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If a user changes the eBay UserID, how does it affect the API calls?
Summary
When a UserID is changed, the Old UserID is available for the next 30 days. If you make calls with the old UserID, the calls will return the response correctly, as if you had sent in the new UserID for the 30 day time period. After that, you need to use the new UserID.
Detailed Description
For instance, if you make a call to GetUser with the Old UserID, you will get back the new UserID in the response. Here is an example:
Request:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetUserRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<Version>1267</Version>
<RequesterCredentials>
<eBayAuthToken>*****</eBayAuthToken>
</RequesterCredentials>
<UserID>oldUserID</UserID>
</GetUserRequest>
Relevant portion of the Response:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetUserResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<Timestamp>20210410T18:56:30.643Z</Timestamp>
<Ack>Success</Ack>
<Version>1267</Version>
<Build>e507_core_Bundled_4487722_R1</Build>
<User>
<AboutMePage>false</AboutMePage>
<EIASToken>nY+sHZ2PrBmdj6wVnY+sEZ2PrA2dj6wJnY+lC5eBogmdj6x9nY+seQ==</EIASToken>
<Email>Invalid Request</Email>
<FeedbackScore>0</FeedbackScore>
<UniqueNegativeFeedbackCount>0</UniqueNegativeFeedbackCount>
<UniquePositiveFeedbackCount>0</UniquePositiveFeedbackCount>
<PositiveFeedbackPercent>0.0</PositiveFeedbackPercent>
<FeedbackPrivate>false</FeedbackPrivate>
<FeedbackRatingStar>None</FeedbackRatingStar>
<IDVerified>false</IDVerified>
<eBayGoodStanding>true</eBayGoodStanding>
<NewUser>false</NewUser>
<RegistrationDate>2021-01-01T10:59:59.000Z</RegistrationDate>
<Site>US</Site>
<Status>Confirmed</Status>
<UserID>newUserID</UserID>
<UserIDChanged>true</UserIDChanged>
<UserIDLastChanged>2021-04-05T20:41:23.000Z</UserIDLastChanged>
<VATStatus>NoVATTax</VATStatus>
+<SellerInfo>
<eBayWikiReadOnly>false</eBayWikiReadOnly>
<MotorsDealer>false</MotorsDealer>
</User>
</GetUserResponse>
From the above sample, we see that the API call responses will return the new UserID. You can use the EIASToken, which remains constant, to associate this UserID with the Old UserID. This leads us to the best practice that you should not use the eBay UserID as your primary key in your database, instead use your own unique numeric id.
There is no API call to return the eBay Member User ID History like the site does, instead the API makes EIASToken available.
Additional Resources