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eBay changes store inventory listings in search results

M marciay96Member
Not sure how many of you saw this today from eBay. Looks like they are going back to only showing store listings in search results if there are fewer than 30 auction style or fixed price listings.


"Hi everyone. As you may know, we recently implemented an expansion of item search results to include all Store Inventory listings. Our intent was to provide more exposure for these listings while improving buyers' shopping experience by showing more listings in search results.
In the few weeks since we launched this new feature, it's become clear to us that it's had some unintended consequences. Many buyers have found that their searches are now producing too many results, and that search results overall are sometimes less relevant than they used to be. In addition, Auction-Style and Fixed Price listings are harder to find for buyers, so sellers of these items have unintentionally been put at a disadvantage.

We strive to deliver the best buying experience on the eBay marketplace. Therefore, we're going to discontinue this feature while we further test and refine it. Given the unintended consequences we’ve seen, we want to take more time to optimize this feature and ensure a healthy balance between Auction-Style, Fixed Price and Store Inventory listings on eBay. This is in the interests of both buyers and sellers.

We plan to make this change within the next couple of weeks – it will take several days to fully launch across the site. Essentially, we will make search the way it was in early February, with up to 30 Store Inventory listings appearing when there are 30 or fewer Auction-Style or Fixed Price listings in a buyer's search results. Buyers who wish to broaden their search results with all Store Inventory listings, will still be able to do so by selecting a box in the Search Options area on the search results page."

Well, that was too good to be true...hope they come up with a solution soon.

Marcia
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F foxfyre33Member
I listed stuff in my store in anticipation of this, and now they say "Hey, you know what, we didn't do our homework, so we're just going to yank this back - we're not refunding fees for the extra stuff you listed *because* of this, though!"

Thankfully, I'm a smaller scale seller, but I can't imagine how angry the higher-up powersellers must be about this abrupt discontinuation.

What I want to know is, how could they *not* forsee this? I mean, people HERE forsaw this.

-Fox
R rickbradfordMember
I actually thought it was a decent idea (although I don't have a store myself) because the Store and Auction listings were clearly divided.

Why would "too many results" be a problem? Unless they're saying the results weren't good. In which case, why not? Isn't a simple matter of searching for specific terms? If I search for "labrador retriever" then how are my search results going to go wrong?

Weird.
L leahyrlwMember
quote:
I actually thought it was a decent idea (although I don't have a store myself) because the Store and Auction listings were clearly divided.

The Auctions and the Stores weren't divided, the Stores were hidden. Why should they be divided in the first place? Very few people read the sentence at the bottom letting them know they could find more. It's shutting the door on the stores and that's what it will do to their sales. Coupled with the loss of sales caused by Auctiva's recent problems, many sellers will not recover. I'd love to be positive about this if I could just find a way. It isn't OK when you effect people's income. This is no place to play dominos.
M marciay96Member
quote:
The Auctions and the Stores weren't divided, the Stores were hidden


I think Rick was saying that when eBay included the store listings in search results you could tell the difference between auction listings and store listings because they were divided by a line. Once you got to the end of the auction listings, there was a line break and then the store listings started.

I agree with him in terms of why are too many results bad? So you refine your search a little better to get a more manageable number of search results. I know that I have done that with some of the searches I do. I am just not sure why they need to yank it so fast and instead of looking for a solution to refine it while keeping it active.
Marcia
R rickbradfordMember
quote:
I think Rick was saying that when eBay included the store listings in search results you could tell the difference between auction listings and store listings because they were divided by a line. Once you got to the end of the auction listings, there was a line break and then the store listings started.


Yes, exactly. So whether a buyer wanted to include both auctions and store items or not, I don't see how they could get "too many results". That's like saying a store has too many options to choose from for the type of product I want to buy.

In addition to "too many results" the release also says that "search results overall are sometimes less relevant than they used to be".

How is that possible if you're searching for specific terms? Are they saying it was buggy without actually admitting to it? It doesn't make sense to me.
C cakethingsMember
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Bradford:
quote:
Originally posted by cakethings:
I think some people "browse" on eBay, which would make 1000's of listings a problem.


How? If they're browsing rather than searching then they must be browsing by category, right? If you're just browsing in general, then of course you'll get too many results! That would be like searching for the word "shipping".


For example... I sell chocolate molds. There are about 6000-7000 on eBay. My store stats show me that people search "chocolate mold", "candy mold", "Easter mold", "bunny mold", etc. Even those searches will turn up 100s if not 1000s of listings.

People aren't searching for "5 cavity Easter egg with flowers sucker mold".

Also, I know that many of our customers can't buy candy molds in stores, so they don't really know what they are looking for anyway - they are just browsing to see what is available.
R rickbradfordMember
So the solution there is either to cut some sellers' auctions out of the results or for the buyer to narrow down what they're looking for by using a search.

If you don't know what you're specifically looking for then nobody can help you until you figure it out. Then there are other customers who will know to search within that category for "easter" "mold" and "sucker".

I'm not trying to be argumentative, really! I just don't understand. I can see how browsing thousands of listings could be daunting but that's not really eBay's problem -- it's the sellers' problem because the customer isn't looking for something specific (or is but doesn't know how to search for it).

I guess the point is moot, though, because the "too many results" claim has to do with searching and not browsing anyhow.

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