GetMemberMessages

Use this call to retrieve a list of messages from buyers. The messages pertain to the active listings of the authenticated caller.

A buyer can ask a question on the eBay site. The seller can respond to the "Ask Seller a Question" (ASQ) message using calls from the AddMemberMessage family of calls. See Communication Between Members for conceptual information about messaging.

GetMemberMessages retrieves messages sent between buyers and sellers about a particular item listing or order line item. The response contains an Item container for each returned message, which includes the relevant ItemID.

GetMemberMessages returns more nodes per message than GetMyMessages. GetMyMessages returns more types of messages than GetMemberMessages.

Usage Details

You can get all the messages sent within a specific time range by providing StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime in your request. Or you can specify an item's ItemID to get messages about an item.

GetMemberMessages supports pagination. Use the Pagination.EntriesPerPage and Pagination.PageNumber input fields. EntriesPerPage establishes the maximum number of detail entries returned per call. Set this to one of the four following values: 25 (the default), 50, 100, or 200. If a value of zero or less or a value greater than 200 is specified, the call fails with an error. A specified value of 1-24 is automatically rounded up to 25 (and the call does not fail). Values between 26 and 199 that are not one of the accepted values are automatically rounded down to the nearest accepted value.

After calling GetMemberMessages, inspect the children of the MemberMessages container. For instance, if you want to know whether a message was previously answered, inspect the MessageStatus field.

Testing GetMemberMessages

You can test GetMemberMessages in the Sandbox.

Related Information

See also the reference documentation for this call:

GetMyMessages - Retrieves information about the messages sent to a user.

Input

See also Samples.

The box below lists all fields that could be included in the call request. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are (or soon will be) non-operational.

The XML prototype does not include requester credentials. This is a documentation limitation only (see Standard Requester Credentials for Making Calls).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetMemberMessagesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <!-- Call-specific Input Fields -->
  <DisplayToPublic> boolean </DisplayToPublic>
  <EndCreationTime> dateTime </EndCreationTime>
  <ItemID> ItemIDType (string) </ItemID>
  <MailMessageType> MessageTypeCodeType </MailMessageType>
  <MemberMessageID> string </MemberMessageID>
  <MessageStatus> MessageStatusTypeCodeType </MessageStatus>
  <Pagination> PaginationType
    <EntriesPerPage> int </EntriesPerPage>
    <PageNumber> int </PageNumber>
  </Pagination>
  <SenderID> UserIDType (string) </SenderID>
  <StartCreationTime> dateTime </StartCreationTime>
  <!-- Standard Input Fields -->
  <ErrorLanguage> string </ErrorLanguage>
  <MessageID> string </MessageID>
  <OutputSelector> string </OutputSelector>
  <!-- ... more OutputSelector values allowed here ... -->
  <Version> string </Version>
  <WarningLevel> WarningLevelCodeType </WarningLevel>
</GetMemberMessagesRequest>

Argument	Type	Occurrence	Meaning

Call-specific Input Fields [Jump to standard fields]

