Note: Looking for the Feed API beta documents? You can access them here.

The Feed API gives you the ability to:

  • Download a feed file containing all of the items in an eBay L1 category for a specific eBay marketplace
  • Download a curated item feed file containing all items
  • Download an item feed file containing all items for a specific product group
  • Curate the items offline by item aspects, price, product, payment method, ship to location, etc.
  • Keep your item information up to date

Note: This is a (Limited Release) API available only to select developers approved by business units. For information on how to obtain access to this API in production, see the Buy APIs Requirements.

Technical overview

Using the Feed API, you can download a rich selection information about items and products for your buyers. The Item feeds enable you to retrieve details of eBay marketplace items across various top-level (L1) categories. The list of L1 categories is available through the Taxonomy API.

Note: An L1 category in the Taxonomy API response will have a categoryTreeNodeLevel value of 1.

Primary methods

The Feed API uses the following methods:

  • getAccess – Returns the details of the application's feed file access configuration. Lists the marketplaces and categories for which the application can download feeds.
  • getFeedTypes – Returns a list of all the feeds available to download, listed by feed type. The response included information on the feed's scope (daily, hourly, or weekly), supported feeds in that type, marketplace and status (active, paused, or deprecated).
  • getFeedType – Returns a list of the feeds of a particular feed type that are available for download. The response included information on the feed's scope (daily, hourly, or weekly), supported feeds in that type, marketplace and status (active, paused, or deprecated).
  • getFile – Returns selected metadata about a specified download file. It includes details on the date of its feed, its file type, its scope, its format, and the marketplace(s) it describes.
  • get Files – Returns a list of the feed files available to download. The file search can be filtered in the URI by feed type, feed scope, category id, and how far back in time from the present the feed was made available.
  • downloadFile – Returns the GZIP feed file.

Supported feed types

The following table lists the feed types that are currently supported by the Feed API: 

Feed Type ID Feed Type Description Supported Marketplaces
CURATED_ITEM_FEED This feed type provides a curated collection of items, based on category and date, and returns a set of fields used to describe the curated items. EBAY_AU
EBAY_DE
EBAY_FR
EBAY_GB
EBAY_IT
EBAY_US
PRODUCT_FEED This feed type provides a collection of items, based on a specific product group, and returns a set of fields used to describe the items. EBAY_AU
EBAY_DE
EBAY_FR
EBAY_GB
EBAY_IT
EBAY_US

Note: Follow the links for the feed types provided in the table above to view examples of the feed fields returned for each type.

Business use cases

When used with the other Buy APIs, the Feed API lets you create shopping/buying opportunities virtually anywhere. For example, your buyers can have a seamless buying experience woven into a social application. This section outlines the high-level use cases for the Feed API.

Get daily feed files

You can download a daily feed file of curated items for a specific date and L1 category. You can also download available product feed files on a daily basis to view items across a specific product group.

API restrictions

Please note the following constraints for the Feed API.

Note: In addition to the Feed API restrictions below, there are also requirements for using the Buy APIs. For more information, see Buy APIs Requirements.

Regional/site constraints

For a list of the supported eBay marketplaces for a specific feed type, use the getFeedTypes method.

To access the details of available feed files, pass in the X-EBAY-C-MARKETPLACE-ID request header for the eBay marketplace of interest. For example:

X-EBAY-C-MARKETPLACE-ID : EBAY_AU

Sandbox limitations and support

The Feed API is currently unavailable in eBay's sandbox environment.

Use of the APIs in production is restricted. Users must meet standard eligibility requirements, get approvals from eBay support organizations, and sign contracts with eBay to access the Buy APIs in production.

See Production eligibility requirements in the Buying Integration Guide for more information.

eBay Partner Network tracking links

If you are an EPN (eBay Partner Network) publisher, you will want to advertise all eBay listings on your website with the proper tracking links. Most EPN tools and the REST APIs are capable of dynamically exposing individual tracking links for your EPN account. However, the Feed API does not provide tracking links. You can retrieve this link using the Browse getItem method. Or you can create this link. For information on how to create this link, see Create EPN Tracking Link.

Rate limits

The Feed API limits the number of calls that can be made per day on behalf of your application. For the current application rate limits, see the API call limits page.