Why has the search function on ebay become totally useless?

[neil morse]

I have no idea whether this is an appropriate topic to raise on this forum, and I urge the moderators to move it to a better spot if necessary, but I think it's a topic of general interest to forum members.

 

In the past, I have found the ebay search engine to be a useful way to look for parts for my '41 Buick.  However, starting about two years ago, I have found that no matter how I try to narrow down the search terms I use, I just get an endless stream of links to completely wrong products.  I first noticed that I got of lot of products that supposedly "fit" on my car.  For example, if I searched for "1941 Buick fuel gauge," I would get a lot of aftermarket gauges with the claim that they would "fit" a '41 Buick.  For a while, it seemed to help to add "- fits" to the search terms which eliminated the word "fits" from the search.  However, that only worked for a short time.  For at least the past two years or so, the search engine has become completely useless.

 

For example, just to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I did a sample search just before making this post.  Just as a random test, I put in "1941 Buick fuel gauge -fits."  The first four items to come up were an industrial hose cleaner, a dragster fuel pressure gauge, a set of vintage locking lug nuts, and a set of pans for a 1954 Hydramatic transmission.  (By the way, I don't currently need a fuel gauge -- that was just something I picked at random.)

 

We hear a lot about Artificial Intelligence these days.  This just seems like "Artificial Stupidity."  I would be grateful for any suggestions on how to conduct effective and useful searches on ebay!  Thanks in advance.

 

Neil 

[dodge28]

My experience with ebay is a bad one. The charges and the shipping controlled by ebay adds up to a great deal to the vender price. I negotiated price directly with venders but that is against ebay rules. The vender makes a pittance . I tried getting the venders to ship to me by USPS. Then I was banned by ebay from trading. I do not miss them. A greedy bunch,

[neil morse]

I have actually found a lot of parts that I have purchased for what I consider to be reasonable prices.  I have even found that some established vendors for Buick parts sometimes offer their products at a discount on ebay.  I'm just frustrated trying to find the parts!  (By the way, I have often found that a simple Google search is a much more effective method of finding parts for sale on ebay.  It's only ebay's own search engine that seems to be haunted.)

[Bloo]

It is because you are no longer the customer, you are the product.

 

[60FlatTop]

Traditionally it had been "an old man's job" to step in and point out "what's what" to those younguns who never seem to do anything right.

 

I can't deny a certain amount of satisfaction in just moving on, letting them stay in ignorance.

[Hemi Joel]

I have at least a few dozen searches programmed to email me when the searched for item is listed. Spamming of the search engines by the sellers has become so bad that I probably actually only open the auction to look at about 5%. The rest is all garbage. Like you say, they have the vehicle application list. So I program that I'm searching for Duesenberg parts for example. Somebody is selling an air freshener with Lillian Munsters head photoshopped onto the body of a model. They list it as a specific fit for every single vehicle that exists. So no matter what I search for that stupid thing shows up. And there's a lot of sellers doing that with generic parts. I used to report The sellers to eBay as spammers, but eventually I learned it was a waste of time. I think eBay allows it to go on because it will result in more sales, thus more commissions.

[joe_padavano]

Ebay instructs its vendors in how to bury keywords in their ads and titles to maximize the number of "views" of their ads. As you and the rest of us have unfortunately found out, the result is that the search engine is worthless.

[neil morse]

5 minutes ago, Hemi Joel said:

I have at least a few dozen searches programmed to email me when the searched for item is listed. Spamming of the search engines by the sellers has become so bad that I probably actually only open the auction to look at about 5%. The rest is all garbage.

I had the same experience.  I used to have a programmed search for any '41 Buick parts, and I would check it frequently when I looked at my email.  It was helpful because the list was actually limited to '41 Buick parts.  But, as you say, it eventually became a complete waste of time because only a tiny fraction of the search results had anything to do with a '41 Buick.  It's interesting to hear that the explanation is that sellers are spamming the search engine.  It's ironic to me that they are completely wrecking the very system that I would think they want to rely on to enable buyers to find their products.