DisplayToPublic	boolean	Optional	If included in the request and set to `true`, only public messages (viewable in the Item listing) are returned. If omitted or set to `false` in the request, all messages (that match other filters in the request) are returned in the response.
EndCreationTime	dateTime	Conditional	Used as end of date range filter. If specified, filters the returned messages to only those with a creation date less than or equal to the specified date and time. For Contact eBay Member (CEM) messages, StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime must be provided. For Ask Seller a Question (ASQ) messages, either the ItemID, or a date range (specified with StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime), or both must be included.
ItemID	ItemIDType (string)	Conditional	The unique identifier of the eBay listing for which you wish to retrieve member messages. For Ask Seller Question messages, the ItemID and/or a date range (specified with StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime fields), are required, or the call will fail.
MailMessageType	MessageTypeCodeType	Required	This required field indicates the type of member message to retrieve. Only the following two enumeration values are allowed. The call will fail if this field is not included in the request. Applicable values: All (in/out) All message types. AskSellerQuestion (in/out) Member to Member message initiated by bidder/potential bidder to a seller of a particular item. (Not all values in MessageTypeCodeType apply to this field.)
MemberMessageID	string	Optional	An ID that uniquely identifies the message for a given user to be retrieved. Used for the AskSellerQuestion notification only.
MessageStatus	MessageStatusTypeCodeType	Optional	This field allows you to retrieve only unanswered member messages or answered member messages. If this field is omitted, both answered and unanswered member messages are retrieved. Applicable values: Answered (in/out) The question has been answered at least once. CustomCode (in/out) Reserved for future or internal use. Unanswered (in/out) The question has not yet been answered.
Pagination	PaginationType	Optional	Standard pagination argument used to reduce response.
Pagination.EntriesPerPage	int	Optional	This integer value is used to specify the maximum number of entries to return in a single "page" of data. This value, along with the number of entries that match the input criteria, will determine the total pages (see PaginationResult.TotalNumberOfPages) in the result set. The maximum and default values are not the same for all calls. For most Trading API calls, the maximum value is 200 and the default value is 25 entries per page.
Pagination.PageNumber	int	Optional	Specifies the number of the page of data to return in the current call. Default is 1 for most calls. For some calls, the default is 0. Specify a positive value equal to or lower than the number of pages available (which you determine by examining the results of your initial request). See the documentation for the individual calls to determine the correct default value. Min: 1. Default: 1.
SenderID	UserIDType (string)	Optional	An eBay ID that uniquely identifies a user. For GetMemberMessages, this is the sender of the message. If included in the request, returns only messages from the specified sender.
StartCreationTime	dateTime	Conditional	Used as beginning of date range filter. If specified, filters the returned messages to only those with a creation date greater than or equal to the specified date and time. For Contact eBay Member (CEM) messages, StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime must be provided. For Ask Seller a Question (ASQ) messages, either the ItemID, or a date range (specified with StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime), or both must be included.

Standard Input Fields

ErrorLanguage

string

Optional

Use ErrorLanguage to return error strings for the call in a different language from the language commonly associated with the site that the requesting user is registered with. Below are some examples from different countries.

ID	Country
en_AU	Australia
de_AT	Austria
nl_BE	Belgium (Dutch)
fr_BE	Belgium (French)
en_CA	Canada
fr_CA	Canada (French)
zh_CN	China
fr_FR	France
de_DE	Germany
zh_HK	Hong Kong
en_IN	India
en_IE	Ireland
it_IT	Italy
nl_NL	Netherlands
en_SG	Singapore
es_ES	Spain
de_CH	Switzerland
en_GB	United Kingdom
en_US	United States

MessageID string Optional Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned.

Note: GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.

OutputSelector

string

Optional,
repeatable: [0..*]

You can use the OutputSelector field to restrict the data returned by a call. This field can make the call response easier to manage, especially when a large payload is returned. If you use the OutputSelector field, the output data will only include the field(s) you specified in the request, as well as all of its child fields (if a field is a container) and its parent fields (if any). Note that it is possible that a field included through an OutputSelector field may still not be returned if it is not applicable, or if it is not found based on other criteria set up in the request payload.

For example, if you are using GetItem and you only want to retrieve the URL of the View Item page (emitted in ViewItemURL field) and the item's Buy It Now price (emitted in BuyItNowPrice field), you would include two separate OutputSelector fields and set the value for each one as ViewItemURL and BuyItNowPrice as in the following example:

 If the following output selectors are used: 

...
 <OutputSelector>ViewItemURL</OutputSelector>
 <OutputSelector>BuyItNowPrice</OutputSelector> 
... 

 ...the response might look like the following 

  <Item>
 <BuyItNowPrice currencyID="USD">0.0</BuyItNowPrice>
 <ListingDetails>
 <ViewItemURL>http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tag-Heuer-Mens-Watch/182879833261</ViewItemURL>
 </ListingDetails>
 </Item>

See OutputSelector.

Version

string

Conditional

The version number of the API code that you are programming against (e.g., 1149). The version you specify for a call has these basic effects:

It indicates the version of the code lists and other data that eBay should use to process your request.
It indicates the schema version you are using.

You need to use a version that is greater than or equal to the lowest supported version.
For the SOAP API: If you are using the SOAP API, this field is required. Specify the version of the WSDL your application is using.

For the XML API: If you are using the XML API, this field has no effect. Instead, specify the version in the X-EBAY-API-COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL HTTP header. (If you specify Version in the body of an XML API request and it is different from the value in the HTTP header, eBay returns an informational warning that the value in the HTTP header was used instead.)

