Product Based Views & Searches - How it's working thus far

[retroman_studios]

As both a part time seller and full time buyer, I thought I would weigh in on the current changes where product based listings are now being used.

I understand as per eBay that not all of these changes are in full effect and may be adjusted, but here how things currently stand.

The categories I go in the most are Watches, Cellphones & Computers & Tablets. But the results should be similar across the categories.

I will focus on the watches category as that is the place I spend the most as both a seller and buyer. 

When you enter the Watches category, you have the option of using either the left side menu to determine which category you enter, or use the big consumer friendly buttons at the top of the page to briefly narrow down what type of item you want, or you could search.

In my case I used the big buttons and selected "Mechanical Automatic". This takes you to a Best Match list, which lists a SEIKO SARB035 as the first option because it has a high sell through number @ 729. Also under the listing is the blurb "XXX available new & refurbished". Do note that you won't see those listings unless you click that text. Again, this could change but right now, this may be why some are not having good visibility, as consumers are not going to think, they will click the main product title which takes them to the re seller who has a huge sell through number. In that seller's listing there is only the option to "buy similar", which may or may not be the same product.

If I search for example, "Seiko" in watches, if I stay on the "Best Match" listing style, I am given the option to group or ungroup similar items, at which point grouping will highlight key price ratios and if any sellers are accepting best offers. However, the text "accepting best offers" is actually just marketing. I'm sure if I offer them $1 they will refuse, so eBay might want to rephrase that to "4 sellers will consider offers" or something like that because it just seems rather ....wrong right now.

If I narrow search results by ticking item condition, it shows only used, grouped by common models and highlighting who accepts offers (!) and which are auctions. Also curious is "our pick" which seems to be an automated tag that selects item based on: "Of all similar items, we find the best combination of purchase options, including price, shipping, returns, and seller's rating", which was funny for one Seiko that was being sold for parts and didn't work. Clearly some categories will need a parts or not functioning tag added otherwise this bot will be selecting items and consumers will buy because they saw "our pick" somehow insinuating eBay has vetted the item, encouraging the consumer to buy without reading the description. 

The moment I change the listing style to Lowest Price, etc., the catalog system vanishes and you are back to generic search. Now, I don't know if this is temporary or if this will change in the future.

So for now, if you buyers are staying on Best Match views, don't expect to be noticed as your buyer has to click to see your items from a small subtext under the listing heading. If they search and stay on Best Match, same applies.