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TOOK AWAY ABILITY TO SEARCH WITHIN A SUB-CATEGORY
This is not a nice to have, it's a feature I NEED and use all the time. This is getting in the way of buying things because I won't be able to find what I'm looking for.
Previously (as in, earlier this week) you could navigate to a sub-category (say, model kits) and search within that category.
Now you can't do that. If you navigate to model kits (or any sub-category) and search, it searches all of ebay.
You can choose a category from the drop down (more clicks, didn't used to have to do that) but you can only select a top-level category.
For example I can still (using more clicks than previously necessary) search ebay using the drop down in the search bar to select TOYS AND HOBBIES.
But there is no NO WAY to search MODEL KITS (or any other sub-category of toys and hobbies, or any subcategory whatsoever).
You can only search top-level categories like TOYS AND HOBBIES, or all of ebay.
This is unacceptable, it's a feature I need. This is massively broken, I can't even imagine why they would do something so destructive and incompetent.
During the past few years I've seen so many features either eliminated, or made to look and / or behave worse then they used to. And somehow I managed to limp along anyway, using a degraded product.
BUT THERE IS NO WORKAROUND FOR THIS ONE. THIS IS A BUG. A MAJOR BUG.
YOU BROKE THIS, FIX IT PLEASE.
IS ANYBODY LISTENING??????
kh-shakhib
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
lyonsarcade
·1 year agoThis is one of the dumbest, in a long line of dumb things that ebay has done. Let's say I'm looking for an antique radio. So I type "antique radio"... it will pop up a whole list of antique radios.
But let's say somebody has listed their antique radio, as "Old RCA Radio". Well that wouldn't turn up in the search result.
So typically I would click one, see what category 'antique radios' are listed in, click it, and then scroll through the category, maybe with a search term like "rca" or something more generic since i'm in the right category.
can't do that now, because if I type 'rca' it kicks me back out to the main site. What subcategory were the antique radios in again I was just looking at?
It's just b.s., non-intuitive design choices that multiple people had to have approved, all the while insulting their users. Then the company goes bankrupt and everybody can't figure out why. They actually have the audacity to advertise on television that Ebay is the best place to buy collectibles. Are you kidding me.
eburtonlab
·1 year ago@lyonsarcade
If I type rca radio into the search field and hit "search", it is automatically redirected into the Tube Radios category:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=rca+radio&_sacat=0
There is more than one way to find any listing.
ducks2k
·1 year ago@eburtonlab Don't know what eBay you are looking at, but neither your link or the traditional searches of car radio or "car radio" does what you just said. Your link does bring up "only" 1,200 responses, but scattered over dozens of categories. Depending on how common the words are the results can be hundreds of thousands of items scattered over hundreds of categories.
The thing we have been complaining about is the loss of ability to build and refine searches WITHIN a category. The stuff I care about is generally in the leaf category of "..... Duck stamps", which still has 50,000 items. In the olden days (last year), I could easily search within that category. Now, it continually kicks me back to the hundreds of thousands of items, with a maze of categories down the left side, one of which MAY be "duck stamps", but most probably, it is down below the "show more" click. It now takes an inconvenient number of clicks to search for things.
I am now suspecting that this is INTENTIONAL, because it makes buyers pretty much have to follow the advertising links. Unfortunately, the AI has absolutely no idea what makes one stamp similar to another.
jimmythefly
·2 years agoI'm just here to complain too (though I will also complain directly to eBay).
Search within subcategories is so incredibly useful, especially for things that you know sellers often don't correctly list or don't include all the details. In those instances you need to be able to step up or down categories, and you need to be able to try out a few different search terms in rapid succession to properly narrow down to what you are looking for.
It's also useful for when you don't know which subcategory an item or type of item might be listed in. In which case my strategy as been to search for something well known, figure out the subcategory, and then search within that subcategory for what I am actually looking for.
With respect, @eburtonlab , your replies of how you can do a search and then narrow down by category might be correct, but it misses the larger point of most of our complaints. That only really works if you are sticking with the same search term to find what you need, or you are only looking for one specific thing.
