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General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: Lightages on February 07, 2013, 04:31:35 am

Title: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Lightages on February 07, 2013, 04:31:35 am
I was searching for Franky's items on ebay and entered things like UT61E and Brymen, but he doesn't show. When I try to search Brymen, ebay automatically "corrects" my spelling to "Bremen". If I search for "Brymen"  then nothing shows up at all. If I search for his user name F-T-2000 then I can find him as a user and then get to his store. What am I missing?
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: iloveelectronics on February 07, 2013, 04:57:59 am
I was searching for Franky's items on ebay and entered things like UT61E and Brymen, but he doesn't show. When I try to search Brymen, ebay automatically "corrects" my spelling to "Bremen". If I search for "Brymen"  then nothing shows up at all. If I search for his user name F-T-2000 then I can find him as a user and then get to his store. What am I missing?

That doesn't sound good (for my business). Can anyone else confirm?
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Postal666 on February 07, 2013, 05:07:45 am
http://stores.ebay.com/99centHobbies?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 (http://stores.ebay.com/99centHobbies?_trksid=p2047675.l2563)

I see this, as well as 30+ auctions currently running.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/f-t-2000/m.html?item=200874532840&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 (http://www.ebay.com/sch/f-t-2000/m.html?item=200874532840&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562)

I'm in Indiana, USA, if that matters.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: iloveelectronics on February 07, 2013, 05:19:12 am
Thanks, but if you search for keywords like UT61E or Brymen, do you see my items come up?

http://stores.ebay.com/99centHobbies?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 (http://stores.ebay.com/99centHobbies?_trksid=p2047675.l2563)

I see this, as well as 30+ auctions currently running.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/f-t-2000/m.html?item=200874532840&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 (http://www.ebay.com/sch/f-t-2000/m.html?item=200874532840&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562)

I'm in Indiana, USA, if that matters.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Postal666 on February 07, 2013, 05:25:03 am
yep, this is one of 3 Brymen results:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM257-Digital-Multimeter-6000-count-Brand-New-Fluke-alternative-/200874532840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM257-Digital-Multimeter-6000-count-Brand-New-Fluke-alternative-/200874532840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec50e1fe8)

UT61E shows this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNI-T-UT-61E-UT61E-22-000-count-Digital-Multimeter-/200887197852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec5cf609c (http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNI-T-UT-61E-UT61E-22-000-count-Digital-Multimeter-/200887197852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec5cf609c)

The links are to the individual auctions, but I assure you I found them both through the eBay search engine.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Moshly on February 07, 2013, 05:33:02 am
I get 3 hits for Brymen (no auto correct, but gives option, did you mean 'bremen') and 28 items for UT61E on ebay.com.au worldwide search.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Spawn on February 07, 2013, 05:44:46 am
I get two results on Brymen, both of them are yours, the USB kit and the BM257 on ebay.nl
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Lightages on February 07, 2013, 06:00:00 am
They must be playing games with connections in Chile. If I do an advanced search and select "show items only for Hong Kong" then I get results. If I leave it to not filter per country I see nothing.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: markbee on February 07, 2013, 07:45:02 am
ebay seems to have altered the results which show up, when you perfrom a search.
For example in germany it matters if your browsers is set to ".de" (=germany) or ".en" (US/ GB).
Also if you search "worldwide" on ebay.de you would get much less results then searching with .com or even .fr .

If I search for "ut61e" on ebay.de with "worldwide" activated I don't get your offer.
Searched on ebay.com I get your listed UT61E. Even if "worldwide" is not clicked.

Maybe one should do some proxy tests and compare the results with different settings.

I have no clue why ebay is cutting its sellers this way.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: flolic on February 07, 2013, 08:19:00 am
When searching for "UT61E" on ebay.com, I get 15 active listings, including Franky's.
"Brymen" gives me two hits, one for multimeter, and one for USB interface kit.
I am in Croatia.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: amyk on February 07, 2013, 10:17:30 am
When I try to search Brymen, ebay automatically "corrects" my spelling to "Bremen".
This is one of the things that has really pissed me off with Google and other search engines, not just eBay. The query doesn't come to mind right now but recently I was looking for info about some electronics concept and it was giving me many results talking about the exact opposite concept! They claim "query rewriting" gives you "more relevant results" --- I just see it as them running low on server resources, since merging the indices makes the search go faster and reduces storage. Where's the "search for exactly what I wrote" option?!

