As of today, I can no longer search eBay by the decade ...

[36GoudeyMan]

I've got dozens of saved searches designed to pick out certain years, types, players, etc., almost all of which use the * wildcard. Now, all of them are useless. To replace them, I have to go in and recreate searches using "(1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939)" instead of "193*". My buying experience is not enhanced.

The way eBay addresses (or wholly fails to address) its buyers' and sellers' wants, needs, objectives, etc., leaves me longing for another super-populated site that offers true auctions, treats buyers and sellers fairly, and permits regular commerce on fair terms. Until all my sellers move to that fantasy site, I'm stuck at eBay....

[wolf441]

Yeah, the whole "-" to keep items out of your searches (like -reprint) is out the window as well.

[cubsfan-budman]

the "-" still works for me.

[Chris-Counts]

I'm so glad the folks who run eBay know what's good for us. They seem determined to run a good idea into the ground ...

[Bunker]

I am suprised that someone hasn't came up with a new auction site to compete directly with ebay. True, there are others, but they don't get enough traffic to justify switching my auctions over.

I have listed cards with a few of them as a trial, but they just don't get seen by enough bidders to do well.

As bad as they are, ebay is still the best game in town for buying and selling. (imo)

Edited to add: imo

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Bunker

I am suprised that someone hasn't came up with a new auction site to compete directly with ebay. True, there are others, but they don't get enough traffic to justify switching my auctions over.

I have listed cards with a few of them as a trial, but they just don't get seen by enough bidders to do well.

As bad as they are, ebay is still the best game in town for buying and selling. (imo)

Edited to add: imo

It is actually our own hobbies fault nothing has succeeded. It is a 2 edge sword though. The problem with all of the sites that have sprung up is they don't have the marketing dollars to compete with ebay. I guarantee the Grandslambids s/w is a ton better than ebay but there wasn't/isn't enough traffic to get people to use it for auctions. It's the same thing with all of the other quasi-ebay competitors. Until a company can spend hundreds of thousands, or millions, to compete....we will have ebay to deal with.

[danmckee]

I too am dead in the water with my searches. Simply amazing! I was missing a ton of cool stuff when they merged all of the shiny garbage with the vintage and now, I may miss everything!

I agree with others here, why on earth did they make that change? It isn't like my searches were taking forever to load.

Unreal!

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Leon

It is actually our own hobbies fault nothing has succeeded. It is a 2 edge sword though. The problem with all of the sites that have sprung up is they don't have the marketing dollars to compete with ebay. I guarantee the Grandslambids s/w is a ton better than ebay but there wasn't/isn't enough traffic to get people to use it for auctions. It's the same thing with all of the other quasi-ebay competitors. Until a company can spend hundreds of thousands, or millions, to compete....we will have ebay to deal with.

+1

Have tried a couple of the others, and as a seller, there is no way I could make a living with the scant sales I saw. The unfortunate reality is that, no matter how much better a new site might be for sellers, you still need LOTS of buyers' eyes to make an auction site work for everyone, and you can't get that with innovative programming alone.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by wolf441

Yeah, the whole "-" to keep items out of your searches (like -reprint) is out the window as well.

In either the e-mail I got from Ebay about the change, or the posting on their site, they specifically state that "-" will continue to work - and, in fact, suggest using it.

I am absolutely mystified as to why they made this change at all, however.

Tabe