I find that way more often, I want to be able to try out variations on a search term to get good results, and the ability to stick to one subcategory and then rapidly try out different search terms is VERY important to getting good results. Same with browsing a subcategory for other interesting related things, I want to search within that sub, not have to go all the way back to top level and narrow down my search with a bunch of clicks, every effing time.
ronl3
·2 years agoStupidest decision ever.
Years ago I was on ebay daily and buying stuff constantly.
Now I hardly ever come here because amazon is so much easier and convenient.
Today I decided to come back to ebay thinking that it might be easier to find what I need.
Nope. 😞
Back to amazon...
ducks2k
·2 years agoThanks for your thoughts, but I think you hit on a key point when you said
"So you understand that eBay has not actually taken away the ability to search within a subcategory, though now it takes more clicks to accomplish that than you might otherwise prefer."
It is not "more than I prefer", it is going from a tolerably inconvenient number of clicks to a totally inconvenient number of clicks. For decades, they have had the "advanced search" page, but the choices presented and inconvenience made them worthless to me.
I think, as much as anything, it was that they just dropped in this change without notice, and just assumed that the users would adapt. I have spent too many years "adapting" to unannounced changes to be happy about it.
To be clear, eBay is essential to my ability to buy and sell stamps. I am 95% happy with eBay, but that doesn't mean I can't complain. There are other websites that would like to compete, but none have the scope and customer base as eBay. Ebay's fees are somewhat high, but are tolerable. When the basic store went to essentially free listings for 10,000 items, it dramatically changed how I did business (for the better).
eburtonlab
·2 years agoIt is not "more than I prefer", it is going from a tolerably inconvenient number of clicks to a totally inconvenient number of clicks. For decades, they have had the "advanced search" page, but the choices presented and inconvenience made them worthless to me.
I am 95% happy with eBay, but that doesn't mean I can't complain.
You are absolutely entitled to complain -- both here and to eBay, directly.
I would encourage anyone that runs into any issue that materially affects your satisfaction with eBay to let eBay know about it. Many eBay pages have a "Tell us what you think" link that can be used to alert eBay developers to problems with particular pages or features. There should be such a link at the bottom of the search results if you are using a desktop browser, located just above the number of items per page selection. Use that.
I think, as much as anything, it was that they just dropped in this change without notice, and just assumed that the users would adapt. I have spent too many years "adapting" to unannounced changes to be happy about it.
It may not be an intentional change at all; it may simply be a side effect of some upgrade that required something to be re-coded to run on a new server. Perhaps if enough folks complain about it, eBay may even fix it, eventually.
eBay changes many things, and eBay rarely announces any details in advance. And eBay can be very slow to recognize and correct issues even when something is very obviously not working as intended.
eBay's search is far from perfect. But even in its imperfect state, it is still possible to use that imperfect search to search for and to actually find things effectively.
You may not have much direct control over how eBay's search is programmed or how actually works at any given moment, but you do still have absolute control over how you use it despite all that. Use that control to get the most out of your searches.
ducks2k
·2 years agoSince the original change a month or two back, I've been trying to get used to the change, under the assumption that there really is a work-around by taking the search results and somehow getting down to the category that I was originally looking at. It just doesn't work rationally at all. When doing it the old way, the secondary search had already had 99% of key-word matches removed because they were not found in that category. That is what I wanted - I could scroll through a couple of hundred results to find the few items that I actually cared about. When the search starts by matching keywords with the entire item database, 99.999% of the matches could be irrelevant, and it can be difficult to even click down through the category tree to find the proper category. Altering the search, even by a little, requires drilling down through the results again. It just isn't worth the trouble.
For example - I tend to focus on the category "Duck Stamps" way down the collectable category tree. Within those duck stamp listings (50k or so) are "trout stamps", which I could refine further with a state like Arizona. When the context starts out as the entire site, "trout" gets me Mike Trout baseball cards, "stamps" gets me block printing supplies, and "Arizona" gets me everything associated with the state. I already had to fight with the eBay AI about it returning what it thinks I want to see, rather than what I actually ask for.
I find I am not using search much at all any more, and my buying is way down. I have absolutely no idea how buyers find my stuff, but a larger and larger percentage are coming in as ad-clicks (this may be one of the goals of the change).
