There are two main ways to locate items to bid on and buy on eBay. You can leisurely browse through eBay's thousands of categories and subcategories, or you can perform a targeted search for specific items.
Table 7.1 shows you what's good and what's bad about both browsing and searching.
Table 7.1. Browsing Versus SearchingStrengths and Weaknesses
Question | Browsing | Searching |
|---|
How easy is it to do? | Easyjust click through the categories and subcategories | Not as easyyou have to enter specific keywords in a query |
How quickly can you find a specific item? | Slowall that clicking takes time | Fastyou get immediate results for your query |
How many items will you find? | A lotwhich may be too many | Not quite as manywhich may be just enough |
Will you find the specific item you're looking for? | Not alwayssometimes items aren't categorized properly | Yesassuming the seller puts the right keywords in the listing title |
Can you isolate items geographically? | Yesyou can narrow your results by region | Yesyou can narrow your results by region |
Can you find other bidders and sellers? | Nothere's no way to browse through the millions of other eBay users | YeseBay lets you search by user name |
The bottom line: If you're not sure what you're looking for, or if you're looking for all types of items within a general category, you should browse. If you're looking for a specific item or type of item, you should search.