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eBay's search tool is a powerful tool for finding just about anything on eBay. Just about every member knows how to type in a few keywords to search for stuff they want to buy on eBay. What a lot of members don't realize is that there are a number of useful features that can make searching more efficient (i.e. instead of getting 1200 results for your search get 10 or 20).
Typing in one or two keywords is a great way to begin searching for what you want. When you type in two or more search terms, the eBay search utility will search for all auctions that include all of your search terms. Another way of saying this is that multiple search terms are treated as an AND function. If you enter the search terms "green" and "widget", the search tool will return results that include both "green" and "widget" in the listing title.
Say you want to buy a new iPod; you type in the keywords "iPod" and "Apple" to begin your search. What you'll end up with is about 21000 results. With that staggering number of results you may have a difficult time finding the iPod you're really looking for. Your search will end up bringing back every type of iPod that's for sale on eBay and just about all of the accessories for iPods. What can you do to narrow your search to just the things you want to buy on eBay?
To narrow your search to a more reasonable number of results you can add the size of the iPod that you want to buy. For working purposes, let's say you want to buy a 4 Gigabyte(Gb) iPod mini. Add "mini" and "4Gb" to your original search and you will end up with a list of results that is getting closer to something useable for finding an iPod that you want to buy. To further refine your search, add as many keywords to your search string that pertain to the item you are looking to buy.
Sellers try their best to put as many keywords into the titles of their listings, but some terms can be entered in multiple ways. For instance, the iPod size of 4 Gigabytes will usually be abbreviated to "4 Gb" or "4Gb". If you enter the search term, "4Gb" you won't get any results for the iPods that are listed with the term "4Gb" in the title. In order to get a listing of all the 4Gb iPods you want to search with an OR operator. To do this, you put your search terms in parenthesis separated by a comma (e.g. (4 Gb, 4Gb). The search tool will return with all of the iPod listings that have either "4 Gb" OR "4Gb" in the title.
You want to a used iPod instead of a brand new one because you're kind of tight on cash. Up until this point, you've been getting results for both NEW and USED iPods. To filter out all of the new iPods you want to search for all items that don't have a particular keyword (i.e. NEW, NIB). To filter out the NEW iPods you simply enter a hyphen in front of the key word (e.g. -NEW -NIB). This search will yield all of the USED 4Gb iPod Nanos. Now you've probably got a list of auctions or Buy It Now items that is probably useable. {Hint: If you're on the Advanced Search page, you can type words you want to exclude into the "exclude these terms" box.}
To limit the number of categories that the search tool will search in, you can select a specific category after you're first search results. If you searched for iPods in the default "All Categories", you can easily narrow your search by selecting a category within the "Matching Categories" panel on the left side of the search result page. Each time you select a sub-category, you will get the results for your item within that sub-category. If you progressively select sub-categories, you can get down to searching in the specific category "Apple iPod Nano 4Gb". Just keep selecting the next lower level category to limit your search results and you'll get the number of results down to just the items you're looking for.
If you're impatient, and you want to buy you're iPod now, you can further reduce your list of items. Select the Show Only "Buy It Now" option on the "Search Options" panel on the left side of the page. Now you will get a listing of all iPods that are for sale as a BIN format. If you want to avoid purchasing an iPod from a foreign country (say China), you can also select the Location "US Only" radio button.
Before buying anything on eBay, you should check out what the item is selling for on eBay. You don't want to pay $100 on an item that is readily selling for $75. Here's how you can find out the going rate of the item that you're interested in, you simply use eBays SEARCH tool. Click on the Advanced Search link under the SEARCH button, you'll be taken to the advanced search page. Under the search term entry box, select the "Completed listings only" radio button. Now when you enter your search term, you'll get a listing of completed auctions for the previous two weeks. {Hint: listings in green were sold; listings in red didn't sell. You want to concentrate on the sold items and determine if you're willing to pay that price.} If you've performed a basic search, you can just select the Search Option "Completed Listings" on the left panel of the search results page.
Another feature of the search tool is that you can search for items within a specific distance from your home. This is very useful if you're looking to buy something that's big and heavy, like a big screen TV. For something large, most sellers will allow you to pick the item up, so you can save a bundle on shipping. Go to the Advanced Search page and select the "Items near me" option and, enter the maximum distance you're willing to drive. By doing this, you'll end up with only those items that are within driving distance.
You'll end up using a combination of all these search tips by trial and error to find the item you're interested in buying. Whenever you get a large number of search results, look at the listings that you don't want and see if there is a common keyword that you can exclude to narrow down your search. Now you've got the tools to filter your eBay search down to a manageable number of listings, so you can quickly find that next bargain on eBay!
If you've found this guide to be useful, or entertaining, PLEASE VOTE on it at the bottom of this page. If you have any comments, suggestions or corrections regarding this guide, feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm always interested in improving my Guides & Reviews. As always, have a great time shopping on eBay!