In looking for a particularly obscure group of stamps, I got right to what I was looking for by using a Google search which linked to some eBay active items. There is no way I could have constructed a search within eBay to return those precise results.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoFor example - I tend to focus on the category "Duck Stamps" way down the collectable category tree. Within those duck stamp listings (50k or so) are "trout stamps", which I could refine further with a state like Arizona. When the context starts out as the entire site, "trout" gets me Mike Trout baseball cards, "stamps" gets me block printing supplies, and "Arizona" gets me everything associated with the state. I already had to fight with the eBay AI about it returning what it thinks I want to see, rather than what I actually ask for.
If you want to see trout stamps, try searching using the keywords trout stamps.
The only Mike Trout listings you will see in that search will be Mike Trout stamp panels, and possibly some stamped items. I think there are three of those stamp panels on all of eBay at the moment. You can avoid those items by limiting your results to the Stamp category to avoid all the Sports categories.
If you want Arizona trout stamps, search using the keywords arizona trout stamps. Like so:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=arizona+trout+stamps&_sacat=0
From there, if you want to limit the results to the Duck Stamp category specifically, all it takes is one click on that category on the left side of that search results page.
Again, this may not be how you are used to searching, but I do not think searching this way is "irrational", nor is it the only way to get good search results.
ducks2k
·2 years agoYou are not even close. That is more or less how it ought to work, but not at all how it actually does work. A "real" search is an iterative process,
For 20 years, I have spent most of my time in category 685, which is "Collectibles & Art/ .../ United States/Back of Book/Duck Stamps" which is 50,000 or more items (note the category tree is so large that they don't even show all the levels).
I don't really collect "duck stamps" but that is the closest there is to "Hunting and Fishing stamps and licenses", and sellers have listed most of their stuff there (probably to the annoyance of those who don't care about "trout stamps" or "turkey stamps"...). I have to skip over their ducks, so they can skip over my trouts.
The point is that by going to a specific leaf category, I have performed the first part of a search, going down from 1.7 billion items to around 50,000. 50k is still too huge a number to browse, but, if I am in "duck stamps", the keyword "turkey" will return pretty much "turkey hunting stamps". "West Virginia" can narrow the search further. For 20 years, this is how it worked.
By removing that starting point, I have to construct a search that will do more or less the same job. Over the years, eBay has implemented subtle changes in how search terms are evaluated, but it never has been easy to specify 'turkey stamps' to get stamps for hunting turkeys, rather than postage stamps from Turkey or stamps picturing turkeys, or ink stamping blocks depicting turkeys (or turkey basters stamped with 'made in USA'.....)
The "trick" of accepting the search terms over all 1.7 billion items and then clicking down the category tree is tedious at best, since "duck stamps" is far down the category tree and may require multiple clicks to get there. Then, if I want to change West Virginia to North Dakota, I have to repeat the clicking logic.
BTW - eBay search has never been a strict boolean search, as they have always done things like interpreting "stamp" as matching "stamp" or "stamps". Sometimes, this is helpful, other times, I wish I could specify "turkey" versus "Turkey"
I think the point of this thread is that things that make sense to programmers/AI do not necessarily make sense to buyers. And "makes sense" can vary wildly from one buyer to another. The difficulty is magnified by AI because it learns things from 99 users that drives the other 1 crazy.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI think the point of this thread is that things that make sense to programmers/AI do not necessarily make sense to buyers.
While that is undoubtedly true, my point in replying to posts in this thread is to show that it is actually still possible to search within a subcategory, despite the changes.
The "trick" of accepting the search terms over all 1.7 billion items and then clicking down the category tree is tedious at best
So you understand that eBay has not actually taken away the ability to search within a subcategory, though now it takes more clicks to accomplish that than you might otherwise prefer.
BTW - eBay search has never been a strict boolean search, as they have always done things like interpreting "stamp" as matching "stamp" or "stamps". Sometimes, this is helpful, other times, I wish I could specify "turkey" versus "Turkey"
It is possible to distinguish the keyword stamp from the keyword stamps by placing the keyword in quotes when searching. That forces eBay to return exact, literal matches of a keyword.
Unfortunately, eBay's search does not distinguish between capital and lower case letters, so that does not work with turkey/Turkey. To distinguish between those two, you need to either use a filter or a different category or some additional context.
