eBay Search Engine Not Working

[circuitware]

Dear Technical Support:

Good day. I have found a problem with the eBay search engine.

When I attempt a search for a number of my listed items, the search engine does not find them. Below is one example.

I have a listing with the following title:

Allen Bradley, Compact I/O, 1769-IQ16, -1Q16, Input Module, Excellent Shape!

I tried a search with the following keywords:

1769 iq16

and the results sorted by price from lowest to highest.

My listing did not show up in the search results.

But if I use the following keywords:

1769 IQ excellent

then the search engine finds my listing.

This same problem occurs with a number of my listings.

Please fix this problem ASAP, as I am afraid buyers are not able to find my listings when searching for items.

Please report back using eBay messages, or my main email address:

allensystems@yahoo.com

Please send any questions. Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

John Allen
circuitware

[eburtonlab]

@circuitware 

This is not eBay Tech Support, this is a user discussion board. If you want to talk to someone at eBay, you will likely need to contact them directly.

I did a general eBay search for "1769 1q16" (without quotes), and three of your items appeared in the results. I sorted by "lowest first", and they sorted correctly. The search defaults to "Control Systems & PLCs"; your items are located in a subcategory of that: Business & Industrial > Automation, Motors & Drives > Control Systems & PLCs > PLC Peripheral Modules > PLC Input & Output Modules.

I changed the search to show items within 50 miles of Columbus so they are easy to spot:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=1769%201q16&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15&rt=nc&_st...

Just to be sure, I saved the search and tried it using the app, and got the same results.

It is possible that you are running into problems by searching using "-1q16" as a standalone term; in a search a leading dash is interpreted by eBay as a minus sign, which means eBay would search for titles that exclude that term. Used in a title, the dash is ignored, so your title itself is fine.

Other than that, it certainly appears that your items are being found by the search, but if you have any others that are not showing up in a search, please feel free to follow up.