Oh and one more thing: eBay Product Search is Rigged
March 16, 2011
Since eBay is probably going to die, I might as well let the cat out of the bag. eBay’s product search is rigged. So that you can replicate my results and see it for yourself, I’ll tell you how I figured it out. If you’ve been wondering why on such a big site with so much traffic, your listings aren’t getting many views, here’s why.
I like Arab perfume oils very much. My favorite brand is Al Rehab. Many sellers have them, and a long time ago, I used to find many great deals with just using the search and “price+shipping, lowest first”. Lately though, when I type “al rehab” in the search I’d see one listing of a scent that I didn’t like, for a reasonable price, and tons for unreasonable prices. I thought, like anyone would, that this was all that was available.
So, I’d wait and try again in a few days…then again in a few more days. So on a hunch, I clicked the first listing so that maybe I could contact the seller to get the exact scents I liked.
Lo and behold, in their STORE (not just regular listings, mind you), I found many of my favorite scents for the reasonable price. My question was, “Why didn’t these show up in the listings?” Al Rehab was in their titles. They should have come up.
….
Obviously, when you select price+shipping, lowest first, you’re not getting that. You’re getting what eBay wants you to see, not what you asked for. How many times have you done a search for a specific product that you used to find all the time for a reasonable price, but not anymore?
So eBay isn’t just scamming the U.S. government by charging shipping without shipping anything, or just the sellers by adding all sorts of crazy fees. They’re scamming you, the buyers who think you’re finding the best deals, but you’re not.
Recent Comments