Search completely broken?

[terrycanarsky]

There have been multiple threads on the seeming broken Search function --- and little acknowledgement by eBay that there is an issue. 

Today I was working on listings which still have http problems.  As always, I ran a search to check on competitors and our place in the queue.  What I found was interesting - in a bad way.  alan@ebay or any other blue, is there a reasonable non-tinfoil explanation for this?  Limiting visibility is one thing if a seller refuses to jump through all the hoops.  Utterly refusing to show listings is a whole different kettle of fish.  There is a problem here, eBay.

Exact same general (with noted exception on the second photo) search parameters.  No preferences set, as you can see.  FIVE results are reported, but only one shows.  This is not our listing.  (As I was typing this, two more results were returned but only as numbers, not actually anything which can be viewed.)

No filters other than "new", the mfr and the part#

Only filter added was "free shipping" - which returned an entirely different listing than above with the same search parameters.  I did not change the search term - it changed itself (removed 'Total Source')  when I clicked "free shipping".  Again, our listing doesn't show even though we offer free listing.

Same exact search only with free shipping

[brian@ebay]

Hi everyone! It appears that this issue is now resolved. Please verify this and let me know if you continue to encounter a problem or if this occurs again. 

[eburtonlab]

Rerunning that original search, I'm now seeing all five results listed.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=roller+bearing+hy1333396&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_fsr...

It looks like the problem may have been addressed.

[mrosurplussales]

Looks good, now back to regular scheduled programming; selling.

[retroplanet87]

Thank you brian.t@ebay it's a relief to see the normal search results again.

[yankeebob1951]

Looks good here, Brian...thanks!

[us_bmich]

Just got off the phone with Ebay. The CSR I spoke to admits a change I'd the search function has created a vast number of issues, not just the one here. 

The search itself is broken, example. Go to say Men's Jewelry, then go to rings, then go to auctions only, now try and sort by number of bids most, you get the exact same results, so this part of the search is not working at all. Same goes for the above example in any category. 

This is exact same problem arose last year, because EBay did away with the most bids function all together, causing huge issues with the search function, not to mention sales. The CSR rep assured me that EBay is aware, but, would not promise a fix quickly. When asked if the search would be fixed at all, she stated she did not have that information and could not or would not promise a fix. Which begs the question, why would you mess with the search function at all?

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

[terrycanarsky]

The one thing (so far) this morning I've run a search on has worked as intended.

I'll take your word for it that search is "fixed", though, since eBay's 'fixed' tends to be a bit different than what is normally considered 'fixed'.

~M

[seeking_the_timeless]

Thank you for fixing this!  

[etrusca]

Sadly, as some of us have posted elsewhere under a different thread about broken searches for a month now,  I dont think some of these are bugs - I think it is the unfortunate result of rearranging and adding of extra categories and subcategories and malplacement of latter to the wrong tree coupled with the new Master Catalog that is causing the search to malfunction etc

And if someone rewrote codes they got it totally wrong and never checked their work...

Many of us have been saying they need to go into Safe Mode and remove half of what they have added and get back to a working framework / category structure that is clean, doesnt confuse Cassini when asked and will pull up ALL the relevant material related to a search - when I try a variety of searches and it pulls up unrelated or things in a different medium when I ask for glass and it gives me porcelain or other (and I know they are there somewhere) then I know the search is broken

I got some results that basically didnt look for anything as if it just rejected the search criteria completely.  This is paramount as we are all losing a lot of money and it is confusing buyers, giving them the impression that certain antiques & collectibles are not available on Ebay when in fact they are there hidden. They shouldn't have to do 5 searches to find them - 

[moms**art**window**]

sneaky change continues

[productech]

You need to log out to see your own listings. Try to do it. You'll see, it works! 🙂

[classic-us-stamps]

There is definitely a major problem with their search interface that just started within the last 10 days.  Once you choose a category to search in, it should stay in that category until you change it.  This is NOT the way it works now...Every search requires the selection of the category...THIS IS THE BIGGEST PAIN IN THE %$# I CAN IMAGINE!  I'm a stamp collector and I only want to search in "Stamps-United States" but it continually falls back to "All Categories" each search.  I'm sick of this...The most important function and they can't keep it working properly.  Try the new website "Bonanza"...Maybe it's time for e-bay to lower their 10% fees if they are only providing 3% service.

[eburtonlab]

@classic-us-stamps

I only want to search in "Stamps-United States" but it continually falls back to "All Categories" each search.

Someone else was asking about a search of that category on another board. Here is the link I gave him:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=261&_fcid=1&_sop=10&_clu=2&gbr=1&_osacat=261&_ipg=200&_from=R4...

If you bookmark that link it should make a good starting point.

[classic-us-stamps]

It's bookmarked...It gives me one search and then falls back to "All Categories"...Then I hit the bookmark again for one more search and then it falls back to "All Categories"...Around and Around I go wasting my time with many clicks and waiting rather than just doing one simple search after another in the category I want. Thanks for your suggestion though.

[eburtonlab]

@classic-us-stamps

It gives me one search and then falls back to "All Categories".

That's very odd. When I follow that link and add a search term -- say, "flag" -- and do a search, I get some results, follow a link to an item, then I hit the back button and try "lighthouse" instead as a search term, and I get results, it stays in the "United States" subcategory the whole time. This is with Firefox on a Windows 10 machine.

I just tried Microsoft Edge -- and it reverted to "All Categories" after one search.

Opera also reverts to "All Categories". Chrome -- "All Categories". That is... unexpected.