The point is that by going to a specific leaf category, I have performed the first part of a search, going down from 1.7 billion items to around 50,000. 50k is still too huge a number to browse, but, if I am in "duck stamps", the keyword "turkey" will return pretty much "turkey hunting stamps". "West Virginia" can narrow the search further.
Actually, just using the keywords turkey hunting stamp west virginia and then selecting the Stamps category gets you decent results if you are looking for hunting stamps.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/260/i.html?_nkw=turkey+hunting+stamp+west+virginia
Likewise, using the keywords trout stamp and adding a state, or just trout stamp and drilling down to Back of Book under Stamps.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/47141/i.html?_nkw=trout+stamp
There is more than one way to perform any search. And once you find a search that works for you, you can bookmark or save it; after that it will only ever be one or two clicks away, no matter how tedious it actually was to set up that first time.
jfrankparnel
·2 years agoTaking away the ability to search in a sub-category was a bone-headed decision on the part of Ebay. Jumping through a bunch of hoops to kinda sorta get the same result is ridiculous. Maybe a database programmer came up with some query optimization that was so wonderful that it was necessary to remove this function. The only end-user rational I can come up with for this design change is forcing users to see search results they normally wouldn't in order to boost sales. Yeah, I know it's a stretch.
followthedragon92
·2 years agoYou can also post your issue here as it seems to be a technical issue:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Report-eBay-Technical-Issues/bd-p/technicalissues-db
Might help? Reposted one of my posts there when i saw this category a moment ago.
campanaelia
·2 years agoI've read through this thread but still having trouble. Say I won an auction and want to search some sub-categories with just that seller for combined shipping they allow 5 days. So first I click on house and garden, and it shows they have over 1100 items. And if I want to search all their tools I put in a search word like drill but I'm still not seeing any subcategories still. I'm not looking for anything specific, just want to see what they have in tools in the sub-cat "Tools and workshop", but not the whole home and garden category. Do I have to search for each tool i can think of? Same with laptops , I don't want to search 1000 items to see just the laptops and ram they have. I've just about given up trying.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoSay I won an auction and want to search some sub-categories with just that seller for combined shipping they allow 5 days. So first I click on house and garden, and it shows they have over 1100 items. And if I want to search all their tools I put in a search word like drill but I'm still not seeing any subcategories still. I'm not looking for anything specific, just want to see what they have in tools in the sub-cat "Tools and workshop", but not the whole home and garden category.
Are you looking at the seller's store page, or the "items for sale" page? If the store, you should see the seller's store categories, which are not necessarily the same as eBay's categories. Clicking on a store category should show you all the seller's items in that category, obviously.
If you are looking at the "items for sale", then you should be dealing with eBay's categories. If you want to search, use your keywords first to search that seller's items. Then, from the search results page choose the category from the options on the left side of the page.
If that is not helping, please provide the name of a seller whose items you want to search along with some categories or keywords and I can provide some links as examples. I tried to find a seller I could use as an example, but all the sellers I tried only had items in one category.
campanaelia
·2 years ago@eburtonlab
I've tried searching on both pages and I get the same result for sellers. I see the categories, but the subs are missing to break it down more. For example use the seller Seattle Goodwill
eburtonlab
·2 years ago@campanaelia
Going from the seller's store or profile page, I also do not see the subcategories, only the larger Home & Garden category.
If I go to the Advanced Search and search using the seller username, then I wind up here:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fss=1&_saslop=1&_sasl=seattlegoodwill&LH_SpecificSeller=1
From there I can search tools and see sub category options:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/11700/i.html?_nkw=tools&_sasl=seattlegoodwill&_fss=1&LH_SpecificSeller=1&_saslop=1
Or I can browse the categories directly:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/631/i.html?_fss=1&_saslop=1&_sasl=seattlegoodwill&LH_SpecificSeller=1
That is not very convenient, though, to say the least. I will see if I can find an easier way to get the same result without having to use Advanced Search and entering the username directly.
eburtonlab
·2 years ago@campanaelia
It looks like I can search without using Advanced Search, but it still takes many clicks to get there, and eBay is definitely not making this easy.
