eBay

equid0x · ‎04-21-2019

Just posted a new listing today... I know there has been much debate about listings not showing up, throttling, search problems, etc over the years here. As a result of all the problems, I've taken to individually checking each listing to make sure its showing up and surprise surprise, I've hit another one that doesn't show up!

My listing matches EPID 12023130358 which corresponds to the catalog listing here:

https://www.ebay.com/p/JBL-Endurance-SPRINT-Wireless-Canal-Earbud-Headsets-Black/12023130358?iid=113...

The item I am selling is Used, but is not showing up on the Pre-owned tab under the all (currently 4) pre-owned listings link.

If I do a search for "jbl endurance sprint", the search engine returns only listings from the category:

Consumer Electronics > Portable Audio & Headphones > Headphones

However, many of this same product are also listed under:

Cell Phones & Accessories > Cell Phone Accessories > Headsets

If I manually select that category, I can then find my item, here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-JBLENDURSPRINTBLK-Endurance-SPRINT-Waterproof-Wireless-In-Ear-Sport-Hea...

So, in my opinion a couple of problems, one being that eBay is only showing results from a single category at a time. I'm not sure if its always done this, but I can assure you no normal end-user is going to know to click on the other category to see the other listings. I'm pretty sure eBay didn't always work like this.

The second problem is that although my listing has all of the appropriate fields to match the catalog listing in the "Cell Phones & Accessories > Cell Phone Accessories > Headsets", my listing is not showing up on the catalog listing AT ALL.

So currently, the only way to find my listing is to do one of the following:

- Manually select a category and search in that category

- Type in the full title of the listing

- Type in the listing number

eBay really needs to get on the ball with this search engine problem. If this is the experience customers are having its no wonder nobody is buying anything here, probably out of frustration, and going elsewhere.

castlemagicmemories · ‎04-21-2019

This may not be conclusive because of what you have listed. Electronics is a sensitive category to sell in; that might delay the listing.

This policy may come into play.

When you have listed or edited a listing, it might not show up instantly when you browse or search for it. Normally it would appear within an hour or so but according to eBay it could take up to 24 hours.

equid0x · ‎04-21-2019

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
This may not be conclusive because of what you have listed. Electronics is a sensitive category to sell in; that might delay the listing.

This policy may come into play.

When you have listed or edited a listing, it might not show up instantly when you browse or search for it. Normally it would appear within an hour or so but according to eBay it could take up to 24 hours.

I see what you are saying, but I've been selling in this category for years and listings typically show up right away as a "New Listing."

What I have found in the past is that there is "something" on the listing eBay's search engine doesn't like. Not sure what that might be. Often times its been the use of an item condition like "New(Other)" where eBay allows you to post it, but when you go looking in the search filters for the item, you find that "New(other) isn't even one of the filters listed for the search results. Incidentally, this listing happens to be one of those. When I do a search, the only item conditions showing up in the list of filters are "New" and "Used" although there are clearly items listed as "New(Other)" and "Refurbished." If I go play around changing various things sometimes it eventually "magically appears." I've also had listings that no amount of changes seem to fix, but ending the listing and then reposting the identical listing has caused the item to show up with no problems.

I haven't done anything with this one, yet, because I wanted the naysayers on the board to see exactly what I(and others) have been talking about.

castlemagicmemories · ‎04-21-2019

Possibly the fact that is it used also comes into play. Just speculation on my part. If you regularly list these, you know more about what to expect.

ittybitnot · ‎04-21-2019

one being that eBay is only showing results from a single category at a time.

They show items from the category that has produced "previous sales".

equid0x · ‎04-21-2019

@ittybitnot wrote:
one being that eBay is only showing results from a single category at a time.

They show items from the category that has produced "previous sales".

Well, mine is listed in "Cell Phone Accessories." I find it hard to believe that nobody is buying cell phone accessories.

I would expect the search engine to show me all matching results and allow me to select the category that best fits the item I am looking for..

If I'm not mistaken, what it used to do was show you everything together at first, and let you pick a category to narrow the search to only items in that category. Now, it appears to be showing items from only a single category, whatever they've defaulted it to.

The catalog listing is in the cell phone accessories category. The other category that its defaulting to doesn't appear to have a catalog listing for this item.

It still doesn't explain why my listing is not showing on the catalog listing. My brand, GTIN, Model, and EPID match the catalog.

equid0x · ‎04-22-2019

@equid0x wrote:
@ittybitnot wrote:
one being that eBay is only showing results from a single category at a time.

They show items from the category that has produced "previous sales".
Well, mine is listed in "Cell Phone Accessories." I find it hard to believe that nobody is buying cell phone accessories.

I would expect the search engine to show me all matching results and allow me to select the category that best fits the item I am looking for..

If I'm not mistaken, what it used to do was show you everything together at first, and let you pick a category to narrow the search to only items in that category. Now, it appears to be showing items from only a single category, whatever they've defaulted it to.

The catalog listing is in the cell phone accessories category. The other category that its defaulting to doesn't appear to have a catalog listing for this item.

It still doesn't explain why my listing is not showing on the catalog listing. My brand, GTIN, Model, and EPID match the catalog.

As an update... today I checked and the listing is now showing on the catalog listing. I haven't repeated the searched but it still seems like bunk functionality if its not showing the customer options from all categories first.