Bring back seller IDs in search and browse!!
This may be the most idiotic eBay change in years. It may be account-specific, but there are numerous people complaining about this, so it's not just me:
I've checked several eBay accounts on different browsers and computers, after clearing cache and cookies, and resetting settings. eBay has now hidden seller IDs in search results and browsing. They now only show a generic "Seller 98.1% positive" message. You have to open the individual listing to see the seller ID now.
This is a complete disaster, and I say that as a BUYER. I want to see who is selling what AS I AM BROWSING, so I can see what I might be able to combine, or are sellers I trust.
If this is intentional rather than just an error, it is the worst single change eBay has made to the platform since removing wildcards from search.
It is completely stupid and shortsighted. Roll it back!
kiry.vlad
·2 years agoPlease bring back the seller IDs in search results. Now the search results show only "Seller 100% positive (NNNN)" but I want to see the IDs who lists which item because I have a personal blacklist of sellers which is not always convenient to enter into the custom settings (and which is never saved in said settings).
dahar366
·2 years agoBring back seller IDs in search and browse!!
I concur, for the same reasons
kiry.vlad
·2 years agoI can see the seller IDs in the search results now, please do not remove them.
getbig2
·2 years agoI’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this .. Why they keep changing 💩 is beyond me.
it wasn’t broke and it **bleep** sure didn’t need to be fixed. It Drives me nuts. If anything over the last few years is they have mad it more difficult.
Hey EBay.. leave 💩 alone.. it’s worked the same since the 90s and been fine..
wastingtime101
·2 years agoAn eBay rep confirmed today this is a test being run by the product team. Anybody seeing this change, please use the feedback link on the search page to let the product team know how bad this is. It can appear different ways in the form of a ? icon, a tell us what you think link, a submit feedback link, etc. Look around and you'll find it off to the right usually at the top or bottom of the page.
dglocke
·2 years agoIt's an absolutely stupid test being run by utter imbeciles.
Not only seller ID but location info for international listings is missing.
revenue-collector
OP2 years agoAfter more experimentation, I can confirm that the problem lies with whatever browser-specific rendering they have implemented, as I can turn on or off the display of seller IDs by using a user-agent spoofing extension.
On this computer at least, no user-agents for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, or IE in any variant desktop, mobile, tablet) display the seller IDs. However, if I select either of the following user-agents, I get the seller IDs back:
Microsoft Edge - (EdgeHTML) - Xbox
ChatGPT-User
I've been able to flip back and forth between showing and not showing seller IDs at will, so it's not tied to cookies, cache, or authentication status.
Somebody on the dev team effed up...
revenue-collector
OP2 years agoThis is completely bizarre.
I have:
1. In Chrome (for the second time) cleared cache, deleted ALL cookies, restarted computer, and tried Incognito window from both authenticated (logged in) and nonauthenticated states. Cannot get sellers to appear.
2. Tried in Firefox using a different eBay account. Deleted cache and cookies. Cannot get sellers to appear.
3. In Microsoft Edge (which I *NEVER* use for anything) I can see the sellers, both anonymously, and logged into my primary account.
So maybe this is idiotically predicated upon browser user-agent rather than anything in cookies or cache?
What a mess.
transamcc
·2 years agoIt to me is just a flaky response within search due to some little pesky programming fluke. I have only had it happen in the past month or two, not in the previous 18 years. It occurs and disappears at random and will happen with something as simple as changing a word in the search string, which often, if changed back and the search rerun everything self-corrects. I emphasize that the original run of the search had already produced correct resuIts and changed when I changed or added/deleted a word or search condition like free shipping or location. I only run a desktop with Win 10 Pro last updated 6/05/24 and Firefox 127.0.2 last auto updated this morning at 9 a.m. When it occurs, my set preferences are unchanged when I look at them. My cookies allowed are first party essential cookies only (no track, performance or third party EVER) and my cache, history and cookies are cleared automatically every time I close the browser which is usually several times per day. I never leave my unit online when I walk away for more than a few minutes.
transamcc
·2 years agoThe problem just went solid on my machine!! I came back logged in provided feedback for today's deliveries and ran a new search. No seller ids on results. Changed search string and conditions several times, and reran search, no help. I logged out 4x and came back, no help with same searches, then tried searches I have had bookmarked for 8 years, same problem NO seller ids in results, restarted the browser 3x no help, Shut down the computer and restarted the OS and browser 2x with no improvement. eBay must be FIXING it right now, as I have never had such unreliable results before.
gosimus
·2 years ago@revenue-collector
< Roll it back! >
The seller's username is still showing on each of my search results. Maybe your settings got corrupted.
Run a search, any search, you just want the results page up. Find the Sort setting above the top item. Just to the right of it is a button showing how the results will be displayed. Mine has three rows containing a dot and a line, which indicates List style. Click that button and a drop down menu will open. Click Customize on that drop down. Here's a screen shot of how my customized preferences are set. I'm using a desktop computer. If you're using the mobile app, the above instructions might be different.
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@gosimus unfortunately it's not a settings issue as the setting to show seller info is still checked.
There's another thread about this issue with screenshots here:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Report-eBay-Technical-Issues/eBay-search-results-are-now-displaying-the-generic-word-Seller/m-p/34534225#M128340
gosimus
·2 years ago@valueaddedresource
< another thread about this issue with screenshots here >
As I said earlier, the seller is still showing on my search results. When I looked at your screenshot, I thought I might have seen a clue. So I did another search, and changed my sort to Best Match. Well, my idea was all wet. Even on Best Match, my results still are showing the seller's username.
valueaddedresource
·2 years ago@gosimus yeah, if you read the other posts in that thread it's not currently happening for all users - some are not seeing it at all, some or seeing it only in some browsers but not others, some are able to clear cookies/cache to fix the issue while that doesn't work for others etc.
So it's still up in the air whether it's a technical issue or intentional limited test or slow phased rollout but we've tagged community staff in that other thread so hopefully they'll be able to provide more info soon.
adamcartwright
·2 years ago@gosimus
If I'm looking at search results in gallery view, the seller information field is grayed out. I cannot choose to see Seller account in gallery view, only in list view.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI was able to see the effect in one browser, but seller usernames were appearing in search results once more for me after clearing cache and manually deleting eBay cookies in that browser.
Try a private or incognito browser window. If you can see seller usernames in search, then the issue is tied to the browser history and can likely be fixed by completely clearing the cache ("for all time" if that is an option) and by manually deleting just the eBay cookies and then restarting the browser and signing back in to eBay.
Most likely eBay made some minor update to the search page and the new page conflicts with some users' cached data or cookie data, resulting in the seller username not appearing as it should until all the old data is removed or overwritten. Normally that happens automatically, but not always. Clearing cache and deleting eBay cookies manually should speed things up, but even without doing any of that I suspect that the seller usernames will come back shortly, one way or the other.