From one of the seller's listings, click on the feedback number. Then "see all feedback" at the bottom.
https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/mweb_profile?fdbkType=FeedbackReceivedAsSeller&item_id=335550666078&username=seattlegoodwill&filter=feedback_page%3ARECEIVED_AS_SELLER&sort=RELEVANCE
Use the "switch back to classic" link.
https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/seattlegoodwill?filter=feedback_page%3ARECEIVED_AS_SELLER&sort=RELEVANCE
Then use the "view items for sale" link:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=seattlegoodwill
From there, click on the Home & Garden category:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/11700/i.html?_ssn=seattlegoodwill
Use the "more" option under that category to see additional subcategories, then choose Tools & Workshop Equipment:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/631/i.html?_ssn=seattlegoodwill
What could be simpler?
campanaelia
·2 years agook, I see it now the way you explained it. It is interesting that the subs don't show up except when clicking through the classic view feedback page, hopefully they don't remove that option. Thanks
lroyal
·2 years agoThis is horrible. If I just use my old searches I get more more 50K results now most of which are not even remotely what I want. I now have to type out what I want and what would be the category and sub category into every search. . This only returns a fraction of the results I used to get when I could search within the sub category. My purchasing has dropped considerably just because I cannot find what I want. Please allow searches within sub categories again. I cannot understand why you would remove this vital feature.
eburtonlab
·2 years ago@lroyal
I am unable to find what I am looking for now.
What are you looking for? You should be able to find everything, you may just need to reverse the order of your search. Instead of changing the category and then searching, search first using keywords, then change the category using the links on the left side of the search results page.
lroyal
·2 years agoI am unable to find what I am looking for now. I have to type the what I want and category names into the search and I only get a fraction of my old results. Shop by featured refinements is useless unless you are looking for one of three items they offer.
tradecardm
·2 years agoYou are EXACTLY right. I’ve also relied on searches within specified categories. There is no meaningful substitute. Removing this search ability was a disservice to the eBay community and will result in lost sales. How can folks get together to petition eBay to restore this search method?
eburtonlab
·2 years ago@tradecardm
I’ve also relied on searches within specified categories. There is no meaningful substitute. Removing this search ability was a disservice to the eBay community and will result in lost sales.
It is still possible to search within a subcategory.
Instead of selecting the subcategory and then searching, just do it the other way around: search using your keywords, and then from the search results, select the category using the links on the left side of the search results page. You wind up with the items in that subcategory that meet your search criteria.
Try it. It works.
ronasmith
·2 years agoBefore:
Save bookmark for the category I always use. In future go to bookmark and do search within the category.
Now:
Do a search, click 15 times to get to the category.
Stupid does not sufficiently describe this extremely bad UI degradation.
purple_microdot
·2 years agoJust when you think that Ebay has shot itself in the foot for the last time...they somehow manage to do so yet once again. I've been selling vintage collectible toys on Ebay since they began. And one of my specialties has been collectible premium toy rings... listing them in the category Collectibles & Art > Collectibles > Advertising> Merchandise & Memorabilia> Premiums, Prizes & Charms. And people could find my rings by searching for the term "ring" in the last sub-category "Premiums, Prizes & Charms". But now, without warning, you cannot do a word search in that category. Nor can you do a word search in "Merchandise & Memorabilia". Nor can you do a word search in "Advertising". Nor can you do a word search in "Advertising". You have to go all the way back to "collectibles" to be able to do a word search. And when you do a search for "ring" in the collectibles categories, you get a return of 420,000 items. Who is going to search through almost a half million items to find rings? The answer is NOBODY. And so now, NOBODY is finding my rings that I have listed. I lose sales...and so does Ebay. Who made this idiotic decision to eliminate the search ability within sub-categories? This is precisely why I've maintained my website for 25 years. So when Ebay eventually goes broke, you will still be able to find my items for sale. And my business will continue long after Ebay is gone.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoAnd people could find my rings by searching for the term "ring" in the last sub-category "Premiums, Prizes & Charms". But now, without warning, you cannot do a word search in that category.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ring&_sacat=800&_sop=10
Nor can you do a word search in "Merchandise & Memorabilia".
https://www.ebay.com/sch/13623/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ring&_sop=10
Nor can you do a word search in "Advertising". Nor can you do a word search in "Advertising".
https://www.ebay.com/sch/34/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ring&_sop=10
There is more than one way to conduct any search. One way may no longer work, but that does not mean that the search cannot be done.
rhw78114
·2 years ago"There is more than one way to conduct any search. One way may no longer work, but that does not mean that the search cannot be done."
