GetMessagePreferences
Use this call to return a seller's Ask Seller a Question (ASQ) subjects, each in its own Subject node. If the seller has not customized the ASQ subjects with SetMessagePreferences, the call returns the current default values.
GetMessagePreferences returns a maximum of ten Subject nodes.
You can test this call in the Sandbox. Calling GetMessagePreferences in the Sandbox returns the currently set ASQ subjects. To set custom ASQ subject topics, call SetMessagePreferences with your custom question topics, then check the subjects with a call to GetMessagePreferences.
See also the reference documentation for this call:
- SetMessagePreferences - Enables a seller to add custom Ask Seller a Question (ASQ) subjects to their Ask a Question page, or to reset any custom subjects to their default values.
Input
See also Samples.
The box below lists all fields that could be included in the call request. 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 (or soon will be) non-operational.
The XML prototype does not include requester credentials. This is a documentation limitation only (see Standard Requester Credentials for Making Calls).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <GetMessagePreferencesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents"> <!-- Call-specific Input Fields --> <IncludeASQPreferences> boolean </IncludeASQPreferences> <SellerID> UserIDType (string) </SellerID> <!-- Standard Input Fields --> <ErrorLanguage> string </ErrorLanguage> <MessageID> string </MessageID> <Version> string </Version> <WarningLevel> WarningLevelCodeType </WarningLevel> </GetMessagePreferencesRequest>
| Argument | Type | Occurrence | Meaning |
|---|
Call-specific Input Fields
[Jump to standard fields]
IncludeASQPreferences
boolean
Required
This field must be included and set to
true to retrieve the ASQ subjects for the specified eBay user.
SellerID
UserIDType (string)
Required
The eBay user ID of the seller to retrieve ASQ subjects for. A user can retrieve their own ASQ subjects or those of another eBay user with a seller account.
Note: Effective September 26, 2025, both usernames and public user IDs will be accepted in this field. For more information, please refer to Data Handling Compliance.
Note: Effective September 26, 2025, both usernames and public user IDs will be accepted in this field. For more information, please refer to Data Handling Compliance.
Standard Input Fields
| ErrorLanguage | string | Optional |
Use ErrorLanguage to return error strings for the call in a different language from the language commonly associated with the site that the requesting user is registered with. Below are some examples from different countries.
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| MessageID | string | Optional |
Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned. Note: GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable. |
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| Version | string | Conditional |
The version number of the API code that you are programming against (e.g., 1149). The version you specify for a call has these basic effects:
For the SOAP API: If you are using the SOAP API, this field is required. Specify the version of the WSDL your application is using. For the XML API: If you are using the XML API, this field has no effect. Instead, specify the version in the X-EBAY-API-COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL HTTP header. (If you specify Version in the body of an XML API request and it is different from the value in the HTTP header, eBay returns an informational warning that the value in the HTTP header was used instead.) See:
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| WarningLevel | WarningLevelCodeType | Optional |
Controls whether or not to return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request. An unrecognized element is one that is not defined in any supported version of the schema. Schema element names are case-sensitive, so using WarningLevel can also help you remove any potential hidden bugs within your application due to incorrect case or spelling in field names before you put your application into the Production environment. WarningLevel only validates elements; it doesn't validate XML attributes. It also doesn't control warnings related to user-entered strings or numbers, or warnings for logical errors. We recommend that you only use this during development and debugging. Do not use this in requests performed in the Production environment. Applicable values: High if the user wishes to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. Setting the WarningLevel value to High is not recommended in a production environment. Instead, it should only be used during the development/debugging stage.Low if the user does not wish to receive warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in an API call request. This is the default value if WarningLevel is not specified in the call request.See Warning Level. |
