eBay

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-22-2021

Has anyone noticed issues with the eBay app search engine?

I have been selling on ebay for 10 years now and I sell luxury handbags for a living. I sell around $500,000 a year. All of my items have been appearing at the top of the search results for about 8 years straight now until now. Searching my items on a laptop or desktop computer, my items appear at the top of the search results but now on the eBay app, my items appear near the bottom. I started noticing this about a month ago and for years now, I check the search results on both computer version and app version just to make sure the search engine hasn't changed. It appears that something weird is going on. Has anyone else noticed this? It could be that eBay doesn't want to show my items anymore or it could be the app? I am not sure.

eburtonlab · ‎08-22-2021

Where your items appear in a search depends on how you are searching and what sort order you are using, and whether your items are sponsored listings or not.

If you are not doing exactly the same search using the same sort criteria on your desktop and your phone, you cannot expect to see the same results in both places.

Last time I checked there were some minor differences between the way that searches are done in the app compared to a browser, so it is possible that the results might not match, particularly if you are using multiple filter options within the same filter. The app also has the capacity to "lock" certain filter settings that the desktop browser version lacks, which might provide different results.

If you provide a link to your search, someone may be able to compare the search in a browser to the same search using the eBay app to see if the results are the same.

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-22-2021

I literally search my item title and use best match results. I do this every time to see where my items appear in the list of same items with no lock filters at all. All my items appear near the bottom on the app while on the computer, my items appear at the top. I do the exact same search on the computer as I do on the mobile app! I use my boyfriends account from time to time to see if its the same and it is. Just very odd since I continuously study ebays search engine for many years and have been very successful selling on ebay until just recently.

babclassics · ‎08-22-2021

@samanthasb0utique I have noticed some search issues like yours lately on my variation listings. Examining the full search URL generated by your search can give clues.

As @eburtonlab suggested it can help determine what is happening if you would post the URL for the results of the 2 different searches here. This is more accurate than a verbal description of the search done since there may be a hidden parameter being generated . It also allows others to test the problem. This can be grabbed after searching: copy and paste the entire text from the address bar. For example the URL of this post is

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Share-eBay-Technical-Issues/eBay-mobile-app-search-engine-problems/m-p...

Once you see the parameters on the search results something may stand out. Not positive on getting the url from the app? May need help from others on how to grab that so we can compare it to the browser results?

eburtonlab · ‎08-22-2021

Once you see the parameters on the search results something may stand out. Not positive on getting the url from the app? May need help from others on how to grab that so we can compare it to the browser results?

If you have a search on the eBay app that you want to identify, try saving the search.

Then open a browser and view the same saved search. From the browser you can copy the URL, and paste it into your post.

Likewise, if you have a search in a browser, you can save the search and try opening the saved search in the eBay app to compare the results.

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-23-2021

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=louis-vuitton+cartouchiere&_sacat=169291&_fcid=1&_sop=12&_stpos...

Above is the saved search that I saved from the mobile app.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=louis+vuitton+cartouchier...

Here is the search on the computer when i typed in the same thing.

________________________________

I click on both urls, the list of stuff is the same! My item appears at the top when I look at both urls. On the app, my item is at the bottom.

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-23-2021

I just went on my phone and opened up this message board page and then click on each url. Everytime, the ebay app would pop up and the search would come up and my items are at the bottom of the search. Both urls are doing this.

I am 1000% positive the search engine display on the eBay app are glitched out. I noticed this problem on July 15th 2021 and since then, it has been the same. My items never appear at the bottom of searches. Ever.

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-23-2021

I just did the exact same process on my boyfriends phone and on his account. Same results on each url.

eburtonlab · ‎08-23-2021

A couple of minor differences: one search uses louis vuitton and the other uses louis-vuitton (with the dash). The dashed search will generally only match cases where the words are in the same order and not separated by more than a single character, but in practice it may not matter in this particular case, since those words are rarely out of order or separated. One search explicitly specifies the category, the other search does not, but is still steered into the same category based on keywords. Not sure if that matters.

For me, the app search using your link is sorted by Best Match, while the browser search is sorted by Newly Listed -- that may be a function of my default search settings, since it does not appear that the sort order is specified in your search URL.

When viewed in a browser, I see your listing in the top five when using Best Match. This is the sponsored version of your listing. Some ad blockers can interfere with sponsored listings, so keep that in mind. Sponsored listing order can change based on what rates other sellers sponsor their listings at.

When viewed in the eBay app, I also see your listing in the top five when using Best Match.

samanthasb0utique · ‎08-23-2021

Wow, that is very interesting... I did not know some of the stuff that you mentioned when it comes to searching. Thank you for educating me. That is weird about the search pretty much being the same for you on both the browser and the app. I guess this is only affecting a few ebay users? I don't really know and I am at a loss. I just know that something is up but if there was an issue, I can't do anything about it regardless. I am only 1 person and it doesn't seem like a ton of people are noticing this anyways. Oh well... praying business picks up. I haven't seen a decline in sales like this in many years.