Have your ebay sales dropped? Maybe, here's why.

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

Using firefox or chrome, on ebay.ca, I searched for a battery for a camera np-bx1. Once I narrowed the category down to Cameras and photos >camera and photo accessories>batteries, I click on price+shipping lowest. 

Under 'default' for area search, the lowest price that shows up for me is from China and is $7.65

I thought this was strange as I had bought the same battery a couple weeks earlier for 5.50.

I searched and scrolled through the list and could not find it cheaper. 

Then went into my purchase history and there is the purchase, and the seller is still active, selling the same battery for the same price. 

So I go back to the ebay search and filter it to North America only, and guess what? It showed up and now the lowest price is $5.48

I have had this happen many times and I believe that ebay is actively filtering listings based on their own criteria and own motives and are not providing sellers with an honest show of their listings and as a consequence are causing buyers to pay more.

[Anonymous]

If it is true, why are we paying the stores fees only to be put in much lower searching capability?  Is that fair to "steal" us that way?

[cumos55]

eBay has stated that cookies have been  placed on each registered person's  computer identifying that person.  The cookies identify me as a seller. This started several years ago. 

In turn if I search for my listings on eBay on my personal computer...  All of my listings will be shown..... because the cookies identify me  as a seller with those listings... None of my listings are hidden  in a search run by me on my personal computer 

In contrast... if I use a computer totally removed from my residence,  and in no way associated with me...  things will most likely be different depending on how many other listings are present on eBay.  In such a situation  all of my listings might not show up in a search....  and Cassini may be selective in some searches.

In a search of categories with thousands upon thousands of listings....  Cassini may be selective in what is shown to a potential buyer...

This has been noted on some discussions  on eBay.com.... and maybe also on eBay.ca

eBay has only recently stated not all of a seller's listings would show up in a search... the report in a search will be selective  based on many criteria.....  and the one criteria that stands out the most is TRS standing... followed by the defect profile  and so forth....  Cassini can and will be be selective 

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

do the search as I did and see if you come up with the same results. Maybe yours will be different. 

[cumos55]

It was only recently that eBay stated that not all listings  that qualify for display in a search will be shown in a search...

There are so many listings in some categories... that showing all listings  will be confusing to most if not almost all potential buyers.

Then we  have to look at what criteria are used to identify which listings should be shown in a search and in what order they should be shown.......

[mr.elmwood]

Froogal, I have been through this, and I agree with Cumos.

Your computer remembers your searches. It tailors responses based on what it knows about you. Some of my searches have been so poor, I had to re-start my computer, clear browsing history, clear cookies, to get going again.

I do a search for a hotel room in a particular chain and I get bombarded with banner ads for weeks after. Do a search for a new car and I get new car banner ads because my computer and the internet are tailoring responses to what I have looked for.

Not pop-ups, just the regular banner ads that are on all pages. Just checked, Yep, I am getting the COOLEY GM ads for Dauphin MB on Kijiji. It knows where I am and what I have looked for.

You can't search on your computer, probably not even your IP address.

[cumos55]

My search was for 

battery camera np-bx1

  and when I get down to default my lowest rice for Price + Shipping lowest is $5.60

But I do get one listing at $8.04.....  with best offer.. in first place.

and... Could it be that the seller of this listing has set his lowest value for Best offer... resulting an acceptable price less than $5.60

and then I get higher prices mixed in with the lower prices....  not exactly lowest to highest for all listings..

The result for  Price + Shipping lowest  is not perfect because of these higher priced listings showing  ... There must be some logic to this... not immediately obvious....

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

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@cumos55 wrote:

It was only recently that eBay stated that not all listings  that qualify for display in a search will be shown in a search...

There are so many listings in some categories... that showing all listings  will be confusing to most if not almost all potential buyers.

Then we  have to look at what criteria are used to identify which listings should be shown in a search and in what order they should be shown.......

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PRICE + SHIPPING LOWEST. 

It doesn't matter how many listings there are. If you search by price + shipping lowest, you should get............price plus shipping lowest. 

This is not confusing buyers. 

It's very simple. If you are listing the product I want to buy, and then I filter it according to the criteria set out, then it should give the same criteria. 

