baffled why this search stopped working

Question

Old search, worked for many years: Bagwell (midnight, bells, fortress) Knives & Swords completed

Condition not checked, Include Description not checked.

This modification works: Bagwell -(want.midnight.bells.fortress) -(Covington,drifter,lethal,Covington)

completed Condition not checked, ionclude description not checked.

What changed?

eburtonlab · Answer

Sometimes searches stop working well because eBay changes something about how searches actually work, or changes the way categories are organized, or changes the way certain keywords are treated, or which keywords are considered valid substitutes of other keywords.

Sometimes searches stop working well because some sellers change the way they list items and include your keywords in the item-specifics, so things you may not necessarily want to see start showing up in your search.

Without knowing exactly what has changed about the results you see, it is hard to say exactly which effect is dominating your particular search.

From time to time it may be necessary to update a search to keep your results relevant.

Try this active listings search as a general starting point:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Bagwell+%28bowie%2Cknife%29+-lethal&_sacat=0&_fsrp=1&_fcid=1&_sop=10