(Also try searching for schematics. Somehow Google thinks a "user manual" is the same thing. |O)
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: GK on February 07, 2013, 10:31:40 am
I hate these datasheet archives that seem to be multiplying in number. Once upon a time you could just enter a part# into Google and your second or first hit would be the parts datasheet *.pdf on the manufacturers site. Now I often find myself (especially for a slightly obscure part) having to sift through a heap of interrelated crap (app notes, alternative parts list, etc) to find what I'm after. A manufactures website often doesn't even show up on the initial search listings page. Sometimes the 1st 10 URL's on the list are useless ones to the same bloody datasheet archive!
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: amyk on February 07, 2013, 10:40:50 am
I hate these datasheet archives that seem to be multiplying in number. Once upon a time you could just enter a part# into Google and your second or first hit would be the parts datasheet *.pdf on the manufacturers site. Now I often find myself (especially for a slightly obscure part) having to sift through a heap of interrelated crap (app notes, alternative parts list, etc) to find what I'm after. A manufactures website often doesn't even show up on the initial search listings page. Sometimes the 1st 10 URL's on the list are useless ones to the same bloody datasheet archive!
That usually indicates the manufacturer is either gone, no longer makes the part, or otherwise making it difficult to get datasheets from them directly.

What I really hate are the multiple sites claiming to sell the part... which often include "datasheet" in their pages just to get more people to visit them.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: ecat on February 07, 2013, 12:11:42 pm
From the UK

UT61E brings up many results including Franky's place

When I try to search Brymen, ebay automatically "corrects" my spelling to "Bremen".

That's what I get too: "0 results for Brymen, so we searched for bremen".
Strangely if I search for "Brymen -bremen", without the quotes, Franky's BM257 and his interface kit pop up as the only results.

Conclusion?
On ebay 0 is a small number but not necessarily equal to 1 + -1 . They probably use high vacuum virtual particle search techniques ;)
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: ModemHead on February 07, 2013, 01:11:09 pm
I hate these datasheet archives that seem to be multiplying in number. Once upon a time you could just enter a part# into Google and your second or first hit would be the parts datasheet *.pdf on the manufacturers site. Now I often find myself (especially for a slightly obscure part) having to sift through a heap of interrelated crap (app notes, alternative parts list, etc) to find what I'm after. A manufactures website often doesn't even show up on the initial search listings page. Sometimes the 1st 10 URL's on the list are useless ones to the same bloody datasheet archive!
+1 on that.  Try adding filetype:pdf to the Google query.

Edit: back on topic: "Brymen" and "UT61E" brings up Frankie's stuff for me on ebay.com.  But I have noticed lately that eBay searches are somewhat erratic.  With the absolutely constant state of flux of eBay's software, I think maybe their server load-sharing may lead to inconsistencies.
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: iloveelectronics on February 08, 2013, 03:52:23 pm
A big THANKS to everyone who have tried to search on eBay and see if my entries come up. I really appreciate it!

I have just set my store on vacation mode because the post office will be closed after tomorrow (half day) through next Wednesday due to the Chinese New Year holiday. I'm not sure how eBay handles searches on stores that are on vacation but I reckon I may not appear in the search result until I "return". I will still take orders during this time, it's just that I won't be able to ship until next Thursday. Thanks!
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: Spawn on February 08, 2013, 04:15:05 pm
It is working Franky, items are listed and I get this warning on your items:
(http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z298/Bl4ckW0lfi3/ebayonvac1_zpsb61581fe.jpg)
But I still can commit to buy.

I seen sellers last week, their items are listed but if you want commit to buy you get:
(http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z298/Bl4ckW0lfi3/ebayonvac2_zps50bd41e5.jpg)
Title: Re: I must be losing it, ebay doesn't work correctly for me
Post by: iloveelectronics on February 08, 2013, 04:22:05 pm
It is working Franky, items are listed and I get this warning on your items:

But I still can commit to buy.

I seen sellers last week, their items are listed but if you want commit to buy you get:


Yes, eBay allows you to choose whether to block purchases during your vacation or not. I decided to continue to accept orders, as long as the customers understand the delay.