How to Search on Ebay

Got lots of time? Time you can waste searching for that item(s) you are looking for on ebay? Got time to look at page after page of wasted effort and dead ends? Been told a bunch of &%^#@ from others about where to look and what to do? I bet that describes you, or else you would not be reading this information.

Want to know how to do a proper search on ebay, find exactly what you are looking for, and do it in a fast, and proficient manner? Then read on…

My grandpa use to say that anything is easier if you know how to do it.

Let’s cut to the real facts. No mumbo-jumbo garbage! Just the way it REALLY isand NO #@+*!

FACT: Many (estimated at over 50%) potential buyers do NOT know how to do a proper search on ebay!!! If they did their searches would last a shorter period of time and they could locate EXACTLY what they are looking for in 20% of the time it takes them now. Think I’m lying? No.because I have been there.

I use to search and search some more. Going through at least 5 to 15 pages before I even got close to what I was seeking. My main problems were that I was lazy and stupid. What a great combination. You ever have these same problems?

Here is what usually happens: The potential buyer signs in to ebay and up pops the main page. They then see a blank box where they can enter words and a button that says Search. Wanna guess what happens next? Yep, they type in a word(s), and hit the Search button.

Let’s say you type in women’s (or men’s) shoes. (I often did something like that in the past. I told you I was stupid). Guess what you are going to get thousands of pairs of shoes. All kinds, colors, prices, and sizes. Guess what comes next? Now the potential buyer tries to sort out exactly what they are seeking plus the correct size, price, color, etc.

I have done the same thing many, many times. Since I was so lazy I would often say @#&*+ with it and go have a cool one. Have you ever done that? Get flustered and just give it up? After all, I told the search engine I wanted a pair of shoes and here it gives me 2,347 pairs! It could at least given me the exact color, size, and price I wanted.

Know what? IT WILL if you ask it nicely!

Let’s see if we can come up with the best, accurate, and faster way to find what we are seeking on ebay by using the proper search procedures.

HOW TO SEARCH ON EBAY

Practice makes chores much easier. After you do it a few times it will become second nature.

DO NOT SKIP THE STEPS! GET IT DOWN CORRECTLY AND IT WILL WORK EVERY TIME.

NOTE: ebay searches ARE NOT case sensitive. Whether or not you use capital letters makes no difference.

1. Sign in to your account and a page will pop-up on your screen. (See, I told you this would work).

2. Look at the TOP RIGHT of that page and you will see the words Advanced Search in a blue color. (You will find this on almost all ebay pages).

3. Click on Advanced Search and a new page will pop-up on your screen.

4. Look at the top left and you will see SEARCH: FIND ITEMS. Look on the right and it will say Customize search options. (This is getting fun, huh)?

5. Look on this page where it says: Enter keyword or item

number. In that blank space list the item(s) you seek.

(Look toward the end of this report to read my HINTS

to help with words and symbols).

6. On this same page just to the right you will see In This

Category. In that blank space you want it to say:

ALL CATEGORIES.

7. Same pageyou will see Search title and description and

a small, blank box. PLACE A CHECK IN THAT BOX.

8. Finally, before you click the SEARCH button you may wish

to scroll down to the bottom of this same page for price, sort by, location, etc. NOW!! GO FOR IT! HIT THE SEARCH BUTTON.

HINTS

You can force the search engine on ebay to look for words in the EXACT order you type them by enclosing the words in quotes. Lincoln Continental will bring up ANY auction with either word in the title or description. But, if you type Lincoln Continental in quotes (like I just did) it will bring up all auctions with the two words in the same order.

If you are looking for items that can be described with MORE than one word you can search for auctions with EITHER WORD. For example, if you are looking for a FORD ESCORT you can do one search like this (FORD,ESCORT) and get ALL auctions with EITHER word. You MUST use parentheses and a comma with NO spaces.

You can also EXCLUDE words from your search by using a MINUS sign. Let’s say you collect pennies, but you do not want to see 2004 pennies. Then enter you request this way: pennies-2004.

