The basics
Service ID
Last updated by The PanelCompare editorial team
Why does service id matter to a buyer?
Service IDs are why order automation works and why it silently breaks. An integration stores an ID, not a name. When a panel repoints that ID to a different upstream provider, or retires it and issues a new one, orders either start delivering something different or start failing — and nothing in the API announces that the meaning changed.
For a buyer ordering by hand the risk is smaller but real. Two rows in the same category can carry near-identical names with very different quality, refill terms and price, so recording the ID rather than the name is the only reliable way to reorder the same thing.
How does service id show up in a price list?
The ID is the leftmost column of most catalogues and the service field in the API services response. It is also the required service parameter on an add-order call.
IDs are panel-local. Service 1 on one panel has no relationship to service 1 on another, which is why a comparison index has to map every panel’s raw rows onto a canonical service taxonomy before any price can be compared.
Think this definition is wrong?
Terminology in this market is set by the panels that use it, and it moves. If a panel uses service id to mean something other than what is written here, send us the listing and we will either correct the definition or record the variant. The process is on the about page.