eBay Search

[goingfishinguk]

Morning all, hope you are all well.  Like many others we come to these boards to find solutions to our problems and/or offer insights to eBay and other users - you know the way a forum should work. 

In the last 12 months or so we have been hit as sellers with a lot of obstacles.. service metrics not been looked after as promised = huge loss of sales, new advertising system dynamic = don't pay don't play.  July's tests, EDDs etc etc.

Some of us have managed to limp through those issues and still remain in business, just in my case.  Well lost one company.

The problem is the current issue, by reading the forums seems to be the 'SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY.'  Dozens of reports with evidence show huge numbers of listings not being found so potential buyers can't find our listings, if they can't find our listings then they can't buy our products, simple enough yes?  Remember we are paying good money for these listings to be visible BUT eBay are not giving us value for money.  We are NOT getting what we are paying for.

So my question is to anita@ebay    marco@ebay    or whoever has the power to honestly answer is the current search system here to stay or is it broken and being fixed?  

I personally retired from my 25 year career to do something I love due to mental health reasons and that is selling fishing tackle.  Until this time last year it was a breeze and I was looking forward to enjoying my formative years.  All I did was tweak a few listings now and again and leave my standard promoted listings at say 2% to 5%.  I sold loads, I had loads of suppliers and loads of loyal customers.  Obviously on top of this I was giving eBay many tens of 1000s of £££ in revenue.  It's all but gone.

All the above reasons since this time last year have put a huge strain on my family financially and a huge strain on my mental health.  Sales are down 80 to 90%  My account seems capped at the exact number of sales per day - 25.  I've heard rumours if you are vocal on these boards you get capped.  Is this true anita@ebay?  All I want to do is my job.  All I want to do is have as little stress as possible and interact here with some great characters, post my orders, buy my stock, list my new stuff (which I loved doing) and generally enjoy the eBay experience.  So all I want to know is will this ever be possible or am I wasting my time?  Remember as I've mentioned, I jumped through all the hoops, watched all the videos, hiked up % promotions etc etc, but if my account is crippled or the Search is forever against me those are things I can't change.  So instead of lying awake at night wondering how 'I' can change things I just want to know truthfully without the 'clear your cache, spin round three times, drink a pint of glitter' or whatever else if I'm wasting my time, money and efforts.

So please tell me and the countless others here who have proved beyond doubt the search facility is hiding in some cases in the high 90% of listings is the search working as eBay want it or is it broken and going to be fixed?  (Oh please can you remove the cap on my account, thanks.  I know it's there..)

Kindest regards.

[theelench]

I'd never heard of "Managed Monetised Decline" until you mentioned it, but have thought for years that the major shareholders in the three largest on-line selling sites manage amazon, etsy and ebay (+paypal) to a co-ordinated plan. 

I believe that the shareholders did well out of the ebay / paypal split, although it didn't help ebay or it's sellers. 

With the setting up of etsy to deflect any monopoly investigation of ebay, while at the same time spreading the shareholder returns over two companies rather than one and hastening the decline of ebay further, as every fee increase on ebay led to a boost in the growth of etsy.

Perhaps when I was told in some of the replies here that my view was a ridiculous 'conspiracy theory', I wasn't so far off the mark after all??

[tr3asurep0rium]

I guess the responsible authority for eBay in the UK is the Competition and Market Authority (CMA). I think we should bring our complaints (theft, fraud, breach of contract, you name it) to them!

[dwtrading2015]

https://mesg.ebay.co.uk/mesgweb/ViewMessageDetail/0/All/177925078415

Try this to be heard.  Don't know if it will work.

[mrq-private]

"I'd never heard of "Managed Monetised Decline" until you mentioned it, but have thought for years that the major shareholders in the three largest on-line selling sites manage amazon, etsy and ebay (+paypal) to a co-ordinated plan."

...It's by no means a new phenomena; and is not particularly unique to online auction sites or the online world either. It's been going on for generations. Every product has its life cycle -  'MMD' is simply way of dealing with the decline side of that cycle in the short term to maximise returns.  They won't be so much co-ordinated as simply being caught up in the same cycle like rags in a tumble dryer!