To EXCLUDE more words use parentheses around excluded words like this: pennies-(2003,2002,2001,1969). You can exclude up to 20 words this way. Notice what I used and NO spaces!

If you wish to do so you can search for a FEW WORDS out of a string of words. Let’s say we are looking for a Sears S10 Juice Machine made by Kenmore.

A search for Kenmore Juice machine will bring up all Kenmore Juice Machines and a search for Sears S10 will bring up all the items with the model name and number. But why do two searches

when we can do just one?

Here is the proper way: @1Kenmore Juice Sears S10

The @ tells the search engine to INCLUDE any items with at least TWO of the keywords.

I know it sounds strange, but you want to use ONE NUMBER LESS than the required number of terms with the @ sign.

EXAMPLE

@ 1 looks for 2 words

@2 looks for 3 words

@3 looks for 4 words

etc.

In some cases, ebay will automatically EXPAND your search to include items based on the intent of your search rather than matching the exact keywords provided. If you DO NOT wish for ebay to do this, then all you need to do is put quotation marks around ONE of the keywords. Here is a good example: Let’s say you are searching for tickets to see Madonna. (I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would do that, but.) So you type in the words MADONNA TICKETS. This may bring up items that have both keywords MADONNA and TICKETS, as well as items that have the key word MADONNA in the Events Ticket category. But if you entered MADONNA TICKETS your results would include ONLY items with the exact keywords MADONNA TICKETS.

Yes! I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that the words used in your description (or search) are very, very important and you need to know what words to use. Guess what? You are correct! Key words are THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM USED in finding what you are seeking!!

Yes! I know your next question: HOW DO I KNOW WHICH KEY WORDS TO USE TO FIND WHAT I WANT? Simple! I am going to tell you how to find the most POPULAR KEYWORDS.

A popular keyword is simply words that are searched more often than others, and there is a simple way to find out what those keywords are, because ebay will provide them for you. Simply type this address in your browser: http://keyword.ebay.com

When you get to this page..DO NOT type just anything into the search box. If you do it will ONLY search ebay and NOT the keywords! YOU MUST FIND THE LETTER THAT CORRESPONDS TO WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!!!

Here is a good example: Let’s say you wish to buy a used STAR WARS DVD. I click on the D and then click next at the bottom of the page (because DVD is NOT on that page).

So now I am on page 2 of the D category and there it is: DVD, DVD Lot, DVD Players, and DVD Sealed. BUT WAIT! We are not done yet.

Now, click on DVD and it will bring you to a NEW DVD page. Scroll down and you will see Popular Searches. This gives you the most popular search keywords and they are ranked in terms of popularity!

So, if I were looking for a USED STAR WARS DVD here is what keywords I would use:

STAR WARS 1 DVD-NOT SEALED,TRILOGY,VINTAGE

( I actually did a little more work by going back to the keyword page and just assumed Star Wars was a popular search. I clicked on S and found Star Wars, clicked on it, and then found more popular searches).

Notice I used a negative qualifier (-) to get more searches. Simply put, a negative qualifier is a word or phrase that is related to the product by saying..NOT.

REMEMBER: Your search title needs to make sense and say what you are seeking. DO NOT place keywords in the search that are unrelated to what you seek!

If you know what you seek and use the proper keywords you will get tons of choices. Once you have the procedure down, you can get the keywords listed and have your search in front of you in nothing flat! Remember: PRACTICE!!!

DID YOU KNOW? You can send an email directly from the auction page? Just go to the bottom of the auction page, and click on MAIL THIS AUCTION.

DID YOU KNOW? That ebay will send you an email when a new item is listed that you might be interested in buying? Here is what to do: You have your SEARCH RESULTS page in front of you..below the search button click on the ADD TO FAVORITES link. When that page comes up check the box next to: EMAIL ME DAILY WHENEVER THERE ARE NEW ITEMS option and select a period of time to receive.

ALWAYS AND I MEAN ALWAYS RESEARCH THE ITEM AND THE SELLER BEFORE YOU BID!!

Now you know HOW to search for items you may wish to purchase. But you have to make it happen.

I hope your bid wins every time!