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Granting API Access
The integration between your Shift4Shop store and your eBay accountis made possible through a special API app created for Shift4Shop users. The first step in the process of integrating your Shift4Shop store is to grant the necessary API access to your eBay account.
To begin, please make sure you have the following:
- A Shift4Shop Professional+ (or higher) account
If you are on a lower account, you will need to upgrade to Professional+
- An eBay Sandbox Developer Account
(Optional but HIGHLY Recommended)
- An eBay Seller Account
This article will assume you are already on the Shift4Shop Professional+ plan and have an eBay Seller Account.
Setting up your Sandbox Account
It should be noted that eBay charges certain fees for item listings. Therefore, you may want to first register and sign up for an eBay "SandBox" account for your intial setup of the integration. The reason for this is that the sandbox environment will not incur fees.
Addtional Information
The process of creating a sandbox user account is entirely optional, but we highly recommend it since it will not incur fees and is invaluable for initial testing. Best of all, creating your developer and sandbox user credentials on eBay is free.
The basic process will involve create an eBay Developer account first, and then using that account to create your sandbox user accounts.
Register for an eBay Developer Account
The following steps should help you with the sandbox user creation process:
- Go to eBay's Developers Program Page located here.
- Click on the "Join Now" button located to the right of the page
- Complete the registration to create your Sandbox environment account
Note
Be sure to complete the email confirmation step during registration to complete the developer account creation. For more information on using eBay's developer/sandbox environment, please click here.
After creating the Developer Account, you will now have the ability to create test user accounts that will use eBay's sandbox environment. To continue, proceed with the following steps:
- Once again, go to eBay's Developers Program Page located here.
- Log in with your Developer credentials (created in the previous steps)
At the very bottom of the page, you will see a "Tools" section
- Click on the link labeled "Sandbox User Registration"
- Create your Sandbox user account
Tip
We recommend creating at least two sandbox users; one to act as the "seller" role and one to act as the "buyer" during your test listings and purchases.
- Save your sandbox user login(s) in a safe place to refer to them later. Note that the username(s) will be created with a "TESTUSER_" prefix.
Your Sandbox credentials are now in place and you may proceed to the next steps.
Granting API Access to your Shift4Shop Store
Regardless of whether you are using eBay's Production or Sandbox environments for your Shift4Shop/eBay integration, the next step in the process will be to grant access to your Shift4Shop store so that it uses the eBay API.
To begin, follow these steps:
- Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager.
- Using the left hand navigation menu, go to Modules
- Use the search bar at the top and search for eBay to view the module
You will see three links listed. Clicking on either of these links will take you to a page with a button labeled "Grant Access."
- At the top left of the page, select the eBay environment you would like to use. (*See Additional Information below)
- Click on the Grant Access button
You will now be redirected to the eBay login page.
Additional Information
In the "Grant Access" page, you will also see a dropdown menu labeled "Select the environment." This menu will allow you to configure your store's integration while using either:
- eBay's sandbox environment API
useful for placing inital tests before going live with the full integration as no fees are involved.
- Production environment
The live eBay API which connects to your live eBay account.
Be aware that while using this envorinment, your listings may incur charges from eBay.
This is optional, but we recommend first creating a sandbox account for yourself and then having this selected while setting up your store for the eBay integration for the first time (while following this article) as it will not incur any charges to you as a buyer or seller. After your initial set up, you can uncheck the box and re-grant access; this time to eBay's production API; when you're ready to go live with the integration.
If you are interested in creating an eBay sandbox login, you will first need to register for their developer program (it's free!) and use that registration to create your sandbox users. We recommend creating at least two separate sandbox users so that you have one that will act as the seller and the other login to act as the buyer.
Important
For additional help in setting up the eBay Sandbox account, please review eBay's documentation by clicking here. This will take you to a step by step document that outlines the process of registering as a developer, creating and using the sandbox. The first three topics of the document will cover the instructions needed.
- Log into your (sandbox or production) eBay account.
You will see a page on the eBay interface allowing you to grant the access.
- Click "Agree" to continue.
The system will take you back to your Shift4Shop Store Admin. You have successfully granted access to eBay's API from your store.
Important
Be aware that if you switch from Sandbox to Production - meaning that you initially set the integration for Sandbox mode, and are now ready to go live - you will need to re-grant access to production mode when choosing the production environment.
Your additional settings for the integration will remain the same, only the environment will change from sandbox API to production.
In our next article, we will discuss the various configuration settings available to you with your Shift4Shop/eBay integration.
Then, we'll have further articles relating to topics such as: setting up the eBay Listing Templates, Listing your Products on eBay, and Processing your eBay generated orders.
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