eBay

bigtexasyardsale · ‎07-08-2023

An ebay item page how has these blocks/rows:

The seller’s item
“Similar sponsored items”
“Related sponsored items”
Seller’s specifics
Seller’s info
Seller’s items currently on sale
“Visually similar sponsored items”
Seller’s ratings
“Explore related sponsored items”
“Sponsored items from top sellers”
“People also viewed”
Then 5 more rows of “Find more sponsored items”

More than half the bloody page space is now something other than the product you clicked on!

I believe that too many choices leads to no choice being made. It's to the point where I can barely stand to shop here. This page design is a mistake and I think its costing sales.

Compare ebay’s page layout to an Amazon page layout. Amazon is a much simpler, cleaner design with fewer "distractions". Sure, there is some “people also viewed” blocks but the focus is still on the product you clicked on and nowhere near the overkill of ebay’s “sell some other sellers item” design.

Having so many “sponsored” items on a seller’s item page seems to suggest ebay is more interested in selling advertising than selling products.

So are our listings for selling products any more or just for facilitating space for advertising?

Sorry, rant off. I feel better now, thanks for listening.

sumsum70 · ‎07-08-2023

I sold more on Pittsburgh CL this week than eBay. When someone clicks an item there, that is the only thing they see. Looks and functions about the same for the past 20 years. Thank goodness eBay never succeeded in ruining Craigslist during the few years they were a minority shareholder.

I've never had a FB account, but some people I know are doing very well selling locally on MP.

eBay's constant scheming to squeeze money out of sellers and stupid ads all over the item page just tells me eBay must be short of buyers.

siamjane8 · ‎07-08-2023

I think what you are saying is universally agreed upon but 95% of all sellers. We are sick of the ads and promoted listings screwing up the sales. As a buyer I don't want to see 115 ads on the page that I clicked on. I want to see that item.

The data is public knowledge. eBay sales and gmv have been in a landslide since they started pushing PL. How are they misinterpreting the data?

selsa84 · ‎07-08-2023

Kinda like when I click on a book about Colorado and it'll say similar items and I see gym shorts that have the word Colorado on them and next item will be a map of Persia. Absolutely brilliant ai.

a_c_green · ‎07-08-2023

@siamjane8 wrote:
The data is public knowledge. eBay sales and gmv have been in a landslide since they started pushing PL. How are they misinterpreting the data?

While I don't disagree with the sentiments expressed in this thread (at all), I do think there might be a little "correlation without causation" going on here, in that eBay has known for some time now that their fortunes are on the decline, and Promoted Listings is simply the latest attempt to generate income from the remaining business being transacted here. I don't think that PL was a direct cause of whatever landslide might be occurring. I think it was more an effort to shore up their GMV by trying to invent a new revenue stream.

(Full disclosure: I don't use PL and I doubt that I ever will, as I sell in such a niche market that I don't think there's too much competition to worry about; I just need eBay for its worldwide market of potential buyers.)

krazzykats · ‎07-08-2023

Another community member called it "Choice Paralysis".

I know I have it, but haven't seen a doctor about it yet. 🤣

KrazzyKats
Volunteer Community Mentor

siamjane8 · ‎07-08-2023

@a_c_green I do agree with you that Pl are not the sole cause of the decline and I do agree as well that it is something that they are frantically trying to implement to stop the fiscal bleeding...... Many seasoned sellers are about to see the data and really tie it more and more to the search. More and more listings are effectively hidden from view because relevant results have been replaced by very poor AI and spirits that are weighted far too much on PL.

My wife used to work in retail and her manager always said "people cannot buy what they cannot see". You could put a 5 year old camera on to of the counter with a 5% off sign and it would sell out. When is in a cabinet, it will never sell..... That is effectively what eBay search has become.... Our listings are stuck in a cabinet.

I run hundreds of unique searches on eBay in many categories daily, most end in Google to find active eBay listings. It's not a leap to realize that its the same challenge others have in finding my items s well.

new_spin_boutique · ‎07-08-2023

It's a very real thing. That's why infomercials order the customer to "Pick up the phone and call now, don't wait"... because if the customer has to make a decision, they won't.

Paralysis through analysis.

For the same reason most school-aged children struggle with math they also struggle with the problem-solving task of making a purchasing decision.

eBay is basically asking their customers to engage in a problem solving puzzle with each potential purchase.

ltldpr · ‎07-08-2023

@selsa84 wrote:
Kinda like when I click on a book about Colorado and it'll say similar items and I see gym shorts that have the word Colorado on them and next item will be a map of Persia. Absolutely brilliant ai.

Same with a search. Earlier in the week, this happened and I commented about it:

I just searched for sold/completed items with the following words (without the quotation marks): "8 point reproduction small clear glass pulls"

And it found zero results but showed me several types of pulls which is fine, several 6" and 8" Subwoofers (the 8 was at least a match) and several things related to the Titanic (so weird), including this: "Titanic Pocket Watch Rose Jack Leonardo DiCaprio Kate Winslet Movie Fob Chain UK".

That last one and several others have absolutely nothing to do with pulls, 8, glass - it's not even a knob or handle.

I don't call it AI.

I call it AU - Artificial UNintelligence.

It can't even tell the difference between a recalled tea kettle and a non recalled creamer - I guess because they both have a handle.

bigtexasyardsale · ‎07-08-2023

I ran an search experiment and its bad. I came up with 1900+ items with the default "Newly Listed". Sort to "Best Match" and the count drops to 1700+ items. Sort to "lowest price" and it drops to 160 items. Where did all the other items go??????? And yes there was no "we reduced the amount of items displayed, click here to see them" message. Search is broken, plain and simple. eBay, talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

ms.rodriguez* · ‎07-08-2023

Colorado means red in Spanish too I bet you got some red items and also the Chevy Colorado truck. If you found an ad for a diecast Colorado truck, that one might be one of my listings. The search is pretty bad. Sometimes, the items are not related at all.

selsa84 · ‎07-08-2023

Agree with you. Search is the worst it's ever been. I have "pocket map" as a saved search and it constantly shows me pants, shirts and shorts because they have the word pocket in the title, and they are always sponsored listings / promoted. I use to purchase around $30,000 a year on ebay collecting books and such and it's probably down to about $5,000 or less now. They are shooting themselves in the foot with all the nonsense. Most of my great finds are on auction sites and private sales now.

sfau · ‎07-08-2023

Agree - you have to really concentrate to not get distracted and forget what you were looking at....

siamjane8 · ‎07-08-2023

That is the problem that we are still trying to get across to eBay. It's eBay that is driving the customers away with all the PL and terrible search algorithms.

Of course there must be a set of parameters for the search to work within BUT relevancy should be 80% not 5%. I mean this is basic stuff here that they are screwing up.