Internet Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Going Online

BETTER EBAY SEARCHING

The Annoyance:

I just did a search on eBay, and as usual I got about 8,000 results, about 80% of which weren't even close to being relevant. I really don't have the time to weed through all this. There's got to be a way to do smarter searches on eBay!

The Fix:

Searching on eBay is kind of like visiting a foreign countryit's a lot easier to find that quaint little hotel up in the Alps if you speak the local lingo. With eBay, that means getting hep to some of its search operators. Here's a quick intro.

Exclude results you don't want

Put a minus sign (-) in front of a search term to exclude any results that contain the term. For example, the search:

camera digital

will show you all auctions that contain the word "camera" but not the word "digital" in the auction titlehandy if you're looking only for film cameras. You can also exclude multiple terms, like so:

camera digital kodak sony -minolta

or include multiple terms and exclude others:

acoustic guitar -electric

Use wildcards

Use the asterisk (*) wildcard search term before or after a word or letters, and eBay will match all words that begin or end with that term. For example, the search:

*caster guitar

would return auctions of Stratocaster as well as Telecaster guitars. Conversely, searching for:

Tele*

would return auctions of Telecaster guitars, telescopes, telephones, Teletubbies, and so on.

Use OR searches

Searches on eBay are automatically AND searches, so auctions show up only if they contain every term you put in your search. However, you can use the OR operator to list auctions that contain any of your search terms. This is useful if you're looking for multiple items, or if your searches aren't returning enough auctions. To do an OR search, put the terms in parentheses, separated by commas. For example, to find either a lute or a mandolin, you'd use this search:

(lute, mandolin)

Search for exact phrases

As with many other search engines, to search for an exact phrase on eBay, surround the phrase with quotation marks, like this:

"squire stratocaster"

You can use other kinds of Boolean searching, too. For detailed information on what operators you can use, how you can combine them, and other tips, go to http://pages.ebay.com/help/buyerguide/search.html#advanced.

FINE-TUNE EBAY BROWSING

The Annoyance:

I like browsing eBay, rather than searching through it. But even when I browse several subcategories deep, there's still too much stuff to weed through. How can I cut the clutter?

The Fix:

When you're on any category or subcategory page, run a searcheBay will search only that category or subcategory, and everything below it. So, for example, if you've dug down to Musical Instruments Guitar Acoustic and you search for "guild," youll get pinpoint resultsmaybe 40 or 50 listings (see Figure 8-18). Search for "guild" on the front page of eBay, and you'll get 10 times as many results, and for things that have nothing to do with guitars.

QUICKLY SCAN EBAY FEEDBACK

The Annoyance:

Before I buy anything on eBay, I always check out the seller first by reading the feedback from other buyers. Of course, I'm mainly looking for the negative comments, but some sellers have hundreds or thousands of comments, and it takes forever to click through them all page by page. Isn't there a faster way to scan eBay feedback just for negative comments?

The Fix:

Every negative comment has a red minus sign (-) next to it. The problem is that by default eBay only displays 25 comments per page. To up this number, scroll to the bottom of the page and, in the "Items per page" drop-down, select 200. Now eBay will display 200 comments per page, making it easier to pick out the big red negative signs.

SEARCH THROUGH A SELLER'S ITEMS

The Annoyance:

Finding a seller you can trust on eBay is like finding gold. So naturally, when I find trustworthy sellers, I want to search through all their auctions. But amazingly enough, there's no way to do this on eBay. When I click on the "View seller's other items" link on an auction page, I get a listing of everything that seller has for salebut some sellers have hundreds of items for sale in dozens of categories, and I don't want to have to browse through them all. Isn't there a simpler way?

The Fix:

Luckily, eBay recently made this a lot easier. After you click the "View seller's other items" link on an auction page, look on the lefthand side of the page. You'll see a list of all the categories in which the seller has items for sale, including the number of items in each category (Figure 8-19). Click a category, and you'll see a list of items for sale just in that category. To search through all the items a seller has for sale, use the search box at the top of the screen.

YOU'VE GOT AUCTIONS!

The Annoyance:

Life's too short to be constantly searching eBay. I have a relatively short list of things I'm looking for. Google can run prefab searches and send me email alertswhy can't eBay?

The Fix:

It can, via its Favorite Searches feature. Here's how:

1. Do a search as you would normally on eBay. When you've got it fine-tuned, click the Add to Favorites link halfway down the page and to the right of the "xx items found for xx."

2. The Add to My Favorite Searches page appears (see Figure 8-20). Fill in the form, and check the "Email me daily whenever there are new items" box.

   Figure 8-20. No need to spend your life searching eBay: tell the auction site to send you an email whenever a desired item goes on sale.

3. Click Submit. You'll now get email notifications whenever something you're looking for comes up for auction.

4. To change or delete a favorite, click Search at the top of any eBay screen, and then click Favorite Searches. You'll come to the All Favorites page (Figure 8-21), which lists all your Favorite Searches. Click Edit Preferences to change any search. To delete a search, check the box next to the search and click the Delete button.

   Figure 8-21. From here you can edit or delete any favorite searches.