"I believe that the shareholders did well out of the ebay / paypal split, although it didn't help ebay or it's sellers."

By the time of the split, eBay and PayPal were many years beyond the point where function or the needs of the client were central to the 'mission'.  - at 'C-suite' level corporations exist on a different plane from the nuts and bolts of operation; and the whole focus is on the markets.

"With the setting up of etsy to deflect any monopoly investigation of ebay, while at the same time spreading the shareholder returns over two companies rather than one and hastening the decline of ebay further, as every fee increase on ebay led to a boost in the growth of etsy."

Personally, I'm not conviced that's why Etsy was set up or that there is much of a link...  Other online auction/e-commerce sites have always existed.  - In the late 90s for example the 'spread' was pretty even between eBay and Yahoo auctions .  Quite how and why eBay became a near-monopoly is a tale in itself; one thing many of us might agree on is that the current outcome isn't in the interests of the consumer - and in that context I mean both buyers and sellers.

Perhaps when I was told in some of the replies here that my view was a ridiculous 'conspiracy theory', I wasn't so far off the mark after all??

Operation MockingBird - the actual conspiracy that gave us the gaslighter's favourite incendiary - conspiracy theory!    ...What we're seeing here are predators swimming in a tank - the shark tank.

[goingfishinguk]

'This strategy meant that it became progressively harder for shoppers to find things anywhere except eBay, which meant that they only searched on eBay, which meant that sellers had to sell on eBay. That's when eBay started to harvest the surplus from its business customers and send it to eBay's shareholders. Today, Marketplace sellers are handing more than 45 percent of the sale price to eBay in junk fees. The company's billion £££ "advertising" program is really a payola scheme that pits sellers against each other, forcing them to bid on the chance to be at the top of your search.

Searching eBay doesn't produce a list of the products that most closely match your search, it brings up a list of products whose sellers have paid the most to be at the top of that search. Those fees are built into the cost you pay for the product, and eBay's requirement for sellers means that they can't sell more cheaply elsewhere, so eBay has driven prices at every retailer.'

Sound familiar?  I've inserted the word 'eBay' but the article remains the same...

[tr3asurep0rium]

Was that text about Amazon originally? 

[goingfishinguk]

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@tr3asurep0rium wrote:

Was that text about Amazon originally? 

---

Yip... but it still applies here

[mrq-private]

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/

...One individuals' particular observations about an number of platforms and how they're driven into the dirt.

[unclestein]

Lets be honest, who actually searches for things by catagory anyway!

[vintagewatchpart]

Just giving this important topic a bit of a nudge, is there any news on when the issues with search will be resolved? Or are these intentional bugs?

It is impacting what I am buying from Ebay, what I am selling and the research I conduct on unique items.

Here's another great example. I searched for a rare watch on Ebay "Universal bomb timer" - look at these results, I get 308 results for decorative tape for motorcyles?

Seiko watches have unique model numbers, take for example the highly desirable 6105 8000 - when you search for "Seiko 6105 8000" I am presented with watches that do not include that model number in the title?  Before I would have searched for that model number and been given results only including those numbers in the title.

I've heard there will be a new google update soon where people search for "Ebay" and get shown other E-Commerce websites that people want to see instead, not what they searched for, that would be fun.

[vintagewatchpart]

Just replying to myself as it took nearly 24 hours for my reply to be added, probably because of the example search I made!

But doesn't that mean someone had to have read it of importance who could at least reply and engage?

[theelench]

Probably no-one these days, if glass is anything to go by.

But before ebay got out its wrecking-ball to "improve" them, they were actually helpful and I would say helped items sell.  Because having found the key words, both sellers and buyers knew where to list and find what they were looking for.

When I started buying Art Deco Glass on ebay in 2012 I started by searching for '30s glass, inter-war glass, depression glass and Art Deco glass.  Art Deco gave me the most results of relevant items.  When I started selling I knew exactly which category to list an item in, Pottery, Porcelain & Glass > Date Lined Glass > 1919 - 1939 > Art Deco, which at the time gave 18K results, 90% of them relevant.

