eBay

net-gnat · ‎08-05-2019

I just listed a Wear-Ever Super Shooter on eBay - did a search for one to see the going rate. Once again, I see that the search function is in a sad state. Just for giggles, do a search for "Super Shooter" on eBay and one on Amazon.

On eBay you must use "Wear-Ever". Too bad for a buyer who does not know the manufacturer. Now where would you buy?

eburtonlab · ‎08-05-2019

@coolections

There have been people coming here whining for about 5 years now that when they typed a specific item it said no results found. So you want it to say no results found since there was no results ?

If there are really no results that match the search terms, it should say "0 results" in my opinion. If eBay wants to include other items that match fewer terms in a separate result, that is fine, too. But the search should not say that there are 55 results if there is actually only one match to the search criteria, and 54 items that lack one of the search terms.

It's working exactly as it should.

Many people apparently agree with you, and I am not really interested in arguing. But there are a lot of folks that are frustrated with the search results that eBay has been returning lately, and a lot of sellers are unhappy that buyers cannot find their items using very simple, straightforward search terms that have worked very well until very recently.

Since there was only one batman it showed you all the others.

There was only one match so it showed me one match buried among 54 that did not match, and said they all matched.

Since there were only 2600 Pee Wee Herman items, it showed me 1.3 million other items that have absolutely nothing to do with Pee Wee Herman.

Can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with that.

eburtonlab · ‎08-05-2019

@zamo-zuan

I generally avoid "best match" because I do not know what criteria eBay is using -- I know they have a list of factors that are supposed to matter, but the sort does not really make much intuitive sense to me, and I have no way of knowing if the results are being sorted "correctly" or not.

I prefer "newly listed" for most of my searches, though I have some that are lowest first -- since those are not really subject to opinion. If something is out of order it is easy to spot. Though lately "lowest first" has begun to hide many of the items that do not meet some sort of relevance threshold. In that case, I typically use or bookmark the "see all results" version.

I also filter out all the sponsored listings.

If I sort by "best match" things look similar to yours, other than the Sonic the Hedgehog and the missing sponsored listings. Top three results:

Pikachu Pokemon Action Figures Toy Lot 144 Pcs Go Mini 2 3 CM Monster Toys Set

Denny's Sealed Promo Sonic the Hedgehog Plush Underground Sega 2000 New sealed

FLAWED BOX The Addams Family Lurch with Thing Pop Vinyl Figure FUNKO

collectfest · ‎08-05-2019

@coolections wrote:
@eburtonlab
There have been people coming here whining for about 5 years now that when they typed a specific item it said no results found. So you want it to say no results found since there was no results ? It's working exactly as it should. Since there was only one batman it showed you all the others. All that would do is have more conspiracist coming here claiming Ebay hides everything and nothing can be found on Ebay. Everything is there and so far not one person has stepped up to say what they think is hidden.

As I see it AS A BUYER, ebays search is abysmal. It is not helping me find vintage item of interest TO ME.

PERIOD, end of story.

I do not think things are hidden. That's just a phrase.

ebay ADMITS to such, whats described as hiding. If there was not manipulation there would be no need for promotions etc.

So, its just hurting bottom line sales for everyone. Been on ebay a LONG time, know the tricks for finding things to buy but it getting a bit exhausting. So instead of getting defensive maybe just listen to the comments and assess them and make adjustments if they have a point.

Again, I am speaking of vintage items. Love best match, really, come on. Best match for who?

I click on a listing of interest and am slammed with all sorts of other items. I'll find them, back off a bit.

Just one guys opinion.

Good luck.

coolections · ‎08-05-2019

@collectfest

You do know that best match is based on YOUR shopping and searching experience and is tailored to you only. It's kinda like window shopping and some love it. No one says you have to use best match, in fact I have not used best match since the beginning of it. You also know that if you search closest to you your results would be different than someone who lives 1000 miles away. You also know if you search low to high it would be different because the ship cost for you may be more than another person. All those things are factored in and this one of the reasons for the Ebay statement. So many take that statement out of context as Ebay hides NOTHING from you.

