Inventory API: item appears in list response but returns ‘not found’ by SKU
I’m experiencing an issue with the eBay Inventory API and would like to understand why this happens.
When I call:
the response shows that an item exists in my inventory list (it includes a valid SKU).
However, when I then call:
using that same SKU from the list response, I receive this error:
"errors": [
{
"errorId": 25710,
"domain": "API_INVENTORY",
"category": "Request",
"message": "We didn't find the resource/entity you are requesting. Please verify the request"
In short, the list endpoint says the item exists, but the single-item endpoint says it doesn’t. This only happens with some SKUs.
My questions:
Why can an item appear in the inventory list but not be found by SKU?
Is this a known issue or a delay in cache/index updates?
How can such inconsistent records be cleaned up or refreshed?
Additional info:
Using the Inventory API (not Trading or Merchant Data).
Same OAuth token for both requests.
No multi-location setup.
The item definitely exists in my account and has never been deleted.
Any advice or clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
developer-support@ebay.com
Hi @rollunlc,
Thank you for your post!
We've reviewed your query, and to provide you with the best possible assistance, we need some additional information. Specifically, we require the API request you've made, the API response you received, and the rlogid found in the response headers. In relation to this, we kindly ask you to submit a support ticket through this link: eBay Support Tickets for assistance, which is a complimentary service. This will help us address your issue more effectively.
Additionally, please remember not to share these details here in the forum post, as they may contain confidential information that, if exposed, could lead to security concerns.
Best Regards,
eBay Developer Support
1786davycrockett
·10 months ago@rollunlc
The "short" answer is that the eBay catalogue does not include each and everything thing that has ever existed.
That would be impossible, as the eBay catalogue should not be considered to be the fount of all knowledge.
rollunlc
OP10 months ago · EditedThanks for your reply!
Just to clarify — are you saying that this issue might be related to how eBay’s catalog is structured, rather than the Inventory API itself?
In my case, I’m not using the catalog directly — I’m just calling GET /inventory_item and then GET /inventory_item/{sku}. The first endpoint lists the SKU, but the second says it doesn’t exist.
Do you think this could still be connected to the catalog (e.g. some mismatch between catalog-linked records and inventory records), or is it more likely a data/indexing inconsistency within Inventory API?
I’d really appreciate your thoughts on that.