Our items are not showing up in search, even in search by store (screenshots included)

[zamo-zuan]

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

[monstertoybox]

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

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On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

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Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

[mam98031]

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

---

On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

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Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

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Probably most would at least those that are seasoned online shoppers.  Especially this time of year.  I've ran into similar issues on Macy's, Target and other sites too.  Maybe at that space in time too many people trying to visit the site or something.  But it isn't just Ebay although we are all very sensitive to this as we are trying to earn some money here, so I respect that.  Disruptions often will cost us money therefore we should always be concerned about them.

[zamo-zuan]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

@zamo-zuan 

Could you let me know which item you seen this on?

This is the item, though it appears to have been updated since I did the screen grab -- I no longer see Puerto Rico excluded on the current page:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Engine-Motor-Mount-with-Bracket-2012-2014-for-Honda-Civic-1-8L-for-Au...

I happen to still have the original tab open, here is a wider shot that shows the listing itself:

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Thanks. Maybe the shipping details edit that gave an error went through?

In the time before your reply, I found a single listing (not from these codes) that had Puerto Rico on the excluded list, but this was in the "International" section, and US protectorates was still enabled.

But even if that's what happened to this listing, the item should have been visible to PR as our domestic/US Protectorates were enabled.

[zamo-zuan]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I did check a couple of your '3103' listings that do not show to PR buyers.  I checked a couple of them and although they don't seem to have the PR blocked, they also don't show the PR on the list of ship to locations.  But if I am already in one of those listings and change my location to the PR, it does look like I could purchase it...which of course doesn't help If I didn't see it in the first place.

I think that the problem has something to do with the gsp. When I did a general see other items search, you had 6320 listings for a Cali buyer.  But with a PR zip I only see 360 listings.  I checked a few of those 360 and none of them were enabled for the gsp..they were ship to the US only listings.

When I searched as a UK buyer, I saw 5959 listings (I assume they are all gsp listings).  Since you have about 6320 listings in total, it looks like 361 of those are not gsp listings which is about the same amount of listings that those in the PR see.  It's possible that because the PR is on the 'international' country list as well as included in the US, that the gsp blocks it because they don't ship there.  It shouldn't work that way but it does seem to be working like that right now.

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That's a good point. It could be the GSP messing things up.

Either way, it's quite discouraging to even be dealing with this, as the shipping exclusions section we do not typically touch ever. The only time I can recall was at least 6 months ago to do an edit based on advice from one of the blues. 

But based on todays results, it doesn't even seem our listings are clearly applying the shipping information. And when I try to edit shipping details section, it's giving that error (so I don't know if it even went through).

[gramophone-georg]

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

---

On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

---

Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

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Taking it a step further- on how many other ecommerce sites is all this "work around" stuff even necessary?

[greg5000]

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

---

On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

---

Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

---

Yup, agree 100%.  For many buyers searching, it's one and done.  If they don't see what they want, or have problems searching, they just move on to the next website/company. 

[mam98031]

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@greg5000 wrote:

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

---

@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

---

On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

---

Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

---

Yup, agree 100%.  For many buyers searching, it's one and done.  If they don't see what they want, or have problems searching, they just move on to the next website/company. 

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I don't think Zamo's problems described on this thread are affecting buyers.  Several poster have been able to see what he can't seem to call up in their listings.  As I previously posted.  I've had this issue.  It only affected me when I searched my own stuff.  Buyers were not experiencing the same issue with my listings.  I posted more on it up thread a little.

I do agree with have too many problems with Cassini right now and the available filters.  Serious issues.  I'm just saying this particular search issues has nothing to do with that.  

[lasantino]

@zamo-zuan 

@eburtonlab 

Zamo...  what eburtonlab described is in fact true..   I recognize what he is describing.  I didn't realize it at the time. but now that i see it described .

The way It happens,  if a customer searches your store and they want to see how much something costs to ship to puerto rico..  they would have to go into the shipping specifics and put their zip code in.  Once they do that.. the settings that apply to that searched for zip code stay on the listing unless someone goes in and manually changes the zip code back to a zip code that doesn't have any restrictive settings...

  I hope this makes sense.. 

I think it's a software flaw.. .. 

 I recall it showing up when a buyer complained about the shipping price of something I had listed.  All of my listings have free shipping included in the usa.. so i was confused.  when i went to check the shipping page on that listing.. it was showing as the default,, shipping price to ireland.. a couple days before someone had asked me to check how much it would be to ship to ireland... so I went into the shipping calculator on the listing and checked for them....  I had no idea that when I did that.. the shipping calculator would now default to showing the price for shipping the item to ireland. Even if it was days later and a new buyer who was searching from within the usa... 

Zamo, could potential buyers possibley have been checking your store to see if certain items could ship to puerto rico..   ??   that would explain the lack of all your listings showing up... because all searches were now showing only items that shipped to puerto rico.. even though it was days later... ..

[lasantino]

based on what mam describes.. 

it looks like the changed views only occur on the actual computer that actually did a search for shipping options from zip codes outside of areas that the product ships to..?? ,, wow,, maybe we all here are finding a long unknown bug .. all of our experiences come together to pinpoint the problem ... wow.

[dhbookds]

Why would buyers choose to change the delivery zip/country to begin with?   Only in the case of wanting it shipped to a different address and wanting to see the shipping cost before they buy, which is the reason, I assume, ebay provided that option.  I'm sure it prevents some buyers from "asking the seller" the cost of shipping to a different address......  those buyers that change it, obviously know how to do it and probably soon learn to change it back.....if they continue to checkout and find a different shipping amount.......