Typing in one or two keywords is a great way to begin searching for what you want. When you type in two or more search terms, the eBay search utility will search for all auctions that include all of your search terms. Another way of saying this is that multiple search terms are treated as an AND function. If you enter the search terms "green" and "widget", the search tool will return results that include both "green" and "widget" in the listing title.
Say you want to buy a new iPod; you type in the keywords "iPod" and "Apple" to begin your search. What you'll end up with is about 21000 results. With that staggering number of results you may have a difficult time finding the iPod you're really looking for. Your search will end up bringing back every type of iPod that's for sale on eBay and just about all of the accessories for iPods. What can you do to narrow your search to just the things you want to buy on eBay?
To narrow your search to a more reasonable number of results you can add the size of the iPod that you want to buy. For working purposes, let's say you want to buy a 4 Gigabyte(Gb) iPod mini. Add "mini" and "4Gb" to your original search and you will end up with a list of results that is getting closer to something useable for finding an iPod that you want to buy. To further refine your search, add as many keywords to your search string that pertain to the item you are looking to buy.
Sellers try their best to put as many keywords into the titles of their listings, but some terms can be entered in multiple ways. For instance, the iPod size of 4 Gigabytes will usually be abbreviated to "4 Gb" or "4Gb". If you enter the search term, "4Gb" you won't get any results for the iPods that are listed with the term "4Gb" in the title. In order to get a listing of all the 4Gb iPods you want to search with an OR operator. To do this, you put your search terms in parenthesis separated by a comma (e.g. (4 Gb, 4Gb). The search tool will return with all of the iPod listings that have either "4 Gb" OR "4Gb" in the title.
You want to a used iPod instead of a brand new one because you're kind of tight on cash. Up until this point, you've been getting results for both NEW and USED iPods. To filter out all of the new iPods you want to search for all items that don't have a particular keyword (i.e. NEW, NIB). To filter out the NEW iPods you simply enter a hyphen in front of the key word (e.g. -NEW -NIB). This search will yield all of the USED 4Gb iPod Nanos. Now you've probably got a list of auctions or Buy It Now items that is probably useable. {Hint: If you're on the Advanced Search page, you can type words you want to exclude into the "exclude these terms" box.}
To limit the number of categories that the search tool will search in, you can select a specific category after you're first search results. If you searched for iPods in the default "All Categories", you can easily narrow your search by selecting a category within the "Matching Categories" panel on the left side of the search result page. Each time you select a sub-category, you will get the results for your item within that sub-category. If you progressively select sub-categories, you can get down to searching in the specific category "Apple iPod Nano 4Gb". Just keep selecting the next lower level category to limit your search results and you'll get the number of results down to just the items you're looking for.
If you're impatient, and you want to buy you're iPod now, you can further reduce your list of items. Select the Show Only "Buy It Now" option on the "Search Options" panel on the left side of the page. Now you will get a listing of all iPods that are for sale as a BIN format. If you want to avoid purchasing an iPod from a foreign country (say China), you can also select the Location "US Only" radio button.
Before buying anything on eBay, you should check out what the item is selling for on eBay. You don't want to pay $100 on an item that is readily selling for $75. Here's how you can find out the going rate of the item that you're interested in, you simply use eBays SEARCH tool. Click on the Advanced Search link under the SEARCH button, you'll be taken to the advanced search page. Under the search term entry box, select the "Completed listings only" radio button. Now when you enter your search term, you'll get a listing of completed auctions for the previous two weeks. {Hint: listings in green were sold; listings in red didn't sell. You want to concentrate on the sold items and determine if you're willing to pay that price.} If you've performed a basic search, you can just select the Search Option "Completed Listings" on the left panel of the search results page.
Another feature of the search tool is that you can search for items within a specific distance from your home. This is very useful if you're looking to buy something that's big and heavy, like a big screen TV. For something large, most sellers will allow you to pick the item up, so you can save a bundle on shipping. Go to the Advanced Search page and select the "Items near me" option and, enter the maximum distance you're willing to drive. By doing this, you'll end up with only those items that are within driving distance.
You'll end up using a combination of all these search tips by trial and error to find the item you're interested in buying. Whenever you get a large number of search results, look at the listings that you don't want and see if there is a common keyword that you can exclude to narrow down your search. Now you've got the tools to filter your eBay search down to a manageable number of listings, so you can quickly find that next bargain on eBay!
If you've found this guide to be useful, or entertaining, PLEASE VOTE on it at the bottom of this page. If you have any comments, suggestions or corrections regarding this guide, feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm always interested in improving my Guides & Reviews. As always, have a great time shopping on eBay!
Guide created: 06/22/06 (updated 10/27/09)
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