Finding Items to Buy

Product Advertising API: 2009-11-01

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Finding Items to Buy

Topics

In the previous chapter, you learned how Amazon groups and catalogs items for sale. In the following sections, you learn how to use Product Advertising API operations to find those items.

Finding Vehicles and Vehicle Parts

Topics

You can find vehicles, parts for vehicles, and vehicles in which a specific part works using the vehicle operations: VehiclePartLookup, VehiclePartSearch, and VehicleSearch.

Four quantities are used to find specific vehicles: year, make, model, and trim, for example, 2008 GMC Yukon Denali. Make is the maker of a car, such as Ford, General Motors, and Chevrolet. Model refers to the name of the car, for example, Mustang, Hummer, and Neon. Trim refers to the package of accessories included with the car. For example, some makers use trim names such as GL and DL to refer to accessory packages. An accessory package might include power seats, sunroof, and an upgraded sound system. Individual accessories are also referred to as VehicleOptions in Product Advertising API.

Finding a Vehicle

The VehicleSearch operation returns vehicles based on one or more of the following parameters: year, make, model, and trim. Providing only a year, for example, in a VehicleSearch request returns all of the vehicles made in that year. Providing the year and make returns all of the vehicles made in that year by that vehicle maker. By specifying more parameters, you narrow your search results.

If you specify the year, make, model, and trim, VehicleSearch also returns all of the VehicleOptions available for that car. These options have identifiers that can be used in the other vehicle operations to further narrow results.

Parts for a Vehicle

Once you have a year, make, and model for a car, you can use VehiclePartSearch to find the parts used in a specified vehicle, or VehiclePartLookup to find out if a specified part works in a vehicle.

VehiclePartSearch requires the year, make, and model of a car. You can then restrict the parts found for a vehicle by BrowseNode, trim, vehicle options, or brand.

Filters to Narrow Results

Year, make, and model go a long way in defining the vehicle parts that interests you. There are, however, additional parameters that you can use in a VehiclePartSearch request to refine your results:

  • TrimId—A package of vehicle options, such as power steering and power seats

  • VehicleOptions—These are the individual vehicle options, some of which are combined into trim packages

    VehicleOptions include BedId, BodyStyleId, BrakesId, DriveTypeId, EngineId, MfrBodyCodeId, SpringTypesId, SteeringId, TransmissionId, and WheelbaseId

  • BrowseNodeId —Browsenodes are groupings of products, for example, carburetors

    The Automobile BrowseNode is used by default

  • Brand—The maker of an option

    Brands do not have IDs

Using the PartBrowseNodeBinsSummary response group, VehiclePartSearch returns a list of all BrowseNodes that contain parts for the car. In successive requests, you supply the BrowseNode of interest to list all of the parts contained in the BrowseNode. You can also specify trim packages and options to further limit the parts returned.

You can use the PartBrandBinsSummary response group to with a BrowseNode ID to return a list of all brands (manufacturers) that make the part, and the number of car parts in the specified BrowseNode.

When you finally reach the level of filtering desired, you can use the VehicleParts response group in a VehiclePartSearch request to return all of the parts (ASINs) for the year, make, model, and BrowseNode (or brand). For additional information about each car part, you use an ItemLookup request and supply the ASIN of the car part. ItemLookup can take as ItemIds up to ten comma-separated ASINs, as shown in the following example:

http://ecs.amazonaws.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService&
Version=2008-08-18&Operation=ItemLookup&SubscriptionId=ID
&ItemId=B000BV9LGM,B000C0TAKO,B000C0WJUW,B000C2WLMG,B000C7A0S8,
B000CAXN7K,B000C0TAH2&ResponseGroup=Small

Paging Through Parts

The number of parts that can work with a vehicle can be far greater than the ten (default) returned. So, you can use the VehiclePartSearch parameters Count, FromItemId, and PartPageDirection with the VehicleParts response group (only).

To page through car parts

  1. In a VehiclePartSearch request, use the VehicleParts response group.

  2. Set the value of FromItemId to the ASIN where you want to start.

  3. Set the value of PartPageDirection to "Next" (default) or "Previous" to specify if you want the next ten or previous ten results.

  4. Set the value of Countto an integer between 1 and 15, inclusive, where 10 is the default. This specifies the number of results returned in one response.

  5. Send the request.

Vehicles That a Part Works In

VehiclePartLookup returns the list of cars that a specified part works in. The car part is specified by its ASIN. The same operation can determine if a part works in a car specified by its year, make, and model. There are times when the operation will need additional information, the trim or some option, to determine if the part works in the car. The XML response specifies whether additional information is needed.

Fitments are vehicles that accept specified vehicle parts. In other words, the specified vehicle parts work in (fit in) the vehicles.

Paging Through Fitments

You can page through fitments using VehiclePartLookup with the Fitments response groups.

To page through fitments

  1. In a VehiclePartLookup request, use the Fitments response group.

  2. Set the value of FitmentCount to the number of fitments you want returned per page. The default is 25 and valid values are 1 to 200, inclusive.

  3. Set the value of FitmentPage to the page number you want to start from.

    The default is 1. The page length is based on the value of FitmentCount. For example, if you set FitmentCount to 50, FitmentPage 2 would start at fitment 51.

  4. Send the request.

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