Sellers, at least I do, change it all the time, especially those of us that read/answer questions, and at least once a wk, I get caught not having changed it back to my zip......

How/why Zamo's computers were set to exclude PR in some listings is anyone's guess......sellers make mistakes in listing......at least I do.....but the fact is, at least in this instance, from what I can see, ebay was doing things as instructed.

[lasantino]

 Actually,, you are assuming all buyers know the ins and outs of ebay.. which of course they do not.. and ebay is always making changes..

The reason you describe is exactly why a buyer would change the default zip code.. they want to see how much it would cost to ship to outside of the usa..in this case.. puerto rico.

what could have happened in zamo's case,,,  he runs a large business..and has customer service people there to answer customer inquiries..

from what i read in this post.. it appears not all of zamo's items are available to ship to puerto rico.

so if a buyer wanted to buy several things from zamo(for car parts,i can totally see a buyer buying multiple different items from a the same reputable seller ,to save on shipping etc.)  but when they tried to check out. they weren't getting a shipping quote, because some of the items they had chosen don't ship to puerto rico.. so the buyer contacts customer service and the customer service agent tries to replicate the issue the buyer is having..(thus,,changing the zip code to puerto rico)..    and thus,, the resultant different results on different computers,,  

this is just one explanation i can think of, i'm sure there are numerous iterations of what i've described that could have resulted in what zamo is talking about.

my point is,,ITS AN EBAY SOFTWARE ISSUE.. ..  as a seller,,I didn't know to change back the zip code when i was checking on a shipping quote for a customer.... ,, now that i think about it.. I believe the steps i performed that caused the problem, were,,  a

1.buyer contacts me asking me about shipping to ireland..

2. instead of telling them to use the shipping calculator. i just do it myself.. so i go to the listing, click on the edit listing..and then input the ireland zip code.. which gives me the price i need.

3. I then cancel out of the revision,,again,I DID NOT SAVE THE REVISION OR SUBMIT IT, I WAS JUST CHECKING FOR A PRICE FOR ITEM SPECIFIC SHIPPING.

4.  somehow.. ebay's software does in fact keep that foreign zip code in the shipping calculator for my listing now.. .. ONLY  if a buyer knew that they could go into the shipping calculator and input their info, would they know that the shipping charges that were showing up on the listing page were for ireland( in the example i'm using)..

the steps i describe are what i recall. my point is.....   it seems to me there is some glitch in the shipping calculator and how it affects whether items are showing up.. 

[dhbookds]

somehow.. ebay's software does in fact keep that foreign zip code in the shipping calculator for my listing now.

No, it doesn't retain the zip in the listing........it retains the zip for the buyer, so the next time the buyer looks at ANY listing he see the shipping amount to the previous zip he used.........

The shipping charge shown is always dependent on the zip the buyer chooses or his default, registered address..........  I don't see how you can say it's a software "issue".........you may not agree with what's being done..........but that's how it is supposed to work...........and it's been like that for many years........

[greg5000]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@greg5000 wrote:

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@monstertoybox wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

A co-worker reported an issue this morning as he was trying to assist a customer and found the items he was searching were not showing up as normal.

He even tried setting it up to search our store directly, and was using search phrases found in our MPN's, Interchange Part Number, and Other Part Number, in product identifiers.

I've found that 3/4 of our computers here are having this issue. Only on a couple of our PC's are our listings showing up properly.

I had them take screenshots of trying to search some of our most popular items as examples:

---

On the buyer side of things the same has happened to me several times when searching recently in several different categories. To fix, I simply just backed out and tried again and it would then work properly or I`d have to re-try until it did. It can be frustrating. 

I`ve also had "zero" for search results once inside a sellers store and again, had to back out and re-try until it produced the proper result.

---

Can you imagine how many buyers would actually take the time back out and re-try? Not many. There are too many options online now. If a website is not working, I move on to the next. How many sales are being lost because of problems like these?

---

Yup, agree 100%.  For many buyers searching, it's one and done.  If they don't see what they want, or have problems searching, they just move on to the next website/company. 

---

I don't think Zamo's problems described on this thread are affecting buyers.  Several poster have been able to see what he can't seem to call up in their listings.  As I previously posted.  I've had this issue.  It only affected me when I searched my own stuff.  Buyers were not experiencing the same issue with my listings.  I posted more on it up thread a little.

I do agree with have too many problems with Cassini right now and the available filters.  Serious issues.  I'm just saying this particular search issues has nothing to do with that.  

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My reply was a general one, not specific to what Zamo is reporting. 

[lasantino]

so ,, when a seller goes and does the search for a buyer(who often times doesn't know how to figure it out themselves).. then all of the sellers searches will now default to the zip code that they were looking up for the buyer in an effort to provide good customer service..

the point is.. the zip code should only stay for that one listing.. instead it now applies to all searches done..

that's bad programming,, or at the very least sloppy.. because nowhere does ebay make it clear that the permanent change in search results will happen for all searches going forward.. (on that particular computer)

[eburtonlab]

@lasantino 

nowhere does ebay make it clear that the permanent change in search results will happen for all searches going forward

If you open any listing and look at the estimated shipping date, it specifies the zip code used for the calculation right there.