Errors

Interpreting Error Messages

Validation Errors

Error Example Error Message
Invalid parameter Misspelling a parameter, e.g., sororder=2 Invalid parameter name provided: sororder
Invalid sortorder value e.g., sortorder=12 Invalid sortorder value provided: 12
No parameters included Not supplying any primary search parameters Please enter at least one search term.
Malformed parameter value e.g., isbn=isbn01234567-34 Invalid ISBN value provided: isbn01234567-34
Invalid value for numeric field with min/max limits e.g., maxresults=500 Illegal value for maxresults: 500. Value must be an integer between 0 and 200
Invalid value for numeric field with min limit e.g., minprice=-20 Illegal value for minprice: -20. Value must be an integer greater than or equal to 0
Invalid value for numeric field with max limit e.g., maxprice=-20 Illegal value for maxprice: -20. Value must be an integer greater than or equal to 0
Invalid parameter value e.g., outputsize=macro Invalid outputsize parameter specified (macro).
More than one value for same parameter e.g., outputsize=micro&outputsize=long Too many outputsize parameters specified.
Search field contains only stop words e.g., keyword=in Please enter at least one search term.
Minimum price greater than maximum e.g., minprice=30&maxprice=20 Only enter numbers when using the price fields. The max value (i.e. the highest price) must be greater than min value (i.e. the lowest price).
Word in a number field e.g., minprice=fifty Illegal value for minprice: fifty. Value must be an integer greater than or equal to 0
Invalid ISO country code e.g., destinationcountry=france Invalid country ISO code provided: france
Invalid ISO currency code e.g., currency=euro Invalid currency ISO code provided: euro
Invalid book condition value e.g., bookcondition=almostnew Invalid bookcondition values: almostnew
Invalid minsellerrating value e.g., minsellerrating=77 Invalid minsellerrating value: 77
Invalid binding value e.g., binding=paperback Invalid binding value: paperback
Invalid signed value e.g., signed=ok Illegal value for signed: ok. Value must be yes or no.
Invalid freeshipping value e.g., freeshipping=ok Illegal value for freeshipping: ok. Value must be yes or no.
Invalid firstedition value e.g., firstedition=ok Illegal value for firstedition: ok. Value must be yes or no.
Invalid dustjacket value e.g., dustjacket=ok Illegal value for dustjacket: ok. Value must be yes or no.
Invalid minimum publication year e.g., minpubyear=0 Illegal value for minpubyear: 0. Value must be an integer between 1 and 9999
Invalid maximum publication year e.g., maxpubyear=10000 Illegal value for maxpubyear: 10000. Value must be an integer between 1 and 9999
Seller name instead of ID e.g., vendorid=russells Illegal value for vendorid: russells. Value must be a long integer.
Invalid seller ID number e.g., vendorid=2147483650 Illegal value for vendorid: 2147483650. Value must be a long integer.
Invalid shiprate value e.g., shiprate=standard Invalid shiprate value: standard
Invalid group code e.g., groupcode=ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ The seller group code parameter must be at least 1 character and at most 10 characters.
Invalid target site e.g., targetsite=google.com Invalid targetsite value 'google.com'. Expected one of [zvab.com, abebooks.com, abebooks.de, abebooks.co.uk, abebooks.fr, iberlibro.com, abebooks.it]
Invalid product type e.g., pt=manuscript Invalid pt values: manuscript
Invalid language value e.g., language=ita Invalid language values: ita
Exceeding max values for field e.g., 6 language values Number of language values specified exceeds the maximum of 5

Authorization Errors

Error Example Error Message
Invalid Client Key Including an invalid or unrecognized Client Key HTTP status code 401 (SC_UNAUTHORIZED)

Service Level Errors

Error Error Message Notes
Search Web Services is unresponsive HTTP status code 503 (SC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE) Please contact your AbeBooks representative.
Query rate limit exceeded HTTP status code 429 "Too Many Requests" The default query rate is 4-5 queries per second. If you exceed this rate, your throughput is being throttled.