"All Categories" Searches are only showing results in selected categories for some searches

[found-in-australia]

I currently have four items relating to chainsaws listed, all with chainsaw in the title. While emailing a regular customer who buys chainsaw memorabilia to advise them that they are listed, I have also attempted to include a link to a search of my other items showing all the chainsaw items:
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_odkw=chain+saw&_sop=10&_ssn=found-in-australia&_armrs=1&_osacat=0...

While that search states that it is an all category search, and shows both categories at left with the total of 4 items, the search result itself only shows one item, which is in the chainsaw category. If you click on my completed auctions, you will get two results, below the statement "0 results found in the Chainsaws category, so we searched in all categories", in spite of the search specifically being for all categories.

In the current auctions, if you click on the category with the three items not shown, they are shown properly, but if you than click to shjow "All Categories" they are again removed from the search result even though they fall specifically within the search request parameters. The same applies on a site search, but all categories are shown on a search for chainsaw brochures. This means that Ebay's search is filtering relevant search results out of some searches, and where there is a decent quantity in the search result, buyers who think they are seeing all relevant results across Ebay, are only seeing results for one specific category - thus making many listings inappropriately invisible to buyers who believe they are actively searching for them, whatever category they are in.

Regards,  Kevin (who doesn't really appreciate discovering that any number of my listings may be entirely invisible to any number of buyers who are actively looking for them)

[5kazam]

I hear where you are coming from.  

As a potential buyer of an Ikea product some weeks ago, I found exactly what I was looking for on a general search in 'shelving units'. Didn't save it to my watch list at that time - didn't need to, so I thought, as it had six days to go, no problem.

When I wanted to actually add it to my watch list, I refined the search to Ikea, etc, etc,, and that particular listing wasn't there.  I know that I typed in pretty much what was required for that listing to show - but it didn't.  Back to the general search until it showed up again.

I have also repeatedly found that if I type in specific keywords for something, I get pretty much everything else except what I'm looking for.  I think, from memory 'firescreen' was another that, okay, did bring up firescreens, but also more computer related stuff than anything else.

I'd love to know when the eBay techs are going to drag this site into the 21st Century...!!!