Ebay question

CHARGER May 2, 2022

  1. CHARGER

    CHARGER TrainBoard Member

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    Why the heck did ebay do away with the scale specific subcategories under the model trains category?

    Super annoying to search for items now, what tips or tricks do you use? Not all scale listings say Nscale in the search, and I am buying a lot of European stuff now.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  2. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    There are still scales, but they are in the 'filters' now, not in the category tree. if you are on a computer, they should be on the left side under 'gauge' once you get in the trains category. On a phone or mobile app, it's pretty much the same thing but in the filter dropdown.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  3. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    eBay has been eliminating useful information over the last several years and leaving information and options I bet almost never get used.

    Doug
     
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  4. MRLdave

    MRLdave TrainBoard Member

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    I just type "n scale XXXXX" into the search .......XXXXXX being whatever I'm looking for . Could be an item, like Locomotive or Boxcar, or could be a road name like Milwaukee Road or Santa Fe. I don't think I ever used the sub catagories before......might be why they went away.....noone else was using them either, although obviously you did. I didn't notice any differences.
     
  5. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    The scale checkbox mentioned by @Mr. Trainiac works pretty well. Without it, eBay subscribes to the "show them something, show them anything" school of programming. Without the checkbox, entering "N Scale body shell" in the search field yields bunches of RC race car parts, Shell oil tank cars and even HO scale body shells.
     
    Doug Gosha likes this.
  6. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    EBay wasn't crashing and burning fast enough even after killing PayPal, allowing all of the BIN's, the endless free repostings of stuff that didn't sell because of the sellers silly pricing, crazy post office pricing, and the decline of auction listings so they had to come up with something to increase the speed of the downward spiral. I think that this time they may have done it. I used to search EBay almost every day, even if only quickly, but now that is only once a week or less (where else am I going to find a Concor turbine tender these days?), but even when I do find what I'm looking for, I'm usually not willing to pay their price so I just keep looking (most recently $65 for a turbine tender with $16 shipping = $81...pass again).

    As they say in the auction world: going, going, gone.
     
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  7. porkypine52

    porkypine52 TrainBoard Member

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    With FACEBOOK, Trovestar, io group's [old Yahoo! groups] N-Scale Yard Sale Trainboard, and others. And all the FREE sites, I seldom use or go to FeeBay anymore. Just too much BS to list items especially to SELL! And people only wanting to take PayPal Friends and Family for payment. Money Orders, Checks, Cashier's Checks and CASH work just fine. And now PP and FeeBay want you to tie your Bank Account to both. I don't think so!!
     
  8. CHARGER

    CHARGER TrainBoard Member

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    I agree, except I am buying a lot of euro stuff now, and I’d have to run that search in multiple languages, including Japanese for finding rare Kato models of German, Swiss and French stuff.
     
  9. CHARGER

    CHARGER TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, I never saw that before. Now I’m off to rebuild all my automatic searches….
     
  10. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    The more listings they can show you, the more pages it takes, the more "engagement" they can report to shareholders, and more ads they can serve.

    Except to me, since I have seven add-ons running on my browser, and I see no ads, junkware, clickbait, etc. at all. And that includes on Zucky McZuckberg's monster as well. Yes, pages break from time to time but those pages do not deserve my attention.
     
    jtomstarr and Doug Gosha like this.

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