T-shirt listing does not appear in general ebay Search

[r-e-b]

I've listed an F-111 T-Shirt here

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204278343823 

The full title of my listing is:  "F-111 T-Shirt Blackbird Design - Vintage 1992 - Striking Front-Back Gfx - New"

However, when I simply open ebay and search for "F-111 T-Shirt",  mine doesn't appear among the 41 shirts that do show up.

If I instead search for "F-111 T-Shirt Blackbird", mine shows up right at the top.

This all happens whether I use Chrome or MS Edge browser, and whether or not I'm logged-in.  And  I have no Search filters engaged; if I open the More Filters panel it shows zero.  (These searches are all on Title only, not including the item Description.)

This also happens no matter what Search results presentation I choose eg. Best Match or Price + Shipping; and whether it's Details (one per line) or Gallery (four per line).

It looks like, for the "F-111 T-Shirt" search, that ebay may simply not be showing all that it found.  That would explain my observation, but makes no sense.

Does anyone know what might be going on?

[toysaver]

The other shirts are not listed in the vintage category. 

[r-e-b]

I should have mentioned that the first thing I tried was revising it to be in the regular Men's T-shirt category, like the shirts that did appear.  But that didn't work over the weekend (same symptoms).

However...  now when I have again put it in the regular Men's T-shirt category - it appears in a search for "F-111 T-Shirt" !

So that's good, and thanks for the idea.

(1)  However, I don't understand why ebay would not find the shirt regardless of the category it's in - especially since I have no category filters engaged.

(2)  And it's still strange that ebay would find my T-shirt in the vintage category if I added "Blackbird" to the Search - but not otherwise.  Usually, adding search terms brings fewer results.

Do you think it's worth opening a support ticket for (1) above?  Meaning, is this likely a bug that they should be told of - or by design, and I'm the one who's just not getting it?

[lakefor94]

FWIW, I searched for F-111 T-Shirt.

You are at the top of 32 results. 

If everyone searches for your shirt, it ought to remain at #1.

Good luck

[inhawaii]

Your listing is fully searchable for me.

Just my two cents. If that were my shirt, I would make some changes to the title.

I would delete: "vintage" and "1992"

I would add: "General Dynamics" 

I would also add: "F111" in addition to "F-111" (you never know how people will search)

I would also lower the price.

I admit to not knowing a lot about this shirt, but in my opinion,  no one in their right mind would pay $77 for it.

[r-e-b]

Thanks to all repliers.  I have tweaked the title.

My question has become:  why did my shirt not appear at all in a search for "F-111 T-Shirt" when it was in the vintage clothing category as "F-111 T-Shirt Blackbird etc..."?  That's with zero Search filters set.

I assumed ebay searched across categories unless told otherwise by search filters.

[eburtonlab]

I assumed ebay searched across categories unless told otherwise by search filters.

eBay will often steer a search into a particular category based on the individual keywords used. Typically adding additional keywords or using search commands like quotes or exclusions will force the search to be expanded to all categories.

That means that as a seller, if you want your listing to appear in a particular search by default, you may need to list in a particular category that the search keywords point to.

[r-e-b]

"if you want your listing to appear in a particular search by default, you may need to list in a particular category that the search keywords point to."

Based on this example, that does seem like a good idea - where it's clear which category would be best.  For a vintage T-shirt it wasn't obvious (nor did I then realize it could be necessary).

I think that the search failing to even show an item because it's not in the most likely category is a flaw.  After all, there are search filters for that.

So I'll try reporting it to ebay as such.  No, I don't expect them to do anything about it; but if we don't point to these things there will definitely be no improvements.

Thanks