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"?> <GetMessagePreferencesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents"> <!-- Call-specific Output Fields --> <ASQPreferences> ASQPreferencesType <Subject> string </Subject> <!-- ... more Subject values allowed here ... --> </ASQPreferences> <!-- Standard Output Fields --> <Ack> AckCodeType </Ack> <Build> string </Build> <CorrelationID> string </CorrelationID> <Errors> ErrorType <ErrorClassification> ErrorClassificationCodeType </ErrorClassification> <ErrorCode> token </ErrorCode> <ErrorParameters ParamID="string"> ErrorParameterType <Value> string </Value> </ErrorParameters> <!-- ... more ErrorParameters nodes allowed here ... --> <LongMessage> string </LongMessage> <SeverityCode> SeverityCodeType </SeverityCode> <ShortMessage> string </ShortMessage> </Errors> <!-- ... more Errors nodes allowed here ... --> <HardExpirationWarning> string </HardExpirationWarning> <Timestamp> dateTime </Timestamp> <Version> string </Version> </GetMessagePreferencesResponse>
| Return Value | Type | Occurrence | Meaning |
|---|
Call-specific Output Fields
[Jump to standard fields]
ASQPreferences
ASQPreferencesType
Conditionally
Returns a seller's ASQ subjects, each in its own Subject node. If the seller has not customized the ASQ subjects using SetMessagePreferences, the call will return the current default values. Returned if IncludeASQPreferences = true was specified in the request.
ASQPreferences.Subject
string
Conditionally,
repeatable: [0..9] Each Subject field contains one custom Ask a Question (ASQ) subject. A maximum of nine custom ASQ subjects can be created. eBay's "General question about this item" subject will always be included in all listings.
For any given SetMessagePreferences call, either ResetDefaultSubjects or one or more Subject fields can be used, but not both in the same call. ASQ subjects are displayed on the drop-down list in the same order as they are passed in to the request. So, if the seller would like to rearrange the order of the ASQ subjects, they should keep this behavior in mind.
Note that the default ASQ subjects will display in the site's language if retrieved from a site other than the seller's own. For example, if a US seller sells on the German and French sites, the default subjects will display in German and French, respectively. However, if the seller adds custom subjects through the API on these sites, the custom subjects will display in the seller's own language - English in this use case.
The GetMessagePreferences call will retrieve all custom ASQ subjects that have been set by the seller. If custom ASQ subjects have not been set up by the seller, the eBay default ASQ subjects will be returned in the Subject fields instead.
Max length: 60.
repeatable: [0..9] Each Subject field contains one custom Ask a Question (ASQ) subject. A maximum of nine custom ASQ subjects can be created. eBay's "General question about this item" subject will always be included in all listings.
For any given SetMessagePreferences call, either ResetDefaultSubjects or one or more Subject fields can be used, but not both in the same call. ASQ subjects are displayed on the drop-down list in the same order as they are passed in to the request. So, if the seller would like to rearrange the order of the ASQ subjects, they should keep this behavior in mind.
Note that the default ASQ subjects will display in the site's language if retrieved from a site other than the seller's own. For example, if a US seller sells on the German and French sites, the default subjects will display in German and French, respectively. However, if the seller adds custom subjects through the API on these sites, the custom subjects will display in the seller's own language - English in this use case.
The GetMessagePreferences call will retrieve all custom ASQ subjects that have been set by the seller. If custom ASQ subjects have not been set up by the seller, the eBay default ASQ subjects will be returned in the Subject fields instead.
Max length: 60.
Standard Output Fields
Ack
AckCodeType
Always
A token representing the application-level acknowledgement code that indicates the response status (e.g., success). The AckCodeType list specifies the possible values for the Ack field.
Applicable values:
CustomCode
(out) Reserved for internal or future use.
Failure
(out) This value indicates that the call request processing failed.
Success
(out) This value indicates that the call request was processed successfully without any issues.
Warning
(out) This value indicates that the call request was successful, but processing was not without any issues. These issues can be checked in the Errors container, that will also be returned when one or more known issues occur with the call request.
