Important! Minimum Advertised Price is restricted to a limited number of existing sellers. It is no longer available to new sellers.

Minimum Advertised Price is supported only on the eBay US marketplace.

Important! For listings with Minimum Advertised Price details and a seller-specified price below the minimum advertised price, you are legally required to follow the rules for displaying the price of the item to potential buyers. You are bound by the terms of the API License Agreement to follow these rules. Refer to the API License Agreement for consequences of non-compliance.

Because of the legal implications of the Minimum Advertised Price treatment, applications that show item prices to buyers must first check items for discount price information (e.g., Item.DiscountPriceInfo) and the specific price treatment (i.e., Item.DiscountPriceInfo.PricingTreatment,) to determine whether a special display treatment is needed for the item price. Discount price information is returned by the Finding API search calls, GetSingleItem and GetMultipleItems in the Shopping API, and GetItem in the Trading API.

While sellers have the freedom to set item prices as they see fit, some manufacturers restrict how prices on certain items can be displayed or communicated to others. When a listing includes Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) discount pricing information, there are legal requirements for the display of the item price to buyers when it is below the minimum advertised price set by the manufacturer. If a seller prices an item below the minimum advertised price, applications cannot display the price on any page until the buyer takes further action (such as clicking a button or link).

If the item's price is greater than or equal to the minimum advertised price, no special treatment is needed to display the price.

Eligibity

The display rules for Minimum Advertised Price apply when an item is listed with discount pricing information that returns Item.DiscountPriceInfo.PricingTreatment = MAP. To qualify for MAP display treatment, Item.StartPrice must be below the Item.DiscountPriceInfo.MinimumAdvertisedPrice, as illustrated in the following snippet from an XML response from the Trading API.

API response sample for Minimum Advertised Price 

...
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">149.99</CurrentPrice>
...
<DiscountPriceInfo>
  <OriginalRetailPrice currencyID="USD">159.99</OriginalRetailPrice>
  <MinimumAdvertisedPrice currencyID="USD">154.99</MinimumAdvertisedPrice>
  <MinimumAdvertisedPriceExposure>DuringCheckout</MinimumAdvertisedPriceExposure>
  <PricingTreatment>MAP</PricingTreatment>
</DiscountPriceInfo>
...

The specific XML response for discount pricing information may vary slightly from API to API.

Treatment rules

When the display rules for Minimum Advertised Price apply, the application cannot display the seller's lower price until the buyer takes further action.

  • If GetItem returns a value of Item.DiscountPriceInfo.MinimumAdvertisedPriceExposure = PreCheckout, the buyer can click a link or button to view the item's price in a pop-up window or subsequent page.

  • If GetItem returns a value of Item.DiscountPriceInfo.MinimumAdvertisedPriceExposure = DuringCheckout, the price is displayed on eBay's Review and Confirm page in the checkout flow or a comparable page in a third-party application that supports checkout capabilities, such as PlaceOffer.

    Note: If an application sends buyers to eBay for checkout, the application should not display the item price to buyers when the exposure setting is DuringCheckout.

Shown below is a permissible visual treatment when item price is below the specified minimum advertised price. Users must click the "See Price Details" link to view the item price.

When applying a Minimum Advertised Price treatment for an eBay listing, your application must display or include a link to display the following explanatory text on pages upon which item price is hidden:

Sellers have the right to set their own prices independently, but some manufacturers place restrictions on how those prices may be displayed or communicated to others. Because the seller's price on this item is below the manufacturer's "minimum advertised price" the manufacturer may not allow the seller to show you the seller's lower price until you take further action, such as clicking on a drop-down menu, placing the item in your cart, or proceeding to checkout. The steps required depend on the terms of the manufacturer's minimum advertised price policy. Taking these steps allows eBay to show you the seller's great price consistent with eBay's goal of always bringing consumers like you the lowest possible prices on the widest selection of products.

You should know that by taking these steps, you won't be required to purchase the product. You can always simply remove the item from your cart or not proceed with checkout if you decide not to buy the item.

These display rules for discount pricing apply to both active and completed items.