contacting eBay re: poor search results

[pengurrl23]

So.... Is it just me, or is it EVERYONE who (1) gets shown IRRELEVANT listings on eBay; and (2) can't get a straight answer (or even someone to CONTACT) on eBay because their IT is so lousy?  

Case in point:  Looking for Parker Vector Fountain Pens -- even clicked on the LINK for that specifically.  And in the FIRST full page of listings out of I don't know how many pages (but 240 "results") roughly 90+ listings were for ballpoints or rollerballs.  And I'm discounting the ones for just nib units or the ones for sets....  

Now a lot of the listings seem to be from the same few sellers and I've just PM'd a couple of them asking if they MEANT to have their listings in the wrong place or if it's eBay's lousy IT.   Another seller?  I didn't bother because I got screwed over by that seller and who decided to be an a-hole.  Filed a dispute, got my money back, but was NOT allowed to leave feedback as a result.   So when a different seller cancelled a sale after *agreeing* to my offer (and I heard about it from PayPal BEFORE I heard from eBay OR the seller!) and eBay's attitude was "You can't provide feedback on a 'cancelled' transaction..."?  MY response was along the lines of "HOLD MY BEER!" and did it ANYWAY....  Because I don't know if the seller got a "better" offer or never had the item to BEGIN WITH (and in theory had TWO) -- and either way?  Did NOT deserve the 100% positive feedback rating....

But when nearly a third of the first PAGE of hits are irrelevant to the search -- and I even clicked on the button for "Parker Vector Fountain Pen" in the sidebar -- it's either that the seller filled out the paperwork wrong/fraudulently or that eBay's IT people are incompetent (and I'm betting on the latter, given how bad Google search results are any more...).  

So, what category/subcategory should I be searching on for Customer Service?  Because their current "selections" are pretty useless....  And which category should I be clicking on to get someone in eBay's chat window (the way I did recently when trying to pry tracking info out of a seller in Japan...)?

[eburtonlab]

@pengurrl23 

Some sellers are careless about which category they list in; others include incorrect item-specifics on purpose to get their listings to appear in the maximum number of searches. In some cases, eBay may be steering searches into particular categories based on keywords, and those sellers may calculate that they have a better chance of getting their listings seen by users actually searching for those listings in whichever category eBay is steering their potential buyers into.

Despite all this, if you are a little creative, you can probably find a way to avoid such listings by grouping your keywords with quotes to ensure exact, literal matches of your quoted phrase, or by using exclusions, or by using some category-specific filter options that those miscategorized listings would not use.

Try this as a starting point for your fountain pen search:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Parker+Vector+%22fountain+pen%22&_sacat=13999&_sop=10

Narrowing your search yourself is much more likely to get practical results you can use right now, compared to complaining to eBay about lazy or irresponsible sellers.

If you must contact eBay, use the chat assistant that you reach from the Help & Contact page to request a call back.

What options you see may depend on your particular issue and how busy that department is at the moment.

Try entering "agent" into the chat window. You may have to provide some context to reach the correct department. If you see a "Still need help?" or "More options" choice, either of those should lead to a call back option.

If nothing else works, try this link:

https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

If you are unable to get a call back, that may be for several reasons; a location outside of North America, VOIP phone, and call blockers (personal or that of a service provider) are often issues.

Try contacting eBay via social media direct message:

https://x.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/ebay

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Best match searches are affected by other than the words in the listing or the search.

The goal, make a sale similar to sales made on past similar searches is part of the process,

What constitutes similar is not shared.

I sell a lot of obscure items. I am always amazed by what buyers find, and often surprised they can be found.

If you want a more literal result, do your search on a general purpose search engine which indexes Ebay.

This is not just an Ebay issue.

The techniques work better on more popular items.