Integrate Your Inventory System with the eBay SDK

f you're involved in creating applications for manufacturing or retailing organizations, unless those businesses are the size of roadside taco stands, you probably already have some kind of inventory management system—more than likely built around a product database. In the code download for the sample project that accompanies this article, I've included a very simple example inventory database in Microsoft Access format (of course, your real database can be any type). This sample project that accompanies this article uses this inventory database as the basis for the integration project.

As with any kind of integration project, the task involves writing a little glue code to make your existing system communicate with an external service. Sprinkling a little XML and HTTP pixie dust helps make this go more smoothly, as you probably know.

Figure 1 contains a high-level diagram that shows how all the pieces fit together.

You create your custom listing application—enabling your existing database to talk to eBay —using the eBay SDK, a pure .NET library that encapsulates the XML-parsing and HTTPS request-handling of the cross-platform eBay API. First, download and install the free SDK, then you can use it in a Visual Studio .NET project by making a reference to the assembly eBay.SDK.dll, which is installed by default in C:\Program Files\eBay\SDK.

Figure 1. The Players: The eBay SDK and API sit between your application and its data and eBay, letting you expose your data directly and securely to eBay's onsite auction interface.

This article approaches eBay integration using .NET, but because the eBay API is XML-based, it's perfectly possible to create eBay applications using any platform or language.