Condition

An item's condition is one of the top factors buyers consider when deciding whether to purchase an item. When you create your listing, help your buyers understand exactly what they will be receiving by specifying its condition. Listings that specify the item's condition provide useful information and as a result, may be more likely to sell.

An item's condition appears just below the listing title in the View Item page. When buyers search for items, they often use eBay's Advanced Search options to narrow their search based on the item's condition. In these cases, your listing will appear in search results only if you specified the condition by using one of eBay's structured methods (not in the text of your listing description).

For additional information about item conditions, refer to:

• the Item Conditions topic, and
• the Item condition help page.

ConditionId

When listing an item, most categories require that a Item.ConditionID be included. eBay defines a list of well-understood conditions, such as "New", "Used", and other values. Each condition corresponds to a numeric ID (e.g., 1000 for "New,") so that even if the display name varies across categories or marketplaces, you can use the same IDs in AddItem and related calls.

To determine the appropriate condition ID to use in a listing, call the Metadata API getItemConditionPolicies method for the target marketplace and leaf category.

1. Inspect the itemConditionRequired field to determine whether item condition is required for the category.

2. Inspect the conditionId and conditionDescription fields to identify the supported condition values.

3. Choose the most accurate condition ID and specify the numeric ID value in the Item.ConditionID field of the AddItem (or related) call.

If the item is not new, consider also adding the Item.ConditionDescription field to describe any wear and tear and/or defects with the item.

If you pass an Item.ConditionID value that is not valid for the category, or if you omit Item.ConditionID for a category where item condition is required, the request fails.

For additional information about ConditionIds, refer to the ConditionIds topic.

Argument: Item.ConditionID

ConditionDescription

The Item.ConditionDescription field is optional and available for use within all categories, including those categories where the condition type is not applicable (e.g., Antiques).

This field is applicable for all item conditions except New, Brand New, New with tags, and New in box.

Argument: Item.ConditionDescription

Maximum Length: 1000 characters