Would a kind person please check this

[b86fiero]

Would you kindly do a search for this item and post the results for me?

Left Center Right Dice Game

I have sold these for years.  My current listing has sold over 800 of these.  I was selling quite a few of these every week now zip.  

My repeated search results have shown 0 matching items.  Others sell the exact item.  They only show if you look through the listings of similar items eBay returns in search.

The exact title of my listing is Left Center Right Dice Game with velvet drawstring storage bag at big discounts.

Thanks for taking the time to help me.

[b86fiero]

gracie,  Appreciate your comments.  That's an interesting thought about the bots ignoring a search for your own listing.  I don't put anything beyond those bots these days.

I do check on that listing weekly to see where it lands in search results without any issues until now.  My listing always appeared along with others in matching results.

I check it regularly because other sellers have stolen my listing numerous times, including my store specific MPN,  my item specifics including aspects that pertain only to my combo package, and my entire description with the info about the free gift (when they had none to give).

A couple of times I contacted the miscreant sellers and asked what their velvet drawstring storage bag looked like.  Those listings disappeared almost immediately.  (One said his wife copied my listing without him knowing it). 

Others who copied my listing I politely requested they remove my store specific MPN.  One apologized and complied.  One showed as NARU a short time later.  One had only two items available and his listing disappeared.

A couple sellers are trying to duplicate my sales volume now by offering their version of a dice storage bag.  That gives me a nudge to check regularly.

I also check on other listings of mine to see where they show in search depending on title, key words, price and using search filters like free shipping, best match, lowest price + shipping, etc.   Occasionally I change a title or adjust pricing depending on search results.   

[b86fiero]

The key point here is that up until yesterday, when I did a search for Left Center Right Dice Game (using those 4 words only) about 300 or so listings - including mine - all were returned as matching items.  That included all listings with those words in the title regardless of the order the words appeared.  There was only a couple of listings that showed under similar.

Now it makes no sense for 0 results to show as matching and all of the listings to fall under similar instead.

[b86fiero]

Forgot to mention that I do have many repeat buyers who search and look for the velvet storage bag words.

It's usually a repeat buyer who gives me a heads up of someone copying my listing.  One woman messaged me awhile back about how upset she was after thinking she was re-ordering multiples for gift giving from me then received low quality nylon bag from somewhere else.  

(I do not have a photo of my velvet bag in my listing as it is a personal gift to my buyers).    

I would hope all of you also do occasional searches to ascertain the results and standing of your items.

Thanks again to everyone who posted and to those reading.

[mcdougle4248]

I really do hope one of the Blues that was tagged to this thread replies on Monday.  I am very curious about what the explanation might be.

[loveyourimagination49]

Wonder if the college kids are playing with the search. The competition is over March 4th.

[mcdougle4248]

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@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
Wonder if the college kids are playing with the search. The competition is over March 4th.

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Well, if the college kids are playing with search, it should be improving (sarcasm font).

[ame4548]

I had this happen last week - when searching my active listings in seller hub for a particular product line, it returned 0 listings, though there are six listings that should have come up. I was shocked to say the least! Doing a blanket search of the correct store category brought them up, but a keyword search did nothing.

I just checked again, and they still do not come up through a keyword search in active listings. I have had no problems finding any other listings through a keyword search, it is just one particular keyword (suede) that is not bringing anything up. If I use another keyword from the listing title they come up just fine. How bizarre!

If I search in my store with the wacky keyword, I get the same results many are seeing (myself too when I checked) from searching for Left Center Right Dice Game - no exact matches, but the results right there anyway.

I do not know if this helps any, but you are not alone. 🙂

[shallhelp]

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@b86fiero wrote:

Would you kindly do a search for this item and post the results for me?

Left Center Right Dice Game

I have sold these for years.  My current listing has sold over 800 of these.  I was selling quite a few of these every week now zip.  

My repeated search results have shown 0 matching items.  Others sell the exact item.  They only show if you look through the listings of similar items eBay returns in search.

The exact title of my listing is Left Center Right Dice Game with velvet drawstring storage bag at big discounts.

Thanks for taking the time to help me.

---

Hi @b86fiero

I also checked your product issue in ebay search and got the same results as the others.

I thought about responding with the screenshot of the image so that it can help the ebay tech department also to be able to check into the issue faster. 

This might also help the other sellers selling that product.

My Test Scenario: 

1) When I typed the product name "left center right dice game" it returned "no exact matches found".

2) However, if you put quotation marks before and after the product "left center right dice game", under All Categories", the search result returns the 271 results.

There's a bug somewhere in the code. 

My suggestion is ...

... for you to ask ebay - to check and build a search string using the boolean operator "AND", which combines words and phrases for your specific product. This type of boolean search will only return results that include both keyword1 "and" keyword2, or all of the words of your product, or your keywords. 

In your case, the product name is

Left Center Right Dice Game = 5 words, so 5 "AND"s.

