provideTrackingInfo

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. In the Post-Order API, the Provide Case Shipment Info method can be used as an alternative to the provideTrackingInfo call.

This call allows a seller to provide a tracking number to a buyer if requested in an eBay Buyer Protection case. Upon providing the case ID for the case, the shipping carrier, and tracking number in the call request, the tracking information for a package is delivered to the buyer in the Resolution Center. If the case involves multiple quantities that require the shipment of multiple packages, a separate call must be made for each package. Multiple tracking numbers cannot be passed into the same call.

Request Details

In the provideTrackingInfo request, the seller must provide the case ID and the case type. 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 or EBP_SNAD as case type filters to restrict results to eBay Buyer Protection cases. 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.

In addition to the case ID, the seller must provide the name of the shipping carrier used for shipment, and the tracking number. On the backend, eBay verifies that the specified tracking number matches the numbering scheme used by the specified shipping carrier, but eBay cannot actually verify the accuracy of the tracking number, and the call will not fail or return errors if the seller passes in the incorrect tracking number. The accuracy of the tracking number is the responsibility of the seller.

Optionally, the seller can use the comments field to provide additional relevant comments to the buyer.

Working with the Response

The response for provideTrackingInfo 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

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"?>
<provideTrackingInfoResponse 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>
</provideTrackingInfoResponse>

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.

Available samples:

Basic Call ↓ - This call is used by the seller to provide tracking information to the buyer.
Case type mismatch ↓ - This call is used by the seller to provide tracking information to the buyer.

Sample: Basic Call

This call is used by the seller to provide tracking information to the buyer.

Description

This provideTrackingInfo call sample provides the tracking number and shipping carrier for an item enroute to the buyer.

This call will fail if an invalid case ID is passed in, or if the required tracking number does not match the numbering scheme used by the specified shipping carrier. 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.

Input

A seller wants to provide tracking information for an Item Not Received item. The case ID is 5********8. 'EBP_INR' is passed in as the caseId.type value. USPS is specified as the shipping carrier and the tracking number is 1********3. The optional comments field is also used.

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>
      <provideTrackingInfoRequest>
         <caseId>
            <id>5********8</id>
            <type>EBP_INR</type>
         </caseId>
         <trackingNumber>1********3</trackingNumber>
         <carrierUsed>USPS</carrierUsed>
         <!--Optional:-->
         <comments>Here is your USPS tracking number</comments>
      </provideTrackingInfoRequest>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Output

The seller has successfully provided the tracking information for case 5********, 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>
      <provideTrackingInfoResponse>
         <ack>Success</ack>
         <version>1.2.0</version>
         <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:17:12.643Z</timestamp>
      </provideTrackingInfoResponse>
   </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"?> 
<provideTrackingInfoResponse xmlns:"http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
   <ack>Success</ack>
   <version>1.2.0</version>
   <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:17:12.643Z</timestamp>
</provideTrackingInfoResponse>

Back to list of samples

Sample: Case type mismatch

This call is used by the seller to provide tracking information to the buyer.

Description

This provideTrackingInfo call sample is identical to the basic call, except the incorrect case type is used in the request.

Input

A seller wants to provide tracking information for an Item Not Received item. The case ID is 5********8. 'EBP_SNAD' is passed in as the caseId.type value. USPS is specified as the shipping carrier and the tracking number is 1********3. The optional comments field is also used.

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>
      <provideTrackingInfoRequest>
         <caseId>
            <id>5********8</id>
            <type>EBP_SNAD</type>
         </caseId>
         <trackingNumber>1********3</trackingNumber>
         <carrierUsed>USPS</carrierUsed>
         <!--Optional:-->
         <comments>Here is your USPS tracking number</comments>
      </provideTrackingInfoRequest>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Output

The seller has successfully provided the tracking information for case 5********8, but with a Warning value in the ack field due to the incorrect case type passed into the request.

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>
      <provideTrackingInfoResponse>
         <ack>Warning</ack>
         <errorMessage>
            <error>
               <errorId>1303</errorId>
               <domain>Marketplace</domain>
               <severity>Warning</severity>
               <category>Application</category>
               <message>CaseType in the request doesn't match the case type for caseid. Processed request based on caseid</message>
               <subdomain>Resolution</subdomain>
            </error>
         </errorMessage>
         <version>1.2.0</version>
         <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:17:12.643Z</timestamp>
      </provideTrackingInfoResponse>
   </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"?>
<provideTrackingInfoResponse xmlns:"http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/resolution/v1/services">
   <ack>Warning</ack>
   <errorMessage>
      <error>
         <errorId>1303</errorId>
         <domain>Marketplace</domain>
         <severity>Warning</severity>
         <category>Application</category>
         <message>CaseType in the request doesn't match the case type for caseid. Processed request based on caseid</message>
         <subdomain>Resolution</subdomain>
      </error>
   </errorMessage>
   <version>1.2.0</version>
   <timestamp>2011-02-09T19:17:12.643Z</timestamp>
</provideTrackingInfoResponse>

Back to list of samples

Change History

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

carrierUsed	string	Required	The shipping carrier being used by the seller to ship the package.
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.)
comments	string	Optional	This optional field allows the seller to add a comment intended to be read by the buyer receiving the tracking information. Max length: 1000.
trackingNumber	string	Required	The shipment tracking number. eBay checks to verify that the tracking number is consistent with the numbering scheme used by the specified shipping carrier, but eBay cannot verify that the tracking number is accurate. Accuracy is the responsibility of the seller.