If I sort by price + shipping lowest, and I only get 'some' of the more expensive items, this is disingenous. 

Showing all listings is not confusing at all, since it shows only 25,50, 200 per page. 

Try to explain why as a buyer, a higher priced item should be shown when you specifically are ask and are told you are being shown the lowest. 

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

Default search. see attached. It's very clear. It has nothing to do with my cookies, or my search preference. If it did, you would think it would bring up who I previously bought from . Further more, it was on 2 different browsers. 

Search only np-bx1 and see if it comes up the same. 

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

same search but with north america only.

[cumos55]

There have been many times  I have done a search on Google  and have hit a dead end.

and then... a few days later.... I try again  and things are different... the search is different enough to lead me to a good result.... perhaps... but then I try several times  and eventually find something special and unique

It is because of this I have learned to retain a record of of the sites visited... such that after a series of searches... I get a better picture of what  is found on the internet.... sometimes starting a search with one of my recorded sites.... or throwing a saved site into the middle of a search 

Google search remembers... Sometimes what is remembered  by Google  helps... and sometimes not....

The same appears to apply to eBay.

One thing that I have found out is that in order to get a better search result  I must always start at the very first page of

eBay.ca  or eBay.com or any other site....  Cassini remembers and piling one search on top of another search will give crazy results...

Always go back to the beginning  with a search through all listings on that eBay site.

and that is what I have chosen to do with each new search on Google  ... and on eBay....

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

google has nothing to do with Ebay.  To compare a search of websites that are, yes, based off of cookies, location, search history etc. is fine, since there is no common format to search within and the reasons and results expected by the searcher can vary. 

If google had a price search and you sorted by lowest price, I would expect to see the lowest price. 

Go to any ecommerce website, and when you sort by the lowest price, you expect to see the lowest price. 

If ebay is manipulating it so that the buyer does not get the lowest price, but gets a different result based on ebays own reasons, that is dishonest. 

[cumos55]

I do not usually do a search for Price plus shipping lowest...

and was a bit confusing as I was only looking at the price  as how I usually do a search...

Now the order is clear

However.... without knowing what to look for... the clarity of 

camera np-bx1  versus np-bx1  is not immediately clear... but the result is different...... with respect to the presence of the word camera...

And then I tried  from the beginning with 

camera np-bx1  and got 225 listings.

and superimposed my next search  by deleting the word camera  and got 318 listings

If I search np-bx1 from the beginning I get 318 listings

My brain has gone into neutral.....   and it is getting very close  to suppertime.... Ouch

[cumos55]

My search for price plus lowest price... North America

for np-bx1

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Batteries-/162045/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=np-bx1&LH_PrefLoc=3&_sop=15

[pjcdn2005]

froogle, I get the same results as you do and I agree that when you search lowest price + shipping first you should see all of the listings starting at the one that is the lowest with shipping.

[pjcdn2005]

When I did the search on .com I got the same results.

[ricarmic]

Another in the list of "things that make you go hmmmmm".....

[tobyshitzu]

the missing listings are listed on UK by an American.    So that will affect very few.   The same way we can list here and make items available to uk but have different result on how they show up depending on how many listings and what the buyer choosed

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

froogle, I get the same results as you do and I agree that when you search lowest price + shipping first you should see all of the listings starting at the one that is the lowest with shipping.

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YES!!!!! Finally someone agrees. 

I realize that under ebay's mystical 'best match' or maybe under other searches there may be a justification , however weak, for a listing to not show up, but when you search lowest price, you expect the lowest price.

Do buyers know what ebay is doing? 

Is this fair for anyone but ebay? 

I think people who are defending ebay's actions by saying it's history and cookies, if you were treated this way in a store where you specifically asked the clerk for the less expensive item and they intentionally gave you a more expensive one, you would be upset. 

It's not a bit wrong, but totally wrong. 

It's not a matter of cookies, search history or anything. It's the exact same item sold by different sellers. 

The issue, aside from it being dishonest, is how much manipulation is going on? I am starting to think a lot. 

[pierrelebel]

Thank you Toby.  Good detective work!  That makes sense.  It is logical and fits with how eBay's search has worked for years.