FIND EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT FAST!  HOW TO DO ADVANCED EBAY SEARCH ES

If you are an avid collector, the Advanced eBay search function offers an easy method for doing very specialized or specific searching. 

To begin, click the “Advanced Search” button located in the menu bar at the top of the search page.  This will provide a detailed page of search options. 

The only required box for this type of search is the “Search Title.”  You can tailor your search to quickly locate items of interest.  Then you can sort the results by personal preference.  The drop down menu provided offers several options to customize your search and quickly find the items you seek.  Most of the options available are self-explanatory.  You may refine your search according to price range, type of auction and specific categories. 

The “words to exclude” option will eliminate items that don't meet your search criteria. 

Clicking the "Title and Description" option tells the search engine to look for your search words in the auction description as well as the Title Line.  (I always use this option just in case the item I seek is being sold as a part of a lot of group of items).

The format option gives you a choice of how the search results are presented.  You can even choose payment methods and currency choices in case you only want to pay using PayPal or some other option. 

The Locator option allows you to select and search a particular geographical region of listed auctions.  The following are explanations of other options in the Advanced Search function:

SEARCH BY ITEM NUMBER:
 
The most simple method for finding an item at auction is by the Item Number search option.  Enter the Item’s Auction Number and you will go directly to that specific auction.  The Item Number is located below the Auction Title Line at the top of the auction.  Want to easily monitor an auction?  Save the Item Number and use the “By Item Number” option to quickly go check on it periodically.

SEARCH BY SELLER:
 
Use this search function to easily find your favorite sellers or sellers who have sold you great deals previously.  Click the “By Seller” option and enter the sellers' eBay ID.  It will take you directly to that seller’s current auctions.   Want to see their store items?  Click the door next to their eBay ID.

SEARCH BY BIDDER:

Selecting the “By Bidder” option and entering your eBay ID provides a list of auctions you have bid on.  This is a  very convenient method for tracking your bidding activity.  Do you collect something specific and have some known competition?  Put in their eBay ID to see what treasures they have found that you might also be interested in.

SEARCH EBAY STORES:

This is a search function that looks specifically at the eBay stores.  Store items are not generally included in the Auction Item searches (unless there are too few auction results available).  You can find store items you are interested in (and possibly find them at a better price or with a “Make an Offer” option) with the "Search Stores" option.

SEARCH COMPLETED ITEMS:

The “Completed Items” search function allows you to search for items after the auction has ended.  The drop down menu allows you to sort the results by various options.  This tool is invaluable in researching the value of similar items that you will be auctioning.  It also is a great tool for helping to know what your optimum bid should be to secure a bargain or even to know what price will be reasonable based on completed sales.

SORTING SEARCH RESULTS:

The eBay search engine allows you various options to sort your search results.  The default option is “Auctions Ending First.”   However, you may alternatively choose “Newly-Listed Items” first, “Lowest-Priced Items” first or “Highest-Priced Items” first.  Select the results sort option that returns the search results you are seeking.

USING SEARCH MODIFIERS:

Most of the common search techniques that are useful with search engines (such as Google or Lycos) are also applicable to searches on eBay.  You can add various “modifiers” to eliminate or pare down unwanted returns allowing you to search more specifically for exact items.  The following is a list of modifiers (with examples), that should help you to quickly search for anything.  Do note that the search terms shown are NOT Case-Sensitive.

SEARCH WORD FORMAT:

You must enter the "Search Title" words following a simple format.  For general searches without modifiers the words are entered with one space between each word.  Putting in extra spaces or no spaces will not produce search returns.  Carefully type in and check your Search Title for best results.  If you do not get the desired results, remember to change your words and try different combinations of search words.  Another option for better search results is to use a modifier.  Adding modifiers requires an exact format covered later in this guide.

ADDING OR SUBTRACTING WORDS:
 
A long list of results can be pared down to a manageable number of items by continuing to add words in the Search Title.  Subtracting words for the Search Title may help you find more options for your search item.

Example:
You are searching for Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet.  So, you entered all those words into the Search Title box and got no results.  Begin eliminating the descriptive words one at a time until you get some results. 

Adding words to the Search Title has the opposite effect of reducing the number of results.

EXACT PHRASING OF SEARCH WORDS:
 
Enclosing your Search Title words in quotes will instruct the search engine to look only for the words you have entered, and in the exact sequence you entered them.

Example:
Adding modifiers " " or ( ) around your search is a modifier that will return only those results with the search words in the exact order you entered them inside the quotes or parentheses.  More modifiers are discussed later in this article.

EXCLUDE A WORD:

Again, you are looking for a Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet but you don’t want one with turquoise in it.  You enter “Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet” as before.  This time, you add a modifier; -turquoise.  No space appears between the hyphen and the word turquoise (Example: Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet –turquoise.  This will exclude any items that happen to meet the criteria but have the word turquoise in them.

EXCLUDE A GROUP OF WORDS:
 
If you want to find Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet that doesn't have turquoise, coral or jet in it.  Enclose the excluded words in parenthesis separated by commas with no spaces.  As before, place the minus sign at the front.  In this case your search would be:  Mexican sterling silver enameled snake bracelet -(turquoise,coral,jet)

MULTIPLE WORD SEARCHES:

Perhaps you are searching for Mexican or American enamel jewelry.  Your search terms should contain the words Mexican and American.  Enclose the key words in parentheses, separate items by commas, with no spaces. (Example: Your Search Title would be:  enamel jewelry (Mexican, American).  All items containing either of the words will appear in the results.

SEARCH BY MULTIPLE WORD SEARCH WITH ADDED KEYWORD:

You are searching for titles containing the words Mexican, and American plus bracelet. (Example:  Your search title will be:  (Mexican,American) +bracelet.  This search will return all items containing the word Mexican and bracelet or American and bracelet.
 
SEARCH BY SEQUENCE OF LETTERS:
 
This is commonly referred to as a wild card search.  You are searching for items that contain a certain sequence of letters Mex and Amer.  You enter the sequence followed by an asterisk (*).   Example:  Your Search title would be:  Mex* Amer*   This will get you all title lines with words beginning with Mex including Mexico, Mexican, and all words beginning with Amer including Americus, American, Amerasian, etc.

ADDING OR DROPPING THE "S":

The eBay search engine considers the singular and plural forms to be two different words.  Searching for bracelets will return only those titles with bracelets.  Dropping the s to have bracelet will return only results with bracelet in the title.  Remember to add or drop the s or include both forms of the word when searching.

SELLER SHORTHAND:
 
eBay auction Title Lines are limited to forty-five characters.  Seller use this limited space to describe the item for auction in words the buyer is most likely to enter when searching.  This limitation has produced accepted shorthand and abbreviations for many items.  Examples would be CPK for Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, SS for sterling silver, NR for no reserve auctions, NIB for new-in-box, NWT New with tags and many more.  Scan the items you are interested in and note the sellers' abbreviated notations in the Title Lines.  Including these accepted abbreviations into your search words will improve your chances for locating your searched-for item.

Hope this helps with speeding your way to exactly what you want while shopping on eBay.  Please drop by my Auctions (Pepper120851) and Store, "The Write Place" where you name the price you pay every day!

Happy eBaying!!

Pepper