See:
    HTTP headers
    eBay Schema Versioning Strategy
    Lowest Supported Version

WarningLevel

WarningLevelCodeType

Optional

Controls whether or not to return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request.

An unrecognized element is one that is not defined in any supported version of the schema. Schema element names are case-sensitive, so using WarningLevel can also help you remove any potential hidden bugs within your application due to incorrect case or spelling in field names before you put your application into the Production environment.

WarningLevel only validates elements; it doesn't validate XML attributes. It also doesn't control warnings related to user-entered strings or numbers, or warnings for logical errors.

We recommend that you only use this during development and debugging. Do not use this in requests performed in the Production environment.

Applicable values:

High

(in) The WarningLevel value is set to High if the user wishes to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. Setting the WarningLevel value to High is not recommended in a production environment. Instead, it should only be used during the development/debugging stage.

Low

(in) The WarningLevel value is set to Low if the user does not wish to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. This is the default value if WarningLevel is not specified in the call request.

See Warning Level.

Output

See also Samples.

The box below lists all fields that might be returned in the response. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are not returned (or soon will not be returned) or are not operational (or soon will be non-operational).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetMemberMessagesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <!-- Call-specific Output Fields -->
  <HasMoreItems> boolean </HasMoreItems>
  <MemberMessage> MemberMessageExchangeArrayType
    <MemberMessageExchange> MemberMessageExchangeType
      <Item> ItemType
        <ItemID> ItemIDType (string) </ItemID>
        <ListingDetails> ListingDetailsType
          <EndTime> dateTime </EndTime>
          <StartTime> dateTime </StartTime>
        </ListingDetails>
        <SellingStatus> SellingStatusType
          <CurrentPrice currencyID="CurrencyCodeType"> AmountType (double) </CurrentPrice>
        </SellingStatus>
        <Title> string </Title>
      </Item>
      <LastModifiedDate> dateTime </LastModifiedDate>
      <MessageMedia> MessageMediaType
        <MediaName> string </MediaName>
        <MediaURL> anyURI </MediaURL>
      </MessageMedia>
      <!-- ... more MessageMedia nodes allowed here ... -->
      <MessageStatus> MessageStatusTypeCodeType </MessageStatus>
      <Question> MemberMessageType
        <Body> string </Body>
        <DisplayToPublic> boolean </DisplayToPublic>
        <MessageID> string </MessageID>
        <MessageMedia> MessageMediaType
          <MediaName> string </MediaName>
          <MediaURL> anyURI </MediaURL>
        </MessageMedia>
        <!-- ... more MessageMedia nodes allowed here ... -->
        <MessageType> MessageTypeCodeType </MessageType>
        <QuestionType> QuestionTypeCodeType </QuestionType>
        <RecipientID> string </RecipientID>
        <!-- ... more RecipientID values allowed here ... -->
        <SenderEmail> string </SenderEmail>
        <SenderID> string </SenderID>
        <Subject> string </Subject>
      </Question>
      <Response> string </Response>
      <!-- ... more Response values allowed here ... -->
    </MemberMessageExchange>
    <!-- ... more MemberMessageExchange nodes allowed here ... -->
  </MemberMessage>
  <PaginationResult> PaginationResultType
    <TotalNumberOfEntries> int </TotalNumberOfEntries>
    <TotalNumberOfPages> int </TotalNumberOfPages>
  </PaginationResult>
  <!-- Standard Output Fields -->
  <Ack> AckCodeType </Ack>
  <Build> string </Build>
  <CorrelationID> string </CorrelationID>
  <Errors> ErrorType
    <ErrorClassification> ErrorClassificationCodeType </ErrorClassification>
    <ErrorCode> token </ErrorCode>
    <ErrorParameters ParamID="string"> ErrorParameterType
      <Value> string </Value>
    </ErrorParameters>
    <!-- ... more ErrorParameters nodes allowed here ... -->
    <LongMessage> string </LongMessage>
    <SeverityCode> SeverityCodeType </SeverityCode>
    <ShortMessage> string </ShortMessage>
  </Errors>
  <!-- ... more Errors nodes allowed here ... -->
  <HardExpirationWarning> string </HardExpirationWarning>
  <Timestamp> dateTime </Timestamp>
  <Version> string </Version>
</GetMemberMessagesResponse>