I also found them helpful as a search for Art Deco Glass Vase might give 5K results, Bowls 3K, Plates 1K, so I knew I was seeing most of the items in the wider, more general search, which also included the less common items like Art Deco Glass Trays making up the difference.

Over a decade I watched the 18K number decline to around 10K as sellers left ebay (mostly to etsy) or took their rarer items off ebay when the search began hiding them because they lacked sales, as rare items always will.  

Not long ago I deleted my Saved Search for "Art Deco Glass UK Only" as it's now virtually useless.   Repeating that search today (and adding the "Used" filter), the results start with "more than 21K results"  --  more than ebay ever had when it was "the place" to buy and sell such items a decade ago and (a guess) 50% of them irrelevant.

So then I'm supposed to winnow out a few hundred items I would like to see (and perhaps buy) using filters that are far less precise / specific, inaccurate, inadequate and not fit for purpose than the old "Date Lined" sub-cat. was.

The result has been to reduce my sales to their lowest ever number per year and my buying likewise.  Instead of regular purchases, I bought 2 items in 2023.   One in April, found because I have a Saved Search for it specifically and another in December which I found completely by chance while "browsing" (or the nearest I can get to it when what I'm allowed to see is "streamlined" and "personalised" by what the search thinks I'm most likely to buy.

[unclestein]

Ebay don't seem to give a damn about unique items because they can't be relentlessly churned out of a factory in China or India.

Talking of volume pieces, I've seen a massive influx of replica "maritime/nauticle' artifacts coming from India, like sextants and telescopes in the £20-£30 price range. Most of it is 'pre-aged' complete with fake mahogany brass inlaid cases and replica makers name plates from c1900's English companies. They also saturate any decent listings thanks to the over-use of the words 'vintage' and 'antique'.

[litp*records]

So many words seem to just be ignored by the search engine now.  It is so frustrating.  

But on the flipside, it helps me save space in my 80 character listing titles.  I know the search is gonna ignore words like "Vintage" "retro" "modern" etc.. so having it in the title is pointless.

Makes me laugh also you see the mega sellers tack on the words "The cheap fast free" to all their listing titles when those words are completely ignored by search.  Just a waste of time.

[unclestein]

I often see the words 'professional' and 'genuine' used to describe products which are clearly not either 'professional' or 'genuine'!

[unclestein]

If you think that's screwed up, I just typed the word 'counterfeit' into a worldwide Ebay search and got 60 results - ALL from the UK! 😀

[dwtrading2015]

I can top that, 6500+ for 'Fake' search, of which 6200+ are filtered down to UK only.

[dwtrading2015]

60 results for 'Nicked' and alarmingly my registered car apears under the spare parts pop-up, lol

[dwtrading2015]

"PS: as a private seller your not supposed to list new items purchased to sell on,especially for profit,they should be listed under a Business account on ebay."

Just seen this posted in member to member support, by an 'experienced' mentor.  It is 100% rubbish.  Total nonsense. Beggars beleif that 'mentors' are allowed who do not know the most elementary aspects of eBay accounts.  An eBay business account has no legal definition, it is an insurance policy and used to provide additional services for a fee.  If you buy an item, new or otherwise, with the intention of selling it for a profit on eBay, you are not obliged to only do that through a business account.  This 'mentor' advice is so wrong on so many levels.

Rather exposes what a mess things have become behind the scenes.

[vintagewatchpart]

Again I am nudging this important topic. I list on Ebay about 4-5 days a week and every day I search multiple times for items that I sell to determine price and am presented with a plethora of irellevance. 

Have a search for "Hamilton Watch Buckle" - pretty specific right, I want a Hamilton buckle for a watch strap, instead I get whole watches, incorrectly branded parts by totally different brands (and no the seller hasn't selected any item specifics that would have made it come up, these are sponsored results).

Its annoying because what I want is actually there and I have the patience to find it, but I bet that 99% of people searching for that would bounce, there is no way people would spend this long narrowing down search criteria options to find what they want.

Also, as I have mentioned before, I am fed up of searching for something on Ebay and it showing no results, then I google it instead and guess what... The results are Ebay items, click on them and they are just there, so why can't the same simple search query find those items on the site?