Category suggestions suddenly really bad

[sparebitsbucket]

Over the last month I've noticed that the suggest category for the items I'm selling has become incredibly poor at anticipating where an item should go. I have a very uniform naming system that has worked great for a couple of years, but now I'm struggling.

As an example, I have various bits I'm selling from a game called 'Blood Bowl', by Games Workshop. An item might be titled 'Blood Bowl Orcs Lineman Metal', previously eBay would correctly suggest;
Toys and Games > Wargames > Warhammer > Blood Bowl

Now it tries to put it in;
Toys and Games > Wargames > Warhammer > Other Warhammer

If I search for Blood Bowl, it can't even find the Blood Bowl category;

Instead I have to put "Blood Bowl" in speech marks.

I'm having this sort of problem with almost every single product I list across multiple categories. Is this an issue with just the wargaming niche categories or are eBay experimenting with some really poor AI that's affecting categorisation everywhere?

[wellingnorth]

Yes, I've found this too.

I tend to use 'sell similar', edit the title and then if necessary click on the category panel to change category.

The auto-suggested category is generally wrong and then even when I search for a category it has trouble finding it and I need to try and remember the full hierarchy of categories to find what I'm looking for.

For example if the listing title is 'vintage mens shirt' it suggests Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Men > Men's Clothing > Shirts & Tops > T-Shirts

The closer category Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Specialty > Vintage Clothing & Accessories > Men's Vintage Clothing > Casual Shirts & Tops does not appear on the list

I get the same result if I search in the category panel just for 'vintage shirt'.

Even if I type 'casual shirts' the above category doesn't come up, instead matching Men's / ladies shorts and Pet Supplies > Dog Supplies > Other Dog Supplies

What is interesting is that if instead you use the 'sell' dropdown at the top to start a listing from scratch it does a much better job of finding the category, ie using your Blood Bowl Orcs Lineman Metal example above it creates a listing with the correct blood bowl category.

I'm not sure if this is AI related as it's been a bit odd for a while but I think you're right it has got worse recently.

dave@ebaythere was another thread from January 2024 where I think you may have contacted tech about this but it's been archived, I'm not sure if you can resurrect it or see if there was any response? It was this one

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/Category-Panel-no-longer-auto-suggests-based-on-ite...

[sparebitsbucket]

Ahh, that's interesting that it's happening on what I'm imagining are more common categories, thanks.

I'd use 'sell similar' as you've suggested, but I need to use advanced delivery rather than simple delivery because I often sell multiple items at once (most of my things are odds and ends in the £3-9 range, so people like to combine postage). The 'sell similar' link duplicates everything about the listing except the postage option and it reverts back to Simple Delivery,which has caught me out a couple of times already!

[thetrackz]

I've noticed creating a listing is more of a pain on the smartphone now. It insists on holding your hand through each category and making you choose wrong options. I'm going to try again through the web brouser.