Subject: Is Anyone Else Seeing Mystery Slabs When Searching for Specific Cards?
Summary: ste-679441 raised an issue with encountering irrelevant 'mystery slab' listings when searching for specific Pokémon cards like Charizard. They believe this might be a form of search manipulation affecting their ability to find desired cards. john_koenig99 observed no such issue when searching and inquired about the device used, suggesting differences in results. eburtonlab offered a solution to exclude keywords, but ste-679441 explained it wouldn't help their specific search needs. The discussion revolves around potential policy breaches and the effectiveness of automated filters.
Hey everyone,
I wanted to reach out to the community to see if anyone else is running into this issue. Lately, whenever I do a simple search for a specific Pokémon card—like Charizard—I keep getting flooded with “mystery slab” listings. These sellers are adding the names of high-value cards into their descriptions even though those cards aren’t actually included.
I’m curious if anyone else here feels that this might be a form of search manipulation. It’s not just a little annoying—it’s actually making it harder to find the cards I’m looking for, and I’m wondering if this is something that’s slipping past the AI filters.
So if you’ve had a similar experience, or if you think these mystery listings are a problem, let’s talk about it! I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on whether this should be flagged as a policy issue and if we should push for more human review.
Thanks!
eburtonlab
·Sep 14, 2026 at 1:57 PMOne way to deal with sellers that include spam keywords that have nothing to do with the listing so that the listing appears in the maximum number of searches regardless of relevance, is to choose another keyword that is unrelated to your search -- possibly another high value card name or the keyword mystery -- and exclude that from your search. Any listing with the excluded keyword will be removed from your search results.
ste-679441
OPSep 14, 2026 at 2:01 PMThanks for the suggestion! The challenge I’m running into is that I’m specifically searching for Charizard cards and not including any unrelated keywords like "mystery." So if I exclude "Charizard," then I won’t see the listings I’m actually looking for. I appreciate the input, but I’m just a bit confused about how that would help in my case.
eburtonlab
·Sep 14, 2026 at 9:09 PMIf you are searching Charizard but want to exclude listings with mystery slabs in the title, try this:
john_koenig99
·Sep 14, 2026 at 12:47 PMWell, I am going to start with the last part of your post. I think we can "push" for more actual human reviews or interaction from eBay, but the fact is that they are relying on AI bots for pretty much everything nowadays, and it's very unlikely that this is going to change any time soon, IMO.
Now, about your question. I just did a search of "Charizard" under Collectible Cards, and all the listings I can see in the first 4 pages (so over 200 of them) are of actual Charizard cards, and no "mystery slabs", as you call them.
Are you seeing this issue using the app? iOS or Android? Or are you using a laptop?
ste-679441
OPSep 14, 2026 at 1:32 PMThanks for sharing your perspective! I’m actually on a laptop, and I do see these mystery slabs popping up when I just search “Charizard.” It’s interesting that you’re seeing only actual cards on your end—maybe it’s a difference in how the search results are being filtered.
Also, if anyone else brings up the Chance Listing Policy, can anyone verify that it clearly says, if any item is being singled out, that it must be made part of the purchase.?