Return Value	Type	Occurrence	Meaning

Call-specific Output Fields [Jump to standard fields]

HasMoreItems	boolean	Always	Specifies whether the response has more items.
MemberMessage	MemberMessageExchangeArrayType	Conditionally	The returned member messages. Returned if messages that meet the request criteria exist. Note that GetMemberMessages does not return messages when, in the request, the MailMessageType is AskSellerQuestion.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange	MemberMessageExchangeType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Each MemberMessageExchange container consists of detailed information about a member-to-member message.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item	ItemType	Conditionally	The item about which the question was asked. Returned if the parent container is returned.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .ItemID	ItemIDType (string)	Conditionally	The unique identifier of the eBay listing. This identifier is generated by eBay and returned in the response of an Add call if an item is successfully listed. Once an item is successfully created, the ItemID cannot be modified. Note: Although we represent item IDs as strings in the schema, we recommend you store them as 64-bit signed integers. If you choose to store item IDs as strings, allocate at least 19 characters (assuming decimal digits are used) to hold them. Your code should be prepared to handle IDs of up to 19 digits.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .ListingDetails	ListingDetailsType	Conditionally	Various details about a listing, some of which are calculated or derived after the item is listed. These include the start and end time, converted (localized) prices, and certain flags that indicate whether the seller specified fields whose values are not visible to the requesting user. For GetMyeBayBuying, returned as a self-closed element if no listings meet the request criteria. In an Add/Revise/Relist call, this container is used to set the Best Offer Auto-Accept and Best Offer Auto-Decline threshold values.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .ListingDetails.EndTime	dateTime	Conditionally	Time stamp (in GMT) when the listing is scheduled to end (calculated based on the values of StartTime and ListingDuration ) or the actual end time if the item has ended.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .ListingDetails.StartTime	dateTime	Conditionally	The StartTime value returned by non-search calls such as GetItem is the time stamp (in GMT) for when the item was listed.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .SellingStatus	SellingStatusType	Conditionally	Various details about the current status of the listing, such as the current number of bids, the current high bidder, quantity sold, current price, and listing status.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .SellingStatus.CurrentPrice	AmountType (double)	Conditionally	The current price of the item in the original listing currency. For auction listings, this price is the starting minimum price (if the listing has no bids) or the current highest bid (if bids have been placed) for the item. This does not reflect the BuyItNow price. For fixed-price and ad format listings, this is the current listing price. In multi-variation, fixed-price listings, this value matches the lowest-priced variation that is still available for sale.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .SellingStatus.CurrentPrice [ attribute currencyID ]	CurrencyCodeType	Always	The current price of the item in the original listing currency. For auction listings, this price is the starting minimum price (if the listing has no bids) or the current highest bid (if bids have been placed) for the item. This does not reflect the BuyItNow price. For fixed-price and ad format listings, this is the current listing price. In multi-variation, fixed-price listings, this value matches the lowest-priced variation that is still available for sale. For a list of possible enumeration values, see CurrencyCodeType.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange.Item .Title	string	Conditionally	This field is used to specify the title of the listing. This field is conditionally required in an Add call unless the seller successfully uses the ProductListingDetails container to find an eBay catalog product match. When the seller successfully uses an eBay catalog product to create a listing, the listing title, listing description, Item Specifics, and stock photo defined in the catalog product are used to create the listing. You cannot use HTML or JavaScript in the Title. (HTML characters will be interpreted literally as plain text.) The listing title can only be changed if the active listing has yet to have any bids or sales, and the listing does not end within 12 hours. Note: When making a GetSellerEvents call, this field will be returned masked as `***************` for on-hold listings. Note: When making a GetSellerTransactions or GetMyeBaySelling call, the item ID value of the listing will be returned in this field to indicate that the listing is on hold. Max length:** 80.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .LastModifiedDate	dateTime	Conditionally	Date the message was last modified. Returned if the parent container is returned.