What Do You Type Into The Ebay Search Bar To Find Something You Want?

I'm going crazy trying to find new ways to reach customers. I don't want to get scammed by ebay paying even more fees with promoted listings, mostly as I've heard that it helps a lot at first but then to a much more diminished level. I believe search terms play a key role, and I'm wondering what more I should be adding to my item titles or descriptions to make them more easily findable by ebay searches. Some youtube videos advise how to use more keywords. Say I have a cover like the one depicted below.


My question is two fold:

Sellers: How would you use keywords to describe it in 80 characters?
Buyers: What are you searching to find this?

As a buyer, I'd use these terms: postcard, cover, Panama, Canal Zone, [appropriate Scott #]. If I were browsing, I'd also expect to see it listed under Stamps>United States>Covers.

I would also include the year of issue and/or year of cancel, and possibly the type/style of cancel.

If I am being brutally open and honest, I'd get 2-3 of my friends to place very low bids which vastly increases the visibility of the item. It may seem dishonest, but I am answering the question as it was asked- to get more views for your lot(s). This is a technique used by dozens of the busiest stamp sellers (and many others in all ebay categories) to increase their lot views.

> How would you use keywords to describe it in 80 characters?

WWI Soldier's Letter 29th Infantry Culebra, Canal Zone to pen pal, Tokio Bazaar

or

Interesting postcard from "lonely soldier boy" 29th infantry Canal Zone 1917

"Cover" is too generic to use as a search term or keywords. Put this in the category of Covers where the postal history and WWI collectors will find it. In this instance I would not use the catalog number as a prime keyword, because the stamp itself is not what is remarkable about this postcard. Include the catalog number in the description for completeness.

Use the title and keywords to describe what is unique about this item versus the 10,000 other similar covers.

The message on the postcard is rather intriguing. A lonely soldier boy stationed in the Canal Zone courting a young lady stateside? So many questions.....how did he get her name and address? Why does he not put his name but "USCE" (not sure what that means) and a number? How did the relationship progress from there? Did they end up getting married? Almost could be a plot for a movie.

Is USCE the Army Corp of Engineers?

Not really courting, I imagine. Women were encouraged to write to soldiers etc to help maintain morale. I'm sure some met in dur course.

Do we know that that's how that works? Does ebay promote your listing in the search results if it has 1 bid? Does it promote it even more if it has multiple bids?

I always search with the option "Most recently listed".

How does eBay manipulate that?

It doesn't. For most users, the default view is "Best Match", and aside from freshness, it is highly probable that eBay uses number of views, watchers, and number of bids as factors to help determine what is most popular. I remember seeing occasionally a little flame "hot" icon on items that have lots of bids from different bidders. I don't know if that only applies to 'sponsored' listings or if it is automatic.

Although I question the usefulness of "This is a technique used by dozens of the busiest stamp sellers (and many others in all ebay categories) to increase their lot views." If you are a busy seller with a lot of followers, the lowball bids will come in organically, you shouldn't need to prime the pump. Only if you are an infrequent seller with low visibility would I expect this to have any impact. But I have never tried this, I have no data to back it up.

As I understand things, 2-3 bids vastly increases the visibility of a lot. Can't remember where I read that though. Others may weigh in.

Here is a lot that exemplifies my point- 3 immediate bids, then a week before any other bids. This is done to increase visibility of the lot:

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/375661876948

That is dangerous speculation and utterly without evidence that it is seller manipulated.

Most bidding on items is at the beginning and the end. Early bidders are sometimes attracted by a low price, sometimes to mark an item to return to later. They tend to be the folks who sort their searches by new items first.

Late bids come from snipers, from people who watch and bid late, and from people who organize their searches by looking at items ending soonest.

As previously noted in the thread, to the extent viewers sort by things by ending soonest/latest, having bids doesn't help you. It may or may not mean anything for best match (that has a lot more to do with seller ratings and sponsored listings than bids). You *can* sort search results by most bids and by fewest bids. I can say as a seller, a buyer and a longtime ebay user I have never used that functionality (and in fact didn't even know it existed until just now when I went and looked to see if it was even possible to search on).

Nonsense. It is neither speculation nor dangerous. Here is the proof:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/l...atch?id=4166




"How popular the item is..." ergo how many bids it has. Not only do the early bids increase best match, they increase visibility in searches for "items with most bids."

The word "popular" Is NOT actually defined in detail by the above, whether they are lots which:
showed up in more previous searches by others,
were actually looked at by others,
were bid on by others,
have buy-it-now sold more of a mulitple-copy item, or
maybe somethig else more obscure that Ebay considers to define "popular".

To me it does not matter as I almost always serach by ending soonest or started most recently.

It explains why sellers place these low, fake bids. Whether it's how often a lot is seen or how many bids have been placed, BOTH are accomplished with 3 low fake bids. eBay wants you to sell your items, especially* via auction, so why would lot views be more important than bids/views??

I do agree that sorting may obviate the SEO which is why I never allow my search results to land on "best match" without sorting further.