Maybe ebay can double check the code on the ebay All Categories search, which returns the "zero match" result, but shows product matches with fewer words at the bottom.

Quotation Marks combine words into a single phrase. When enclosed in quotes a phrase will be treated like a single word within a search.

That's why when I tested your full product name "left center right dice game" in quotation marks, like in the Screenshot #2, the search results generated the appropriate results.

Maybe the ebay developers can add the complete product name "Left Center Right Dice Game" into their search string.

Or to double check WHAT IS in the search string.

3) I also tested "transposing" the words, (Screenshot #3) and typed instead "left right center dice game" and the wrong product name generates the correct product search results.    

My Guess Conclusion (my guess because I did not write the code, so I can only guess, wink wink😞 

There's a BUG in the code, for this specific product. I haven't tested any other product so this thread got me checking it out, to test also if my initial guess was correct.  

Also wanted to explain a little bit about what I know about "search stuff". It's not just AI - AI is just software and many lines of code written by many different developers to achieve a specific outcome.

So if there was an error (or a bug) in the way a particular search code or search string was written, programmatically, it will return what is expected to return.

In my own little tech opinion, it's much better to take screenshots of whatever error or issue that we might be having in any platform, like ebay, because behind any website are very hardworking people. It's just easier for them to "visualize" the error, or the issue that we are seeing as customers. It will be faster for them to fix it.

SUGGESTIONS:

1) I suggest you call Ebay CS Department and then have them view this thread - feel free to copy the screenshot image so that it can easily be passed on to those in charge of the "search module" of ebay. 🙂

If you look at Screenshot #3, it generated 448 results, so in the same token, this issue presumably involves 448 Sellers, 448 individuals, whose product is not seen via "All Categories" search.

Now that the issue is identified, it can be fixed. 🙂

2) I also suggest, for those Sellers who are selling the "left center right dice game" to revise their listing, and try and put the product name in between quotation marks in your Listing title, like so:

"Left Center Right Dice Game" (with the quotation marks) as a temporary workaround until ebay fixes the bug on the product name search string.

Then, after  revising your listing title with the product name in between quotation marks,  just clear your cache (Control F5 to do a hard refresh), I wrote a thread on that here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/How-to-Do-a-Hard-Refresh-How-to-Clear-Your-Cache-How-...

That way, your computer or device would sync and see the latest version of your listing that matches what is on the ebay servers.

My apologies for the long post, but thought I'd also put in my 2 cents and hope this helps.  We can all try and be a part of the solution to any problem or issue that we see.  

Good luck and God bless you! 🙂

[shallhelp]

I just posted a lengthy "techie" response to this thread and it got automatically removed for spam?  

Anyway, I'll try responding again.  

I tested your issue, and I took screenshots.  

My suggestion was/is to call and report a bug in the search string for your product.  It appears like the "words in your 5 word product got transposed.  So, the screenshot attached below might be useful for you to reference when you call the ebay CS department so that they can forward it to the Tech Department.  

Hope it helps.  Good luck and God bless you.  🙂 

[shallhelp]

And here below was  the long techie response that got deleted earlier (good thing I first typed it up in Notepad" so I am copy pasting below.  So at least it might be "good to know" for others as well.  

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Hi @b86fiero

I also checked your product issue in search and got the same results as the others.

I thought about responding with the screenshot of the image so that it can help the ebay tech department also to be able to check into the issue faster. 

This would also help the other sellers selling that product.

When I typed the product name "left center right dice game" it returned "no exact matches found".

However, if you put quotation marks before and after the product "left center right dice game", under All Categories", the search result returns the 271 results.

There's a bug somewhere in the code. My suggestion is ...

for you to ask ebay - to check and build a search string using the boolean operator "AND", which combines words and phrases for your specific product. This type of boolean search will only return results that include both keyword1 "and" keyword2, or all of the words of your product, or your keywords.

In your case, the product name is

Left Center Right Dice Game = 5 words, so 5 "AND"s.

Maybe ebay can double check the code on the ebay All Categories search, which returns the "zero match" result, but shows product matches with fewer words at the bottom.

Quotation Marks combine words into a single phrase. When enclosed in quotes a phrase will be treated like a single word within a search.

That's why when I tested your full product name "left center right dice game" in quotation marks, like in the Screenshot #2, the search results generated the appropriate results.

Maybe the ebay developers can add the complete product name "Left Center Right Dice Game" into their search string.

Or to double check WHAT IS in the search string.

I also tested "transposing" the words, (Screenshot #3) and typed instead "left right center dice game" and the wrong product name generates the correct product search results.

There's a BUG in the code, for this specific product. I haven't tested any other product so this thread got me checking it out, to test also if my initial guess was correct.

Also wanted to explain a little bit about what I know about "search stuff". It's not just AI - AI is just software and many lines of code written by many different developers to achieve a specific outcome.

So if there was an error (or a bug) in the way a particular search code or search string was written, programmatically, it will return what is expected to return.

