add product via API

Howdy @doug4, 

I absolutely see why adding product directly in the API would be a desirable change. I'll move this over to our ideas section so that other terrific community members like you can vote on it and show interest for future implementation! 

Yes! Add product via API is essential. There is a weird quirk with the shipstation api that does not allow an order to be updated with product information unless the product contained the information before the order was created. But the only way to create a product in shipstation (besides manually or using csv) is to let it be created by the order. @Moderators-Davis, would you kindly link to your idea thread? I would like to upvote so I can stop taking crazy pills.

hey there @tristan, 

The post has been moved already so you can "kudo" this post directly to vote 🙂 

Happy Shipping! 

I am surprised this capability is not already present. Right now we are required to do a manual export of a spreadsheet and import into ShipStation, which is so antiquated and introduces more potential for human error. We really need the API to allow our system to create new products directly!

this is wild!?  Really no product create?

Any update on this being added to the API? 

Hello, @licensing!

Thank you for following up on this feature request! I’m reaching out to the product team to see if this is currently on their roadmap. I’ll keep you updated with any updates or progress!

Happy Shipping!

-Cara

My workaround for this issue was to create an automation using Make.com. We run our products through Asana, but the trigger can be just about anything, a form, Airtable, etc. Basically, I'm grabbing all the shipping info from Asana and pushing it to a Google Sheet. I download the sheet as a CSV and then import into ShipStation. This really saves time if you are doing products in bulk, but even if you are doing one product at time, it still saves time. At least you don't have to copy and paste a bunch of fields individually.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to jump in and provide a final, clear answer on how the ShipStation API handles product creation.

To be direct: there is currently no dedicated "Create Product" POST endpoint in the standard API 1 or 2.

Instead, the ShipStation database is designed to build your product catalog reactively:

• The standard API flow: When you push a new order into ShipStation using the POST /orders/createorder endpoint, the system checks the SKU. If it doesn't exist in your catalog yet, ShipStation automatically creates the product record for you on the fly. From there, you can use the PUT /products/update endpoint to update its dimensions, weights, and customs details programmatically.

• The Inventory API exception: If your account has our paid Inventory API Add-On enabled, you do have access to specialized inventory endpoints that allow you to seed and create product records directly.

• The CSV Path: If you need to build a large catalog before any orders are placed and don't have the Inventory API, the most efficient method is to do a quick bulk-upload of a product CSV directly under the Products tab in the UI.

Because this reflects the core architecture of our standard API database, I am marking this thread as completed. If you're building a custom integration, we highly recommend utilizing the order import auto-creation workflow to seed your catalog!