Easy Search Tips
Advanced Search Tips
Search by Country help
- Not finding what you're looking for?
Don't despair sometimes it just takes a couple tries. Think of different words to use. Imagine yourself as the seller of the item. What key word(s) would you use to list it? Or have a little fun and try an advanced search.
- Be specific to narrow your search
Use specific words instead of general ones. For example, a search for "Beatles poster" will return fewer and more targeted listings than a search for "Beatles."
- Using words such as and, or, the
You can use these if what you're searching for contains these words (such as "Diana Ross and the Supremes" or "Truth or Dare"). Don't use and, or, the as Boolean operators or as words to link together separate items for a more complex search. See the chart below for the symbols that will work that way.
- Use punctuation only when required
If it's not necessary, leave it out. For example, you'll be successful if you search for Elvis t-shirt (correct punctuation with hyphen) or Elvis tee shirt (correct wording without hyphen). Try both searches if you want a complete listing of everything available.
But don't try Elvis: t-shirt (unnecessary colon) or Elvis tee-shirt (incorrect hyphen).
- Expand your search by adding or deleting the letter "s"
Let's say you've found several listings by typing diamond ring. Find more of the same with very little overlap by entering diamond rings.
Remember: The number of items returned from any type of search is only an estimate of the total number available.
Advanced Search Tips
- Search for exact phrases
Using quotation marks such as "Statue of Liberty" or "Gone With the Wind" will find items with those exact words in sequence. For example, without the quotation marks you may wind up with many other listings containing the words "statue" or "liberty." Special note: the following modifiers will not work with this type of search: (+), (-) or wild card (*).
- Try plus (+) and minus signs (-) to broaden or narrow your search
If you enter antique +lamp, that tells the search engine to include the words antique and lamp. If you enter antique -lamp, that tells the search engine to include the word antique but not lamp. Check the chart below for details.
- Specify a date an item was made
For example, if you're looking for comic books from the 1950s, enter comic books 195* The asterisk is a wildcard search and can be used in other ways. See the next tip below.
- Use a wildcard for multiple endings
By typing an * (asterisk symbol) at the end of a word, you can search for items with multiple endings. For example: Beatles man* would return items such as Beatles manager, Beatles music mania, Beatles Nowhere Man, etc.
Examples
| If you type...
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eBay will find items for sale that...
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| football autograph
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include both of the words football and autograph
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| (football,autograph)(no spaces after comma)
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include either the word football or autograph
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| "football autograph"
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include the exact phrase football autograph
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| football -autograph
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include the word football but not autograph
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| football +autograph
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include the words football and autograph
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| star*
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are related to Star Wars , stargazing , stars , Star
Trek , etc.
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| barbie -(ken,skipper)
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include the word barbie , but not ken or skipper
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| "The Doors"
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include the exact phrase The Doors
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| @0 football autograph
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include either the word football or autograph
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| @1 gumball candy nuts
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include at least two of the words of gumball , candy , and nuts
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| police k-9
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include both of the words police and k-9
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| candy M&M
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include both of the words candy and M&M
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| coin £0.50
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include both of the words coin and £0.50
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Tips
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Narrowing Your Search
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You'll get the fastest response when the search query returns the fewest
possible matches.
Example : To find
a particular Barbie item, don't just type Barbie in the query
box.
If you are looking for a Barbie dress made in the 1960s, enter: Barbie
dress 196*
The trick is to be specific and give a narrowly defined query!
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| The Reported Number of Items Found is Just an Estimate
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| The results of any search includes an estimated number of items
found for the search and the search pages are generated corresponding to
this number. In most cases this is equal to the actual number of
items. However, in some rare cases (depending on the query) this estimated
number and the corresponding pages generated may be different from the actual
number.
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| Sorting Your Results
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| You can use the sort menu to order the item results by ending date, bid price, or search ranking.
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Special Words and Modifiers
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Finding all
the words (Equivalent to an AND)
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Enter the words into the text box, separating each word with a space.
Example: To find anything with the words football and autograph, enter: football autograph
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| Finding
several words (Equivalent to an OR)
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Use , (comma symbol with NO SPACES) to separate the words (and surround this search
with parentheses) to find at least one word of a set. Wildcard searches
(*) CANNOT be used with this query. For an or search using wildcards
(*) see
@ (at sign) - Intersection
of words
Example: To find anything related to football or an autograph, enter (with no spaces): (football,autograph)
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Finding words (or phrases) exactly as specified in a specific order
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Use " " (quotation symbols) to find words exactly as specified in the same order. Phrase searches should not be used unless intended to get the exact text as it can result
in miss-hits. A search for "football autograph" will return text including the exact phrase football autograph .
Text in the form autograph football will NOT be found. Wildcard searches (*) or special modifiers
such as (+), (-) CANNOT be used with this query.
Example: To find the entire phrase, Barbie
Doll House, enter: "Barbie Doll House"
Example: To find the music group, The Doors,
enter: "The Doors"
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More Special Words and Modifiers(Advanced)
| * (asterisk
symbol) - Wild Card
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Use * (asterisk symbol) for a wild card when you only know part of a word.
Example: star* would return items such
as Star Wars, stargazing, stars, and Star Trek.
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| + (plus
symbol) - Required Words
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Use + (plus symbol) before a word if the word must appear in the area
you are searching.
Example: To find a rocking chair with the word
"antique" in the title, enter:
rocking chair +antique.
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| - (minus
symbol) - Exclude Words
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Use - (minus symbol) to exclude any word you do not want to include.
Example: To find a rocking chair "without" antique
in the title, enter (include space after rocking chair): rocking chair
-antique
Example: To find a Barbie without the words
"Ken" or "Skipper" in the title, enter (include space after Barbie): Barbie
- (Ken,Skipper)
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| @
(at sign) - Intersection of words
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Examples:
@0 drive* scsi* will return items with "drive*" or "scsi*"
(0 intersection). This is an or search that uses wildcards (*)
@0 property tax will return items with "property" or "tax"
@1 property tax value requires one intersection of any two of the
three specified items. Therefore, the text unit will be retrieved if it
contains an occurrence of "property" and "tax", "property" and "value", or "tax" and "value".
+tax -federal @1 market assessment value property assets requires
that the retreived text must include an occurrence of "tax" (designated
with the plus sign `+'), but must exclude the hit if it contains any reference
to "federal" (designated with the minus sign `-'). The "@1" means that
you also want 1 intersection of any 2 of the other 5 equally weighted (unmarked
with `+' or `-') query items: "market", "assessment", "value", "property",
and "assets".
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