eBay

techgig88 · ‎04-17-2023

I noticed for about 3 weeks that one of my items was getting almost no views, compared to similar items I was selling. I discovered that, although the item displays at the top when searching for "M367 Mixer" under Best Match sorting, it is not included when I sort by Price + shipping, lowest first. I'm not saying it's no longer near the top; it is not in the category at all.

It does show up below the ad break under the "Results matching fewer words" category. But why??? It matches the search phrase perfectly well, my search does not contain any words not in the title. I have tried searching other phrases with words that are in the title and get the same result. If you want, try it yourself:

Shure M367 Portable 6-Channel Mixer (6 XLR Inputs) - Good Working Condition!

I have: adjusted the price; changed it from best offer to buy it now; deleted the listing and created a new one from scratch. No result. Oh, and my other listing of the same item but for parts only shows up fine.

What am I doing wrong?

eburtonlab · ‎04-17-2023

Although eBay can filter the results when buyers use a "Price plus shipping: lowest first" sort, I do not think this is the issue you are facing here -- or it may be more complicated than that. eBay does not really explain what criteria is used to decide which listings appear by default and which do not. To see all results, buyers can change the sort order or else use the link that should appear at the top of the results if there are many results. But when I try the search you describe, I do not see the usual "streamlined" message with a link to additional results, and as you say, your listing appears under "matching fewer words" even though all the keywords are present in the title.

eBay does do some strange keyword grouping that can affect how items are found in search. It is possible that this may interact with the "lowest first" filtering in some unexpected way.

You may want to examine some of the listings that do appear by default, and see if you can notice any differences between your listing and those others, paying particular attention to the listing title. There may be some changes you can make to your listing title to increase the chances of the listing appearing by default in a lowest first sort.

techgig88 · ‎04-18-2023

Like I said, this is one of several, and none so far have had this problem. The ad wording was very similar, the titles were very similar, the other ad currently running for a similar item (but for parts only) is also not having this problem. I have continued to try variations in the title, but nothing helps.

eburtonlab · ‎04-18-2023

The ad wording was very similar, the titles were very similar

Title keyword order may matter in this case. When certain keywords are used consecutively, eBay may treat the combination as one unique keyword. That can mean that a search for each individual keyword may no longer match, even though it appears that it should.

You may want to try copying the exact title of a similar listing to see if that makes a difference.

techgig88 · ‎04-20-2023

All of my listings for similar products had the same titles, only some had "For parts only" and this one doesn't.

But playing guessing games about word order in the title doesn't explain the mystery: Why would something show up when sorted for "Best Match" but not when sorted by price?

What is wrong with Ebay's algorithm?

whatmorefabric · ‎04-20-2023

If you are searching for your items using your ID, they may not come up.

The search algorithm will look and see that you search this buyer but never buy anything, and than lower the listings on your search.

donutking · ‎04-20-2023

I tested the same search and I got the same results.

It's a wrong result. You should call it in to eBay support.

donutking · ‎04-20-2023

For clarity, what I meant to say was:

I tested the searches in the same way as you did. And I got the same results as you did.

You should call it in to eBay support.

donutking · ‎04-20-2023

Here's a curious thing.

Search the following string: "Shure M367 Portable 6-Channel (6 XLR Inputs)"

No matter what 'Sort' option you choose, the results will include your two listings only - which makes sense. But when you choose the 'Sort' option 'Price+Shipping: lowest to highest', it says it found "2 results", but it only displays the Shure M367 (parts only) listing. See attached pic.

Maybe this gives a clue.

hardward · ‎04-28-2023

I had the same problem just now. I had two listings for the same item, one was "new" and the other "open box" so the open box item was listed cheaper. It was the "new" listing that disappeared when sorting by lowest price. I ended the "open box" listing and the "new" moved into the list when searched by lowest price. It seems one can only have one of the same item in the lowest price search and it will be the cheaper of the two. I tested this by listing a third at auction and that appeared in lowest price and kicked the other two out.

knightmom · ‎09-20-2023

You are not imagining it. It is an ongoing issue I have reported several times to Ebay. They fix it for a while and then it starts again. If you sort highest first, ending first, or any other way, it shows up right? It is sooooo annoying! Seriously, why can't ebay fix this issue? They only thing I can think is that they are doing it on purpose for some reason. FYI, I don't sell on ebay, only buy. I have encountered this issue over and over, including today.

a_c_green · ‎09-20-2023

@knightmom wrote:
You are not imagining it. It is an ongoing issue I have reported several times to Ebay. They fix it for a while and then it starts again. If you sort highest first, ending first, or any other way, it shows up right?

It is indeed a known, ongoing issue, affecting only the Sort by Lowest First specifically. Although the Order By setting is only intended to order the Search results in various ways, Sort by Lowest First has some extra internal command activated that tosses out anywhere from 50% to 90% of the results found by the Search command.

If searching via the Mobile app, you may find a link that offers to remove what's called "streamlined" results and show you your whole result set instead (the same full list you can get by selecting any other Order By choice), but in the desktop/laptop application, there is no similar method. Sort by Lowest First in desktop mode will give you only a fraction of the results from your search.