Developer Hub

Introduction

This area of the site is designed to assist dealers and third parties working on their behalves to upload their entire vehicle inventories and associated photos into eBay Motors Pro.

If you're a dealer, there are several third party feed providers who can upload to eBay Motors Pro on your behalf.

Find out how to get up-and-running on eBay Motors Pro with third party companies and/or software...

If you're a developer, here you'll find all the technical specifications you need to send inventory files to eBay Motors Pro. Any updates to these specs will also be announced here.

Get an overview of uploading an inventory of listings as a dealer or as a third party...


How to get up-and-running on eBay Motors Pro with third party companies and/or software

Many dealers and marketing agencies use third party companies and/or software to manage sending their stock to publishers like eBay.

It's quick and easy to get your stock onto eBay using a third party, and you won't need to share your eBay User ID or password with anyone.

First, sign up for eBay Motors Pro, then check to see if the software or company you're already using is on the list below.

If they are in the list:

  1. Log into eBay Motors Pro, click on 'Settings' at the top of the screen, navigate to Upload & Publish » Upload Credentials and create an Upload username and password
  2. Use the contact details to inform an account manager or Dealer Support representative of your Upload username and password (you do not need to let them know your eBay username or password)

If they are not on the list:

  1. Contact your account manager for the software or company in question
  2. Direct them to this page (www.ebaymotorspro.co.uk/emp/developer.html)

Third parties who can send your listings to eBay as Classified Ads

Motor dealers can use HPI Exchange to publish their cars on a variety of leading publishing channels. Soon you will be able to publish Classified Ads to eBay.

Visit our website or call us on 01722 435444.

With a client base spanning 21 manufacturer clients as well as many major dealer groups, Portfolio Europe offer a wide range of used car marketing systems and internet solutions focused on both on and offline promotion, as well as a number of strategic and service-based products.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 0845 367 4905.

Auto Exposure specialise in making life easier and cost effective for both the independent and franchised motor dealer. Services include on-site digital photography, stock broadcasting, website design, email facilities and the Auto Edit self managed online stock administration and marketing system.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 0845 265 6000.

Starkwood Media Group have been providing innovative media solutions to the Automotive industry since 1999. Core products include classified advertising, website design and hosting, stock management and many other value added web based products for a fixed weekly fee.

Visit our website or call us on 020 3384 0100.

CompuCars.co.uk has rapidly grown to become one of the primary locations to advertise your cars to retail buyers on the web. Dealers advertising their stock on CompuCars.co.uk can use the CompuCars admin system to manage their vehicles on most other automotive Web sites (including eBay & AutoTrader) at no extra cost. CompuCars.co.uk receives large numbers of retail buyers each month looking to buy and sell used cars.

Visit our website or call us on 020 3384 0100.

We specialise in web sites for motor dealers of all sizes, for both cars and commercial vehicles. You keep your showroom up to date using our software and can broadcast your stock to other automotive web sites, with updates to eBay happening within minutes of you updating you web site stock list. Get your web site up and running quickly with no setup costs, no minimum contract and a fixed low weekly fee.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01342 870101.

Motor trade website design and stock management. Dealer groups to independent dealers all use Spidersnet services, our web based upload tool is probably the easiest to use and does much more than add cars to 3rd party sites such as eBay. We use VRM lookup to take the leg work out of data entry aswell as ensuring accuracy.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01273 837560.

We specialise in websites for motor dealers of all sizes, for cars, commercial vehicles & motor cycles. Our fully featured, state of the art dealer website will save you time and money. It will automatically send your stock to all leading car sites, including eBay! Get your web site up and running within 48 hours. No minimum contract and a dedicated support team with years of dealer experience at your fingertips.

Visit our website or call us on 01642 211 666.

With over 20,000 motorcycles & scooters for sale Motorcyclesupermarket.com is the fastest growing motorcycle site in the UK. We focus on giving dealers the opportunity to sell their bikes quickly and affordably across the whole of the internet by linking to various online medias like eBay.co.uk, YouTube.com and many more. We also offer a trade-to-trade portal and a national delivery service to ANY UK MAINLAND DESTINATION for only £99 (+VAT) helping dealers sell nationally and internationally.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01207 271 600.

Publish your cars on the leading motor sites across the UK. Unlimited stock space totally free of charge. Get setup in minutes and have real control over your stock, save time and money with Dealermole.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 0845 094 1373.

Netcars is one of the UK's leading car sales websites that enables car dealerships and dealer groups to advertise their entire stock online for free. In a bold move, Netcars has taken the Google-inspired 'payment by results' model and adapted it for the used car market. We only charge customers when a referral is made through the site, either by phone, email or click through. With Netcars there is no risk, no contracts, no minimum monthly spend and we broadcast your stock for FREE. It's as simple as that! Netcars is financially backed by Airtours founder, David Crossland.

Visit our website or call us on 0800 138 9135.

Catalyst specialise in Dealer Management systems for the motorcycle, caravan and car trades. Vehicle stock automatically uploads to eBay and other advertising websites with simple, centralised control. Parts stock can also link to eBay providing automatic download of customer and order information. Our proven, reliable software covers all major administration areas including accounts, workshop, stock, marketing, ordering and vehicle sales; even linking to most manufacturer fiche and ordering systems; saving you time, money and improving your customer service.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 0116 230 1500.