The problem is not that the search can't be done. The problem is that the search results now contain dozens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, of unwanted results. Unwanted results that are returned because EBAY will no longer restrict the search to one subcategory.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoThe problem is that the search results now contain dozens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, of unwanted results. Unwanted results that are returned because EBAY will no longer restrict the search to one subcategory.
eBay still allows you to restrict the category. Just not the way you are used to doing it.
You can still perform the search and get it without the unwanted results by searching using keywords and then selecting the proper category.
6565chrisd
·2 years agoWhy do eBay have to mess up a working system everyone has got used to and replace it with a more convoluted one that takes extra steps? I can only imagine its some try-hard in marketing that got it implemented, they are usually the ones who mess things up for everyone.
badinfo
·2 years agotylevin
·2 years agoYES! THIS IS INSANE!! EBAY --ARE YOU LISTENING?!?!?!?
This feature MUST be restored!
orangewood53
·2 years agoI thought I'd gone mad. I know they like to hide features every time they "update," but this one had me flummoxed. It never occured to me that they would purposefully eliminate one of the most important tools from the search function.
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@raven-labs,
Yes it was nice when we could search sub categories. But without knowing what your exact search terms are, it makes it hard to offer suggestions.
In my case if I do a search for "1/350 scale ship model kit", a couple of prefill searches pop up with either Scale in bold lettering or Plastic in bold
"1/350 scale plastic model ship kits" the results page goes directly to the sub category Models & Kits. ( plastic or scale may show up in different places on the suggested pre-fills)
The left column on the search results page do display pretty good filters, but some only work if sellers use the words in their titles.
raven-labs
OP2 years agoI wasn't looking for a suggestion, I was looking for Ebay to notice that users are angry they took away a critically important feature, think better of their decision, and bring that feature back.
Yes I know that using more keywords is a partial work around, but it's really not satisfactory since it depends on sellers using all the right keywords, which you can't always rely on.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI wasn't looking for a suggestion, I was looking for Ebay to notice that users are angry they took away a critically important feature, think better of their decision, and bring that feature back.
If you want eBay to notice, you have to contact eBay directly. Most search results pages have a "Tell us what you think" link at the bottom that you can use to alert page developers to issues with pages or features.
Posting here is a good way to reach other users like yourself and get advice and suggestions that you can use to improve your own searches, or to ask and answer questions, but it is not really a substitute for contacting eBay directly if you want anything to actually change.
buybuybuy4me
·2 years agoI have not seen the "Tell us what you think" link in search results. Looked left, right, and high and low. Maybe its just missing from my search results, like so many other things these days.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI have not seen the "Tell us what you think" link in search results.
If you are using a desktop browser, the "Tell us what you think" link is at the bottom of the page, just above the number of items per page menu.
buybuybuy4me
·2 years agoThanks. Forgot you have to put a keyword in for any kind of search results these days. I found it after I put a keyword in the category but its not there (along with a ton of other useful information I would like) if I just browse a category to see if anything strikes my fancy or if a seller has a sale on. As a buyer I find search no fun at all these days.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI found it after I put a keyword in the category but its not there (along with a ton of other useful information I would like) if I just browse a category to see if anything strikes my fancy or if a seller has a sale on. As a buyer I find search no fun at all these days.
In most categories it is possible to perform a very general search using the name of the category as your search keywords; that way you can see all the filter options and seller info that may not necessarily appear when simply browsing the category.
hoojeebo
·1 year agoDo you notice how NO ONE is marking your responses as helpful? That's because they're not.
railwaypaintshopcompany
·2 years agoYou're not alone. The Railroads and Trains category I've always used now only displays the "All Categories" option. It's now impossible to run a search as I previously did. Now, I have to run at least 4-5 minimum ADDITIONAL searches just to finally whittle the list down, and even then, it still displays crap I don't want. There is no way I'm going to waste my time with that screwed up search every single time I want to look for something. I don't know who came up with this idiotic disaster, but they need to be fired. This is even worse than the category restructuring mess they created a few years ago.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoNow, I have to run at least 4-5 minimum ADDITIONAL searches just to finally whittle the list down, and even then, it still displays crap I don't want.
