Search by "Description" under the drop down menu for active listings is no longer there.

[carpartdepo]

On the "Manage active listings" page.

The option to search by "Description" under the drop down menu is no longer there.

I only see "Search by title, SKU, or item number".
Anyone know how to restore the option to search with description within active listings? This is the most important listing tool, completely lost without it.

[carpartdepo]

Yep, that's exactly the issue I'm having with Edge, Chrome, Opera, Firefox. Same result with every browser.

[eburtonlab]

For what it's worth, I still have the gear icon and the ability to search by Item description.

It may be that eBay is testing something in different user accounts.

Or it may be that eBay has removed the feature, and you will no longer be able to use it once your cookies are updated, or if you sign out and then sign back in again.

[wastingtime101]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

It may be that eBay is testing something in different user accounts.

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That's common with things that appear different on different accounts, but my instinct is that's not the case here.

eBay just added search by description last year, and they added it after eBay made these navigation changes specifically because sellers expressed a need for it as a selling tool.

I think it's very unlikely eBay would program it in because of sellers' needs just to get rid of it 6 mo later.

This is why I'm pretty confident it's an unintended bug.

There was a tech issue about ... 10 days ago? Where the search bar was missing on the Unsold page, then restored within a day or so - it was a confirmed bug. eBay is constantly rolling out small updates to Seller Hub and I think this is an unintended side effect of an update they rolled out this week.

[eburtonlab]

There was a tech issue about ... 10 days ago? Where the search bar was missing on the Unsold page, then restored within a day or so - it was a confirmed bug. eBay is constantly rolling out small updates to Seller Hub and I think this is an unintended side effect of an update they rolled out this week.

It is not uncommon for eBay to revamp a page and drop a feature, only to have the feature reappear at a later date after many complaints. It is often not clear if the loss of the feature was the result of an intentional plan to do away with it that was later reversed after an outcry, an intended test to see how users actually react to the change, or just a total oversight that wound up needing to be fixed at a later update.

I suspect that the last case happens more often than many are willing to admit.

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

Hey - I don't think this is a bug after all. It's an intended design change.

I didn't even try to search earlier, just saw the gear icon was missing. I should have typed something in the box to test. 🙄

Just now I was doing inventory management and noticed when I enter a search term, a drop-down appears and I can choose a search option.

Check this out @carpartdepo . Are you seeing the same?

It's new navigation, removal of the gear icon.

Even though description appears above SKU/title in the drop-down, the search is defaulting to SKU/title unless you specifically choose description.

Perhaps a test @eburtonlab or perhaps those of us seeing the change are opted in early to a site wide roll out. I can't guess either way since my account is almost always opted in early to Seller Hub changes.

FYI @mcdougle4248 

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Edit to add: eBay still has not fixed what's broken. You can search custom SKU at the listing level, but it's still not searching custom SKU at the variation level. Major problem and something we lost when eBay rolled out this new navigation last year.

The other thing we lost is search recognizing plural and partial words.

Like if you search shirt it will show you listings with shirt in the title, but will not show t-shirt or shirts plural.

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@mcdougle4248 wrote:

For what it's worth, I still have the gear icon and the ability to search by Item description. I am using my desktop and Chrome.

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Interesting - thank you @mcdougle4248 . That makes it more likely this is a bug, not intentional. Perhaps eBay will restore it during the work week.

It's missing for me on both Firefox and Safari on a Mac.

Edit to add: I checked while logged in to 2 different accounts.

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@wastingtime101  in case it's helpful - I also checked 2 different accounts both on FireFox and Chrome and the gear icon is still there for both accounts in both browsers.

Edit to add: obviously I should have read all the replies before responding. 😂

[wastingtime101]

See my last post @valueaddedresource - most of what I wrote earlier is no longer relevant.

Removal of the gear icon is an intended change, just don't know if it's a test or if a phased rollout and I'm part of phase 1.

The option to search by description now appears when you start typing in the search box.

If you click description from the drop down it will search by description.

If you click nothing from the drop down it will search by the default title/SKU.

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Edit to add:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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Edit to add: obviously I should have read all the replies before responding. 😂

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haha - yeah, I went back and edited a few of my earlier posts higher up in the discussion with the updated info, but didn't edit every post. You latched on to a later post that I didn't edit. 😛

[valueaddedresource]

@wastingtime101 yeah I realized that after I read the rest of way down....obviously should have read the whole thread before responding. 😂

[wastingtime101]

Yeah, in the end a "much ado about nothing" situation - search by description is still there and painfully obvious to anybody that actually types a term in the search box. Nothing even hidden. 😂 @valueaddedresource 

[carpartdepo]

I'm typing into the search bar but nothing is coming down as I see on yours. It only what I type, nothing else.

[eburtonlab]

I'm typing into the search bar but nothing is coming down as I see on yours. It only what I type, nothing else.

Try another browser to rule out a browser issue.

[joslinhall]

Yes, I just discovered this. So the text search exists, they just don't let you know it until you start typing. That is, um, "innovative".  it always causes trouble when they get "innovative" without an explanation.  Intuitive would have been better.