It becomes increasingly impossible to search for items and hope to get the actual price in the search results.
Even with quite detailed and creative search terms you are bombarded with results of suspiciously low prices.
Search for a simple 24V 2Amp transformer and you get hundreds of switchmode power supplies instead.
Often starting as low as 3 bucks.
You check the listing and instead of the expected single item with the shown single price you get a menu to select what you want.
And of course the low price from the search result corresponds to something totally different, like a case, adapter or plug....
What exactly is the point of allowing faked multi item listing that cover a price range from under $5 up to several hundred Dollars?
Someone actually looking for something has to waste hours comparing listings and go through menu options - often to find out the item he wants is not even available at all.
If I search, for example, for a heavy duty phone cover then I don't want to get tons of results starting at a few bucks where the low listing price is a USB cale instead of the protective cover that then suddenly shows up to cost about twice as it should cost.
And of course it is again the power sellers listed first and with the most misleading listings.
Promoting through buyer frustation?
I often have to waste valuable time creating quite long search terms with exclusions and all only to get a chance to actually find what I am looking for.
Multi item listings should be limited to selecting quantities or for example with clothes sizes but not to list totally unrelated items to fake a low item price that results in the top of the search.
Yes, I tried the support suggestion and searched for "Best match" instead of lowest price.
But then I get usually totally overpriced results and it ends to be a total mess as it becomes impossible to compare prices and find the best deal.
Until recently there was at least a price range listed, like $3.95 to $298 and you could expect that if you look for something relatively expensive that the higest price would be what you look for.
Now this bit disappears as well and the buyer only sees the $3.95 and nothing to even suggest it is in fact a misleading multi item listing.
For crying out loud: If you want to sell an expensive amplifier then why do you make sure it appears as a low priced item in the results, especially if the corresponding item has nothing to do with an amplifier??
In the real world this is called misleading advertising and punishable by law, Ebay however supports it to the fullest.
As a result honest sellers listing properly and as single items miss out on buyers while power sellers with an endless list of negative feedback are presented as the prefered choice.
Sure, someone might find a true bargain on the way of finding what he is actuall looking for but it is no longer worth the frustration of wasting hours on a search that should be done in minutes...
And funny enough almost all of these highly misleading sellers use Chinese Paypal accounts.....
An item search should not be a task for a rocket scientist.
Common sense like with any other search engine should be enough.
Sure, if one would search for "mobile phone case" it would be a bad idea as it is not specific enough to get a result for an Iphone or Samsung.
And well, if you search for "small screw" in the hope to quickly find a specific M3 screw then you should go to a real store instead.
Power sellers however get more and more creative to cater for even the most complex search requests by simply adding everything possible and impossible in the listing.
Be it tools, electronics, machines or replacement parts, you never find what you need without going through endless amounts of faked multi item listings.
It is not a feature at all to provide the option to find accessories, attachments or just a faked warranty in the selection menu.
If I see an advertisement in the window of my local retailer for a good camera then the price shown is for the camera and not a lens cover, bag or microfibre cloth.
In Ebay however the same camera shows up as a bargain under 10 bucks until you find in the menu it actually costs 60 bucks more than at your local retailer and does not really come with the same manufacturer warranty ....
Bring back real listings!
Make multi item listings again what they were in the beginning and ban their use to fake a low price for the item pictured in the search results!
It is misleading advertising and should be treated as such!
