eBay Resolution Case Management APIVersion 1.3.0
 

offerOtherSolution

Note: All methods of the Resolution Case Management API will be decommisioned on June 5, 2023. This API is now out of synch with case management flows on eBay, so all users should make plans to migrate to the REST-based Post-Order API. There is no equivalent to this call in the Post-Order API. However, it is a best practice by the seller to discover what the buyer wants before an INR inquiry or a Return request is escalated to a case. For INR inquiries, the seller can use the Send Inquiry Message method of the Post-Order API to communicate with the buyer and find out whether that buyer still wants the item or is seeking a full refund. For Return requests, the seller can use the Send Return Message method of the Post-Order API to communicate with the buyer reqarding the Return request.

This call allows a seller to offer an alternative solution to a buyer in order to resolve an Item Not Received or Significantly Not As Described eBay Buyer Protection case.

Request Details

In the offerOtherSolution request, the seller must provide the case ID and the case type (EBP_INR or EBP_SNAD) for the case, and a customized message for the buyer stating one or more possible solutions for resolving the case. The buyer will be able to view this message in the Resolution Center, and then act accordingly. If the caseId.id and caseId.type values don't match, the request is processed (if caseId.id is valid) but a warning message is returned.

If not already known, the case ID for an eBay Buyer Protection case can be retrieved with a call to getUserCases. If you make this call, use EBP_INR and/or EBP_SNAD case type filters to restrict results to Item Not Received and/or Significantly Not As cases. To get more detailed information on an eBay Buyer Protection case, you will want to call getEBPCaseDetail, using the same case ID in the request.

Working with the Response

The response for offerOtherSolution includes the standard fields for a successful call, which are timestamp and version. If applicable, errors and/or warnings may be returned in an errorMessage container.



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.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<offerOtherSolutionRequest xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
  <!-- Call-specific Input Fields -->
  <caseId> CaseIdType
    <id> string </id>
    <type> CaseType </type>
  </caseId>
  <messageToBuyer> token </messageToBuyer>
</offerOtherSolutionRequest>
Argument Type Occurrence Meaning
caseId CaseIdType Required This container is used to identify a specific Item Not Received or Significantly Not As Described case opened by a buyer in the eBay Resolution Center.
caseId.id string Required Unique identifier of the case. The caseId.id values are returned in the caseSummary container in the getUserCases and getEBPCaseDetail calls.
Max length: 38.
caseId.type CaseType Required eBay case type. This enumeration value indicates the eBay case type. For all Resolution Case Management calls except getUserCases, only EBP_INR and EBP_SNAD are applicable caseType values.

Applicable values:

EBP_INR
An Item Not Received case opened by a buyer in the Resolution Center.
EBP_SNAD
A Significantly Not As Described case opened by a buyer in the Resolution Center.

(Not all values in CaseType apply to this field.)
messageToBuyer token Required The seller writes a customized message in this field to the buyer suggesting one or more suggested solutions for resolving the eBay Buyer Protection case.



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"?>
<offerOtherSolutionResponse xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
  <!-- (No call-specific Output fields) -->

  <!-- Standard Output Fields -->
  <ack> AckValue </ack>
  <errorMessage> ErrorMessage
    <error> ErrorData
      <category> ErrorCategory </category>
      <domain> string </domain>
      <errorId> long </errorId>
      <exceptionId> token </exceptionId>
      <message> string </message>
      <parameter name="string"> ErrorParameter (string) </parameter>
      <!-- ... more parameter values allowed here ... -->
      <severity> ErrorSeverity </severity>
      <subdomain> string </subdomain>
    </error>
    <!-- ... more error nodes allowed here ... -->
  </errorMessage>
  <timestamp> dateTime </timestamp>
  <version> string </version>
</offerOtherSolutionResponse>
Return Value Type Occurrence Meaning
(No call-specific fields)
Standard Output Fields  
ack AckValue Always

Applicable values:

Failure
eBay encountered a fatal error during the processing of the request, causing the request to fail. When a serious application-level error occurs, the error is returned instead of the business data.
PartialFailure
eBay successfully processed the request, but one or more non-fatal errors occurred during the processing. Inspect the message details and resolve any problems before resubmitting the request.
Success
eBay successfully processed the request and the business data is returned in the response. Note that it is possible for a response to return Success, but still not contain the expected data in the result.
Warning
The request that triggered the error was processed successfully but with one or more warnings.

Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
errorMessage ErrorMessage Conditionally Information for an error or warning that occurred when eBay processed the request. This field is not returned if the ack value is Success.
errorMessage.error ErrorData Conditionally,
repeatable: [0..*]
Details about a single error.
errorMessage.error.category ErrorCategory Conditionally There are three categories of errors: request errors, application errors, and system errors.

