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I am trying to remove a variation from my listing during relist and I am getting an error:
Variation Specifics Mismatch.
Number 21916664 - Variation Specifics provided does not match with the variation specifics of the variations on the item.
Why am I getting this error and how do I avoid it?
Summary
Generally this is seen when the original listing has more variation than what is in the relist request. Here is an example:
The original listing include this:
<Variations>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>34</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>47</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>8</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<VariationSpecificsSet>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
<Value>8</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecificsSet>
</Variations>
The relist request includes:
<Variations>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>34</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<VariationSpecificsSet>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecificsSet>
</Variations>
This relist will fail with the above error. Relist does not replace the variations of the original listing. It is only updating the variations. The assumption is that the unmentioned variations have not changed. They are automatically included as part of the relist. This has the affect of attempting a relist like this:
<Variations>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>34</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>47</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>8</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<VariationSpecificsSet>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecificsSet>
</Variations>
At this point it is clear that we have variations for both sizes 7 and 8 but have only included 7 in our VariationSpecificsSet. Changing the VariationSpecificsSet with each relist is not recommended for the above reason. To quote from RelistFixedPriceItem: "The set of all variation names and values that can be applicable to the listing (at any time in its life cycle)." What we are trying to say with this, you only need to include this in your request if you have starting stocking a new variation or have discontinued stocking a variation. If you are out of stock but still plan to continue stocking the variation, you do not need to include this in your request. Basically this is a master list of all the variations you plan to stock, in stock or not. It should be set only once for each of these events: new items, new variations, discontinued variations.
So now the question is, how do I remove a variation in the previous listing? You have two options: set the Item.Variations.Variation.Quantity to zero (0) or use Item.Variations.Variation.Delete. Right now, both do the same thing except Item.Variations.Variation.Delete does not produce warnings. In both cases your listing will not show the variation in the drop down list of options (in the future, variations with quantity 0 may show in the list as out of stock). So here is a final example that corrects the VariationSpecificsSet to include all the sizes I plan on stocking for the entire lifecycle of the item and correctly removes size 8 from the listing's available sizes:
<Variations>
<Variation>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>34</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>7</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<Variation>
<Delete>true</Delete>
<StartPrice currencyID="USD">9.99</StartPrice>
<Quantity>0</Quantity>
<VariationSpecifics>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>8</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecifics>
</Variation>
<VariationSpecificsSet>
<NameValueList>
<Name>Size</Name>
<Value>5</Value>
<Value>6</Value>
<Value>7</Value>
<Value>8</Value>
<Value>9</Value>
<Value>10</Value>
<Value>11</Value>
</NameValueList>
</VariationSpecificsSet>
</Variations>