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I have tried using ItemLookup operation to identify an ItemId based on IdType UPC. I expected to get a unique result, since it is based on UPC. But for some of the queries made, more than one result came up and sometimes, items clearly not related to the UPC comes up in response.

For example, made a lookup for "035000530271" item, which is a kitchen degreaser. I got three responses for it: two of which were from the same brand and variants, but the third response was of a metal surface polish. How did this happen? UPC of an item linked to something totally different?

I was hoping that I could make use of Amazon APIs to uniquely identify an item from its barcode number and get price details. Can you please help me understand, if this is expected, ie more than one responses, even if its based on UPC? Or if there is some other way of fine tuning the lookup to pin point to correct result?

Thanks!

aynber
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user2400616
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1 Answers1

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The ItemLookup operation can return multiple results for one ItemId, because Amazon's catalog contains instances where that is the case. The catalog contents is aggregated from multiple sources including third parties, so inaccurate matchings exist occasionally.

If you have access to the Amazon MWS API, you could use the GetCompetitivePricingForASIN operation in the Products API section to retrieve NumberOfOfferListings for each result when there are more than one results, and then treat the result with the most offer listings as the most likely valid result.

Cosmo Harrigan
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  • Unfortunately I dont have a sellers account! – user2400616 Oct 08 '13 at 11:04
  • I had registered for the Amazon MWS API. Here's what I did: – user2400616 Oct 11 '13 at 10:28
  • I had registered for the Amazon MWS API. Here's what I did: 1. Using product advertising API, do ItemLookup based on UPC, get the list of items returned from xml response. 2. Using the ASIN of the items returned, issue GetCompetitivePricingForASIN operation. 3. Tried to retrieve _NumberOfOfferListings_ for each result, but observed that sometimes this field itself is not there in the response. And sometimes pointing to correct result based on _NumberOfOfferListings_ field is inaccurate. Again back to square one! Please suggest any other way to go about it. – user2400616 Oct 11 '13 at 10:35
  • Some products have no offer listings. Those products are less likely to be a valid result. It's true that sometimes you will get an inaccurate matching based on this method. You can't get completely accurate matchings from any method using these APIs, because the underlying data is not completely accurate. The best you can do is maximize the probability of accurate results. – Cosmo Harrigan Oct 12 '13 at 16:05