"Left Parenthesis" now gives previous search?

[argy_eyes]

Experts,

Today I tried using parentheses as an "OR" function in a search:  "(term1, term2, term3)  blah  blah  blah . . ."

It gave me my previous search if I entered the "(" first, and ignored the parenthesis if I tried to use it later in the search field.

My wife's laptop gave the same result (she uses Safari and I use Chrome, both on Mac computers). This, and the fact that a "previous search" keystroke might be considered a useful feature, have got me thinking this may be more than some kind of compatibility bug.

Has anybody else seen this?

Thanks,

Mike

[its_a_zen_thing]

I also have this problem since yesterday, open-parenthesis brings up search suggestions and doesn't type the character - at first I thought my keyboard was broken. I'm using Chromium on Linux, Firefox does the same but Vivaldi seems to be working normally. I was circumventing the issue by editing the search string in an empty window and copy/pasting it into the eBay search box. Now I've found that Vivaldi seems not to have this problem I'll use that.

[mudshark61369]

@argy_eyes, @its_a_zen_thing ,

eBay notified us about a year ago that Boolean expressions would no longer work with their search engines.  They never told us why the change was made, so don't ask.

[its_a_zen_thing]

It still works, it's just harder to do with common browsers. I know there's been a general dumbing-down over the years but I don't see how presenting potential buyers with lots of irrelevant search results benefits anyone - lately I'm more likely to search Amazon than fight with the eBay interface.

[lacemaker3]

Using quotation marks also inserts your last search into the search box, which makes it completely useless.

You can use the advanced search box instead. That still works, but it's very clunky, awkward and annoying. It was much easier to just type the search parameters into the search box.

You can also use a third-party search app. They are much more effective and better than eBay's search. I think I will be abandoning eBay search pretty quickly. It's pretty much the only way to stop all the junk, sponsored ads, irrelevant results and hidden listings that eBay keeps pushing on buyers (drive buyers away, more like).

Watchcount.com and Picclick.com both work very well. Intuitive and well-designed, they show you what you asked for.

[mudshark61369]

@its_a_zen_thing,

It may work better on ebay's U.K. site,  than here in the U.S. where you have posted. Maybe it's just me, but I've learned to adapt quickly to the search changes ebay has made over the years. Possibly because I do not think inside the box. Come to think of it,  as a kid I never colored inside the lines either. 

[lacemaker3]

@mudshark61369,

I tried eBay Canada, with the same results. After that, I tried the advanced search on another poster's advice, which did work, but it's way too awkward and difficult to be effective. So I'm going with the third-party search, which has the advantage of eliminating all the sponsored/promoted listings that clutter up the results.

[eburtonlab]

eBay notified us about a year ago that Boolean expressions would no longer work with their search engines.

I had no problems searching using parentheses to perform a Boolean "OR" search right up until yesterday, when entering the left paren into the search field started auto-filling previous search terms. Something seems to have changed very recently. I did not notice any issue until I saw several posts yesterday about the subject and tried signing in to eBay in a private window to see if I could recreate the issue after failing to see the problem in my regular browser. It turned out I could.

I was able to search using parentheses by copying my search term from another field and pasting it into eBay's search field. After having done so, the parentheses key no longer misbehaves for me (unless I open another private browser window, then I have to paste in the term again in order to be able to use it freely).

It is possible the problem has been going on longer, and I have just not noticed because I am in the habit of pasting search terms with parentheses -- which seems to fix the issue somehow. Or it could be coincidental; perhaps eBay had a problem and fixed it, and the changes have not fully propagated yet.

[watchesrewound]

What are some good 3rd-party search engines? 

I have nearly 200 saved, complex searches (which fortunately still work and populate my feed), but this is killin me for regular use.

[eburtonlab]

I found that I can paste a term with parentheses into the search field and search that way.

Having done that, it appears that the search field will allow me to type the characters that were formerly problematic.

If you are still encountering this issue, try copying and pasting the following into your search field and then searching:

test (1,2,3)

Then see if you are able to type a parenthetical term into your search without triggering the auto-fill.

[lacemaker3]

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@watchesrewound wrote:

What are some good 3rd-party search engines? 

I have nearly 200 saved, complex searches (which fortunately still work and populate my feed), but this is killin me for regular use.

---

@watchesrewound, as I posted earlier:

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@lacemaker3 wrote:


...

You can also use a third-party search app. They are much more effective and better than eBay's search. I think I will be abandoning eBay search pretty quickly. It's pretty much the only way to stop all the junk, sponsored ads, irrelevant results and hidden listings that eBay keeps pushing on buyers (drive buyers away, more like).

Watchcount.com and Picclick.com both work very well. Intuitive and well-designed, they show you what you asked for.

---

[argy_eyes]

@its_a_zen_thing @lacemaker3 @eburtonlab @watchesrewound @mudshark61369  (and everyone else),

Thanks for your observations/confirmations and for several good suggestions, such as the various "cut and paste" ideas and Lacemaker3's suggestion:

Watchcount.com and Picclick.com both work very well. Intuitive and well-designed, they show you what you asked for.

As good as these ideas are, I don't think we can let eBay off the hook on this by designating an "accepted solution."

Mike

[watchesrewound]

Agreed.

These 3rd-party Search Engines are a band-aid on the real problem...

[bulldogsandspiders]

I also have encountered the same issue...with a twist:  I have some searches that prefill when I start typing.  These were input fairly recently (past week?) and yet, I can't add any additional items (-whatever) at all.  Ran into the same issue (initially) that the OP noted.  Now, it just does nothing.  Zip, nada, zero.

[bambopbam]

I had vacuumed the keyboard and thought maybe some kind of weird magnetic interference screwed up the left parenthesis key so I rebooted my PC!  Now it is obvious that ebay is trying to forcefully prohibit using search functions that they don't want users to use.   I don't get it.