Applicable values:

Application
An error occurred due to a problem with the request, with the most likely source being the application sending the request. For example, the request is missing a required data element or it contains an invalid field. The problem must be corrected before the request can be resent. Inspect the error message to find the cause of the problem. If the problem is due to an application error, modify the application and resend the request. If the error is due to invalid data, the source of the data must be corrected before you resend the resend request to eBay.
Request
An error occurred due to a problem with the request, with the most likely source being missing or invalid data in the request. The problem must be corrected before the request can be retried. Inspect the error message to find the cause of the problem. If the problem is a result of end-user data, alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for them to correct the problem. Once the problem is resolved, resend the request to eBay.
System
Indicates that an error has occurred on the eBay system side. For example, a database or server could be down. Inspect the error message to find the cause of the problem. If the problem is on the eBay side, an application can retry the request 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.
errorMessage.error.domain string Conditionally Name of the domain in which the error occurred.
errorMessage.error.errorId long 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.
errorMessage.error.exceptionId token Conditionally Unique identifier for an exception associated with an error.
errorMessage.error.message string Conditionally A detailed description of the condition that caused the error.
errorMessage.error.parameter ErrorParameter (string) Conditionally,
repeatable: [0..*]
Various warning and error messages return one or more variables that contain contextual information about the error. This is often the field or value that triggered the error.
errorMessage.error.parameter
  [ attribute name ]
string Conditionally Various warning and error messages return one or more variables that contain contextual information about the error. This is often the field or value that triggered the error.
errorMessage.error.severity ErrorSeverity Conditionally Indicates whether the reported problem is fatal (an error) or is less- severe (a warning). Review the error message details for information on the cause.

If the request fails and the application is the source of the error (for example, a required element is missing), update the application before you retry the request. If the problem is due to incorrect user data, 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, re-send the request to eBay.

If the source of the problem is on eBay's side, you can retry the request a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends you try the request twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, you can resend the request in its original form.

If a warning occurs, warning information is returned in addition to the business data. Normally, you do not need to resend the request (as the original request was successful). However, depending on the cause of the warning, you might need to contact the end user, or eBay, to effect a long term solution to the problem.

Applicable values:

Error
eBay encountered a fatal error during the processing of the request, causing the request to fail. When eBay encounters an error, it returns error data instead of the requested business data. Inspect the error details and resolve the problem before resubmitting the request.
Warning
The request was successfully processed, but eBay encountered a non-fatal error during the processing that could affect the data returned. For example, eBay might have changed the value of an input field. In this case, eBay returns a successful response, but it also returns a warning. For best results, requests should return without warnings. Inspect the warning details and resolve the problem before resubmitting the request.

Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
errorMessage.error.subdomain string Conditionally Name of the subdomain in which the error occurred.
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 Time Values in the eBay Web Services guide for information about this time format and converting to and from the GMT time zone.
version string Always The version of the response payload schema. Indicates the version of the schema that eBay used to process 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

This call is used by seller to offer another solution to the buyer that will help settle the open case.

Description

This offerOtherSolution call sample offers a customized solution to the buyer to help settle an open Significantly Not As Described case.

This call will fail if an invalid case ID is passed in. If the case ID does not match the case type that is passed in, a warning message will be returned in the request, but the call will succeed (if case ID is valid). The caller must be authenticated to make this call. The seller passes in a customized message in the required messageToBuyer field.

Input

A seller wants to offer another solution to the buyer to help resolve an open Significantly Not As Described case. The case ID is 5********6. 'EBP_SNAD' is passed in as the caseId.type value. Through the messageToBuyer field, the seller is proposing the solution of sending a replacement item to the buyer.

SOAP format. Also available is the XML equivalent.

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
   <soap:Header>
      <RequesterCredentials>
         <eBayAuthToken>A********3</ser:eBayAuthToken>
      </RequesterCredentials>
   </soap:Header>   
   <soap:Body>
      <offerOtherSolutionRequest>
         <caseId>
            <id>5********6</id>
            <type>EBP_SNAD</type>
         </caseId>
         <messageToBuyer>If you return SNAD item, I'll send replacement item</messageToBuyer>
      </offerOtherSolutionRequest>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Output

The seller's customized solution offer for case 5********6 is successful as indicated by the Success value in the ack field.

SOAP format. Also available is the XML equivalent.

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
   <soap:Header/>
   <soap:Body>
      <offerOtherSolutionResponse>
         <ack>Success</ack>
         <version>1.2.0</version>
         <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:05:38.476Z</timestamp>
      </offerOtherSolutionResponse>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

   Here is the same output in XML format. Note that this does not include standard values.

XML format. Also available is the SOAP equivalent.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 
<offerOtherSolutionResponse xmlns:"http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
   <ack>Success</ack>
   <version>1.2.0</version>
   <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:05:38.476Z</timestamp>
</offerOtherSolutionResponse>




Change History

Change Date Description
1.2.0
2011-02-16
  • (added) New call.