Not anymore. You can key in what you want to look and add a minus sign and remove results you don't want.
For example Blue tie -"with dots"
Ebay removed wildcard so they can feed you results you don't want. I have noticed emails with unrelated items For example. When looking for a 3070 8GB graphics card I get so many things in my email and search notices that the entire search now expanded to: 3070 8gb -optiplex -ddr3 -ddr4 -dimm. Narrowing down by category is completely ignored by ebay the longer your search is saved.
eBay did away with wildcards back in 2012, I believe. The speculation at the time was that wildcard text-based searches were not compatible with the keyword-based searches that eBay wanted to use with their sponsored listing program and their own keyword substitution feature, and the general data-collection that eBay was interested in doing.
I totally agree. Ebay must have some really impressive server farms to handle wildcard searches. I use ebay less now because they took away wildcard searches.
If Ebay is reading it, maybe you could add it back in some instances. For example, I don't think the servers will be overloaded if you allow wild card searches on seller IDs. I am trying to do this with no luck.
Thank you for responding to my question. I, like a number of buyers on eBay are questioning why they took off wildcards. I collect knives and eBay is a great place to purchase older models. As of now I have to search with an exact name or read through hundreds of listings. In either case, the sellers are loosing money.
Sadly, wildcards, or " * " were removed from search parameters years ago, for reasons that defy understanding. There may be a workaround, but I am unaware of it.
safan80
·2 years agoNot anymore. You can key in what you want to look and add a minus sign and remove results you don't want.
For example Blue tie -"with dots"
Ebay removed wildcard so they can feed you results you don't want. I have noticed emails with unrelated items For example. When looking for a 3070 8GB graphics card I get so many things in my email and search notices that the entire search now expanded to: 3070 8gb -optiplex -ddr3 -ddr4 -dimm. Narrowing down by category is completely ignored by ebay the longer your search is saved.
simba6
·2 years agoThey used to. Went away about 12 years ago. Said it put too big a load on their servers. Dang, making money costs money.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoWildcard searches use more resources and in a DB and search as big as eBay, take a lot longer (I also used wildcard searches).
That second article is dated 2012 and is mostly a marketing puff - they struggled to even get Cassini working.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoeBay did away with wildcards back in 2012, I believe. The speculation at the time was that wildcard text-based searches were not compatible with the keyword-based searches that eBay wanted to use with their sponsored listing program and their own keyword substitution feature, and the general data-collection that eBay was interested in doing.
Some background:
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2012/11/1354215868.html
https://www.itweb.co.za/article/inside-ebays-business-intelligence/APero3MZ1kr7Qb6m
What are you searching for? There may be some workarounds to allow you accomplish some of the same things you could do with wildcards.
lattecoffeequeen
·2 years agoI totally agree. Ebay must have some really impressive server farms to handle wildcard searches. I use ebay less now because they took away wildcard searches.
If Ebay is reading it, maybe you could add it back in some instances. For example, I don't think the servers will be overloaded if you allow wild card searches on seller IDs. I am trying to do this with no luck.
sb_394
OP2 years agoThank you for responding to my question. I, like a number of buyers on eBay are questioning why they took off wildcards. I collect knives and eBay is a great place to purchase older models. As of now I have to search with an exact name or read through hundreds of listings. In either case, the sellers are loosing money.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoI just popped 'Wild Card' into the Search bar and came up with over a quarter million results. So, yes. Good luck.
airsheep
·2 years agoSadly, wildcards, or " * " were removed from search parameters years ago, for reasons that defy understanding. There may be a workaround, but I am unaware of it.
rudy2828
·2 years agoI think it's because it would overload their system.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoAlways follow the money.
That happened when they implemented Cassini (so they could manipulate search).