[Akstraw]

3 hours ago, neil morse said:

 This just seems like "Artificial Stupidity." 

Love this quote!   No matter what make and model I put in, I seem to get a lot of Model A parts come up.  It seems to help if I put in “Chrysler 1948” rather than “1948 Chrysler”, but I still have to sort through a lot of crap.  It’s too bad, because the idea of an online parts marketplace (rather than plodding thru 20 miles of flea market aisles) is more and more appealing to me the older I get.  We can only hope that it will improve.

[39BuickEight]

Works fine for me when I “-“ the terms in the listings I don’t want.  Sorting the listings in various ways also helps me find what I am looking for.

[Bloo]

Does it? How many things do you have to minus out of your search strings now? I might be mistaken, but I think my top was 30. At some point it tells you there are too many and refuses. Even if it doesn't refuse, it often fails to use your search terms at all.

 

It worked fine in 2006.....

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Bloo (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

A seller will post any car part and check "will fit".  Then checks every year.  Then checks every manufacturer.  Job done.  It's easier for the sellers to do this.  Sadly it stinks for the buyers.  Search NOS floor mat 54 Buick.  Up pops thousands of floor mats the "fits" a 54 Buick. Sadly the floor mats will fit a 54 Buick. But they are every color under the sun.  They have Chevy written on them.  They are not NOS. 

[yachtflame]

Because of this, I don’t go to eBay at all anymore.

[PONTIAC1953]

Ebay used to be a nice swap meet at your fingertips, and if you wanted to sell something, there was only a small listing fee, now it's FEEBAY, with greedy ebay getting their sticky fingers into everything, listing fees, final value fees, shipping fees, charging taxes if you're buying intrastate rather than interstate, so I flatly refuse to sell on feebay anymore, as for searching, all the unwanted unrelated stuff floods the computer screen that you have no interest in, the -fits helps much less than it used to, have to add several additional -items such as -gates, -dayco, -LS when searching for 1953 or 1954 air conditioning parts, feebay doesn't care how much garbage you have to search through to find what you're really searching for, shame on you ebay.

[edinmass]

We found a way to beat them……….when I was in the parts business we had anywhere from 100-400 parts listed in our eBay store……….we never intended to sell anything through them. Over the years, our customers learned to call us or email us. Yes, a few over seas and new people didn’t catch on right away. Now since we only deal in a single marque it makes it easier for us. We jack up the prices so people call for the better deal. Free delivery to Hershey or any car show……..no sales tax……..in the long run we pay about 75 per month to list and show the photos…………good exposure, all the parts were photographed and available without anyone calling just for photos, which is a huge problem. Overall eBay suck real bad, and I no longer look there for anything. I do have a few good friends who still pick through all the BS and find deals, and some are kind enough to let me know things of intrest to me……..over all……..it’s last week’s newspapers.

[Angelfish]

I did actually find a fog light for an old Mercedes recently, but I didn't find it using the ebay search engine, it appeared in the "shopping" options on my internet browser.    10 years ago ebay the first place I would look, now I don't look at it at all.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Angelfish (see edit history)

[Tonz]

In AU eBay has changed a bit over the last couple of years, it's search engine is now weaker, but this is overcome by using Google to do the same search then look for the same item in eBay.

 

On another note ... prices/postage/arrive by:

Online sales for generic auto spares are now getting dearer than your local autoparts store.

Word has it that eBay  etc and their online stores decided that they have killed off your local stores and they can now be greedy and jack up their prices.

On a recent motorcycle service job I did a price check of various items on eBay but decided I couldn't wait 2 weeks for them, so went to the local bike shop and was surprised to find the same bits were 30% cheap in store.

