datawebotIndependent source guide
eBay listing data: IDs, variations and sold-price research
Map eBay listing and variation IDs, seller offers, auctions and sold history. Compare eBay Product Research with Browse API and seller inventory access.
Keep eBay listing, group and product IDs separate
A legacy listing ID, an individual purchasable variation, a variation group, and an eBay catalog product are different records. Keep each value with its source API field name so a parent listing is not mistaken for one option.
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| Identifier | What eBay documents | How to preserve it |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy API ItemID | Legacy APIs return a listing ID. A multi-variation listing can return the same parent ItemID for each variation; it does not identify each color or size by itself. | Record the API generation and parent listing ID. Join a specific option only when variation details identify it. |
| Browse API itemId | The REST Browse model uses itemId for an individual purchasable item, including a specific member of a variation group. | Store the exact itemId as the item key; keep any returned itemGroupId separately. |
| Browse API itemGroupId | A group contains related item variations, such as different colors or sizes. | Use it as the group relationship, not as the selected item's identifier. |
| ePID | An eBay catalog product ID identifies an associated catalog product; a listing may not have one. | Keep it as an optional catalog match, separate from listing and seller-offer IDs. |
| Seller SKU namespaces | A legacy variation SKU is a seller-defined value for an item in a group. An Inventory API SKU is seller-defined and must be unique across that seller's inventory. | Preserve the source field and seller namespace. Neither value is a marketplace-wide product identifier. |
Compare the complete eBay offer context
A displayed amount only compares like with like when the listing format, marketplace, selected option, condition and delivery basis are preserved with it. Keep seller and shipping terms as separate visible fields; omit buyer account details and member personal information.
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| Context | What to record | Comparison rule |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace and currency | The eBay site/marketplace, displayed currency, and destination context when known. | Do not combine prices from different markets or convert currency without recording the rate and time. |
| Selling format | Fixed price, auction, or another displayed buying option; for an auction, the current bid and observation time. | A fixed price is an asking offer. An auction bid is not the final sale price. |
| Selected variation and condition | Exact size, color, model or edition and the stated item condition. | A different option, bundle or condition is not a like-for-like offer. |
| Seller and delivery terms | Only the seller/delivery details presented for the selected listing, item price, shipping charge and delivery basis when visible. | Keep shipping separate from item price and avoid collecting user information without consent. |
| Listing state and time | Source URL, active or ended state, and observation timestamp. | A later page may be a revised, unavailable or ended offer rather than the same listing. |
Separate active offers from eBay sold-history evidence
An active item page shows a seller's current offer or auction state; it does not reveal the price a buyer paid. eBay's seller research tools answer historical-sale questions with a separate dataset and stated time range.
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| Evidence source | What it can answer | Limit to preserve |
|---|---|---|
| Active item page | The buyer-facing price or bid, condition, selected variation, seller/delivery terms and state visible at capture time. | This is an offer observation, not a completed transaction or sales trend. |
| Completed-listing results | eBay help describes sold listings that ended within the previous 90 days. | Treat it as a recent window, not a multi-year sales history. |
| Product Research in Seller Hub | For sellers with access, eBay reports up to three years of sales data across eBay marketplaces, with price ranges/averages, shipping metrics and selling formats; results include actual sale price when a Best Offer was accepted. | Search terms and filters matter; do not infer an accepted offer price from the original listing price or compare loosely related results as identical products. |
| Your dated offer captures | How an asking price or current auction bid changed across observations you actually recorded. | A self-built offer history cannot reconstruct a sale or earlier price that was never captured. |
Choose an eBay data route by whose record you need
Buyer-facing listings, eBay seller research and a merchant's own inventory are different routes. eBay documents these as separate tools and developer APIs, each with its own access and use requirements.
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| Question | eBay route | Access and scope boundary |
|---|---|---|
| What does a buyer-facing listing offer? | Browse API item search and details. | eBay documents keyword, category, GTIN, product/ePID, aspect and image searches, plus item/group details. Browse methods require an Application access token from the client credentials flow. |
| What sold, and at what accepted offer price? | Product Research in Seller Hub. | Use the seller-facing research tool and its own query/filter scope; this is not a field inferred from an active item page. |
| What inventory and offers does my business own? | Inventory API. | It models seller-owned inventory items, seller SKUs, locations and offers. User-specific seller records require the relevant seller authorization. |
| Can an application use Buy APIs in production? | eBay Developers Program / Buy API requirements. | eBay says many Buy APIs are limited release and production use is intended for eBay partners; production access requires application review and approval, which is not guaranteed. |
Keep eBay terms separate from crawler directives
The current eBay.com User Agreement and the eBay.com robots file are different sources with different scopes. Record their checked date and exact version or user-agent group; neither robots rules nor API documentation establishes permission for a particular data-collection use.
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| Source | Checked statement | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| eBay.com User Agreement, section 3 | Checked October 4, 2026. The posted version is effective June 28, 2026 for users who agreed to a prior version and upon acceptance for new users; it names eBay Inc. for U.S. residents. Section 3 names robots, scrapers, data mining and data-gathering/extraction automation, except with eBay's prior express permission; it separately addresses technical circumvention, unreasonable load and collection/use of user information without consent. | Attribute this to the reviewed eBay.com agreement. Do not make a legal determination about an individual workflow or generalize to every local eBay site's agreement. |
| eBay.com robots.txt | Checked October 4, 2026; the file showed no last-updated date. GPTBot is in a group with Disallow: / and enumerated allowed paths. OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User are in a separate group with path/query-specific rules and exceptions. | Different user-agent groups do not share one blanket rule; robots directives are crawler instructions, separate from contractual permissions. |
| eBay developer API requirements | Browse API tokens, Buy API production review, and seller authorization are documented separately from buyer-facing listing pages. | Record the API family and whether its production-review or seller-authorization requirement applies. |
Content reviewed 2026-10-07.