Search and Sorting Tool.... Still Not Working?

[pls-consignments]

So, I've been actively shopping for a few things lately, and I guess I'm a little late to the party. How disappointed I was to see the these that functions are STILL having issues. Not only does the Sort Tool STILL fail to sort properly, I noticed something else that, well, rubbed me the wrong way. 

I noticed that sponsored (PL) listing search returns will only show at the top with very specific keywords only, and much lower on the page (even well below non-PL listings) without. It appears that PL does nothing for general category searches, which in my opinion, eliminates impulse buying. Therefore, the notion of "added exposure" via PL is relative to unique keywords only, which happens to be the same criteria for any non-sponsored title. Why the need for PL?

Am I looking at this wrong? 

[eburtonlab]

What problems are you having sorting your search results? Note that the "Price plus shipping: lowest first" sort results are quite often filtered or "streamlined", and that "Best match" sort may return additional results compared to other sorts, so if that is the issue you are having, avoid those two sort orders.

Promoting a listing can give it favored search result placement when searching using certain keywords, as well as ad placement inside other individual listings or in other locations outside of search results.

[redlinear]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

So, I've been actively shopping for a few things lately, and I guess I'm a little late to the party. How disappointed I was to see the these that functions are STILL having issues. Not only does the Sort Tool STILL fail to sort properly, I noticed something else that, well, rubbed me the wrong way. 

I noticed that sponsored (PL) listing search returns will only show at the top with very specific keywords only, and much lower on the page (even well below non-PL listings) without. It appears that PL does nothing for general category searches, which in my opinion, eliminates impulse buying. Therefore, the notion of "added exposure" via PL is relative to unique keywords only, which happens to be the same criteria for any non-sponsored title. Why the need for PL?

Am I looking at this wrong? 

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 @eburtonlab can guide you on how to search eBay like a pro (using tips, tricks, hacks, etc).
 It'd be nice if before anybody could search eBay, they had to confer with him 1st.
 IMO: search is messed up from top to bottom...just do what ya can and hope for the best.
 As for PL, 
All I'm really after when promoting is getting my listings inside of other sellers listings (cross promoted).
There's way too much search manipulation going on to even hope that PL gets me better placement in a search result.

[pls-consignments]

"Streamlined"? Well, that's a positive word. Whether my initial sort is by, distance, high, low, newly listed or not, the return is often out of order.  I'm sure you have noticed this. 

[eburtonlab]

"Streamlined"? Well, that's a positive word.

That is the word eBay uses to indicate results that have been filtered. As in:

"We’ve streamlined your search results to show you the best listings. See more results"

Whether my initial sort is by, distance, high, low, newly listed or not, the return is often out of order.

Promoted listings do not sort the way organic listings do; the seller is paying eBay a percentage of the proceeds of the sale for higher search placement. The higher the percentage, the higher the placement over other promoted listings.

Very often the first two listings in a sort are promoted listings. If there are many promoted listings, it may be the first two, the last two, and often two somewhere in the middle of the first page of search results.

[eburtonlab]

 @eburtonlab  can guide you on how to search eBay like a pro (using tips, tricks, hacks, etc).
 It'd be nice if before anybody could search eBay, they had to confer with him 1st.

Thankfully, the vast majority of folks still seem to be able to search and find things to buy without any assistance from me.

I cannot always explain why eBay does all the things that eBay does, but if you are searching and having problems with your search, or you are wondering why search is behaving differently than you expect it to, I may be able to provide some insight into what is actually happening, and to suggest some potential workarounds that get results that better suit you.

[pls-consignments]

"Promoted listings do not sort the way organic listings do; the seller is paying eBay a percentage of the proceeds of the sale for higher search placement. The higher the percentage, the higher the placement over other promoted listings."

Yes, in theory, that's the way it should work. However, it doesn't explain why some search returns show PL listings well below non-PL listings. Aren't they always supposed to be above non-PL listings?

[eburtonlab]

However, it doesn't explain why some search returns show PL listings well below non-PL listings.

eBay does not simply put all the promoted listings at the top of the search. They are spread throughout the search.

Promoted listings typically appear higher than their non-promoted organic version listing (otherwise it would not be worth promoting for the seller), but plenty of organic listings will appear higher in a search than some promoted listings.