eBay Alters Their Search System

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launderess

launderess

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Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage
Received an email several days ago and now experience the new changes to fleaPay's search system. Wildcard (*) search support has been withdrawn. Ebay claims they were no longer suited to their new system but one has doubts and suspect other motives.

Now instead of being able to custom search eliminating results one didn't want or expand to include a broader search one is stuck slogging through every and anything that remotely resembles the search word chosen.

Looking for "detergents" but don't want those darn coupon or advert listings? To bad, now you will have to wade through any listing with that word and or even close matches.

Looking for "ironing"? You'll get anything with the word "iron" ranging from golf clubs to cast iron cookware.
 
I noticed this change a few weeks ago when I was looking for a new motor for our Whirlpool washer (needed for an overhaul of the unit). When I would type in Whirlpool and the part number like Whirlpool 6613310 the 6613310 would disappear before I could hit enter leaving only Whirlpool and showing everything related to Whirlpool.

If people can't find what they are looking for, they are going to go elsewhere where they can. Ebay should learn that if they can't take care of their customers then their customers will go to someone who can!
 
Methinks Some Sellers Got Their Feelings Hurt

That or fleaPay is promising to give all listings wider coverage.

My days of using eBay are numbered if this keeps up much longer. Don't want to wade through tons of "spam" listings for old adverts, magazines, coupons and so forth, nor wish to see twenty thousand things that begin with the first three letters of what one is searching either.
 
A few days ago my ebay GUI reverted to an earlier version, but all functions still seem to be there.  It no longer displays how many people are watching an item, though.
 
I was wondering if it was just me having this problem. Just doing a search for vintage washing machine brought up everything from tons of old washboards to vintage washable clothing. I cant be bothered with them anymore if this is their new way to go. Especially when the same irrelevant item is posted a hundred times and you have to go thru 400+ items to find what you are looking for.
 
Well The Natives Ain't Happy!

Apparently eBay feels the change was needed in part to address concerns over sellers with listing spelling errors. So because someone cannot spell or knows how to use a dictionary we all have to suffer wading through general listings rather than getting to the nitty-gritty.

Personally have always had a soft spot for sellers with mis-spelled listings. Have gotten some of my best eBay deals that way.

 
Agreed about the potential for good deals from bad spellers. 

 

I don't agree with ebay's decision to accommodate the lowest common denominator at shoppers' expense.  This degrades the site from a multitude of perspectives.
 
Hmmm

Yes, eBay seem to have done some interesting things of late.

However, I did (personally) like the thing with how many watchers there are. Great for items that you think someone might "snipe." I found it valuable during my search for a Hi-Fi amplifier - and yes, I did eventually get one :D
 
Yes I noticed it, and sadly appliance parts finding became d

I have noticed this first time I used it  after changes, something was no longer like before in the search results I was getting , also for appliance parts  it does not show anything if i type the part number on the search anymore, but if I manually type "for ex GE pump" and  watch at every listing having the word GE and pump and slog until I find what I looked for, well I noticed the part number  appears in the listing title but is not found by typing it in the search,  this was a thing that always did indeed... not sure if it is a character difference or what, but numbers are numbers and capital letters are capital letters...

I think of course it all is made on purpose,  that is clear! I think though they will get the opposite than the hoped result, actually I know many people that would bother to have to deal with all the unwanted results and just go elesewhere to buy/find what they look for, a practical example are the comments above, I add myself  also!
Is never too late to change things, this may be just a try..... they can always arange it to work like before if they notice a drop on flea-side/ used items sales, a thing  I believe will likely happend...
 
Think One Sees What Else Has Been Done

In the past there was an option to search both title only and also description/content, the latter option seems to be gone on the new servers/system.

If this is true one can only guess that eBay searches now include automatically both title and body content/description.
 

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