Ebay search function is terrible

[goatboy]

I am searching for parts for my 1966 Pontiac GTO, when I try the search I get parts for 1930's fords and other listings that also have absolutely nothing to do with what I need.  There is no mention of 1966 OR Pontiac OR GTO in the listing but it still comes up as if I would be interested in a tail light for a 1935 ford.... 

I also tried searching for a classic camera lens and once again the search function ignores what I type into the search field and just gives me random results that are not what I am looking for.  

Can we get a way to search for what we are actually looking for instead of just getting random listings for LED strips and parts for cars that have nothing to do with what I need?   Perhaps if the search function searched the title and/ or the listing?  That sounds silly because you would think that is what the search function is supposed to do and I should not have to ask for this but here we are... 

[lakefor94]

I find that when I search for a Item that has a part number, model number or a specific search criteria and use quotes " " , I get only what I am looking for. 

But I am not searching for car parts which I guess could have different ramifications. 

[goatboy]

I tried searching "samsung galaxy tab s8 ultra 256gb"  Did I get results that include samsung galaxy tab s8 ultra 256gb?  No I got a bunch of non ultra Galaxy S9's...  It is waaaaay too much work to find anything on ebay and I am going to start looking elsewhere who understands that if I type in "samsung galaxy tab s8 ultra 256gb" I actually want a samsung galaxy tab s8 ultra 256gb and not the other garbage you are showing.....

[kathiec]

@goatboy 

Sometimes you have to use smaller quoted phrases or words rather than putting the whole string in quotes. For example, I just searched for Samsung "galaxy tab s8 ultra" 256. I got 64 results and, with exception of four SD cards, they all appear to be Galaxy Tab S8 Ultras.

Also, this is a member-to-member forum, so none of us is personally showing you garbage. 🙄

[eburtonlab]

I am searching for parts for my 1966 Pontiac GTO, when I try the search I get parts for 1930's fords and other listings that also have absolutely nothing to do with what I need. There is no mention of 1966 OR Pontiac OR GTO in the listing but it still comes up as if I would be interested in a tail light for a 1935 ford....

eBay considers a listing with your search terms anywhere in the title or item-specifics to be a match.

Some sellers, particularly in automotive categories, take the opportunity to include random keywords in the item-specifics so that their listings appear in the maximum number of searches. If you look closely at that Ford tail light listing, I bet you will find a series of makes and models and years including yours.

eBay's search can only work with the data that sellers supply, and the particular search parameters you include.

Keyword spammers are lazy, though, and often recycle the same keyword lists. Which means that if you exclude a couple of choice keywords that have nothing to do with what you are searching for, you can often remove a bunch of unrelated listings all at once from your results.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/6030/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=1966+Pontiac-GTO+-1935+-ford

Grouping your keywords by placing a dash between words you want to appear consecutively can help as well by eliminating some instances of alphabetical lists of random keywords.

If you know you want OEM parts, you can exclude lots of aftermarket parts quickly using a filter. Likewise choosing "used" condition if you do not want new replacement parts.

And the more you narrow the category, the fewer unwanted results you need to deal with. Simply choosing an Interior or Exterior parts category, for instance, can vastly simplify your search a great deal.

[therogue-trader]

"eBay considers a listing with your search terms anywhere in the title or item-specifics to be a match."

I'm not familiar with the automotive side of eBay, but wanted to point out that this isn't necessarily true.  I noticed this problem the other day doing a search for a Magic the Gathering (trading cards) product and the search term I used didn't come up anywhere in two of the top three results (sorted by newly listed), be it the title, description, item specifics, etc. (did ctrl+f searches on the listing pages)

[lakefor94]

@goatboy 

If I lookup the model/part number thru google for "samsung galaxy tab s8 ultra 256gb".

I find that model/part number is "SM-X700NZABXAR"

If that is certainly the item I want to buy, then go to eBay and search for "SM-X700NZABXAR" and get 20 results. One of which is for a 128gb that the seller has the wrong part number listed. The other 19 are all what I was looking for.

Just get the exact model/part number you need and search for that with quotes " ", to obtain better results.

[eburtonlab]

the search term I used didn't come up anywhere in two of the top three results (sorted by newly listed), be it the title, description, item specifics, etc. (did ctrl+f searches on the listing pages)

In addition to matching keywords to titles and item-specifics, eBay will also match synonyms or alternatives of your keywords in certain cases. Sometimes those alternatives or synonyms are only loosely connected to what you are searching for.

You can bypass all that by putting one of your keywords in quotes to force eBay to find only exact, literal matches.

[redlinear]

@eburtonlab is correct. 
Sellers used to have 80 characters in the title to get it done.  That's what search used.
Now, sellers have thousands of characters they can use in the Item Specifics section in which the search function will pull from.  (and that's an issue).
ALSO, sellers can promote (pay extra) to get better placement on days that the search function decides it wants to show them.  (this is another issue with search results). 
   Basically, it's gotten so bad that savvy sellers will include any word they can think of JUST to hopefully be seen.  And they now have the ability to do just that. 
  Not to mention eBay encourages potential sellers to basically copy other sellers listings. Thus any mistake from one seller, usually carries over to all the copies.

Search is a disaster, unless you take eburtonlab's advice and become an expert on how to find what you want.
But, even then, there's no real way to know you are seeing everything you asked to see.

[aeparts1]

Adding  -fits -for to the end of your search term will help.

But, eBay destroyed the Motors end of things, especially for older one of a kind parts many years ago & has never cared. They let sellers say that a part fits every vehicle ever made, whether or not it does. That has destroyed what used to be a search function that worked well, & a fine venue for obsolete auto parts.

[eburtonlab]

They let sellers say that a part fits every vehicle ever made, whether or not it does. That has destroyed what used to be a search function that worked well

That has not really "destroyed" the search, though -- any more than the fact that people can lie has "destroyed" the ability to communicate. The search still works; some sellers are feeding the search algorithm bad data, though.

You just need a better strategy to handle liars or keyword spammers beyond just accepting everything everyone says at face value.

If you are searching for a part for a particular vehicle, pick a different vehicle make or model that has no parts in common with your vehicle. Then exclude that other vehicle make or model. If spammers are including every year from 1924-2024 in their item-specifics, pick a couple of years from way before your vehicle was made and exclude those as well.

Then all the keyword spammed listings that mention that other model or those years will no longer appear in your search results.

[anglophile62]

Part of the problem is buyers aren't SQL or equivalent experts - search in ebay isn't all that intuitive.  Add that to poor seller keyword/description/integrity practices and it can be a nightmare to find the items one is searching for.  Add in the new AI functionality for product descriptions and ebay is becoming less attractive to a buyer who just wants to find an item easily without spending hours essentially writing an SQL script in the search bar and then having to read the fluffy and empty item description put out by ebay's chatGPT.  Just sayin' 😉

[eburtonlab]

Part of the problem is buyers aren't SQL or equivalent experts - search in ebay isn't all that intuitive.

I don't necessarily disagree with any of that. There are definitely some aspects of eBay's search that are pretty counterintuitive. I can provide many examples of searches that provide results that are downright perverse.

But for the most part, a buyer looking for a specific part can open up the app, enter a few keywords, and find some relevant results to select from without much trouble. That is what eBay is aiming for.

More complex searches -- "show me every possible part that fits a '67 Mustang" -- may require additional effort to execute well if the user wants to avoid false positives and false negatives and get comprehensive results.

Ironically, many of the most counterintuitive aspects of eBay's search that experienced users complain about are the direct result of trying to make the search more intuitive for inexperienced users.