Sold item not in search unless I select from "Default Location" to "Miles from Zip"

[larrys.basement]

What is the Default location in search and/or how do I edit this?

A item I sold item does not show up in SOLD search based on the Default Location, with no other item specifics selected.  This happens on both mobile (not logged in) and PC (logged in).

Only when I change Location to 25 miles within my zip code does the item display in search.

Any ideas?

[eburtonlab]

Normally I would say to double check the location you are using to calculate shipping -- if that has been inadvertently changed that can cause such issues. But you say the issue appears both on your PC and on a mobile when not logged in, so unless both devices have the location changed, that item should show up.

It might still be worth trying a search, then sorting by nearest first to check what location is shown at the top of the page -- either your country or postal code should be displayed in that sort.

eBay uses the "default" item location option when searching. That should show items located in the US plus items listed on ebay.com in other countries but that ship to the US and have shipping specified. You can change the item location filter option yourself (default, US, North America, within a certain distance of your zip), but it will go back to the default setting on the desktop. If you are using the eBay app, you can lock your filters to keep them from going back to default. If you are using a desktop browser, you may be able to install a browser extension called "eBay item location -- my country only" to override eBay's default setting, but I do not know if that extension will allow you to default to a specific radius around a zip code.

Out of curiosity, what is the item number? Perhaps there is something odd about the item (local pickup only?) that makes it hard to find under normal circumstances. I would be curious to see if I can find it using various search methods.

[larrys.basement]

Thank for your replay.  When I check "Nearest First" didn't work either. Even though the zip code is correct. 

Using the EXACT title "Corelle Watercolors Dinner Plate, NOT FOUND

Item FOUND using the item # 265287089626.  It's found using that number.

Item FOUND when location changed from "default" to "Within 25 Miles"

Item FOUND when changing around the 4 letters within the title ie.  "Watercolors Corelle Plate Dinner"

Interesting point. Total search results are 39-40 items.  Total count in Condition is 41

Crazy

[eburtonlab]

A search for corelle watercolors dinner plate defaults to the Pottery & Glass category. Your item was listed in the Home & Garden category. So that is why your item is not appearing in that search by default. Certain keyword combinations cause the search to be steered into a particular category.

If you change the search keyword order to watercolors dinner plate corelle then the search does not default to the Pottery category, and your item does appear in the general "All Categories" search. eBay does some odd keyword grouping when deciding whether to invoke that automatic category navigation, and that is why in some cases keyword order can make a difference in the results you see.

If you search using the search radius around your zip code, and few items are found, apparently this can override the automatic category navigation that would normally occur, and you can see results in all categories. If you drop the zip code filter, and search again, the search will default to Pottery & Glass once more.

I would not have guessed that using a search radius would affect category navigation in that way, but apparently that is another odd thing that eBay does.

[larrys.basement]

Kudos on your analysis. And thank you for your time.

Search results using various keyword groupings has puzzled me as well.  I settled with Home & Garden category after the recent update.  Too much redundancy with Pottery & Glass and Collectibles.  I believe at some point, soon, eBay’s ignorance will catchup with reality and will realize the redundancy and make changes again.

If eBay is to be Google friendly, then I suspect it would want to closely match Google taxonomy of Kitchen & Tableware.  There is nothing within Google taxonomy that matches tableware within Pottery and Glass or Collectibles.

Again, thank you for your time.

[eburtonlab]

You are most welcome.

eBay's search has some very odd quirks and more than a few outright bugs, but I was certainly not expecting a search radius to affect categories like that. Thanks for posting your observations and giving me the opportunity to do some sleuthing and find another weird search behavior to add to my growing collection.