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Why, when I search for an item specific to a vehicle (1951 Chevrolet Belair) I get crap that has nothing to do with my search (like a Thunderbird rear view mirror). It's gotten really bad! It is now mostly mismatched items.
3 comments
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoOne of the problems with searching for automotive parts is that there are sellers that will include laundry lists of years, makes and models in their item-specifics so that those listings turn up in any search. So to eliminate those listings, you may have to exclude an unrelated year or model that is also likely to turn up in a keyword list.
Grouping keywords with a dash to ensure that they appear in order can also help.
As can limiting your results to specific categories if you are looking for specific parts.
Try a search like this as a starting point:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/6030/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=1951+chevrolet-belair+-1927+-mustang
2lugnuts
OP1 year agoIt does not really solve the problem as you can put in a very specific search with very few words and you still get more mis-matches than matches. I also like to do more general searches so I might find a mis-described part. Like "1951 Chevy rear window trim" instead of "1951 Chevy Belair inside rear window garnish molding". However, I will get matches with a title that have no common words such as "1967 Chevelle ash tray". It didn't used to be this bad. Ebay needs to do a better job of sorting search results. What does the +- accomplish? To keep certain things out. It used to be -(1927, mustang). Thanks for the reply!
eburtonlab
Mentor1 year agoI will get matches with a title that have no common words such as "1967 Chevelle ash tray".
That is because the keywords are matched to words in the item-specifics in addition to the title of the listing. Meaning the Chevelle ash tray listing likely has all your keywords somewhere hidden in the item-specifics.
What does the +- accomplish? To keep certain things out. It used to be -(1927, mustang).
Using -(1927, mustang) is equivalent to using -1927 -mustang. At least for exclusions. Any listing with either 1927 or mustang in the item-specifics will be excluded from your search, so that sellers that include a list of every year from 1924 to 2024 in all of their listings will be excluded from your search. Likewise listings that have a list of popular models including Mustang will be excluded as well. As long as you choose exclusion terms that have no actual overlap with what you are searching for, the exclusions should not remove any listings you actually want to see.
For an example of what you want to filter out, look at this listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186649571428
Examine the item-specifics under "Interchange part number":
"1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922, 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935, 1936 1937 19938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951, 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964, 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977, 1BBL 2BBL 4BBL One Two Four Barrel Air Cleaner Oil Bath Filter, Accessory Interior Exterior Option Dealer Factory Part Install, Buick Cadillac Pontiac Oldsmobile Chevrolet Oakland Durant Star, Crankshaft Shaft Bearing Main Rod Piston Cap Sleeve Cylinder, Door Panel Arm Rest Steering Column Shifter Console Bucket Seats, Engine Motor Head Intake Exhaust Manifold Oil Pan Water Pump Fan, Fender Hood Trunk Door Rocker Roof Factory Wheel Rim Tail Light, Headlight Backup Light Lamp Glass Windshield Gas Tank Door Trim, Horn Button Shifter Spotlight Visor Headliner Convertible Top, Hudson Willys Graham Nash Opel Viking Durant Star Auburn LaSalle, Interior Seat Dash Gauge Panel Cluster Radio Stereo Speaker Dial, Molding Ornament Emblem Mascot Mirror Grill Grille Spear, Pierce Arrow Erskine Essex Hillman Kissel Marmon Peerless Rockne, Plug Wires Cap Points Condenser Contact Rotor Carburetor Carb, Power Bench Seat Glove Box Door Speedometer Oil Pressure Ampere, Power Locks Window Regulator Door Lock Latch Knob Steering Wheel, Power Steering Alternator Generator Distributor Coil Ignition, Radiator Hose Core Support Block Bolt Hardware Camshaft Crank Cam, Rare Scarce Add-On Optional Chrome Painted Nickel Plated Satin, Relay Voltage Regulator Wiper Motor Washer Pump 6V 12V Wiring, Stutz Triumph MG Jaguar Stoewer Cord Jordan Lorraine, Temperature Fuel Gas Gauge Tachometer Tach Dome Light Handle, buick roadmaster"
That laundry list of keywords there means that any search using any of those keywords will potentially return that listing -- unless the searcher is using additional keywords not in that listing, searching in a different category, or else excluding one of the other words on that list.
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My first inclination was that a search like 1951 Chevy rear window trim is probably too general to be of much use unless you add some exclusions and limit the results to a very narrow category. But when I actually tried the search the results were not that bad. You can still do better by limiting your results to an exterior parts category like this:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/33654/i.html?_nkw=1951+Chevy+rear+window+trim&_sop=10
Or this one:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/33683/i.html?_nkw=1951+Chevy+rear+window+trim&_sop=10
Keep in mind that if you use an exclusion term or quotes in your keywords when searching, you lose any keyword substitutions, so if you are searching for Chevy you will miss Chevrolet listings that don't include Chevy as an explicit keyword.
Try this search:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=1951+%28chevy%2Cchevrolet%29+rear+window+trim+-1927+-mustang&_sacat=33654&_sop=10&rt=nc&_oaa=1&_dcat=33654
Thanks for the reply!
You are very welcome!