# Shopping and order APIs for AI agents buying for a person

> 5 shopping, returns & refunds ranked by the Anchor benchmark. Leader Etsy Open API v3 (B). Retailers and marketplaces where an agent searches products, compares prices, places orders and follows returns and refunds for a shopper. Compared on product search, whether an order can be placed through an API, order and return status, affiliate and partner terms, and what the retailer allows automated buyers to do.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/shopping
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/shopping.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/shopping.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/shopping.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

Retailers and marketplaces where an agent searches products, compares prices, places orders and follows returns and refunds for a shopper. Compared on product search, whether an order can be placed through an API, order and return status, affiliate and partner terms, and what the retailer allows automated buyers to do.

- Tools ranked: 5 · agent-ready (BB or better): 0 · accept x402: 0 · hosted endpoints: 5 · desk reviews by the panel: 0
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools.json (list) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/rankings.json (ranked) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/x402.json (payable) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/capabilities.json (by capability)
- Grades run AA, A, BB, B, C, D, E, F · methodology: https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/

- Shortlist and picks by need: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/shopping/index.md
- Head-to-head comparisons (8): https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/shopping/index.md
- Capabilities in this category: shopping.search, shopping.orders, shopping.returns, shopping.prices, shopping.affiliate
- https://letme.dev/shopping.search picks the top-graded tool in this list and says how to call it direct; calling through letme comes later (https://www.anchorterminal.com/letme/index.md)

## Ranking

| # | Tool | Vendor | Kind | Category | Grade | Score | Confidence | x402 | Auth | Where | Reviews | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 421 | Etsy Open API v3 | Etsy, Inc. | HTTP API | Shopping | B | 63.4 | low | no | OAuth or key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/etsy.md |
| 862 | Amazon Creators API | Amazon.com Services LLC | HTTP API | Shopping | D | 48.7 | medium | no | OAuth | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.md |
| 877 | Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP | Maplebear Inc. (Instacart) | HTTP API | Shopping | D | 48.3 | medium | no | API key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.md |
| 991 | Best Buy Developer API | BestBuy.com, LLC (Best Buy Co., Inc.) | HTTP API | Shopping | E | 39.1 | medium | no | API key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/best-buy.md |
| 995 | Walmart Affiliate Marketing API | Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC (Walmart Inc.) | HTTP API | Shopping | E | 38.6 | low | no | API key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/walmart-affiliate-api.md |

Scores are from public evidence against the published checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/), with Performance and Task success pending. p95 latency and context cost come from our probes, which haven't run yet.

## Summaries

### 421. Etsy Open API v3, B (63.4)

Etsy's Open API v3 is a REST API for the Etsy marketplace. Any approved app can search active listings across all shops with an API key, while OAuth covers seller shop, listing and order management. Public OpenAPI 3.0 contract and keyed listing search across all Etsy shops, with price, keyword, category and location filters and documented 429 handling. It is search only. No cart, checkout, buyer order or return endpoints exist, so a person buys on etsy.com, and cross-shop use needs a reviewed Personal App.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/etsy · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/etsy.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/etsy.json
- Capabilities: shopping.search, shopping.prices · endpoint: `https://api.etsy.com/v3`

### 862. Amazon Creators API, D (48.7)

Amazon's product catalogue API for Amazon Associates affiliates, replacing Product Advertising API 5.0. It searches and looks up products, prices and variations across 22 Amazon stores and returns tagged affiliate links. It cannot place orders. Read-only product search and lookup across 22 Amazon stores, with field selection, typed error reasons and documented rate limits. It cannot place or follow orders, so a person buys through the affiliate link. Access needs an accepted Associates account with 10 qualifying sales in 30 days, and the Agent Terms require agents to identify themselves.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-creators-api.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-creators-api.json
- Capabilities: shopping.search, shopping.prices, shopping.affiliate · endpoint: `https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1`

### 877. Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP, D (48.3)

The Instacart Developer Platform API and its hosted MCP server turn a recipe or shopping list into an Instacart Marketplace page, where the person picks a store and checks out. It also finds nearby retailers by postal code. Two compact MCP tools and a small REST API with structured errors let an agent turn a list into an Instacart cart link. The agent cannot search products, see prices, place an order or follow one, and production keys need a demo review that Instacart puts at 30 to 40 days. No status page or published rate figure was found.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instacart.json
- Capabilities: shopping.affiliate, commerce.cart · endpoint: `https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp`

### 991. Best Buy Developer API, E (39.1)

Best Buy's Developer API gives read access to the BESTBUY.COM catalogue, prices, availability, categories, US stores, recommendations and open-box listings with a free API key. Ordering through the Commerce API is invite-only for partners. A free key with published limits of 5 calls a second and 50,000 a day opens catalogue, price and store-availability search, with field selection and cursor paging. Ordering is invite-only, so an agent hands the purchase back to the person. The public docs and SDKs were last changed in 2021, and the key travels in the URL.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/best-buy · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/best-buy.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/best-buy.json
- Capabilities: shopping.search, shopping.prices · endpoint: `https://api.bestbuy.com/v1/`

### 995. Walmart Affiliate Marketing API, E (38.6)

Walmart's read-only catalogue API for affiliates, documented on the Walmart I/O portal. It searches Walmart.com products and returns item details, reviews, taxonomy, trending items, recommendations and nearby stores, with affiliate links tracked through Impact. It cannot place orders. Live, free catalogue search and product lookup for approved Walmart affiliates, signed with an RSA key and capped at 5,000 calls a day. It cannot place or follow orders, and the Checkout API needs separate approval. The documentation renders only in a browser, and the API terms date from 2020 and still name a previous affiliate network.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/walmart-affiliate-api · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/walmart-affiliate-api.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/walmart-affiliate-api.json
- Capabilities: shopping.search, shopping.prices, shopping.affiliate · endpoint: `https://developer.api.walmart.com/api-proxy/service/affil/product/v2`

## How we test this category

In this run, public evidence against the published checklist. When the task suites run, the same product searched on each listing, an order placed where a sandbox allows, then tracked and returned. We check search results and prices, the order and return steps, refund status and the terms on automated access. This test hasn't run yet, so Task success is pending and the grades here come from the categories assessed from public evidence.