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .MessageMedia	MessageMediaType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Media details stored as part of the message.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .MessageMedia.MediaName	string	Conditionally	The name of the image. This will be displayed on the flimstrip. Max length: 100.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .MessageMedia.MediaURL	anyURI	Conditionally	URL of an image to be included in a message. The image must be uploaded to EPS (eBay Picture Services) using a separate API call or the web flow. This URL will be validated and if it doesn't exist, the request will fail. Max length: 200.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .MessageStatus	MessageStatusTypeCodeType	Conditionally	Status of the message. Returned if the parent container is returned. Applicable values: Answered (in/out) The question has been answered at least once. CustomCode (in/out) Reserved for future or internal use. Unanswered (in/out) The question has not yet been answered. Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question	MemberMessageType	Conditionally	Contains all the information about the question being asked. Returned if the parent container is returned.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.Body	string	Conditionally	Content of the message is input into this string field. HTML formatting is not allowed in the body of the message. If plain HTML is used, an error occurs and the message will not go through. If encoded HTML is used, the message may go through but the formatting will not be successful, and the recipient of the message will just see the HTML formatting tags. Max length: 4000.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.DisplayToPublic	boolean	Conditionally	Indicates if the member message is viewable in the item listing.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.MessageID	string	Conditionally	ID that uniquely identifies a message for a given user. This value is not the same as the value used for the GetMyMessages MessageID. However, this MessageID value can be used as the GetMyMessages ExternalID.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.MessageMedia	MessageMediaType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Media details attached to the message.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.MessageMedia .MediaName	string	Conditionally	The name of the image. This will be displayed on the flimstrip. Max length: 100.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.MessageMedia .MediaURL	anyURI	Conditionally	URL of an image to be included in a message. The image must be uploaded to EPS (eBay Picture Services) using a separate API call or the web flow. This URL will be validated and if it doesn't exist, the request will fail. Max length: 200.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.MessageType	MessageTypeCodeType	Conditionally	Type of message being retrieved. Note that some message types can only be created via the eBay Web site. Applicable values: See MessageType. Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.QuestionType	QuestionTypeCodeType	Conditionally	Context of the question (e.g. Shipping, General). Applicable values: See QuestionType. Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.RecipientID	string	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Recipient's eBay user ID. For AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder, it must be the seller of an item, that item's bidder, or a user who has made an offer on that item using Best Offer. Note: maxOccurs is a shared schema element and needs to be unbounded for AddMemberMessagesAAQToBidder. For AddMemberMessageRTQ, this field is mandatory if ItemID is not in the request. For all other uses, there can only be one RecipientID.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.SenderEmail	string	Conditionally	SenderEmail contains the static email address of an eBay member, used within the "reply to" email address when the eBay member sends a message. (Each eBay member is assigned a static alias. The alias is used within a static email address.) SenderEmail is returned if MessageType is AskSellerQuestion. SenderEmail is also returned in the AskSellerQuestion notification. The following functionality of this field has been deprecated: return of a dynamic email address.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.SenderID	string	Conditionally	The eBay user ID of the person who asked the question or sent the message.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Question.Subject	string	Conditionally	Subject of this email message.
MemberMessage .MemberMessageExchange .Response	string	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	An answer to the question. Returned if the parent container is returned. For GetAdFormatLeads, returned if the seller responded to the lead's question. Contains the body of the seller's response message.
PaginationResult	PaginationResultType	Always	Shows the pagination of data returned by requests.
PaginationResult .TotalNumberOfEntries	int	Always	Indicates the total number of entries that could be returned by repeated call requests. Returned with a value of 0 if no entries are available.
PaginationResult .TotalNumberOfPages	int	Always	Indicates the total number of pages of data that could be returned by repeated requests. Returned with a value of 0 if no pages are available.

