/ebay/AddItem.html#Request.Item.ConditionID

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