How do the FreeShipping and Priority tags work in ShippingServiceOptions in an AddItem call?

Question

Demonstrates how these two tags affect what the buyer will see in the ViewItem page.

Answer

Here is the summary of how these two tags affect shipping costs in the ViewItem page :

• If you indicate FreeShipping=true, then this will overwrite any shipping cost for that option.
• If you set FreeShipping=true for an option where priority is not 1, you receive a warning and the item lists without free shipping.
• The "physical" arrangement of the shipping options in the request does not matter. The indicated priority in the request dictates the order (and the free shipping) in the ViewItem page.

Let's examine relevant sections of three example AddItem calls and see the output on the ViewItem page :

Case 1

Input : "Normal" AddItem with increasing shipping costs (Priority listed = 1,2,3). Have FreeShipping = true for first item (but still has price)

Output : View Item page lists shipping options in same order (1,2,3 increasing cost). Free shipping for first item.

<ShippingDetails>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodStandard</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">1.00</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
  <FreeShipping>true</FreeShipping>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>UPS2ndDay</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">7.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>2</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodExpress</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">9.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>3</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingType>Flat</ShippingType>
</ShippingDetails>

ViewItem page :

FREE
US $7.95
US $9.95

Case 2 

Input : "Normal" AddItem with increasing shipping costs (Priority listed = 1,2,3) BUT, FreeShipping = true only for last item (priority 3 but still has price)

Output :Receive this warning :
Warning: Free shipping is only applicable to the first shipping service. Free shipping will not be applied for this service.
No free shipping. Order in ViewItem page in expected (1,2,3) order.

<ShippingDetails>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodStandard</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">1.00</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>UPS2ndDay</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">7.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>2</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <FreeShipping>true</FreeShipping>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodExpress</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">9.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>3</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingType>Flat</ShippingType>
</ShippingDetails>


ViewItem page :

Shipping and Handling
US $1.00
US $7.95
US $9.95

Case 3

Input : "Inverted" AddItem with decreasing shipping costs (Priority listed = 3,2,1). Have free shipping = true for last item (priority 3)

Output : View Item page lists shipping options in indicated priority order (1,2,3 ). Free shipping for last item (priority 1).

<ShippingDetails>
  <ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodStandard</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">1.00</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>3</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <ShippingService>UPS2ndDay</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">7.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>2</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingServiceOptions>
  <FreeShipping>true</FreeShipping>
  <ShippingService>ShippingMethodExpress</ShippingService>
  <ShippingServiceCost currencyID="USD">9.95</ShippingServiceCost>
  <ShippingServicePriority>1</ShippingServicePriority>
</ShippingServiceOptions>
<ShippingType>Flat</ShippingType>
</ShippingDetails>


ViewItem page :

Shipping and Handling
FREE
US $7.95
US $1.00

Ref: https://developer.ebay.com/DevZone/guides/features-guide/default.html#Development/Shipping-Services.html#SpecifyingFreeShipping

How well did this answer your question?

Answers others found helpful

• RestockingFeeValueOption and Return Preferences
• Error: eBay does not understand the Picture URL that you provided.
• Implementing Compression for the Trading API : When and How
• Improper Words error
• Does the Windows SDK support UTF-8?