eBay API PHP - Send Message to customers

Question

I want to send a message to eBay customers (via eBay messenger) after they have purchased an item. I am selling digital codes for xbox one and making an auto delivery system. I've seen this done before so I know it's possible.

I've been looking into it and I've came across AddMemberMessageAAQToPartner but I don't know how to use this in PHP. The only supported API's on the website are Java and C#, for some reason eBay doesn't use PHP.

I have already made PayPal IPN so I know when a customer buys a product, I can use this to send an email but I'd rather send a direct eBay message.

Answer 1

I have created a SDK that enables people to use the eBay API in their PHP projects. If you are familiar with Composer it can be installed with,

php composer.phar require dts/ebay-sdk-trading   

The example below shows how the SDK can be used to call AddMemberMessageAAQToPartner. More information about the SDK is also available.

<?php
/**
 * Include the SDK by using the autoloader from Composer.
 */
require __DIR__.'/vendor/autoload.php';

/**
 * The namespaces provided by the SDK.
 */
use \DTS\eBaySDK\Constants;
use \DTS\eBaySDK\Trading\Services;
use \DTS\eBaySDK\Trading\Enums;
use \DTS\eBaySDK\Trading\Types;

/**
 * Create the service object with the following configuration.
 *
 * authToken  The token that authenticates your request on behalf of a user. 
 *            For this example it will be for the seller. 
 *            See the eBay guide for more information on tokens.
 *            http://developer.ebay.com/devzone/guides/ebayfeatures/Basics/Tokens.html
 *
 * apiVersion The API version that your application supports.
 *            Since this can change see the release notes to obtain the current version.
 *            http://developer.ebay.com/DevZone/XML/docs/ReleaseNotes.html
 *
 * siteId     The numerical id for the site that you want to send the request to.
 *            For this example it will be the site that the seller is registered on.
 *            A complete list of IDs can be found at,
 *            http://developer.ebay.com/devzone/finding/Concepts/SiteIDToGlobalID.html 
 *
 * sandbox    Optional configuration. Set to true to use the sandbox API. 
 *            If this option is not included or is set to false the production API will be used.
 * 
 * For more configuration options see http://devbay.net/sdk/guides/trading/
 *
 */
$service = new Services\TradingService(array(
    'authToken' => 'AUTH TOKEN',
    'apiVersion' => '903',
    'siteId' => Constants\SiteIds::US,
    'sandbox' => true
));

/**
 * Create the request object.
 *
 * Note how the properties on the object match those found in the documentation 
 * for AddMemberMessageAAQToPartner.
 *
 * http://developer.ebay.com/DevZone/xml/docs/Reference/ebay/AddMemberMessageAAQToPartner.html
 */
$request = new Types\AddMemberMessageAAQToPartnerRequestType();
/**
 * The id of the listing that the message is regarding.
 */
$request->ItemID = 'ITEM ID';

$request->MemberMessage = new Types\MemberMessageType();
$request->MemberMessage->QuestionType = Enums\QuestionTypeCodeType::C_GENERAL;
/**
 * The eBay ID of the buyer that the message is for.
 * Note that the API allows you to send the same message to multiple buyers.
 * Multiple request values are handled as arrays by the SDK hence using [] when specifying the buyer.
 */
$request->MemberMessage->RecipientID[] = 'EBAY ID';
$request->MemberMessage->EmailCopyToSender = true;
$request->MemberMessage->Subject = 'A test message';
$request->MemberMessage->Body = 'This is a test message';

/**
 * Send the request.
 */
$response = $service->addMemberMessageAAQtoPartner($request);

/**
 * Display any errors or warnings that the API may have returned.
 */
if (isset($response->Errors)) {
    foreach ($response->Errors as $error) {
        printf("%s: %s\n%s\n\n",
            $error->SeverityCode === Enums\SeverityCodeType::C_ERROR ? 'Error' : 'Warning',
            $error->ShortMessage,
            $error->LongMessage
        );
    }
}

if ($response->Ack !== 'Failure') {
  print("Message sent\n");
}