If you want to expand your search, type the basic keyword and then USE the tools Ebay gives you to the left of the page. You will find anything and everything you can ever dream of finding plus some. One last thing, is Ebay is NOT loosing sales. If someone does not purchase from you there is always another seller out there that gets the sale.

greg5000 · ‎08-05-2019

@net-gnat wrote:
I just listed a Wear-Ever Super Shooter on eBay - did a search for one to see the going rate. Once again, I see that the search function is in a sad state. Just for giggles, do a search for "Super Shooter" on eBay and one on Amazon.
On eBay you must use "Wear-Ever". Too bad for a buyer who does not know the manufacturer. Now where would you buy?

Search seems to be on & off.

For more giggles, just search for "nothing" (without the quotes).

beautifulbeauty2012 · ‎08-05-2019

@greg5000 wrote:
@net-gnat wrote:
I just listed a Wear-Ever Super Shooter on eBay - did a search for one to see the going rate. Once again, I see that the search function is in a sad state. Just for giggles, do a search for "Super Shooter" on eBay and one on Amazon.
On eBay you must use "Wear-Ever". Too bad for a buyer who does not know the manufacturer. Now where would you buy?
Search seems to be on & off.

For more giggles, just search for "nothing" (without the quotes).

Hilarious 😄

My search of nothing brought 33 results. eBay thinks I might need more choices of nothing than @greg5000 😄

greg5000 · ‎08-06-2019

@beautifulbeauty2012 wrote:
@greg5000 wrote:
@net-gnat wrote:
I just listed a Wear-Ever Super Shooter on eBay - did a search for one to see the going rate. Once again, I see that the search function is in a sad state. Just for giggles, do a search for "Super Shooter" on eBay and one on Amazon.
On eBay you must use "Wear-Ever". Too bad for a buyer who does not know the manufacturer. Now where would you buy?
Search seems to be on & off.

For more giggles, just search for "nothing" (without the quotes).

Hilarious 😄
My search of nothing brought 33 results. eBay thinks I might need more choices of nothing than @greg5000 😄

I also found 33 results in my search.

I think searching for "nothing" is the only search that's accurate here?

collectfest · ‎08-06-2019

@coolections wrote:
@collectfest
You do know that best match is based on YOUR shopping and searching experience and is tailored to you only. It's kinda like window shopping and some love it. No one says you have to use best match, in fact I have not used best match since the beginning of it. You also know that if you search closest to you your results would be different than someone who lives 1000 miles away. You also know if you search low to high it would be different because the ship cost for you may be more than another person. All those things are factored in and this one of the reasons for the Ebay statement. So many take that statement out of context as Ebay hides NOTHING from you.

If you want to expand your search, type the basic keyword and then USE the tools Ebay gives you to the left of the page. You will find anything and everything you can ever dream of finding plus some. One last thing, is Ebay is NOT loosing sales. If someone does not purchase from you there is always another seller out there that gets the sale.

Yeah, I know how to search. No someone else out there will NOT get the sale. I buy one of a kind items, not looking for soap.

How about this. When I type a word in everything comes up and I CHOOSE where to go next.

And how about this, when I type in the word marbles, items with the spelling marble comes up...an yeah I can click advanced and fiddle around there. To much time FIDDLING around. PERIOD. When you search for a large number of vintage items this is EXAHUSTION. PERIOD. 5 more clicks that may not be needed.

Here is another one, search for Christmas ornaments, I go to the ornament pre 1946 area, I put just the word wire (a type of ornament), and wallah here we go to all listing or industrial. You see some sellers leave the word ornament out of the search bar because they want to use other terms there. So here we go down the yellow brick road, another 5 clicks to get where I want to go.

You may say what's the big deal. Well, when you are searching for 40 or 50 different things or more its a VERY big deal. To me at least and the last time I checked I am a customer.

So once again, maybe I am right and maybe I am wrong, but if you want my MONEY, those in power may want to listen to the feedback from sellers.

fuzzface50 · ‎08-06-2019

searched nothing and also got 33 results with spongebob being the first one.

floridainjection · ‎08-06-2019

The Cassini search engine is NOT a search engine. It is an exclusion engine. They use algorithms to limit what you see so what they want to sell sells. Also, if you called ebay too much, had a neg, had a return, had a buyer complaint, etc etc, you are lowered or completely restricted in the results.

zamo-zuan · ‎08-06-2019

@coolections wrote:
@collectfest
You do know that best match is based on YOUR shopping and searching experience and is tailored to you only. It's kinda like window shopping and some love it. No one says you have to use best match, in fact I have not used best match since the beginning of it. You also know that if you search closest to you your results would be different than someone who lives 1000 miles away. You also know if you search low to high it would be different because the ship cost for you may be more than another person. All those things are factored in and this one of the reasons for the Ebay statement. So many take that statement out of context as Ebay hides NOTHING from you.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Mortified-That-Lowest-Price-Sort-IS-NOT-LOWEST-PRICE/m-p/29223...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/no-sales-in-almost-3-days-1000-items-with-best-offer/m-p/30036...

