What's going on (or not) with the search engine? I type in a specific request and get hundreds of li

[colfaxstation]

I type in a specific request and get hundreds of listings with absolutely no connections to what was requested.

[slippinjimmy]

Example search?

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

eBay would prefer you spend your money on items that sellers have paid to promote their listings. Sponsored listings will bring a higher percentage in fees for eBay. Don't worry, they know what's good for you.

[joliztoyco]

Sounds like the typical dumpsterfire search engine we've all gotten used to.
If it's a promoted listing and remotely close to what you're looking for?
Rest assured it'll be cluttering up your search.

[colfaxstation]

I do mostly model trains. I search manufacturer and item number.  Lately the search results have ballooned with lots of unrelated items, and I have to page through lists to find what I need.

[coolections]

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@colfaxstation wrote:

I do mostly model trains. I search manufacturer and item number.  

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On Ebay parts numbers/model numbers rarely work as Ebay has millions of listings with numbers. They are not a train store only selling trains. All I can suggest is once you type the name of the train you are looking for go to the left side of the page. They have a fantastic side bar that allows you to narrow your search to be more specific. If you really want to get more accurate at the top of the page click the link that says advance search.

[luxgoods]

Yes unrelated items that have nothing to do with your search.  I searched for a Lacoste T shirt and I got Generic T-shirts and Shirts from other unrelated companies.  I also searched for shipping supplies only to find pages and pages of China Sellers.  The Search Engine Needs To Be fixed!!!!

[monster-deals]

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@colfaxstation wrote:

I type in a specific request and get hundreds of listings with absolutely no connections to what was requested.

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Yep.

ebay's search engine is hot wet cat vomit, and has been for years.

Results are manipulated by ebay to show you what they want you to buy.

Use google.

[redlinear]

Search results are manipulated by eBay due to Paid Promotions, among other things.
Search results are skewed by sellers also, entering incorrect info in Item Specifics.

[luckythewinner]

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@colfaxstation wrote:

I do mostly model trains. I search manufacturer and item number.  Lately the search results have ballooned with lots of unrelated items, and I have to page through lists to find what I need.

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Again, an example search where this is happening would be a huge help.

[lopesjl]

I agree that the search engine needs some serious work. Here's one example I just ran:

Search for 'Peter Millar' in Clothing: Men's clothing: dress shirts: size small and 14.5: long sleeve
The results contain the size in the search perimeters, but also hundreds of additional hits in sizes medium, large, extra large, long and short sleeve.

This is but one example I just tried and it happens with nearly every search I've run of late.

Most of my saved searches have been fried and no longer pull the proper results, in similar fashion to the Peter Millar search I referenced above.

[reallynicestamps]

It's nearly as bad as Amazon search.

[eburtonlab]

Search for 'Peter Millar' in Clothing: Men's clothing: dress shirts: size small and 14.5: long sleeve
The results contain the size in the search perimeters, but also hundreds of additional hits in sizes medium, large, extra large, long and short sleeve.

Are you using the filters on the left side of the page?

I only see two results using the 14.5 size, and using the Small filter option, I get about 80 results:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/57991/i.html?_fsrp=1&_from=R40&_nkw=peter+millar&_sacat=57991&Sleeve%2520Le...

There are some listings that appear to be size L in that list, possibly using the term "L/S" to indicate long sleeves is causing problems with that specific search, so including "small" as a search term to filter out some of the large items wrongly included:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=peter+millar+small&_sacat=57991&LH_TitleDesc=0&_fsrp=...

I see 62 results that appear to match your search criteria, though there is at least one lot of different sizes that includes S in the item-specifics -- not much eBay can do about sellers using the wrong item-specifics, though.

[lopesjl]

Yes, I use the filters on the left side.

[coolections]

@lopesjl   Hopefully you will get the hang of search. It is not designed for you to put every little detail about what you want into the search and expect results. There is not a site on the planet that does it that way. Type the name of the shirt then use the left side of the page to narrow down the best you can. You will be totally amazed at the results. Good luck shopping.