Go figure 🤔

[Str8-8-Dave]

Some crafty greedy folks who have aftermarket steering columns, seat belts, all kinds of aftermarket trim, etc., etc., figured out by inserting words like fits or for they can batch list their non-original junk into our honest queries for OEM parts.  So I write antidotal complex query phrases that delete the non-OEM or other make stuff.  I search for and find a few original 1931 Buick parts this way without wading thru 60 pages of aftermarket garbage.  Here is a query I just wrote.  You could copy it and change the year only if looking for Buick parts.  If looking for other make parts you would have to add -Buick to the exceptions list and delete your car brand from the exceptions if listed as a -... and move it up to the front end of the query phase.

 

1931 Buick -fits, -for, -Ford, -Chevrolet, -Chevy, -Cadillac, -Oldsmobile, -Pontiac, - Chrysler, -Plymouth, -Dodge

 

To see how effective this is query on 1931 Buick without the rest of the phrase and see how many pages or items come up.  Then copy/paste the phrase above a into the E-Bay search box and see how many pages or items come up.  The first time you write a complex query phrase is a pain but if you use it every day or every few days to look of parts you can just click in the search box and your complex phrase will come up in a list of recent queries.  My caution is if you put more than a few other queries in the search box your complex query will fall off the list and you will have to re-type it.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Str8-8-Dave (see edit history)

[M1842]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this. But sellers can pay for extra visibility in searches on eBay now. Starting from $9.95.  You pay and your listing gets "promoted" over others.   I believe that the more you pay the more promoting eBay applies to your listing.  I think this causes stuff to show up in your search results that is not relevant. 

 

My search strings have so many minuses that I worry about missing good listings at times.

[M1842]

1 minute ago, Str8-8-Dave said:

Some crafty greedy folks who have aftermarket steering columns, seat belts, all kinds of aftermarket trim, etc., etc., figured out by inserting words like fits or for they can batch list their non-original junk into our honest queries for OEM parts.  So I write antidotal query phrases.  I search for and find a few original 1931 Buick parts this way without wading thru 60 pages of aftermarket garbage.  Here is a query I just wrote.  You could copy it and change the year only if looking for Buick parts.  If looking for other make parts you would have to add -Buick and delete your car brand if listed as a -... an move it up to the front of the query phase.

 

1931 Buick -fits, -for, -Ford, -Chevrolet, -Chevy, -Cadillac, -Oldsmobile, -Pontiac, - Chrysler, -Plymouth, -Dodge

 

To see how effective this is query on 1931 Buick without the rest of the phrase and see how many pages or items come up.  Then copy/paste the phrase above a into the E-Bay search box and see how many pages or items come up.  The first time you write a complex query phrase is a pain but if you use it every day or every few days to look of parts you can just click in the search box and your complex phrase will come up in a list of recent queries.  My caution is if you put more than a few other queries in the search box your complex query will fall off the list and you will have to re-type it.

I use this type of query -(×,y,z,...) and have never had an issue with long queries. 

[neil morse]

I'm learning a lot from all these responses.   I thank everyone for your contributions!

[joe_padavano]

Here is an example of the problem. As directed by ebay in various "how to sell" videos, this seller has spammed the "Item Description" part of his ad to include keywords that cover every possible automotive year and model, despite the fact that the parts don't apply. These IH parts came up as a result of one of my very targeted searches for Oldsmobile parts, and yes, I have crafted lengthy search strings using the "not" function.

 

[sagefinds]

People at the top trying to justify their job by coming up with new and innovative ways to have more sales that sound good around the conference table. It's like if you bring up a listing,there are three parts,the top part and the bottom part with info and pictures of that listing,between them are a bunch of pictures and info on other listings. If you don't promote a listing it may not come up on a search unless you have the exact wording of that title. If you have something listed and someone looks at it they bombard you with "Make an Offer" back to that looker. It's not very satisfying anymore.

 

[Harold]

I don't add extra-charge listing upgrades because the stuff I list is pretty cheap to begin with and I'm not anxious to add to my expenses.  I wonder how deeply my ads are buried in search results because of this.

