Searching for terms with special characters (such as #10 screws)

[eburtonlab]

@playaguy 

Want to search for "#10" as in the size of a screw, when I place this in my search I only get "10" in search results

Special characters (periods, dashes, slashes, number signs, etc.) are not handled well by eBay's search -- most of the time eBay simply ignores those characters completely or treats them all as equivalent to a single space. Even if you put a special character inside quotes to indicate you want the term to be treated literally, that special character will still be ignored.

A search for:

"#10" screw

will match any item with both "screw" and "10" in the title. Many different size screws are sold in quantities of 10, and that search will include all of them, unfortunately.

To narrow down your search, it is best to add more information. If you are searching for machine screws, try specifying the threads per inch: "10-24 screw" or "10-32 screw":

10-24 screw

If you are searching for wood screws only, try searching for "number-10 screw" or "10x wood screw", or adding "-metal" to exclude sheet metal screws:

number-10 screw -metal

If you know the exact size (such as "10x1" or "10x2") include that. You may run into problems specifying fractional or decimal sizes, though, since slashes and periods are special characters, but this will work in most cases:

10x1-1/2 screw 

Searching for "10x1.5 screw" turns up some one and a half inch screws, but also turns up many more metric sizes, unless you specifically exclude them:

10x1.5 screw -m10 -metric

If you narrow the category down enough, you may see some filters shown on the left side of the page that allow you to choose specifics such as the drive type (phillips, slotted, star or square) if included by the seller:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=10x+wood+screw+-sheet&_sacat=26217...

[creekcoyote]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

@playaguy 

Want to search for "#10" as in the size of a screw, when I place this in my search I only get "10" in search results

Special characters (periods, dashes, slashes, number signs, etc.) are not handled well by eBay's search -- most of the time eBay simply ignores those characters completely or treats them all as equivalent to a single space. Even if you put a special character inside quotes to indicate you want the term to be treated literally, that special character will still be ignored.

A search for:

"#10" screw

will match any item with both "screw" and "10" in the title. Many different size screws are sold in quantities of 10, and that search will include all of them, unfortunately.

To narrow down your search, it is best to add more information. If you are searching for machine screws, try specifying the threads per inch: "10-24 screw" or "10-32 screw":

10-24 screw

If you are searching for wood screws only, try searching for "number-10 screw" or "10x wood screw", or adding "-metal" to exclude sheet metal screws:

number-10 screw -metal

If you know the exact size (such as "10x1" or "10x2") include that. You may run into problems specifying fractional or decimal sizes, though, since slashes and periods are special characters, but this will work in most cases:

10x1-1/2 screw 

Searching for "10x1.5 screw" turns up some one and a half inch screws, but also turns up many more metric sizes, unless you specifically exclude them:

10x1.5 screw -m10 -metric

If you narrow the category down enough, you may see some filters shown on the left side of the page that allow you to choose specifics such as the drive type (phillips, slotted, star or square) if included by the seller:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=10x+wood+screw+-sheet&_sacat=26217...

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Oh, I just bet you had fun searching.  It is hard enough in a brick and mortar store where the bins are labeled to find the right ones.  On here, has to be almost impossible

[eburtonlab]

@creekcoyote 

Oh, I just bet you had fun searching. It is hard enough in a brick and mortar store where the bins are labeled to find the right ones. On here, has to be almost impossible

Certain things can be found with straightforward searches, while others benefit from more oblique strategies.

For search problems, like many other kinds of problems, there is often more than one path that will get you to your destination; picking the right approach can save a lot of time and effort, or find things that others will miss.

[berserkerplanet]

Try searching for things like screws or O-rings on Amazon, and you'll run back here dropping to your knees and praising Cassini.

[eburtonlab]

@berserkerplanet 

Try searching for things like screws or O-rings on Amazon, and you'll run back here dropping to your knees and praising Cassini.

Using any text-based search to find pipes or tubing with nonstandard user-generated titles which include fractional inner diameter, fractional outer diameter, and fractional wall-thickness is... not fun.

So many false positives that cannot be excluded.