eBay's Search on Mobile App is Broken. Results Don't Match Keywords & Different from Desktop. Why?

[samaritanseller]

As a seller who sources items on the road, its very important to be able to look up items on the spot through eBay Mobile search and rely on those search results to be accurate. However the search on the Mobile app is giving me results that DON'T match the keywords used. I suspect this is frustrating for buyers too looking for a specific item. 

Here is an example to illustrate the problem:

On Desktop, I search the exact keywords "Swanndri Wool Jacket Leather". My goal with this search is to find a Swanndri Brand Jacket that is made of Wool AND Leather. My results on desktop for this search term is 0 results. This is the correct result. Indicating that this specific type of Swanndri Jacket that features both wool AND leather is hard to find.

On Mobile, I search the exact same keywords "Swanndri Wool Jacket Leather". I now get 27  RESULTS! The Mobile Search is including results that DON'T include the keyword "Leather" for some reason. This would incorrectly lead me to think these types of jackets are common and easy to find and I have multiple competing sellers at lower prices than a jacket like this should be worth. I suspect if a Buyer was looking for this type of jacket they'd be frustrated having to go through 27 listings to attempt to find the Jacket that has Leather, only to find that NONE of the 27 listings feature that. 

Is this a glitch or error in ebays search? Or is this on purpose? If this is on purpose, I hope eBay reconsiders how Searches on the Mobile app are done. I understand they may be trying to give more results to Buyers in hopes of more clicks, views, and sales, but I feel it would have the opposite result on buyers because of the frustration caused by having to sift through non-relevant search results every time they want to look for an item. 

[collect-a-billy-t]

As a reseller, the app is completely frustrating.  Your experience with the search is common.  Also, when I search "jace socks", I am prompted with:

Including results for jace socks. Search instead for jace socks

Why?

Another issue is that if I search for something to check prices as a reseller, I am then flagged as wanting to purchase that item and shown suggestions constantly.  eBay NEEDS a separate seller app!!!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@samaritanseller For what its worth, back at the last Seller Check In (I believe in early March), we were told Terapeak (renamed "Product Research) would be available on the App within a few weeks, with the roll out to begin with those who attended the check in and asked to receive it.

I am one of those people and I am still waiting to see it appear in my app.

I source at yard sales, etc, and we are now in the season for them around here. I was really hoping ebay would be able to meet the " in a few weeks" schedule, but evidently not, because even in a slimmed down version of Terapeak (which this would be, at least initially) would be a big help I think. 

I recently asked about the timeline for this, and I believe devon@ebay  indicated he had contacted the team to get an answer, but so far I also haven't seen the answer. Any update, devon?

But I am continuing to assume they still intend to release it. At this point, I'm just hoping they do so before the end of yard sale season.

[eburtonlab]

There may be some differences in search between browser and app, but there may also be differences in the search you are doing. Changing the sort order can change the results you see, for instance.

For me, the following search finds one result (and some results "matching fewer words"):

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Swanndri+Wool+Jacket+Leather&_sacat=0&_sop=10

I am using a desktop browser and the "Newly Listed" sort order, and a US shipping address.

If I save the search, and use the eBay app while signed in to the same eBay account and using the same shipping location and sort order, I also get one result, plus "results matching fewer words".

If you are using "Best Match" sort order, eBay may provide additional results by default. For some reason, lately when using "Best Match", eBay makes additional keyword substitutions compared to other search sorts. You can bypass this by putting one of your keywords in quotes or by choosing a different sort order.

Note that if you choose "Price plus shipping: lowest first" sort order, this may result in filtered results, so you may actually see fewer results than in other sorts.