[Guest]

I just want to do a word search in the category of antique parts and accessories and have it just search titles.  I'm sick of getting results that don't include words I searched for!  Of course I started using eBay almost 30 years ago, it's not even comparable to what it was.

[Terry Bond]

7 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

Here is an example of the problem. As directed by ebay in various "how to sell" videos, this seller has spammed the "Item Description" part of his ad to include keywords that cover every possible automotive year and model, despite the fact that the parts don't apply. These IH parts came up as a result of one of my very targeted searches for Oldsmobile parts, and yes, I have crafted lengthy search strings using the "not" function.

 

Amen!   And another example of spamming - this comes up with a search for 1919 Ford  - it's a clock for a 1957Oldsmobile!   Second photo shows why.  No - I did not search "descriptions." 

[Jim Skelly]

Ebay has become a lost cause for auto parts searching.  Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are better but even their search features aren't great.  This AACA forum is a great place to buy and sell!

[Mark Shaw]

On 8/5/2023 at 8:14 PM, avgwarhawk said:

A seller will post any car part and check "will fit".  Then checks every year.

Buyers should be to block sellers that do this!

[30DodgePanel]

eBay no longer has a vintage parts section from what I can gather. Maybe this is contributing to these issues?

 

If someone can find the "vintage parts" section I'd like to know where it is.

 

[pkhammer]

I sell quite a bit on ebay. I only list EXACTLY what it is and what it fits and NEVER, EVER put in all of that other BS that they suggest to get more views. and I say shame on sellers that do. My stuff probably get s way less traffic/views but that's ok with me. Ebay surely isn't what it used to be, especially for the poor souls trying to find specific parts. I'm still hanging in there because I still do have fair success selling but certainly understand why potential buyers get turned off.

 

  The "vintage automobile parts" category was unfortunately eliminated some time ago. 😒

[Terry Bond]

It doesn't matter because the word "vintage" means absolutely nothing.  I've seen brand new stuff labeled as 'vintage."  It's also a favorite tag for fakes and reproduction items of all kinds.   I think the word should be eliminated from the English language!

Terry

[30DodgePanel]

10 hours ago, pkhammer said:

 The "vintage automobile parts" category was unfortunately eliminated some time ago. 😒

 

Thanks, I had no idea... 

when was that (approximately)?

 

I've found the only thing that helps me looking for parts is making sure my category says EBay Motors section first, then once all the parts load I select "Newly listed  Used and Not specified".

 

 

Use antique bracket for an example. 

 

 I take the time (only once) to look through the batch of 1236 , then the next day the list will be much more managable as it only takes a minute to tell if anything is newly listed. I also select the email option so each day it notifies me if any new items were listed since I last checked. Saves me from having to search through thousands daily....  Even then I get a bunch of unrelated items but this way it's much more manageable for my schedule. In our morning work meeting I go down my list of about 30 items I'm looking for in about 15 minutes or less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[JACK M]

The other day I typed in "1965 Chrysler console lock" in eBay motors.

And BOOM, the first item on the list. NOS with keys, it will be here in a day or two.

 

Right place at the right time? Worked for me.

[Peter Gariepy]

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/search-tips/search-tips

 

Related articles on search

Advanced search

Find a specific item, category, or eBay Store quickly and easily by using Advanced search.

Saved searches 

If you regularly search for the same types of items on eBay, save time by creating saved searches.

Your Watchlist

 

[Peter Gariepy]

Do we really need another topic about how bad eBay is?

[TTR]

18 minutes ago, Peter Gariepy said:

Do we really need another topic about how bad eBay is?

EXACTLY !

These and all other piss-n-moan types of irrelevant topics & threads have lead me to visit this AACA forum less and most of my vintage car guy buddies tell me these being the main reasons why they don't wish to engage/register to  any similar car forums at all.

And yes, we're all middle age or older, but just don't enjoy wasting time on repeated, same old, same old pointless topics.

[30DodgePanel]

6 hours ago, Peter Gariepy said:

Do we really need another topic about how bad eBay is?

