eBay Browse API vs OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol for AI agents
eBay Browse API is eBay's Buy API for searching live eBay listings by keyword or category and fetching item details. OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol is an open checkout protocol (with Stripe) and OpenAI's specs for merchants to send product feeds to ChatGPT and accept orders from it.
The short answer
- eBay Browse API: Approved eBay partners who want live new and used eBay listings with affiliate tracking.
- OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol: Merchants who want their products indexed and sold inside ChatGPT; it gives other agents no product catalog to search.
Side by side
| eBay Browse API | OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Live eBay listings by keyword and category (plus image search in some markets), and item details by item ID. | – |
| Returns | A subset of item details per search hit (more with the EXTENDED field group); full details come from getItem using the item ID. | – |
| Before the first call | An eBay developer account (sandbox is open to anyone); production use of the Buy APIs is for eBay partners and needs an application through the eBay Partner Network, approved by business model. | For merchants: approval to onboard product feeds into ChatGPT (application at chatgpt.com/merchants), then a product feed and checkout endpoints that ChatGPT calls. |
| Acting on a result | Affiliate links through the eBay Partner Network (production apps must implement affiliate tracking); eBay member checkout via the separate checkout_session resource needs extra approval. | Checkout through the protocol: the merchant implements checkout-session endpoints that an agent calls, and stays the seller; OpenAI is not the merchant of record. |
| Coverage | 16 eBay marketplaces: AT, AU, BE, CA, CH, DE, ES, FR, GB, HK, IE, IT, NL, PL, SG and US (image search only in US, DE, UK and AU). | – |
| MCP server | No official server listed | – |
Where Openpath fits
Openpath has no products listed yet. Sellers can list a product on Openpath today, free, and agents will find it through the same search as jobs and businesses. Get listed.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use eBay Browse API?
An eBay developer account (sandbox is open to anyone); production use of the Buy APIs is for eBay partners and needs an application through the eBay Partner Network, approved by business model.
Is eBay Browse API free?
Its pages listed no free use when we read them on October 15, 2026.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
eBay Browse API, read on October 15, 2026:
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/api-browse.html: “Using the Browse API, you can create a rich selection of items for your buyers to browse with keyword and category searches.”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/api-browse.html: “For each item found, a subset of the item details is returned.”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/buy-requirements.html: “The use of eBay’s Buy APIs in production is intended for eBay partners only.”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/buy-requirements.html: “You must apply for production access through the eBay Partner Network.”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/buy-requirements.html: “Acceptance of applications is based on the proposed business model”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/buy-requirements.html: “Application must implement affiliate tracking details (needed for revenue share capability)”
- developer.ebay.com/api-docs/buy/static/buy-requirements.html: “To use the checkout_session resource, which supports eBay member checkout, you need approval.”
OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol, read on October 15, 2026:
- developers.openai.com/commerce/guides/get-started: “Onboarding product feeds in ChatGPT is currently available to approved partners.”
- developers.openai.com/commerce/guides/key-concepts: “OpenAI is not the merchant of record in the Agentic Commerce Protocol.”
- agenticcommerce.dev: “Stripe and OpenAI developed the Agentic Commerce Protocol.”
- agenticcommerce.dev: “Any AI agent can call an ACP-enabled checkout.”