Connecting eBay

This article walks you through connecting your eBay account to Ecommerce for the first time, explains how the connection works behind the scenes, and covers what to do when the connection expires and needs to be renewed.

Initial Connection: Granting Ecommerce Access to Your eBay Account

Before Ecommerce can create listings, update inventory, or manage orders on your behalf, you need to authorize it to access your eBay account. This is a one-time setup process (though you may need to repeat it occasionally — more on that below).

Step-by-step instructions

1. Log in to Ecommerce and navigate to eBay Settings.
2. Click the "Grant Access" button.
3. A new window (or popup) will open, directing you to eBay's sign-in page. Sign in with the eBay account you want Ecommerce to manage. Make sure this is the correct account — the one with your eBay Store subscription.
4. eBay will display a consent screen showing what Ecommerce is requesting access to. Review the permissions and click "I Agree" to authorize Ecommerce.
5. The window will close and return you to Ecommerce. Click SAVE on the eBay Settings page.

That is it. Your Ecommerce account is now connected to eBay and can manage your listings.

Important: The token fields will appear empty — this is normal

After you complete the authorization and return to Ecommerce, you may notice that the token-related fields on the eBay Settings page do not display any visible values. This is expected behavior. The tokens are stored securely in the background. As long as you clicked "I Agree" on eBay and then hit SAVE in Ecommerce, the connection is active. Do not re-do the process just because the fields look blank.

How the Connection Works

Ecommerce connects to eBay using a standard authorization method called OAuth 2.0. You do not need to understand the technical details, but a basic awareness of how it works will help you troubleshoot if something goes wrong.

What happens when you click "Grant Access"

When you authorize Ecommerce, eBay issues two pieces of information to Ecommerce behind the scenes:

• Access token: This is what Ecommerce uses every time it talks to eBay on your behalf — creating listings, updating prices, pulling orders, and so on. Think of it as a temporary keycard that lets Ecommerce into your eBay account.
• Refresh token: This is a longer-lived credential that Ecommerce uses to automatically get a new access token when the current one expires. Think of it as the master key that can generate new keycards.

What Ecommerce can do with your authorization

When you agree to the consent screen, you are granting Ecommerce access to specific areas of your eBay account, including:

• Inventory management — creating, updating, and removing listings
• Order fulfillment — viewing and processing orders
• Account settings — reading your store configuration, shipping preferences, and policies

Ecommerce only requests the permissions it needs to manage your listings and orders. It does not have access to your eBay password or financial account details.

Token Expiration and Reauthorization

Why tokens expire

For security purposes, eBay's authorization tokens do not last forever. Ecommerce automatically refreshes your tokens in the background whenever possible, so in most cases you will never need to think about this.

However, occasionally the automatic refresh fails or the tokens fully expire. When this happens, Ecommerce can no longer communicate with eBay on your behalf.

Signs your token has expired

You may notice one or more of the following:

• Listings stop syncing. New products are not appearing on eBay, or inventory/price changes are not being reflected.
• Error messages in Ecommerce. You may see errors related to authorization, authentication, or token expiration on your dashboard or in sync logs.
• Orders stop importing. New eBay orders are not showing up in Ecommerce.

If you experience any of these symptoms, a token reauthorization is likely the fix.

How to reauthorize

The reauthorization process is identical to the initial connection. There is nothing different you need to do:

1. Log in to Ecommerce and navigate to eBay Settings.
2. Click the "Grant Access" button.
3. Sign in to eBay when prompted (use the same eBay account as before).
4. Click "I Agree" on the consent screen.
5. Return to Ecommerce and click SAVE.

Once saved, Ecommerce will have fresh tokens and normal sync operations will resume. You may need to wait a few minutes for the first sync cycle to run after reauthorization.

Troubleshooting Connection Issues

If the Grant Access process is not working as expected, try the following:

The authorization popup is not opening

• Check your popup blocker. The Grant Access button opens a new window to eBay's login page. If your browser blocks popups, the window will not appear. Temporarily allow popups for the Ecommerce domain and try again.
• Try a different browser. Some browser extensions or security settings can interfere. Chrome and Firefox are generally the most reliable choices.

The eBay page will not load or shows an error

• Clear your browser cache and cookies. Stale cached data can sometimes cause the eBay consent page to fail. Clear your cache, restart the browser, and try again.
• Check eBay's status. On rare occasions, eBay's own systems may be temporarily unavailable. You can check eBay's system status page or try again in 30 minutes.

I completed the process but listings still are not syncing

• Make sure you clicked SAVE. This is the most commonly missed step. After returning from eBay, you must hit SAVE on the Ecommerce eBay Settings page for the new tokens to be stored.
• Wait for the next sync cycle. After reauthorization, Ecommerce needs to run its next scheduled sync. Give it 10-15 minutes before concluding there is still a problem.
• Contact Ecommerce support. If you have reauthorized, saved, and waited but listings still are not syncing, there may be a separate issue. Reach out to Ecommerce support with details about what you are seeing.

Quick Reference

Keeping your eBay connection active is essential for uninterrupted listing management. If you run into issues you cannot resolve with the steps above, Ecommerce support is always available to help.