11-19-2024 05:31 AM
When is Best Match not really Best Match for the buyer AND for ALL sellers on eBay??? The words Best Match imply what is being shown, is either best match for the words you're searching, being that it's a search engine replying to your request OR it's eBay telling potential buyers, this is the best for YOU. I look at this now and question why is Best Match really good for any buyers or sellers?? First of all, Best Match is generated by an algorithm, but it is also influenced by big sellers that SPONSER their listing, influencing Best Match results, the trade off is some sellers get higher visibility by spending money on the website, problem is I've seen counterfeit product being placed on a pedestal by the algorithm, that the more counterfeit sold from a bad listing pushes the algorithm to increase that listings visibility, the more fakes sold, the more popular it becomes, the more visibility it gets............ and the cycle just continues this way with more and more visibility for a fake item getting HUGE visibility on this website. There are multiple issues I see on there, fake merchandise reported to Trust & Safety is NOT being taken down, I ran into a seller selling COPPER coins listed and .999 Silver ........................ the more of these counterfeit coins that sold, the more the algorithm placed the listing on higher visibility, the higher the visibility, the more victims of counterfeits were found, allowing one very happy seller of a counterfeit item out of China to make a bunch of cash. The issue here is the victims of these counterfeit coins think they own silver, maybe invested in silver, then at some point they will bring these "silver" coins to a legitimate, physical coin store, then the coin gets thrown back at the buyer and told................this is FAKE I want nothing to do with this coin. The point to this is it may be weeks, months or even a year or two before a buyer on eBay has decided to sell that fake coin, they will NEVER remember the sellers name, who exactly shipped it to them, but they will remember the website they bought it off of.............. EBAY. These types of issues are KILLING sales on eBay, because once that buyer finds out they were ripped off by a seller on eBay, they may NEVER bring their money onto this website again, if you don't protect your buyers, ALL sellers lose, except for the seller I guess that sold OVER 160 copper coins listed as .999 Silver in the listing title, that Trust & Safety said was no problem????? 160+ buyers, that have fake coins, the next issue is.................. these coins now exist in the real world, how many victims will there be for each fake coin sold on eBay?? 3 maybe 4 issues within the USA ?? over what length of time? a year? 5 years? 20 years? The more fake product floating around, the more victims there will be, originating from a single seller, given the best match, high visibility, based on an algorithm that doesn't know it's a fake item, it's just a computer program doing its job.
11-19-2024 07:14 AM - edited 11-19-2024 07:15 AM
The words Best Match imply what is being shown, is either best match for the words you're searching, being that it's a search engine replying to your request OR it's eBay telling potential buyers, this is the best for YOU
Best match is an algorithm that scores listings based on dozens (if not hundreds) of factors, in order to present buyers with the listings that eBay's statistical analysis suggests are most likely to result in a sale to that particular buyer.
In other words, Best Match means "what eBay thinks is the Best Match for eBay's bottom line" ... which is what most for-profit businesses want.
11-19-2024 08:13 AM
But what happens when counterfeit product is promoted by Best Match and a bunch of sellers buy something that is different than they think it is, like fake silver coins that are copper, which was reported to Trust & Safety but nothing was done. Now you end up with a bunch of buyers falling victim to basically a scam, that isn't being stopped by eBay?? The for profit business I reference, was basically selling something illegal in the USA
11-19-2024 08:16 AM
@chicago_christmas wrote:But what happens when counterfeit product is promoted by Best Match and a bunch of sellers buy something that is different than they think it is, like fake silver coins that are copper, which was reported to Trust & Safety but nothing was done. Now you end up with a bunch of buyers falling victim to basically a scam, that isn't being stopped by eBay?? The for profit business I reference, was basically selling something illegal in the USA
If buyers receive an item that they question, they can verify authenticity and if the item is deemed as fake or otherwise NAD (not as described), the buyer can fall back on their MBG.
11-19-2024 08:33 AM - edited 11-19-2024 08:34 AM
@chicago_christmas wrote:But what happens when counterfeit product is promoted by Best Match and a bunch of sellers buy something that is different than they think it is, like fake silver coins that are copper, which was reported to Trust & Safety but nothing was done. Now you end up with a bunch of buyers falling victim to basically a scam, that isn't being stopped by eBay?? The for profit business I reference, was basically selling something illegal in the USA
That is a different issue than the one I was addressing.
You made a statement about what Best Match might mean, and only offered two possible meanings. I was simply rejecting those two meanings and offering another.
If you are asking me to acknowledge your other point that eBay's ability to detect and remove items that violate policy is not always comprehensive, timely, or accurate - then you will get no argument from me. But IMHO that is essentially an enforcement issue, not a Best Match issue.
11-19-2024 09:32 AM
I give up !!! LOL it sounds great if that buyer understands they've received a coin that isn't .999 silver. I'm talking more about the victims that don't understand they've been scammed, but money has been stolen from them because they've been conned into buying something that's fake. Trust & Safety was informed but chose NOT to intervene on the listing.
11-19-2024 09:38 AM
"When is Best Match not really Best Match for the buyer"
I would say the moment the page stops loading.
Search term has '5-pack' and Japan in it. Best match shows me singles and Mexico at the top.
I think best match is on drugs.
When we search we use the original and for us only real 'best match' - lowest total price first.
11-19-2024 10:21 AM
@steve_stuff wrote:"When is Best Match not really Best Match for the buyer"
I would say the moment the page stops loading.
Search term has '5-pack' and Japan in it. Best match shows me singles and Mexico at the top.
I think best match is on drugs.
That's fer sure...
In my buying account I'm doing several stored searches a day, always ordering my searches by Newest First in order to see new listings as soon as they appear. "Best Match" is pointless, as its opaque sort order simply comes up the same way each time, with new listings buried somewhere at random locations within. I'm looking simply for new listings that I have not seen before.