(Not all values in AckCodeType apply to this field.)
Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Applicable values:
(Not all values in AckCodeType apply to this field.)
Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Build
string
Always
This refers to the specific software build that eBay used when processing the request and generating the response. This includes the version number plus additional information. eBay Developer Support may request the build information when helping you resolve technical issues.
CorrelationID
string
Conditionally
Most Trading API calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass in a MessageID in a request, the same value will be returned in the CorrelationID field in the response. Pairing these values can help you track and confirm that a response is returned for every request and to match specific responses to specific requests. If you do not pass a MessageID value in the request, CorrelationID is not returned.
Note: GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.
Note: GetCategories is designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.
Errors
ErrorType
Conditionally,
repeatable: [0..*] A list of application-level errors (if any) that occurred when eBay processed the request.
repeatable: [0..*] A list of application-level errors (if any) that occurred when eBay processed the request.
Errors.ErrorClassification
ErrorClassificationCodeType
Conditionally
API errors are divided between two classes: system errors and request errors.
Applicable values:
CustomCode
(out) Reserved for internal or future use.
RequestError
(out) An error has occurred either as a result of a problem in the sending application or because the application's end-user has attempted to submit invalid data (or missing data). In these cases, do not retry the request. The problem must be corrected before the request can be made again. If the problem is due to something in the application (such as a missing required field), the application must be changed. If the problem is a result of end-user data, the application must alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for the end-user to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, resend the request to eBay with the corrected data.
SystemError
(out) Indicates that an error has occurred on the eBay system side, such as a database or server down. An application can retry the request as-is 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.
Applicable values:
Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Errors.ErrorCode
token
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.
See Errors By Number.
Errors.ErrorParameters
ErrorParameterType
Conditionally,
repeatable: [0..*] This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
repeatable: [0..*] This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
Errors.ErrorParameters
[ attribute ParamID ] string Conditionally This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
[ attribute ParamID ] string Conditionally This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
Errors.ErrorParameters.Value
string
Conditionally
This is the value of the request parameter noted in the ParamID attribute. So, if the ParamID value was ItemID, the value in this field would be the actual value of that ItemID.
Errors.LongMessage
string
Conditionally
A more detailed description of the condition that raised the error.
Errors.SeverityCode
SeverityCodeType
Conditionally
Indicates whether the error is a severe error (causing the request to fail) or an informational error (a warning) that should be communicated to the user.
Applicable values:
CustomCode
(out) Reserved for internal or future use.
Error
(out) The request that triggered the error was not processed successfully. When a serious application-level error occurs, the error is returned instead of the business data.
If the source of the problem is within the application (such as a missing required element), change the application before you retry the request.
See the Error handling section of the Making a Trading API call guide for more information.
Warning
(out) The request was processed successfully, but something occurred that may affect your application or the user. For example, eBay may have changed a value the user sent in. In this case, eBay returns a normal, successful response and also returns the warning.
When a warning occurs, the error is returned in addition to the business data. In this case, you do not need to retry the request (as the original request was successful). However, depending on the cause or nature of the warning, you might need to contact either the end user or eBay to effect a long term solution to the problem to prevent it from reoccurring in the future.
Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Applicable values:
If the source of the problem is within the application (such as a missing required element), change the application before you retry the request.
- If the problem is due to end-user input data, please 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, you can attempt to re-send the request to eBay.
- If the source of the problem is on eBay's side, An application can retry the request as-is 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.
See the Error handling section of the Making a Trading API call guide for more information.
When a warning occurs, the error is returned in addition to the business data. In this case, you do not need to retry the request (as the original request was successful). However, depending on the cause or nature of the warning, you might need to contact either the end user or eBay to effect a long term solution to the problem to prevent it from reoccurring in the future.
Code so that your app gracefully handles any future changes to this list.
Errors.ShortMessage
string
Conditionally
A brief description of the condition that raised the error.
