Ebay's search program/engine SUKS!

[goldrushfinds]

OK, so this evening I was listing a men's shirt. It is a mens bylt drop cut lux v neck shirt. In the search bar I typed "mens bylt drop cut lux v neck shirt" (not in quotes). Well it gave me a total count of 51 matches. So then I tried to narrow it down by selecting condition "used". Right away the search autocorrected "bylt" to "belt". So once again I started an unrestricted search (both new and used) with the same search words, but this time the word bylt in quotes. Well instead of 51 matches it gave me 20. It also autocorrected when I tried to search solds. Buyers trying to buy this brand of shirt would most likely get frustrated and leave the site or are missing out on a lot of the actual listings. GET IT TOGETHER EBAY, THIS IS NOT THAT HARD.

[wastingtime101]

I started to type in: bylt v neck

But the search box suggested a more common search phrase: bylt drop cut v neck so I selected it from the auto-fill list.

bylt drop cut v neck produced 55 results, all in mens clothing categories.

Top result is sponsored. Second result is your listing using default "best match" sort.

Clicked on filter to select condition: used.

System did not change my search terms or spelling. Reduced to 52 results with your listing still at the top.

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Second search: bylt drop cut lux v neck

Results: 52

4 sponsored listings at the top, and yours is first after sponsored listings with default best match results.

Changed filter to condition used.

Results: 48

No changes were made to my search terms or spelling.

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I didn't test filter any of my results to sold.

I didn't do a search with your exact search terms because they were too long. Most buyers don't search using that many key words.

Hope this info helps.

[inhawaii]

I searched for that shirt both in your store and as a general ebay search.

It worked on both.

On the store search it was the only item.

On the ebay search it was on the first page with a few other competitors listings.

[huntfishdie45]

I find it insane that you would think any man would look to buy a shirt using those criteria in his search. A buyer is probably more likely to stumble into your listing than search for it like that.

[momfor8]

I've come across a few oddball brand names in my time that ebay auto corrects when searching. Frustrating to say the least. 

I've found that if you want the most results to show up, search in highest price first as opposed to lowest price first. I've noticed results go from 200 items to over 1100+ using that method. 

After contacting ebay about my items not showing up anywhere when using lowest price first, they said that they typed in my model number and the brand name and it popped right up. That works well for that particular item, but I'm not sure they realize how many brands share model numbers. I'm talking Ovation/Westinghouse, Eaton/Cutler-Hammer, Square D/Telemecanique/Schneider, Gould/Shawmut/ Gould Shawmut/Ferraz Shawmut, and a slew of others. And for bearings, **bleep**/SKF/Timken/Consolidated/Federal and many more like to share model numbers as well. 

As a buyer, when I'm looking for a part, I just type in the model number. I imagine there's quite a few people out there who do the same. 

Just because you search prices from lowest to highest doesn't necessarily mean you're going to find the lowest priced items in that search. 

[coolections]

Every site on the planet tries changes misspelled words. Your search is way too long, no one other than you  would ever search that way. Keep it simple and you will do fine.

[coolections]

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@huntfishdie45 wrote:

I find it insane that you would think any man would look to buy a shirt using those criteria in his search. A buyer is probably more likely to stumble into your listing than search for it like that.

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@huntfishdie45  I am not sure why, but not only the OP but many come here thinking they need to put every single word they can think of into the title. You are correct, no one would ever search that way.

[eburtonlab]

Right away the search autocorrected "bylt" to "belt".

If a search that has worked well previously suddenly starts behaving badly, often the problem has something to do with a faulty keyword substitution or an inappropriate automatic category navigation issue.

You can bypass many of these sorts of search issues by putting one of your keywords in quotes. This forces eBay to bypass the "smart" features and to search for the literal keywords without any substitution or category switching. You may have to manually specify your category once again.

Using a desktop browser, find the "Feedback" icon that appears in the lower right corner of the search results page to let eBay page developers know about your search issues.

[goldrushfinds]

While all your comments are appreciated, the fact remains that autocorrect is way to aggresive. Also, it is a fact, that when I did a search with the shirt brand BYLT and then clicked on solds it changed it to BELT. That is so frustrating. If I put the brand it quotes it only showed a fraction of total listings or solds. 

[eburtonlab]

the fact remains that autocorrect is way to aggresive.

Agreed. Be sure to report specific examples of that directly to eBay if you want that to change.

If I put the brand it quotes it only showed a fraction of total listings or solds.

That is because many of the results you initially saw were due to keyword substitution, which is bypassed when you use quotes on any keyword. If you figure out which of your keywords are being substituted and use the substituted keywords instead, you can avoid missing those results.

Try this search instead:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%22bylt%22+drop-cut+v-neck+lux&_sacat=260012&LH_Title...