Standard Output Fields

Ack	AckCodeType	Always	A token representing the application-level acknowledgement code that indicates the response status (e.g., success). The AckCodeType list specifies the possible values for the Ack field. Applicable values: CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use. Failure (out) This value indicates that the call request processing failed. Success (out) This value indicates that the call request was processed successfully without any issues. Warning (out) This value indicates that the call request was successful, but processing was not without any issues. These issues can be checked in the Errors container, that will also be returned when one or more known issues occur with the call request. (Not all values in AckCodeType apply to this field.) Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Build	string	Always	This refers to the specific software build that eBay used when processing the request and generating the response. This includes the version number plus additional information. eBay Developer Support may request the build information when helping you resolve technical issues.
CorrelationID	string	Conditionally	Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned. Note: GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.
Errors	ErrorType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	A list of application-level errors (if any) that occurred when eBay processed the request.
Errors.ErrorClassification	ErrorClassificationCodeType	Conditionally	API errors are divided between two classes: system errors and request errors. Applicable values: CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use. RequestError (out) An error has occurred either as a result of a problem in the sending application or because the application's end-user has attempted to submit invalid data (or missing data). In these cases, do not retry the request. The problem must be corrected before the request can be made again. If the problem is due to something in the application (such as a missing required field), the application must be changed. If the problem is a result of end-user data, the application must alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for the end-user to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, resend the request to eBay with the corrected data. SystemError (out) Indicates that an error has occurred on the eBay system side, such as a database or server down. An application can retry the request as-is a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, the request may be resent in its original form. Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Errors.ErrorCode	token	Conditionally	A unique code that identifies the particular error condition that occurred. Your application can use error codes as identifiers in your customized error-handling algorithms. See Errors By Number.
Errors.ErrorParameters	ErrorParameterType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
Errors.ErrorParameters [ attribute ParamID ]	string	Conditionally	This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
Errors.ErrorParameters.Value	string	Conditionally	This is the value of the request parameter noted in the ParamID attribute. So, if the ParamID value was ItemID, the value in this field would be the actual value of that ItemID.
Errors.LongMessage	string	Conditionally	A more detailed description of the condition that raised the error.
Errors.SeverityCode	SeverityCodeType	Conditionally	Indicates whether the error is a severe error (causing the request to fail) or an informational error (a warning) that should be communicated to the user. Applicable values: CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use. Error (out) The request that triggered the error was not processed successfully. When a serious application-level error occurs, the error is returned instead of the business data. If the source of the problem is within the application (such as a missing required element), change the application before you retry the request. If the problem is due to end-user input data, please alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for them to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, you can attempt to re-send the request to eBay. If the source of the problem is on eBay's side, An application can retry the request as-is a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, the request may be resent in its original form. See the Error handling section of the Making a Trading API call guide for more information. Warning (out) The request was processed successfully, but something occurred that may affect your application or the user. For example, eBay may have changed a value the user sent in. In this case, eBay returns a normal, successful response and also returns the warning. When a warning occurs, the error is returned in addition to the business data. In this case, you do not need to retry the request (as the original request was successful). However, depending on the cause or nature of the warning, you might need to contact either the end user or eBay to effect a long term solution to the problem to prevent it from reoccurring in the future. Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Errors.ShortMessage	string	Conditionally	A brief description of the condition that raised the error.
HardExpirationWarning	string	Conditionally	Expiration date of the user's authentication token. Only returned within the 7-day period prior to a token's expiration. To ensure that user authentication tokens are secure and to help avoid a user's token being compromised, tokens have a limited life span. A token is only valid for a period of time (set by eBay). After this amount of time has passed, the token expires and must be replaced with a new token.
Timestamp	dateTime	Always	This value represents the date and time when eBay processed the request. The time zone of this value is GMT and the format is the ISO 8601 date and time format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ). See the Time Values section in the eBay Features Guide for information about this time format and converting to and from the GMT time zone. Note: GetCategories and other Trading API calls are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, this time value reflects the time the cached response was created. Thus, this value is not necessarily when the request was processed. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, this time value does reflect when the request was processed.
Version	string	Always	The version of the response payload schema. Indicates the version of the schema that eBay used to process the request. See the Standard Data for All Calls section in the eBay Features Guide for information on using the response version when troubleshooting CustomCode values that appear in the response.

Detail Controls

DetailLevel

This call does not support varying Detail Levels. You do not need to pass DetailLevel in the request.

Samples

New to making API calls? Please see Making a Call.

Note: Some item IDs, user IDs, or other data in these samples might no longer be active on eBay. If necessary, you can substitute current eBay data in your requests.

Sample: Basic Call

Retrieves Ask the Seller a Question messages for a given date range.

Description

Seller m***************r wants to review the new messages that users might have sent regarding the items she has listed. She uses several controls in the request to specify the particular messages she wants returned.

