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Published: September 12 2014, 11:22:00 AMUpdated: August 19 2022, 9:02:54 AM

Why am I getting the error below when trying to list an item under books (categoryID: 378). How can I get past it?

<ShortMessage>Invalid ShippingServiceCost</ShortMessage> 
<LongMessage>Shipping service cost exceeds $4.00 maximum allowed for selected category.</LongMessage> 
<ErrorCode>21916260</ErrorCode> 
<SeverityCode>Error</SeverityCode> 
<ErrorParameters ParamID="0">
  <Value>$4.00</Value> 
</ErrorParameters>

 My ShippingDetails container is as follows - 
 

 <ShippingDetails>
    <ShippingType>Flat</ShippingType>

    <ShippingServiceOptions>
      <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
      <ShippingService>UPS2ndDay</ShippingService>
      <ShippingServiceCost>10</ShippingServiceCost>
    </ShippingServiceOptions>

    <InternationalShippingServiceOption>
      <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
      <ShippingService>USPSPriorityMailInternational</ShippingService>
      <ShippingServiceCost>15</ShippingServiceCost>
      <ShippingServiceAdditionalCost>11</ShippingServiceAdditionalCost>
      <ShipToLocation>Worldwide</ShipToLocation>
    </InternationalShippingServiceOption>
  </ShippingDetails>

 

 

For some categories, eBay imposes a maximum on the shipping cost that a seller can specify for the first domestic flat rate shipping service.

To resolve this error -

Make a call to GetCategoryFeatures for the categoryID and note the value of MaxFlatShippingCost.

     
- <Category>
  <CategoryID>378</CategoryID>
  ....
  <BestOfferAutoAcceptEnabled>true</BestOfferAutoAcceptEnabled>
  <MaxFlatShippingCost currencyID="USD">4.0</MaxFlatShippingCost>
  .......
</Category>

In your AddItem request, change the value of your 1st domestic flat rate shipping service cost to be less than or equal to the value of MaxFlatShippingCost. See sample XML snippet below

     <ShippingServiceOptions>
        <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
        <ShippingService>UPSGround</ShippingService>
        <ShippingServiceCost>4</ShippingServiceCost>
     </ShippingServiceOptions>

 

Just to clarify a bit more, AddItem response will throw the error-21916260, if you specify the services in the following order :


<ShippingDetails >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >USPSPriority </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >5.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >ShippingMethodExpress </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >5.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >ShippingMethodStandard </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >3.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >USPSMedia </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >3.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingType >Flat </ShippingType >
     </ShippingDetails >

This is because the 1st or the default shipping method should NOT exceed the value of MaxFlatShippingCost(in this case $4.00). So if you just alter the order of the above shipping service and specify the one with $3.49 first, the request will go through. The AddItem request that will work is :

  <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >ShippingMethodStandard </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >3.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >USPSMedia </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >3.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >USPSPriority </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >5.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >
       <ShippingServiceOptions >
         <ShippingService >ShippingMethodExpress </ShippingService >
         <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD" >5.49 </ShippingServiceCost >
       </ShippingServiceOptions >

 




 

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