Based on the first post (and your response to it a few posts down where you replied to the post), we can be 100% certain you have personally seen that items do not show in eBay's search when sorted by low to high.

This has been brought up on several occasions (including the one linked in the 2nd post). I'm not sure why you continue to keep misleading people, it's not healthy for the community.

dtexley3 · ‎08-06-2019

@dhbookds wrote:
Interestingly to me.......I put in Kohner Batman......and the $3000 item came up first.....underneath (without the disclaimer).........all the rest....... I really think the order could have alot to do with the success/non of the search......

And there lies the problem (that certain posters won't/can't understand).

The order of the primary search terms (ie the first 3 or 4 words) should NOT return different results. ALL of the major search engines use the first few words in any order. People have gotten conditioned to this behavior because they use the major search engines.

Then then come to eBay and are preconditioned to expect it to function the same way. And it SHOULD. A buyer should not have to know to change up the order of the words or set an exclusion or click on something to the left to find EXACT KEYWORD MATCHES. I don't care if it's best match, lowest price, whatever, any item that contains the EXACT SAME words as the search criteria IN ANY ORDER should be included AT THE TOP, followed by the "Here are results with fewer matches" in the buyer's desired order.

If eBay wants to intersperse promoted listings or ads in that, fine, but make it clear (as ALL other sites do) that they are not part of the organic search results.

The fact that the search returns results differently from every other search engine out there is BAD for sellers because it's harder for buyers to find what they want not what eBay "thinks" they want.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

greg5000 · ‎08-06-2019

@collectfest wrote:
@coolections wrote:
@collectfest
You do know that best match is based on YOUR shopping and searching experience and is tailored to you only. It's kinda like window shopping and some love it. No one says you have to use best match, in fact I have not used best match since the beginning of it. You also know that if you search closest to you your results would be different than someone who lives 1000 miles away. You also know if you search low to high it would be different because the ship cost for you may be more than another person. All those things are factored in and this one of the reasons for the Ebay statement. So many take that statement out of context as Ebay hides NOTHING from you.

If you want to expand your search, type the basic keyword and then USE the tools Ebay gives you to the left of the page. You will find anything and everything you can ever dream of finding plus some. One last thing, is Ebay is NOT loosing sales. If someone does not purchase from you there is always another seller out there that gets the sale.
Yeah, I know how to search. No someone else out there will NOT get the sale. I buy one of a kind items, not looking for soap.

How about this. When I type a word in everything comes up and I CHOOSE where to go next.

And how about this, when I type in the word marbles, items with the spelling marble comes up...an yeah I can click advanced and fiddle around there. To much time FIDDLING around. PERIOD. When you search for a large number of vintage items this is EXAHUSTION. PERIOD. 5 more clicks that may not be needed.

Here is another one, search for Christmas ornaments, I go to the ornament pre 1946 area, I put just the word wire (a type of ornament), and wallah here we go to all listing or industrial. You see some sellers leave the word ornament out of the search bar because they want to use other terms there. So here we go down the yellow brick road, another 5 clicks to get where I want to go.

You may say what's the big deal. Well, when you are searching for 40 or 50 different things or more its a VERY big deal. To me at least and the last time I checked I am a customer.

So once again, maybe I am right and maybe I am wrong, but if you want my MONEY, those in power may want to listen to the feedback from sellers.

While eBay Search is not very accurate ... your post is Very Accurate!

beautifulbeauty2012 · ‎08-06-2019

@greg5000 wrote:
@beautifulbeauty2012 wrote:
@greg5000 wrote:
Search seems to be on & off.

For more giggles, just search for "nothing" (without the quotes).

Hilarious 😄
My search of nothing brought 33 results. eBay thinks I might need more choices of nothing than @greg5000 😄
I also found 33 results in my search.

I think searching for "nothing" is the only search that's accurate here?

Darn, there is only 32 of nothing now. Someone must had purchased one nothing. Maybe I should start selling nothing, better visibility in the search and more likely it gets sold since my things don`t sell on eBay anymore.

😄