Input

To get just the latest set of messages, m***************r specifies a time range with StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime values. Times are specfied in GMT. MessageStatus is set to Unanswered so that the response contains only new messages and MailMessageType is set to AskSellerQuestion.

Sellers with multiple listings will often have many questions posed by potential buyers. To control the volume of the response, m***************r uses Pagination values to control which messages are returned from the result set.

XML format.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetMemberMessagesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <RequesterCredentials>
    <eBayAuthToken>A*******3</eBayAuthToken>
  </RequesterCredentials>
  <WarningLevel>High</WarningLevel>
  <MailMessageType>AskSellerQuestion</MailMessageType>
  <MessageStatus>Unanswered</MessageStatus>
  <StartCreationTime>2019-09-01T00:00:00.000Z</StartCreationTime>
  <EndCreationTime>2019-09-30T19:23:13.821Z</EndCreationTime>
  <Pagination>
    <EntriesPerPage>5</EntriesPerPage>
    <PageNumber>1</PageNumber>
  </Pagination>
</GetMemberMessagesRequest>

Output

The output details a single message that was sent within the last few days.

XML format.
<GetMemberMessagesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2019-11-04T21:58:44.514Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1127</Version>
  <Build>E1127_CORE_APIMSG_19083139_R1</Build>
  <MemberMessage>
    <MemberMessageExchange>
      <Item>
        <ItemID>1**********2</ItemID>
        <ListingDetails>
          <StartTime>2019-09-16T18:52:41.000Z</StartTime>
          <EndTime>2019-09-23T18:52:41.000Z</EndTime>
          <ViewItemURL>http://cgi.sandbox.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1**********2&category=3*7</ViewItemURL>
        </ListingDetails>
        <Seller>
          <UserID>m***************r</UserID>
        </Seller>
        <SellingStatus>
          <CurrentPrice currencyID="USD">1.0</CurrentPrice>
        </SellingStatus>
        <TimeLeft>P6DT23H28M49S</TimeLeft>
        <Title>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</Title>
      </Item>
      <Question>
        <MessageType>AskSellerQuestion</MessageType>
        <QuestionType>CustomizedSubject</QuestionType>
        <DisplayToPublic>false</DisplayToPublic>
        <SenderID>b************r</SenderID>
        <SenderEmail>B*************@*****.com</SenderEmail>
        <RecipientID>m***************r</RecipientID>
        <Subject>
            b************r has sent a question about :General question about this item for item #1**********2,
            ending on Sep-23-19 10:52:41 PST - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
        </Subject>
        <Body>
            I thought the first book in the Harry Potter series was titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".
            Is this a different book?
        </Body>
        <MessageID>7****6</MessageID>
      </Question>
      <MessageStatus>Unanswered</MessageStatus>
      <CreationDate>2019-09-16T19:22:26.000Z</CreationDate>
      <LastModifiedDate>2019-09-16T19:22:26.000Z</LastModifiedDate>
    </MemberMessageExchange>
  </MemberMessage>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfPages>1</TotalNumberOfPages>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <HasMoreItems>false</HasMoreItems>
</GetMemberMessagesResponse>

Change History

Change Date	Description
743 2011-10-12	MessageType.ClassifiedsBestOffer (added): Indicates that a best offer has been made on the seller's corresponding classified ad listing. MessageType.ClassifiedsContactSeller (added): Indicates that an inquiry has been sent to the seller regarding the corresponding classified ad listing.
673 2010-06-09	SenderEmail (modified): As of summer 2010, the SenderEmail field contains the static email address of an eBay member.
657 2010-02-17	MemberMessage.MemberMessageExchange.Question.Body (modified): The content of the field can be up to 4000 characters in size. If you use an API version of 653 or higher, then the content of the field can be up to 4000 characters in size. However, if the API version is less than 653, the limit is 2000, so if the actual message had more than 2000 characters, a warning message is returned and the message is truncated.
463 2006-05-31	StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime (modified): The StartCreationTime and EndCreationTime elements of GetMemberMessagesRequestType are now based on xs:dateTime, not xs:date. This applies to applications using the 463 or higher WSDL, or the 459 SDKs (Java and .NET).
443 2006-01-11	WarningLevel (doc change): The I/O Doc has been updated to indicate that WarningLevel is an applicable input.