Why Am I Not Seeing SEMA Data in My Vendor Catalog?

When connecting the SEMA Data Reseller API to your vendor in Spark Shipping, you may occasionally run into scenarios where your vendors catalog is not populating with enriched product data as expected.

Below are the most common reasons why data might be missing, along with step-by-step instructions on how to resolve each issue.

1. SEMA API Monthly Quota Has Been Exceeded (Most Common)

• Reason: SEMA Data subscription plans strictly limit the total number of API requests allowed per monthly billing cycle. If your catalog pull makes more API calls than your plan permits, SEMA returns an error in your job logs (API usage has exceeded current allowed amount of 10,000) and blocks further data requests until your billing cycle resets.
• How to Resolve:
  1. Log in to your SEMA Data reseller portal to check your current monthly API usage and billing limits.
  2. In Spark Shipping, go to Vendors > [Your Vendor] > Product Data by SemaData and check the box for Skip Fitment Data. Fetching fitment (year/make/model) data requires an individual API call for every SKU. Skipping fitment during initial catalog builds drastically reduces overall API calls.
  3. Ensure the Use Bulk PIES Export API setting is checked to fetch up to 100 products per API request, reducing API calls by ~99%.
  4. If your product volume natively exceeds your allowance, contact SEMA Data to upgrade to a higher-tier plan with increased monthly API limits.

Note: If you are already seeing the API usage has exceeded... message in your logs, you should complete the resolution steps above immediately to optimize future syncs. However, no new data will populate until your SEMA API limit resets at the start of your next billing cycle or you purchase additional quota through SEMA.

2. "Skip Fitment Data" Was Disabled on Initial Import

• Reason: Running your initial baseline catalog sync with fitment data enabled forces Spark Shipping to make an individual API call for every single product. This rapidly exhausts your monthly SEMA allowance before core catalog attributes (titles, descriptions, images, SKUs) finish downloading.
• How to Resolve:
  1. Go to Vendors > [Your Vendor] > Product Data by SemaData.
  2. Check the box for Skip Fitment Data.
  3. Run your baseline catalog update to populate core product titles, descriptions, and high-resolution images.
  4. Once baseline product data is populated, you can selectively uncheck fitment skipping to fetch year/make/model details.

Note: If turning off fitment skipping has already caused you to hit your monthly request cap, please see Reason #1 above. You will need to check Skip Fitment Data to protect future syncs, but new product data will not populate until your SEMA API limit resets or is upgraded.

3. Brand Approvals Are Missing in SEMA Data

• Reason: SEMA Data only returns product details for brands that have explicitly authorized your reseller account. If a manufacturer has not approved your reseller request, SEMA will return 0 SKUs for that brand during catalog runs.
• How to Resolve:
  1. Log in to your SEMA portal at apps.semadata.org
  2. Navigate to Brand Data > Request Data.
  3. Verify that all brands selected in your Spark Shipping account show an active Approved status.
  4. If a brand is pending or missing, submit a data request to the manufacturer and wait for approval before running the catalog sync again.

4. SEMA API Is Not Configured as the Default Data Provider

• Reason: Even if SEMA Data is connected successfully, Spark Shipping might still be configured to use standard, basic distributor feed data rather than SEMA's ACES and PIES data.
• How to Resolve:
  1. In Spark Shipping, open your vendor menu and click on Product Data Options.
  2. Locate the Default Provider dropdown.
  3. Select Aces and Pies (SEMA API).
  4. Click Update to apply changes.