There is more than one way to search for something. Chances are there is an easier way to get to the search you want without going through all those additional searches.
Start with your keywords and search. Then narrow down the category using the list on the left side of the search results page. Finally, chose any category-specific filter options you want. Bookmark or save the results so you can quickly get back to the search if it is a search you intend to run again, or if you want to use that as a starting point for a new search.
That may not be how you are used to searching, but that may ultimately be more effective than what you are currently doing if you are not satisfied with the results you are getting.
Strategies for searching that worked well when there were a million listings may no longer work as well when there are a billion listings.
If there is a particular search you are having trouble with, if you are willing to provide some details someone may be able to post a link to a search for you.
25kenwood
·2 years agoAll you should need to do is to do the initial search, and then refine it by sub-category on the left side of the screen (or are you trying to do something else?):
raven-labs
OP2 years agoYes, I'm trying to do something else. I'm trying to navigate to a subcategory page from the links at the top of an item page, then just run a search using the search bar with no further clicks, which ought to search only within that subcategory. Exactly how I've always done it. Super easy.
THIS USED TO WORK, UP UNTIL A FEW DAYS AGO. THEY BROKE IT. APPARENTLY ON PURPOSE. NOW I HAVE TO DO IT THE HARD WAY.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoTry first searching using your chosen keywords. After the search results load, scroll down the categories shown on the left side of the page (using a desktop browser) and select your category and subcategory.
That should show you your search of just that subcategory.
Bookmark or save the search to make it easier to get there next time.
So if you are searching for a P51 Mustang in Model Kits, you will wind up here:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/1188/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=p51+mustang
raven-labs
OP2 years agoThis works, but it's a clunky and non-intuitive way to do something that used to be easy.
So it's right in line with the trend in recent years to spend millions rewriting the Ebay web site to make it worse.
Previously you could navigate to a sub-category from the top of the item page.
Once within that sub-category, the search bar only searched items within that category.
It was easy, effortless, seamless, and so intuitive it required no explanation.
Now I have to first run a search that I KNOW IN ADVANCE is going to return millions of results I don't want.
Then to pare down this nonsensical mess I have to scroll the page down and manually search for my sub-category in a large unordered list / tree thingy.
After several extra clicks, I finally end up with the equivalent result.
This is BAD, HORRIBLE, CRUMMY DESIGN. No matter how you try to rationalize it.
By the way.
In recent months, I've started seeing duplicate results in searches. As you're paging through a list of results, you see the SAME ITEM again and again.
Even when looking at a list of seller's items, I will see duplicate results.
THAT IS A BUG.
If it wasn't done on accident, I'm sure it was done to somehow increase revenue while making the user's experience worse.
But I'm sure you can probably offer some explanation of how it's actually a brilliant idea, and it's really for my own good if only I was smart enough to realize it.
janet9988
·2 years agoWOW ......... YOU were the one that chose to come to the buyer community boards to get advice about your problem.
purple_microdot
·2 years agoYou have no items for sale. No completed items for sale. And no viewable feedback. Whereas I have been selling on Ebay for 20 years. And Ravel-labs did not come to the community board for advice. He came on here to make his complaint known, since Ebay does nothing about this huge, huge problem. When you start selling on here, then you can give your two cents.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoWhen you start selling on here, then you can give your two cents.
Anyone can post here, provided they respect the community rules.
Keep in mind that many users have more than one account, and some post using accounts other than their primary selling accounts to keep their board activity separate from their selling activity, so you should be wary of drawing too many conclusions based only on the account details that you can see.
But even so, there is no requirement to be a seller at all in order to comment here.
ducks2k
·2 years agoI agree 100%. I want to search in the category I am in currently. It does look like, technically, the search term, then click on a category does the same job (sort of). A POSSIBLE benefit is that your search words might bring up the actual thing you were trying to look for, but that was listed in a different category.
Until seeing this thread, I was just mad at the stupid change of something I've been doing for decades. Now, I guess, I will give it a try and see if I gain anything. I mean, it is not like we have a choice, and eBay has never listened before.
At least some of the duplicate items returned by the search are ones where the seller paid for advertising. And, to make matters worse, if you actually click on the advertisement copy of the listing the seller has to pay extra comission to eBay.