Question
Have you guys seen this?
http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/marketing...05-03-07110755
Coming Soon: Find a Member Feature Redesign
Date: 03/07/05 Time: 11:10:19 AM PST
In the next week, we will be making it easier to find other members. The current Find a Member and Find User ID features that let you search by either User ID or email address will be combined into one. If you use an email address, you’ll still need to enter the exact one to find someone. But if you search by User ID, however, you will see a new results page that not only shows the exact match (if there is one), but also up to 15 close matches.
We’ll also show useful information about each member, such as how long they’ve been a member on eBay, and links to their Member Profile. If they have items listed for sale, you’ll also see a link to their Seller’s Other Items page, or, if they have one, to their eBay Store.
To Find a Member, simply click on the Advanced Search link underneath the Search box in the upper right-hand corner of almost any eBay page.
There's a thread about this topic in the other forum:
Here are my thoughts (which I also posted in the other thread)
From a seller's standpoint, I think this new seller search is disadvantageous for a number of reasons.
1. Your buyer now has lots of distractions when searching for your username because he has a list of similar names to check out. He may spend his money on an item offered by a similar ID and never get back to you. He would NOT have seen these other IDs by just searching on your username before this change. I'm betting that in most cases the buyer WILL click on the other names. You have enough competition as it is, why would you want more?
2. A buyer now needs to make an extra click in order to view your auctions. Meanwhile he has distractions (see #1)
3. If a seller doesn't currently have any auctions running, you cannot view his closed auctions
4. All bookmarked favorite seller listings will bring up the listings of the similar ID's as well. Again, more unneeded competition
5. How is the referral credit going to work for Store sellers? If someone has you bookmarked and doesn't get taken to your store first, how will you get the referral credit?
From a buyer's point of view I only see one advantage:
1. If a buyer couldn't remember a seller's full username he may be able to find it with the new search. However, he may find another seller he likes even better.
This new feature seems to be in the buyer's favor, not the seller's. However, eBay is the one who really wins with the new search because they're giving the buyer more chances to make a purchase, therefore putting more money in their pocket. I don't think eBay cares if the purchase is made from the seller whose username was the original subject of the buyer's search or from a similar username. They get paid either way.
What do you think about this new "enhancement"?
Blanche
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yep. my thoughts exactly, of course you worded it more eloquently than I would have
example
New search sucks....
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What total BS this new "enhancement" is! I've sent Bill Cobb a long email.
Work around for not being able to search seller's completed aucxtions if they don't have current auctions running ... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5758403251
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If you search for "touch", "Touch of Europe" does NOT show up.
If you search for "dog", "dog25" does NOT show up.
SO, the "similar" ID's are somewhat limited in scope.
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I put my two cents in just after 9 o'clock this morning on the other thread that bhearsch linked to...
For my own purposes I keep a bookmark to my own last 30 days of auctions.
Code:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=USERNAMEHERE&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1
To use it, just insert the sellers USERNAME where I've indicated.
As of this moment, 6:37 PM EST Wednesday March 9, it still works to bring up the 30 day history of items offered regardless of whether the Seller is currently offering items or not. How long it will continue to work is anybody's guess.
My sentiments about this "enhancement" have not mellowed during the day, so please don't ask me what I really think.
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Originally Posted by lindamoss
If you search for "touch", "Touch of Europe" does NOT show up.
And one assumes you have test-driven the search for "extra" and "ordinary" and "extraordinary" and even "extraordinary!"
lindamoss, you show truly extraordinary restraint when you describe this worthless piece of trash programming as "somewhat limited in scope."
I salute you. I wish I could be like you.
But I can't.
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This makes no sense at all! But what else is new, eh?
I did a seller search today, and found it really annoying. When I know the exact name of the seller, and there is an exact match, what do you need the SIMILARS for?? It would make a lot more sense if it showed similars only when there is NOT an exact match.
I swear, those eBay employees really need something productive to do! Half the time the things they come up with just look like "make-work" projects.
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This new feature seems to be in the buyer's favor, not the seller's. However, eBay is the one who really wins with the new search because they're giving the buyer more chances to make a purchase, therefore putting more money in their pocket. I don't think eBay cares if the purchase is made from the seller whose username was the original subject of the buyer's search or from a similar username. They get paid either way.
And there's the bottom line...
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Blanche, you said:
4. All bookmarked favorite seller listings will bring up the listings of the similar ID's as well. Again, more unneeded competition
I don't understand what you mean. Are you talking about the favorite sellers list in My eBay ? I don't see anything different...can you elaborate? Thanks.
On a related note, I just added a favorite seller to my list, and it added them to my Favorite Sellers Top Picks email (sent by eBay) by default. I swear that "top picks" wasn't there yesterday, and I didn't see anything in the announcements about it.
Like I need more eBay spam.
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Originally Posted by d.u.i.fridays
I don't understand what you mean. Are you talking about the favorite sellers list in My eBay ?
Many of us keep lists, sometimes long lists, of our favorite sellers in our own bookmarks or favorites (depending on what your browser calls it). The standard way to get the URL was to go to eBay's Advanced Search, select Search by Seller, enter the Seller's Username, and click. Then you would bookmark that page in order to peruse the Seller's offerings at any time in the future.
Now if you click on that bookmark, or follow the same path (Advanced Search > Search by Seller > Username), instead of reaching his listing page you get this latest enhancement, thankyoujustthesame.
I've never used the "favorite sellers list on My eBay" so I have no idea what if any effect this has had on that.