Should eBay Add the Ability for Buyers to Filter Out Relists?

by: pace306

The implementation of Cassini has NOTHING to do with results (real world results) in searches.

Cassini always was and always will be a Pay for Play tool - created to obtain maximum profit from said searches.

Sellers whom eBay likes aka "beloveds" go first. eBay turns a blind eye to alot of listing violations and more - just as long as those sellers provide a constant stream of revenue.

Take the Watch category - a category Im in. A good %50+ have copyrighted pics in them. The pics are WHOLESALE stolen from manufacturers sites - and they are VERO violations - and yet you cant even report them anymore. eBay also stopped going after sellers who steal YOUR pics - but thats another topic.

eBay as well allows those sellers to list in the location section of the listing "Hong Kong, United States, or United States United States". Foreign sellers then get equal billing with US sellers and get to "go first" when they should be at the bottom of the list - in the "also available from these international sellers".

Cassini doesnt work - cause its not supposed to. If eBay wanted to have a working search - they could have licensed one from Google.

Free listings? Those were simply done by eBay legal. eBays TOS says they can hide your listings AT WILL. Taking money for a service and then not providing it is a crime - its called FRAUD.

To avoid that, eBay doles out plenty of free listings - hoping you will think that eBay is a generous BFF.

It does clog up the site - but its not any different then before when eBay allowed dupe listings and people created 100 of the same listing .....

Yes it sux for some people - but eBay isnt interested in YOUR search experience .... unless it costs them REAL $$ and as of now - it doesnt.

by: alaska

The relists are my worst nightmare. I just can't stand searching eBay anymore. I'd rather go to the dentist than search eBay, but like needing good dental care, I need to keep searching to find the unique things that I collect. The free listings were supposed to help save eBay but instead ruined it for the buyers of antiques and vintage collectibles. I am so sick of searching the daguerreotypes category each night. There are so many damn listings that have been relisted for a year or two that never sell. When I am faced with a page of listings and 80% of them are unique items that have been relisted dozens and dozens of times, I just can't focus on trying to figure out which ones are new to the site. It's too much work. I have a lot of bookmarked searches that I would love to run again each week, but the masses of relists prevents this. I think this is a huge reason for eBay losing buyers. Do you think a wealthy person has the time to wade through all of the relists looking for that gem for their collection? They do not. EBay has lost many of their best sellers, and they are losing many of their best buyers because of the stupid relists of uninteresting or overpriced items. EBay should give us the option to see only first-time listed items in our searches.

by: Candy

I don't have the time to look at the complete auctions which means I miss all the buy it nows and wish I could push a button that meant I wouldn't have to see it again.  

by: toolguy

I feel Cassini works well for my products

Some of my unique tools have to be listed 5-10 times before they sell.

If they were filtered out they would never sell. . .

by: toolguy

I find searching ebay as fun today as it was 15 years ago.

I guess it just matters on what you're searching for.

I've had NO problem finding the items I want to buy on ebay.

(1000) 4x6 4 mil plastics bags. Easy find and bought them.

Needed (2) Smartmedia cards for my old Olympus camera, No problem finding them with Cassini on ebay.

I wanted to try out some bubble mailers. Bought (200) of them on ebay NO problem!

by: Ric

Not to put too fine a point on it but.... eBay does not have the talent, ability, or motivation to create a filter to eliminate relists.

Sellers using Turbo Lister and start their listings from a blank page can send that listing to eBay every time their listing expires, and each time, it is considered a new listing because it is not associated with a previous listing number.

Let's not forget that sellers have become savvy to work arounds on eBay, and when relisting items all they would need to do is to juggle the word placement in their titles or use a different lot designation each time they relist that item, and that would be enough to make it read as a new listing and defeat any filter eBay's skill challenged programmers might attempt to build.

by: BargainzBabylon

If the search were better and the Chinese weren't given such a stranglehold, most of those re-re-re-listed items would have probably sold.  

by: dsmith

If Richard is a serious collector of rare items as he says he says he is he should consider hiring a dealer that specializes in his area or going through an auction house to locate items for him as much serious collectors of these items do. If he's just one of those looking to make a steal of a deal trying to find rare items that would sell for significantly below market value as many people who have this complaint are trying to do then I have to say the days of searching on Ebay for people selling treasures for pennies have come and gone for the most part. Ebay is a wonderful long tail marketplace and pricing is usually a factor of the time and money invested with long wait times for the customer to come along. If Ebay did offer a feature like the one Richard proposes it would just ruin the marketplace.  

by: Marie

The buyer in the article IMHO is a bit mistaken.  JD never allowed for "unlimited free listings".  At least not from my point of view.  Yes we got some promotions for free listings.  But they weren't all the time and we never  knew when they might be coming.  The buyer is limited to one category in their searches, therefore that doesn't necessarily represent an overall view.