HardExpirationWarning
string
Conditionally
Expiration date of the user's authentication token. Only returned within the 7-day period prior to a token's expiration. To ensure that user authentication tokens are secure and to help avoid a user's token being compromised, tokens have a limited life span. A token is only valid for a period of time (set by eBay). After this amount of time has passed, the token expires and must be replaced with a new token.
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 the Time Values section in the eBay Features Guide for information about this time format and converting to and from the GMT time zone.
Note: GetCategories and other Trading API calls are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, this time value reflects the time the cached response was created. Thus, this value is not necessarily when the request was processed. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, this time value does reflect when the request was processed.
Note: GetCategories and other Trading API calls are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, this time value reflects the time the cached response was created. Thus, this value is not necessarily when the request was processed. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, this time value does reflect when the request was processed.
Version
string
Always
The version of the response payload schema. Indicates the version of the schema that eBay used to process the request. See the Standard Data for All Calls section in the eBay Features Guide for information on using the response version when troubleshooting CustomCode values that appear in the response.
Input
Output
Detail Controls
Samples
Change History
Detail Controls
DetailLevel
This call does not support varying Detail Levels. You do not need to pass DetailLevel in the request.
Input
Output
Detail Controls
Samples
Change History
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 ↓ - Retrieves the specified user's Ask Seller a Question topic headings.
- Custom ASQ Topic Headings ↓ - Retrieves the custom Ask Seller a Question topic headings.
Sample: Basic Call
Retrieves the specified user's Ask Seller a Question topic headings.
Description
Seller m***************r wants to review the question topics that sellers can use when they ask questions about her listed items.
Input
For input, m***************r uses her own UserID, and she sets IncludeASQPreferences to true.
XML format.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetMessagePreferencesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<RequesterCredentials>
<eBayAuthToken>A*******3</eBayAuthToken>
</RequesterCredentials>
<SellerID>m***************r</SellerID>
<IncludeASQPreferences>true</IncludeASQPreferences>
</GetMessagePreferencesRequest>
Output
The call returns the currently set message topics, each an its own Subject field. This response shows the current default set of topics, m***************r has not modified her ASQ settings.
XML format.
<GetMessagePreferencesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<Timestamp>2019年11月04日T22:03:36.034Z</Timestamp>
<Ack>Success</Ack>
<Version>1131</Version>
<Build>E1131_CORE_API6_19105226_R1</Build>
<ASQPreferences>
<Subject>Question about how to pay for this item</Subject>
<Subject>Question about combined shipping for multiple items</Subject>
<Subject>Question about shipping for this item</Subject>
<Subject>General question about this item</Subject>
</ASQPreferences>
</GetMessagePreferencesResponse>
Sample: Custom ASQ Topic Headings
Retrieves the custom Ask Seller a Question topic headings.
Description
Seller m***************r has customized her ASQ topics and she wants to review how the questions look.
Input
XML format.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetMessagePreferencesRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<RequesterCredentials>
<eBayAuthToken>A*******3</eBayAuthToken>
</RequesterCredentials>
<SellerID>m***************r</SellerID>
<IncludeASQPreferences>true</IncludeASQPreferences>
</GetMessagePreferencesRequest>
Output
XML format.
<GetMessagePreferencesResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<Timestamp>2019年11月04日T22:03:36.034Z</Timestamp>
<Ack>Success</Ack>
<Version>1131</Version>
<Build>E1131_CORE_API6_19105226_R1</Build>
<ASQPreferences>
<Subject>Question about item condition</Subject>
<Subject>Question about book Edition</Subject>
<Subject>Question about pay plans for this item</Subject>
<Subject>Question about shipping</Subject>
<Subject>Other type of question</Subject>
<Subject>General question about this item</Subject>
</ASQPreferences>
</GetMessagePreferencesResponse>
Input
Output
Detail Controls
Samples
Change History
Change History
| Change Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 497 2007年01月24日 |
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