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Published: July 12 2006, 10:41:00 AMUpdated: July 25 2022, 10:25:40 AM

Why am I getting Error Code 240 when I list my Items on the German site using AddItem?

The exact reason for the error code 240 is in the error message. One of the reasons for error code 240 is that seller needs to meet the requirements for listing an Item with Active Content on eBay Germany, Austria or Switzerland. You need to ensure that the seller meets one of the following criteria:

  • Be a Powerseller 
  • Be IDVerified 
  • Verified PayPal member
  • Have >500 feedback and >500 days time on site as eBay member

You can find more information from the following page on the German Site:
Verwendung von Skriptsprachen in der Artikelbeschreibung

Here is a sample AddItem request with active content:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<
AddItemRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <
RequesterCredentials>
    <
eBayAuthToken>token</eBayAuthToken>
  </
RequesterCredentials>
  <
Item>
    <
Site>Germany</Site>
    <
Currency>EUR</Currency>
    <
ListingType>Chinese</ListingType>
    <
Title>title</Title>
    <
Description><![CDATA[ <script type="text/javascript">my active content</script> ]]></Description>
    <
PrimaryCategory>
      <
CategoryID>48348</CategoryID>
    </
PrimaryCategory>
    <
ListingDuration>Days_7</ListingDuration>
    <
Quantity>1</Quantity>
    <
StartPrice currencyID="EUR">9.99</StartPrice>
    <
Country>US</Country>
    <
PostalCode>66209</PostalCode>
    <
PaymentMethods>PaymentSeeDescription</PaymentMethods>
  </
Item>
</
AddItemRequest>

If the seller does not meet one of these criteria, you will get back an error similar to this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<
AddItemResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <
Timestamp>2006-06-19T23:34:52.301Z</Timestamp>
  <
Ack>Failure</Ack>
  <
Errors>
    <
ShortMessage>The item cannot be listed or modified.</ShortMessage>
    <
LongMessage>The item cannot be listed or modified. The title and/or description may contain improper words, or the listing or seller may be in violation of eBay policy.</LongMessage>
    <
ErrorCode>240</ErrorCode>
    <
SeverityCode>Error</SeverityCode>
    <
ErrorClassification>RequestError</ErrorClassification>
  </
Errors>
  <
Message><TABLE cellPadding=6 width=369><TBODY><TR><TD width=351 bgColor=#eeeeee> <HR><TABLE width="342"><TBODY> <TR><TD vAlign=top width="39"><IMG height=35 src="http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/de/services/sicherheitsportal/sicherheitsicon_35x35.gif" width=39 border=0 x></TD><TD width="289"><P align=left><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, san-serif" color="#e41b1b" size="2"> Verwendung von Skriptsprachen </font></b></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><HR><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, san-serif" size="2">Die Verwendung aktiver Inhalte ist grundsätzlich verboten und nur unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen zulässig.<p> Weitere Informationen hierzu finden Sie im <a HREF="http://pages.ebay.de/help/policies/listing-javascript.html" target="_blank">Grundsatz zur Verwendung von Skriptsprachen</a>.<p></font></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><br/><font color="#BEBEBE" size="1">{e11414-155453-10006704}</font></Message>
  <
Version>461</Version>
  <
Build>e461_intl_Bundled_3041458_R1</Build>
</
AddItemResponse>

The message translates to "The use of active contents is in principle forbidden and only under certain conditions permissible. Further information for this finds you in the principle for the use of script languages".

You will see the same error message even when you list the item using the SYI flow on the website.

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