 

6 hours ago, TTR said:

EXACTLY !

These and all other piss-n-moan types of irrelevant topics & threads have lead me to visit this AACA forum less and most of my vintage car guy buddies tell me these being the main reasons why they don't wish to engage/register to  any similar car forums at all.

And yes, we're all middle age or older, but just don't enjoy wasting time on repeated, same old, same old pointless topics.

Really guys....

we don't really NEED another eBay post, but some folks (new and old) aren't aware of a search function, hence folks asking for helpful tips. 

I see nothing wrong with helping others find answers that make their lives better in the hobby world. If you're tired of helping then turn the channel and keep your attitudes to yourselves. 

 

Ever think of that?

 

His original premise for the original post was "I would be grateful for any suggestions on how to conduct effective and useful searches on ebay". 

Nor was his original post a piss-n-moan session. He has brought up some legitimate concerns of how the function now works. 
Nothing wrong with that in my view.
 

Either help the man or complain in your own corners.

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Peter Gariepy]

2 hours ago, 30DodgePanel said:

 

Really guys....

we don't really NEED another eBay post, but some folks (new and old) aren't aware of a search function, hence folks asking for helpful tips. 

I see nothing wrong with helping others find answers that make their lives better in the hobby world. If you're tired of helping then turn the channel and keep your attitudes to yourselves. 

 

Ever think of that?

 

His original premise for the original post was "I would be grateful for any suggestions on how to conduct effective and useful searches on ebay". 

Nor was his original post a piss-n-moan session. He has brought up some legitimate concerns of how the function now works. 
Nothing wrong with that in my view.
 

Either help the man or complain in your own corners.

 

 

Wouldn’t it be more productive for somebody who has a problem with a site (that’s not this one) to contact the site in question?

 

It took me virtually no effort to find the help necessary to explain how to use the eBay search tool.  I posted it above.

 

More important, this entire post stopped being about the eBay search function, and started being about issues with eBay in general, which has been beat to death in this forum, over and over again over the years. 

[auburnseeker]

Well issues with ebay are never ending.  Try selling on there in volume and get back to me.    Every day you log on to sell or ship,  you wonder what new "glitch" will you have to deal with or work around today.

 

Had a very good overseas customer yesterday contact me and ask me why I wasn't selling anything.  

 

I gave him an item number to look up as I always have auctions running on ebay and have for over 10 years with no full lapse so I knew something was up.  Even using the item number,  it said I had nothing for sale and that item didn't exist.  We kept going back and forth,  he finally figured out,  out of the blue that for the first time ever he had to select items outside of the UK.    Never did before.  Meanwhile he collects large rig literature which I sell once or twice a year.  Spent about $8,000 on my items last year and because of that new "feature". missed all of the truck stuff I just sold.  A full weeks worth.  With much going for 2.99-5.00.    He often bids $30 or more per item,  so I probably lost 1,000's of dollars last week because of a new feature and a slew of items I will never have again to auction. 

 

So ebay gets what it deserves.  For the $18,000 in fees I paid last year,  I expect better service and to not have new roadblocks added for customers to have to work through just to buy from me. 

 

I was furious when I found out last night this happened as any sane seller would be and I'm a very dedicated seller.  How many other sellers like myself have had the same problems with sales?  The Ebay forums are flooded with people complaining about site and other issues all resulting in lower sales. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

9 hours ago, TTR said:

EXACTLY !

These and all other piss-n-moan types of irrelevant topics & threads have lead me to visit this AACA forum less and most of my vintage car guy buddies tell me these being the main reasons why they don't wish to engage/register to  any similar car forums at all.

And yes, we're all middle age or older, but just don't enjoy wasting time on repeated, same old, same old pointless topics.

How is asking help on how to find vintage car parts in any way not an appropriate topic for an old car forum?  Really nothing is required reading.  What don't people get about that?  I don't read 95 % of what's on this site.  It's not required!  This isn't High school,  there isn't a pop quiz on content.