eBay

gotwhatchuneed · ‎01-19-2014

I've noticed on more than one occasion when doing a search I cannot find the items i want at the price I want but when i visit a sellers listings directly from my previous purchases I can find items that never appeared in Ebay's search results for the category.

It really kind of ticks me off actually, i understand there's alot of items listed but when i want a rock bottom price i want THE rock bottom price not what Ebay thinks I'm willing to pay.

reallynicestamps · ‎01-19-2014

Are you using the default Best Match?

Or are you changing the Search to Highest Price +Shipping or Lowest Prince or Ending Soonest or one of the other options in the dropdown menu?

gotwhatchuneed · ‎01-20-2014

I use the advanced search settings, the key words i select are in the items found through both the advanced search and by visiting the sellers listings from a previous purchase, I just have a suspicion that there is ALOT more items listed on Ebay than show up in a search, I'm wondering how the system decides which results to show a particular user.

pierrelebel · ‎01-20-2014

"have a suspicion that there is ALOT more items listed on Ebay than show up in a search,"

Can you offer a specific example of a search result where you suspect many more listings are on eBay than those shown in the search result page, indicating which site you use for your search..

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

To answer your question, YES, ebay does show and not show items based on information that only they know. Ebay has openly admitted and is proud of their Cassini search engine. This search engine is NOT just for 'best match'. Further, sales is ebay's bread and butter. They actively have a whole department working on how to provide a better search experience. Since sellers will change their listings to try and gain an advantage ebay does not advertise specifically what will get the item noticed.

For me, I have listed specific examples where an item I had did not even show up in search, both best match, low price and more, and in fact a totally different item was put in it's place. It has since been changed, so call it a glitch or call it 'working behind the scenes.'

Following is a specific example. I am bidding on this item (so no one bid!)

Item:
301073485871

I have a saved search in my bookmarks, and I found this item using that bookmark. Now when I search....it doesn't show up. Nothing on my end has changed. While the seller only sells to US, I have a US address and again, it showed up before and now it doesn't .

Call it a glitch if you like, but there you have a very specific example how an item can show up, and then not using ebay search.

pierrelebel · ‎01-21-2014

"Now when I search....it doesn't show up."

???

I do not think it is a glitch. I searched for the listing number and it appeared on both eBay.ca and eBay.com as it should.

Now, when I search by description, it will NOT show up on eBay.ca since the listing clearly states the seller only ships to the USA. The search works exactly as it is designed to work in this case

Now if I search on eBay.com by description, the search will show the listing IF the address of the viewer is located in the USA since the seller only ships to the USA. Again, it is not a glitch. That is the way the search engine is designed.

To be able to see items listed on eBay.com when the seller ships to the USA only, you simply need to check the shipping tab, enter United States and a valid ZIP code. This will allow you to access all listings on .com where the seller does not ship to Canada.

froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock · ‎01-21-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:
"Now when I search....it doesn't show up."

???

I do not think it is a glitch. I searched for the listing number and it appeared on both eBay.ca and eBay.com as it should.

Now, when I search by description, it will NOT show up on eBay.ca since the listing clearly states the seller only ships to the USA. The search works exactly as it is designed to work in this case

Now if I search on eBay.com by description, the search will show the listing IF the address of the viewer is located in the USA since the seller only ships to the USA. Again, it is not a glitch. That is the way the search engine is designed.

To be able to see items listed on eBay.com when the seller ships to the USA only, you simply need to check the shipping tab, enter United States and a valid ZIP code. This will allow you to access all listings on .com where the seller does not ship to Canada.

no.....it.....doesn't.

It may for you....it does NOT for me. You might be mistaking your own experience for someone elses.

Like I said, I search with a BOOKMARK i have, it is EBAY.COM. I have a US address with a US zip code.

Furthermore, item 121255864460 DOES show up and has the SAME shipping restrictions.

It DID show up, now it does NOT. Maybe it's cookies, maybe your method works, but my point which you glossed over is that at first it worked, and now it does not, which means that ebay filters it's results based on factors it does not advertise and not just for 'best match'