eBay UK’s new search loses SIF results?

July 3, 2008

Last week, eBay UK made rather a cryptic announcement about how shops’ listings will appear in search. Some of us were hopeful that Best Match might even mean that SIF listings could return to search results, but it seems our optimism was misplaced.

can't search on BIN and SIF together
click picture to embiggen

The first problem I discovered is that it’s not actually possible to search BIN and SIF listings at the same time. If I want to buy something now, I don’t actually care what sort of listing it comes from, I just want to get it and pay for it, but eBay’s search filter is now forcing me to choose between BIN or SIF: if you choose one, the other is greyed out. The old system which gave those in the know the option to add SIFs into their BIN searches was bad enough: if a buyer specifies ‘buy it now’, SIF listings should be included by default. But telling buyers they need to choose between the two formats is just nonsensical; the average buyer has no idea what the difference is, and neither should they have to figure it out. This is exceedingly user-unfriendly.

Then I had an email from TameBay reader Miss Tequila, who’s been seeing some even odder search results. She told me she’d been looking for “raw 7 cashmere”, one of her favourite searches. On the left is the old search; on the right, the new:

The old search shows 25 items including SIF; the new, just one. As Miss T. says, “looks like they want shops gone”.

eBay’s original announcement suggests there is more than one new layout being tested, so Miss T’s version may not be what everyone’s seeing. If you’re one of those seeing the new search results, please let us know what you think: the more specific detail you can give us, the better ;-)

Updated to add

I heard from eBay regarding Miss T’s search results; they point out that the old version searches worldwide, and the new one doesn’t, and that this is the reason for the discrepancy. It’s nice to have it explained, though I do wonder, if Miss T and me both missed it, how difficult this is going to be for buyers to get right too.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, Site Changes, eBay.co.uk | 22 Comments 

Stores shipping prices now editable even after sales

June 13, 2008

eBay.com have made a great change for Store owners: shipping details can now be edited on SIF listings which have already made sales.

Previously, neither shipping price nor shipping services could be edited on a multiple item SIF listing if an item had already been sold. If shipping prices changed or the seller switched shipping provider, the listing had to be ended and relisted. But not any longer: sellers can change shipping details relative to future purchases, though obviously the offered price and carrier will remain the same for purchases made prior to the change.

This should make Stores’ owners’ lives so much easier; lets hope it rolls out to other eBay sites very soon.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, eBay.com | 1 Comment