In my own little tech opinion, it's much better to take screenshots of whatever error or issue that we might be having in any platform, like ebay, because behind any website are very hardworking people. It's just easier for them to "visualize" the error, or the issue that we are seeing as customers. It will be faster for them to fix it.

SUGGESTIONS:

1) I suggest you call Ebay CS Department and then have them view this thread - feel free to copy the screenshot image so that it can easily be passed on to those in charge of the "search module" of ebay. 🙂

If you look at Screenshot #3, it generated 448 results, so in the same token, this issue presumably involves 448 Sellers, 448 individuals, whose product is not seen via "All Categories" search.

Now that the issue is identified, it can be fixed. 🙂

2) I also suggest, for those Sellers who are selling the "left center right dice game" to revise their listing, and try and put the product name in between quotation marks in your Listing title, then, after this, just clear your cache (Control F5 to do a hard refresh), I wrote a thread on that here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/How-to-Do-a-Hard-Refresh-How-to-Clear-Your-Cache-How-...

That way, your computer or device would sync and see the latest version of your listing that matches what is on the ebay servers.

My apologies for the long post, but thought I'd also put in my 2 cents and hope this helps.

Good luck and God bless you! 🙂

[shallhelp]

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@b86fiero wrote:

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@mcdougle4248 wrote:

@b86fiero 

Interesting...if I search Left Right Center Dice Game, search returns 381 items and yours is third from the top.

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🤔

How bizarre is that?  Search won't pull up the results using the title words in exact order but will if two of the words switch places?

Left Center Right changed to Left Right Center.

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I also tested this, in techie terms, your product name has 5 words, 

Left AND Center AND Right AND Dice AND Game.  (5 words LCRDG, and 4 "AND's", AND is a boolean operator in programming). 

The BUG or the error is the word combination instead of LCR it got programmed into LRC, so this results in "No Matches".  But similar results might appear.  

The fix would just be for the person in charge of product names to zero in on your specific product name, and fix it. 🙂 

A simpler example of this boolean search string, let's say product name is "Star Wars". 

If the boolean string is programmed in such a way that "Star" AND "Wars" is the condition to return products with the "Star Wars" keyword, if the boolean string got erroneously transposed and coded into "Wars AND Stars", any search containing "Star Wars" would have a "zero match" as a result. 

And then under it, the "similar" results might have the "Star Wars" products or "Dancing with the Stars" or "twinkle twinkle little star" or something like that.  🙂 

Typos happen. 

Errors in code also happens.  We're all human and it's a great thing you've noticed this and so we can all as a community test it too and maybe make positive and actionable suggestions to ebay.  A couple of hundred Sellers are selling this product, as I have noticed from testing.  Surely, ebay will fix this, once it is brought to their attention.  🙂 

[b86fiero]

trinton@ebay

brian.t@ebay

Would one of you kindly respond to the questions in this thread?

Thank you.

[coffeebean832]

I hope eBay chimes in on this one. It's a good example of what I sometimes encounter in search when correct terms yield 0 results with relevant items using the terms I searched for- in the order I typed them- displaying underneath. tyler@ebay 

[coolections]

@earlyant-77 

My point is it does not really matter because regardless of how you rearrange the words the OP's item show up. Every person searching would see the no "exact" matches found, but right there in front of there nose they can still see all the LCR games including the OP's.

[earlyant-77]

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@shallhelp wrote:

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@b86fiero wrote:

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@mcdougle4248 wrote:

@b86fiero 

Interesting...if I search Left Right Center Dice Game, search returns 381 items and yours is third from the top.

---

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🤔

How bizarre is that?  Search won't pull up the results using the title words in exact order but will if two of the words switch places?

Left Center Right changed to Left Right Center.

---

I also tested this, in techie terms, your product name has 5 words, 

Left AND Center AND Right AND Dice AND Game.  (5 words LCRDG, and 4 "AND's", AND is a boolean operator in programming). 

The BUG or the error is the word combination instead of LCR it got programmed into LRC, so this results in "No Matches".  But similar results might appear.  

The fix would just be for the person in charge of product names to zero in on your specific product name, and fix it. 🙂 

A simpler example of this boolean search string, let's say product name is "Star Wars". 

If the boolean string is programmed in such a way that "Star" AND "Wars" is the condition to return products with the "Star Wars" keyword, if the boolean string got erroneously transposed and coded into "Wars AND Stars", any search containing "Star Wars" would have a "zero match" as a result. 

And then under it, the "similar" results might have the "Star Wars" products or "Dancing with the Stars" or "twinkle twinkle little star" or something like that.  🙂 

Typos happen. 

Errors in code also happens.  We're all human and it's a great thing you've noticed this and so we can all as a community test it too and maybe make positive and actionable suggestions to ebay.  A couple of hundred Sellers are selling this product, as I have noticed from testing.  Surely, ebay will fix this, once it is brought to their attention.  🙂 

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No, it wouldn't, because the default is ALL words, ANY order.