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To comply with EU regulations, business sellers are legally required to display European Energy Efficiency (EEK) information on listings for specific types of durable goods that are available to buyers in the EU, UK, and Switzerland.

Note: For a complete list of product groups which require energy efficiency labeling, see European Commission Energy-efficient Products.

When creating or updating a listing through the Inventory API, there are two ways to add this information to a listing:

  • Sellers can manually input all required energy efficiency information when creating a listing.

  • Sellers can provide the EPREL Registration Number or other unique identifiers associated with the product, and eBay will display energy efficiency information on the listing.

    Important! This feature is currently only available to sellers operating in the EU and Switzerland.

Manually input energy efficiency information

The energyEfficiencyLabel container is used to provide information about the energy efficiency for certain durable goods when creating a listing through the createOffer method, or when updating a listing through the updateOffer method.

Note: Use the getRegulatoryPolicies method of the MetadataAPI to return metadata on the eBay categories that recommend or require energy efficiency-related fields.

The following elements are required when providing energy efficiency information on a listing through the createOffer method:

  • imageDescription: A brief summary of the information included on the Energy Efficiency Label for the item.

  • imageURL: The URL to the Energy Efficiency Label image that is applicable to an item.

  • productInformationSheet: The URL to the Product Information Sheet that provides complete manufacturer-provided efficiency information about an item.

Note: Images must be provided in .JPEG, .PNG, .BMP, .GIF, or .TIF format and must be at least 500 pixels on the longest side.

In addition, when providing energy efficiency information on an Appliances or Smartphones and Tablets category listing, the following item specifics must be specified through the aspects field when creating the inventory item record for the listing using the createOrReplaceInventoryItem method: 

  • range: The scale used for energy efficiency ratings. The energy efficiency range is typically measured using a letter scale (for example, A to G), where A is the most energy efficient, and G is the least energy efficient. The range can vary by product type.

  • rating: The energy efficiency grade of the item. For example, a rating of A indicates that the item meets the highest standards of energy efficiency on the A-G scale.

Note: Use the getItemAspectsForCategory method of the Taxonomy API to retrieve applicable rating and range values for a specified category.

Automatically display energy efficiency information

Alternatively, when listing items in Tyres, Appliances, or Smartphones and Tablets categories, European Energy Efficiency (EEK) information can be automatically retrieved and displayed on a listing if the seller provided information is incomplete or not provided. This can be done by specifying the EPREL Registration number associated with the product through the aspects field when creating the inventory item record for the listing using the createOrReplaceInventoryItem method.

Every product model in the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL) has its own unique EPREL Registration Number. The EPREL Registration Number can only have 19 digits or fewer, with no letters, spaces, or special characters. An error message will be returned if the entered value does not meet this criteria.

When a seller adds a valid EPREL Registration Number to a listing, eBay receives the respective energy efficiency and performance information from the EPREL database and displays it on the listing.

Note: Sellers are responsible for ensuring the displayed information is accurate and matches the actual product.

This process is detailed in the following sections for each applicable category:

Tyre categories

When uploading a listing in Tyres categories on EU or UK marketplaces, the following information is required to be compliant with EEK regulations: 

  • Tyre label document

  • Product data sheet

Important! Sellers are required to upload both the tyre label document and product data sheet documents or neither. If the seller only uploads one document, an error will occur.

These documents can either be uploaded by the seller, or automatically retrieved and displayed on a listing. This process is described below:

  • If a seller uploads both a Tyre label document and the product data sheet through either a create or update call, these files will be displayed in the buyer experience. These seller-provided documents will take precedence over any details automatically retrieved and displayed on the listing by eBay.

  • If a seller does not upload a Tyre label document and the product data sheet, but a valid EPREL Registration Number has been provided through a create or update call, a call to the EPREL database will be made to retrieve this information to be displayed in the buyer experience.

  • If a seller does not upload a Tyre label document and the product data sheet, nor provide an EPREL Registration Number, but a valid Brand and MPN (or EAN) have been provided through a create or update call, a call to the EPREL database will still be made to try to match and retrieve this information to be displayed in the buyer experience.

Appliances / Smartphones and Tablet categories

When uploading a listing in an Appliances category on EU or UK marketplaces or when uploading a Smartphones and Tablets category listing on EU or Northern Ireland marketplaces, the following information is required to be compliant with EEK regulations:

  • Energy efficiency label

  • Product data sheet

  • The energy efficiency range of the product

  • The energy efficiency rating of the product

Important! Sellers are required to upload both the label document and product data sheet documents or neither. If the seller only uploads one document, an error will occur.

These documents can either be uploaded by the seller, or automatically retrieved and displayed on a listing. This process is described below:

  • If a seller provides the energy efficiency range and rating and uploads both an energy efficiency label document and the product data sheet through either a create or update call, these files and values will be displayed in the buyer experience. These seller-provided details will take precedence over any details automatically retrieved and displayed on the listing by eBay.

  • If a seller does not provide all required information, but a valid EPREL Registration Number of the item has been provided through a create or update call, a call to the EPREL database will be made to retrieve this information to be displayed in the buyer experience.

  • If a seller does not provide all required information, nor provide an EPREL Registration Number, but the Brand and MPN (or EAN) of the item have been provided through a create or update call, a call to the EPREL database will still be made to try to match and retrieve this information to be displayed in the buyer experience.