Saved Search emails

[Philip.Cohen]

I have not received my regular Saved Searches email notices today (or yesterday). Am I the only one? Or have the eBay database programmers stuffed it all up once again?

[tellomon]

I no longer receive "You have won" eBay emails. I like to collect them for inventory purposes, but the PayPal reciepts do just as well.

LameBay.

[*CountessA*]

I don't have Saved Searches. I was fed up with receiving a flood of irrelevant notifications about things that didn't bear any resemblance to the sort of searches I conducted. I very quickly learned to delete those Saved Searches.

[Philip.Cohen]

That's an interesting response; I use very specific searches and the emails give me 12 items to choose from; I rarely can be bothered to search any further, as I used to, because eBay really has taken the fun out of it all and, undoubtedly, I am not the only one that feels that way ...

[Philip.Cohen]

Well, it appears that the idiot eBay programmers have done it again! How is it possible that this organisation that relies wholly on its internet presence for its very existence can “update” its software without effectively checking that it actually works? Probably the same reason their “sophisticated, proactive” system can rarely find a shill bidder. A bunch of unscrupulous amateurs!

[low-enghooi]

The last I received was on 12-dec.

I did a check and that seems fine for me.

[low-enghooi]

Did anyone have experience with these software:

1. http://www.auctionsieve.com/
2. http://www.myauctionsearch.com/
3. http://www.bayprospector.com/
4. http://www.listmystore.com/searchnbid.htm

[*Brum6y*]

Well, I have a couple of 'Saved searches' - but I only get notification when there are some new items listed that match.

One of those came in at 5:22am today - so I'd say they're working.

What are the chances that sellers haven't listed any items that match your criteria over the time you haven't received them?

[Philip.Cohen]

They say that there are only two types of users of computers: those who have lost data, and those who will lose data.

Well, I am now one of the former type, and the achieving of that state was made quite easy by the idiot system designers at eBay.

I have just accidentally deleted all my “Saved Searches”, about 30 of them; somehow I managed to do it, and as soon as I did it, up popped a nice little dialog telling me that I had done it, but no warning beforehand that I was about to do it.

Jesus, even Microsoft gives you a warning in such circumstances (but they did not always), but still not the idiots at eBay, nor are such deleted searches recoverable. So much work went into creating these searches that I doubt I will bother trying to recreate them.

Could it be an omen; time to move on from eBay; put the life jacket on and jump overboard now, before the old tub finally goes under and we all get sucked down with her and her idiot captain who, I have no doubt, when the water finally laps over the gunnels, will trample the women and children underfoot to be first into one of the lifeboats.

Just one more indication that not only are the managing executives “in the know” at eBay criminals due to their conscious and deliberate facilitating of shill-bidding fraud on consumers worldwide, but they are rank amateurs at just about every business and/or system decision that they have ever made.

[cueperkins]

The search engine itself gives me the royals.....Keyword spamming is one of my biggest pet hates.....what the hell is 'Vintage Style' Vintage Look'....and why is it that 90% of listings under that term 'vintage', are anything but.....

I do this fairly regularly, but just for argument sake...here's an example of the amount of rubbish that gets stuck in our faces unless we refine a search to it's enth degree.....

Search Term: 

Vintage Jewellery - Title Only = 4826 results
Elect Australia Only - 4518
refine with -new = 316

Antique Jewellery - Title Only =2804
Australia only = 2641
refine with -new = 162

As you can see above, keyword spamming is rife, and deliberate...if it isn't antique or vintage, then it doesn't belong in those categories, or being described by those terms.........Imagine having to trawl through 2800 antique jewellery listings when, only 162 are in fact supposedly antique, and even then it's questionable....since I learned to knock out all the spam manually, at least I save time now, but how many don't know how to reduce spam listings in their search?

As for the constant in your face Asian listings.......Is there any way to program the preferences of the search to permanently be 'Australia' Only'?

[Philip.Cohen]

Yes, there is. Click on "Refine search > Preferences > Location > Australia only"

There is quite a bit of control available under "Refine search".

[cueperkins]

I can't seem to find that link Philip....I'll log in and see if that changes...I see customise preferences is that the one?...cause I tried that a while back and it didn't work.....where is it on the page?..or do I do it from within my ebay?....

[Philip.Cohen]

Just above "Customise preferences", see "Location". If that does not do it, I don't know what purpose it serves; then, eBay system engineers seem to use a different form of logic to mine, so who knows?

[Philip.Cohen]

Once again, this morning my regular Saved Searches email notices have not turned up. Am I the only one? Or have the eBay database programmers stuffed it all up—again?

[low-enghooi]

You are not alone Philip. I didn't receive mine.

[*Brum6y*]

I only get mine when there are new listings.....

Is it possible that there are fewer listings going up that match your searches?

[Philip.Cohen]

No, I have too many saved searches for that to be a possiblity; but, hey, they are all back this morning; oh well, who know what's going on? Not even eBay, I suspect.

[*Brum6y*]

I appreciate the statistical likelihood, Phil, but I am wary of seller consistency with the ever expanding malevolance of eBay.

One hypothetical (which is easy to visualise) is this: Sellers avoid listing on Fridays because of eBay's notorious 'maintenance' record. Friday-night/Saturday morning searches don't find anything - because nothing was listed.

Variation 1: Things were listed but not indexed (or whatever) in time for the searches, because of 'maintenance'
Variation 2: The searches didn't run because of a 'glitch' caused by the 'maintenance'
Variation 3: (which I think will be your favourite) EBay don't need any specific reason ... it's whenever they remember and/or feel like it.

[Philip.Cohen]

Definitely an eBay "glitch". I have about 40 saved searches; I would never have less than 15-20 with new listing every day. When none at all arrive, it's eBay. Still no saved searches is better than no, or very intermittent, sales as vary many sellers are complaining about in the US.

I guess it is a case of server overload now (with all those “extra” listings) requiring “rolling blackouts”; you know, like when the utility coy can’t supply electricity to everyone and some consumers have to miss out for a period (but at least you don’t pay for what you don’t get); only with an electricity blackout you know what is going on because there you are sitting in the dark; with eBay you will never be told that you are not getting the service that they contracted with you to supply because they are a totally unscrupulous, gutless, white-collar criminal organization (aka “the eBafia”) and they have every intention of, in effect, defrauding you of those fees that you will nevertheless be charged, for something that you never got (after all eBay is becoming desperate for revenue of late). Gee, they sound just like one of those unscrupulous sellers that they claim to be always trying to detect and banish from their marketplace. Now pull the other leg eBay …

eBay/PayPal: Dead Men Walking.