As for seeing so many relists, I think that is far more likely to be from a lack of traffic than free listings.

by: globalhistory

How about: If a store item is there for'let's say, 5 years, the price is automatically reduced w. 20%. Or after 200 hits the price goes down.
Remove it after 5 years is an option I understand for shoes, but w. antiques and collectibles it is different. In a regular store antiques are there for more than 10 years before they find a collector. But I can understand the frustation of a buyer to see over and over again the same items. If ebay could find a way to order the items to the date they were listed, than you will have the latest at the top.  

by: nsc

Cassini has everything to with relists. Cassini gives a little visibility to new listings, but hides ''stale'' listings. Sellers relist to avoid being made invisible.

The real question is why eBay thought sellers are too stupid to figure out what Cassini is doing.

by: nsc

@pace, Driving away good buyers like Richard and alaska is costing eBay plenty. But they are too short-sighted and greedy to figure it out.

by: Marie

@nsc

It is better to make them a new listing than it is to relist them.  While doing the relist function does help, you will get higher in the rankings by have a new listing.  So pull them into TL and then list them.  They will all show up as a new listing.

@globalhistory

Ebay's hands are way to far up my business as it is.  I absolutely don't want them to have the power to reduce pricing on my listings.  They don't own the stock no do they know what I have wrapped up in them financially.  Ebay should NEVER have the right to set pricing.  That could and would be extremely dangerous.

I would think that buyers of antiques and collectibles would be use to seeing some of the same stuff reappearing.  As you say it is normal in the industry.  So why does it have to be different on Ebay?  And antiques and collectibles are not the only categories on Ebay.  Are you suggesting this should be site wide?  

by: nsc

@marie, When I spoke of relists, I meant relists done via a third party lister to avoid the eBay relist back pointer. I should have been clearer.

As far as the buyer is concerned, it's all a relist -- and it's the fault of Cassini. If they kept showing older listings, sellers could leave Good Til Canceled listings in place, and buyers could sort listings by recently listed. This is how it used to work.

by: Secret Seller

I love the quote abouy ebay fraud detection.  I have reported this buyer multiple times and ebay still allows this fraud to continue

FRAUD kayla5392
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&u
serid=kayla5392&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers

A small sample     Feedback Left for When
Positive feedback rating Never recieved. Seller:
Member id
cy_kjkura (Yellow shooting star icon for feedback score in between 10,000 to 24,999)
During past month
-- --
Negative feedback rating Does not work Seller:
Member id
shine-web (Teal shooting star icon for feedback score in between 25,000 to 49,999)
During past month
-- --
Negative feedback rating Does not work Seller:
Member id
dealingitnow (Yellow shooting star icon for feedback score in between 10,000 to 24,999)
During past 6 months
-- -- Private
Negative feedback rating Sent broken item Seller:
Member id
longdragon2013 (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Negative feedback rating Sent broken item Seller:
Member id
upspirit2 (Red star icon for feedback score in between 1,000 to 4,999)
During past 6 months


   Reply by upspirit2 (Jan-11-16 18:33):
   Cause during the long time oversea shipping,please contact us at first,thanks :)

-- --
Negative feedback rating Sent xxl I purchased xxxl. Seller:
Member id
gamesalor (Red shooting star icon for feedback score in between 100,000 to 499,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Negative feedback rating Broken zipper Seller:
Member id
wowsexy2009 (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months


   Reply by wowsexy2009 (Jan-09-16 00:11):
   Hi dear, we will contact you to solve it well. Please no worry.

