Skip to main content

When you upload a feed to eBay, MIP processes the feed file and then generates a response file that confirms what you uploaded and reports whether MIP successfully processed the information.

Commonly used response file types include:

  • Product
  • Availability
  • Distribution
  • Combined

If an error occurs and the upload is not successful, MIP generates an error message that includes detailed information about the error and what caused it. This helps you identify the issue and correct the feed for subsequent upload attempts.

Response files are in the same format as the feed you upload. If your feed is a CSV file, the response file will also be CSV; if your feed is XML, the response file will be XML. See examples in eBay response file samples.

Obtaining a response file

You can download response files either with the MIP user interface or with the SFTP file server (see FTP setup).

To download response files with the MIP user interface:

  1. On the feed type page (such as Product), locate the table entry for the desired file upload.
  2. In the Results file column, click the Download link.
  3. If you are prompted to do so, choose whether to open the file in a browser or download and save the file to your computer.

To download response files from the MIP file server:

  1. In the feed type folder (for example, the Product folder), open the Output subfolder.
  2. Locate and open the subfolder labeled with the time stamp that corresponds to the time when you uploaded the feed file.
  3. Locate the response file for the upload. Use the FTP client to download the response file to your computer.

When to use a response file

eBay recommends that you download the response files after each upload to make sure that your listings are complete and displayed as intended.

Contents of a response file

Response files contain these elements:

  • RequestID (available only in XML files): The file identifier. If you encounter errors and need to contact technical support, this number will help them identify the feed file that didn't upload properly.
  • Status: Tells whether each item uploaded successfully or not. If an item has an error or warning, a message will describe the problem encountered.
  • Various elements that are unique to each feed type.

XML feedSummary container

All XML response files return a feedSummary container. See the following sample.

<feedSummary>
    <status>SUCCESS</status>
    <feedID>40777</feedID>
    <feedType>AVAILABILITY</feedType>
    <inputFilename>availability.xml-Jul-20-2023-14-50-06-0700</inputFilename>
    <counts>
        <total>2</total>
        <success>2</success>
        <failed>0</failed>
    </counts>
</feedSummary>

The following table explains the elements in the container.

Element Description
status The value returned in this field indicates if the submitted feed request file was processed successfully. Value will either be SUCCESS or FAILED.
feedID The unique identifier of the feed request file. Also referred to as the Request ID.
feedType The type of feed files used to create or update the eBay listings. Different feed types are used that contain product details, price and quantity, and more.
inputFilename The name of the Product feed request file, with a timestamp appended to the end of seller-defined filename.
For example:
ProductFeed123.xml-Jul-31-2023-13-50-32-0700
counts This container consists of the counts.total, counts.success, and the counts.failed fields.
counts.total The total number of SKUs in the feed.
counts.success The number of SKUs that were processed successfully.
counts.failed The number of SKUs that failed to be processed successfully.