Mace Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 (edited) I've noticed a few times now that some items listed as Buy-It-Now on ebay don't show on a search. The first time was a few weeks back when I saw a cheap copy of a record on ebay as a BIN that I had seen Pete Smith say he liked. I couldn't be arsed to buy it, so PMed Pete to tell him about it. Pete couldn't find it by searching, and then neither could I, so I had to retrace my steps through the BIN listings to find it, and lo and behold it was still there. Similar has happened tonight with another record. Won't show on searching, and not come up in completed items either. No trace of it at all. It may have been withdrawn, but with the strange way the other record went awol I wondered if anybody has experienced the same, or can offer any explanation It's fcuking annoying to say the least, but for anyone selling as a BIN, it may well hinder any possible sale from potential buyers who may not be able to see it on a search? Any help appreciated. Regards Mace Edited November 10, 2011 by Mace Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
boba Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 ebay search is really crappy / broken and not replicatible. I think it has to do with it being a huge distributed system, data existing on different servers, and some data being cached. recently saved searches have been totally random, I get results like every few days at random times, it used to be at the same time every day. totally unrelated, but they broke the mobile interface recently where you can't use the "classic" site and it switches back to the mobile version after you log in. Really pissing me off. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Mace Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 You'd think it would surely be the most important tool of the site though. If the search engine doesn't show everything that's listed it's gonna cost them lost revenue in commission. Bizarre to say the least. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
boba Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 You'd think it would surely be the most important tool of the site though. If the search engine doesn't show everything that's listed it's gonna cost them lost revenue in commission. Bizarre to say the least. this is actually a very hard problem to solve with all the data. however, as a software developer i can say that there is usually a generally level of incompetence at places where people just have bad design or screw things up. Like when you're trying to leave feedback, you used to be able to click on the item and it would show the description. Now there's like 4 clicks to get to a page that doesn't show all you the info you need. pisses me off because they broke something that worked fine because some jerk and his managers thought he was improving the system. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Mace Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 I solved the feedback problem ages ago. I don't bother leaving any now...... Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
boba Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I solved the feedback problem ages ago. I don't bother leaving any now...... i buy a lot of items so i have to use the feedback system to manage what has and hasn't arrived and follow up with sellers that haven't sent stuff Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
George G Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 A couple tips - make sure your search allows for all currencies, not just the default one in your country of origin. I've missed stuff that's in Euros, Canadian $, etc - make sure your search for all, not just auctions or BINs. As Bob says search engines are balky, the best way to search is to take all constraints off. Another one is record speed/format. Searching for just 45s/7" will not show things that are not listed under that format - which is optional by the buyer. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Mace Posted November 11, 2011 Author Share Posted November 11, 2011 A couple tips - make sure your search allows for all currencies, not just the default one in your country of origin. I've missed stuff that's in Euros, Canadian $, etc - make sure your search for all, not just auctions or BINs. As Bob says search engines are balky, the best way to search is to take all constraints off. Another one is record speed/format. Searching for just 45s/7" will not show things that are not listed under that format - which is optional by the buyer. I tried searching on ebay.com by artist under catagory 'music' with no other restrictions/constraints etc to no avail....so format/speed etc should have no impact. It may have been a glitch, and I would never have noticed if Pete hadn't told me it wasn't showing up. However, the second one has me baffled.....some-one posted a 'want' for Vernon Harrell 'Slick Chick' on SS tonight, and I'd seen a BIN for $100 a day or so, so was gonna send the link through. Can't find it, not on current active listings or completed items. Can anyone find it and help me keep my sanity! I did wonder if there was a time-line default, whereas new listing don't show for a day or so on searches? I have experienced a similar thing on Youtube, when a friend posted a tune up for me but I couldn't find it on a Youtube search later that day, but it was definately up there. Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Dazz Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Hey Mace Boo Hoo Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 The biggest reason for auctions not turning up in searches is probably because the "Maximise your listings visibility" box hasn't been clicked. If you list things on the .co.uk site and don't click that box (and pay the extra fee...) your auctions will not show up on the .com or .ca sites. If you list on the .com site and don't click it, your auctions will not show up on the .co.uk site. As suggested I'm sure there are other glitches in their search system as well, but this seems to cause a lot of confusion and missed opportunities. Below is what the box looks like on the UK and US sites (it is located on the last page before you "publish" your auction). UK: US: Link to comment Social source share More sharing options...
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