-- --
Negative feedback rating Does not stick. Seller:
Member id
imaxdecor (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months


   Reply by imaxdecor (Jan-11-16 18:57):
   Dear ,I'm sorry about that ,and I have refunded you .Regards

-- --
Positive feedback rating Not happy Seller:
Member id
leochen119 (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Positive feedback rating A++ Seller:
Member id
inalliance0009 (Teal shooting star icon for feedback score in between 25,000 to 49,999)
During past 6 months
Feedback was revised on Jan-05-16 05:39
-- --
Negative feedback rating Never recieved. Seller:
Member id
taobaotown (Yellow shooting star icon for feedback score in between 10,000 to 24,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Positive feedback rating A++ Seller:
Member id
supermarket9527 (Red star icon for feedback score in between 1,000 to 4,999)
During past 6 months
Feedback was revised on Jan-01-16 08:03
-- --
Negative feedback rating Does not turn on. I am very upset . Seller:
Member id
a4c (Green shooting star icon for feedback score in between 500,000 to 999,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Negative feedback rating Missing parts. Will never purchase from them again! Seller:
Member id
jordygdl (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Positive feedback rating Arrived smashed and glitter everywhere!!!!!! Seller:
Member id
colorshell (Red star icon for feedback score in between 1,000 to 4,999)
During past 6 months
-- -- Private
Negative feedback rating Purchased 2. They do not work! Terrible seller!! Seller:
Member id
amyebstore (Yellow shooting star icon for feedback score in between 10,000 to 24,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
info
Detailed item information is not available for the following items because the Feedback is over 90 days old.
Negative feedback rating Purchased 2 only received 1 Seller:
Member id
led1928go (Teal shooting star icon for feedback score in between 25,000 to 49,999)
During past 6 months
-- --
Positive feedback rating Received broken phone case Seller:
Member id
estarstation (Purple shooting star icon for feedback score in between 50,000 to 99,999)
During past 6 months
-- -- Private
Negative feedback rating Shipped in bag. Items arrived broken. Seller:
Member id
taoyoumehgfd (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past 6 months
-- -- Private
Negative feedback rating Does not work! Seller:
Member id
unitednewfrog (Red shooting star icon for feedback score in between 100,000 to 499,999)
During past year


   Reply by unitednewfrog (Sep-08-15 19:51):
   Sorry item not perform up your satisfaction, we'll contact you to resolve it.

-- --
Negative feedback rating Not happy at all!! Seller:
Member id
greenshop333 (Red shooting star icon for feedback score in between 100,000 to 499,999)
During past year
-- --
Negative feedback rating Not happy at all!! Seller:
Member id
chic-ehome (Teal shooting star icon for feedback score in between 25,000 to 49,999)
During past year
-- --
Negative feedback rating Never received Seller:
Member id
aoer0120 (Green star icon for feedback score in between 5,000 to 9,999)
During past year
-- --
Positive feedback rating a++ Seller:
Member id
normetti (Teal star icon for feedback score in between 100 to 499)
During past year
Feedback was revised on May-20-15 10:03

by: Secret Seller

Crap wrong post sorry

by: Rexford

Globalhistory says "How about: If a store item is there for'let's say, 5 years, the price is automatically reduced w. 20%."

HA!  Seriously? Do you sell on eBay? Would you really want (or trust) eBay to have that kind of control?  eBay is not a consignment shop, it is a platform, and they are SUPPOSED to keep their hands off of sellers' businesses.  

by: White Rabbit

I think Ebay needs the relisted items, not my opinion but theirs as new free promotions started today and relisted items are included. one solution.. try to get better at searching. or shop on a site that has fewer items :-) or a site like Etsy that list imported Chinese things in areas that they do not belong in and they how up in search regardless of what you are searching for.

Ebay should , imo, be more focused on a simple task.. show people's items fairly in search. in collectibles .. this is happening fairly now. I have no idea in other areas but from the complaints here..?

by: Jono

Here's a list of a few things.....wrong with eBay......As a BUSINESS SELLER....
The ''save search'' on a sellers see sellers items page is inactive & has been for almost a year now - will not fix until enough complaints.
Cant save ''favorite searches'' on some accounts even after deleting one. I'm down to 80 on two the others have 100 - will not fix until enough complaints.
US sellers can not use shopping cart to buy multiple items from UK without paying postage for every item & incurring a 50p min charge per transactionfrom PayPal - they have no plans to change this.
Can not find ''The who'' or dates formatted 14/4/19** in my eBay selling manager I've Reported 30 times over 8 years.
Promotions manager not working at all - switches sales off - been waiting a week for a call back from eBay agent but doubt I'll get one.

Here's a list of a few things.....wrong with eBay......As a BUYER....
Sellers increasing prices when out of stock.
Sellers displaying 99p on items that are not 99p.
Sellers using borders & added text to images.
Sellers listing duplicate items with slight title variations or price variations or across multiple accounts with same templates & business address.

by: rhawk

If you have one or two poor performing items, the rest of your listings can lose visibility. This is the single biggest stupid factor in Cassini that needs to disappear asap.