Click Dealer continues to grow every day thanks to the confidence that our clients have in us. We cover the whole of the UK automotive industry and have years of experience, which enables us to provide the best possible service for our dealers, day in, day out. Our advanced technology enables our dealers to have data at their fingertips, providing them with the business intelligence required to take their company to the next level.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01782 478220.

DealerWebs provides market leading fully responsive Dealer Website Solutions and Dealer Marketing Services.

Packing with sales and marketing tools, our award winning solutions allow you to combine the sales of cars, motorcycles, clothing & accessories from one central hub. We have strong partnerships at manufacturer level and we care about your business. Our support is unrivalled and we have no sales team - just happy referring customers.

Upload your stock using our easy admin system, and we’ll send to eBay, AutoTrader, MCN, Motors etc - for FREE.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01246 541933.

Want to know more?
Call us now on 01920 252 064

One of our friendly team will be happy to help.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 01920 252 064.

Car Dealer 5 offer inexpensive car dealer website solutions for £300 + VAT per year which automatically feed your Ebay Motors Pro account. Various templates are available and a custom design service if you want something more to your specifications.

Visit our website, email us or call us on 08456 432 110.

Overview of uploading an inventory of listings as a dealer or as a third party

eBay Motors Pro has a simple and robust protocol for uploading your stock. Using a few straightforward tools, you could manage all your listings in an office tool like Excel, or with the assistance of a programmer or developer automatically send entire inventories on behalf of as many sites and dealers as you like.


The overview below will answer the majority of questions you might have while creating an upload file for eBay Motors Pro. We don't provide dedicated technical support for the Upload service, but if you have a question which is not covered here, please Contact Us and we'll update the information where possible.


Account requirements

Every dealer uploading their inventory, either through our webform or through the http upload URL, will need to have registered with eBay and activated their eBay Motors Pro account. Both trial-period and paying dealers can upload listings. A single account corresponds to a single dealer site - this means that a multiple-site franchise needs several accounts.


For someone else to upload their inventory on their behalf, a dealer must create a special Upload username and password, which protects a dealer's account by allowing them to authorise a third party to list on their behalf without actually sharing their eBay User ID and password. Upload usernames and passwords are created through the My Settings part of the eBay Motors Pro website.


Upload process & required files

The basic process is the same regardless of whether you're uploading through eBay Motors Pro (Create Listings> Bulk Upload/ Download), or sending files to the HTTP upload URL, and also whether you're sending listings for the first time or updating details of existing listings. Please refer to the box to the right entitled '3 steps to upload an entire inventory'.


You (and the dealer if you're uploading on someone's behalf) will receive status emails after each upload, detailing any errors which may occurred due to file formats, syntax or content.

See the Technical Specification for more information.

Contact us by email


Technical Specification

Documentation & examples

Last update: 4th September, 2014 Includes six ZIP files with examples for complete and incremental uploads.

Make and Model list (full)

Last update: 24th May, 2017 This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make and Model IDs and their names.

Make and Model list for Commercial Trucks

Last update: 24th May, 2017 This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make and Model IDs and their names.

Make and Model list for Motorcycles

Last update: 30th August, 2017 This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make and Model IDs and their names.

Make list for Motorhomes

Last update: 12th June, 2017

This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make IDs and their names.

Note: model name is free text for Motorhomes.

Make and Model list for Classic Cars

Last update: 24th May, 2017 This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make and Model IDs and their names.

Make list for Minibuses/ Buses/ Coaches

Last update: 29th July, 2016

This file is a CSV (comma-separated value) list of the eBay Motors Pro Make IDs and their names

Note: model name is free text for Minibuses/ Buses/ Coaches.

3 steps to upload an entire inventory

  1. Create an XML file containing the entire inventory using the specs on this page, and validate it against the XSD (see Resources and Tips for more information)
  2. Place the XML file and digital photos into a ZIP file (See the Technical Specification for more information)
  3. Either upload the file via the webform found in eBay Motors Pro (Create Listings > Upload inventory) OR send the file via HTTP (POST) to https://www.ebaymotorspro.co.uk/emp/
    upload/upload.html

Resources & tips for developing in XML for eBay Motors Pro

If you're familiar with uploading your listings from Excel or other tools in CSV format, then these resources and tips could be helpful in helping you transition to using XML. Please note that the use of tools and websites not provided by eBay is at your own risk.


XML validators

You can save yourself development time by ensuring that your XML validates against the published XSD, available here. There are several online tools available free-of-charge of which we recommend www.validome.org. eBay is not responsible for the content of external sites.


To avoid test listings appearing on eBay while still developing,

make sure you set the "Unpublished" flags in the XML for each listing you upload. This way the listings will appear in your Inventory on eBay Motors Pro, but not on the eBay website. When you are ready to 'go live', simply clear that flag.


Listings on eBay are all subject to eBay's policies and User Agreement,

which all eBay Motors Pro Dealers will have agreed to. Make sure you're aware of what this means for you/ your clients.


If a user's inventory is inactive for 30 days or more,

their account will be deactivated until their inventory is updated.


If you're going to be uploading a lot of listings,

make sure you read the section in the documentation about file sizes. If you exceed the maximum upload file size, your upload will be rejected. There are several scaleable ways to reduce the size of your ZIP files, detailed in the documentation.


If a dealer changes their upload username and password,

and you're uploading via the HTTP URL on their behalf, your upload will fail. In this case, it is up to you to contact the dealer and ascertain why they have changed their details.