Did eBay change their categories again?

[Scoop]

I was wondering if eBay changed their categories again?

I now see Joes listed under the following...


Toys & Hobbies > Action Figures > Military & Adventure


"Military & Adventure" is where the listings stop.

They used to go deeper in something like...


Toys & Hobbies > Action Figures > Military & Adventure > G.I. Joe > 3 & 3/4" > 1982 - 2002 or 2002 - present.


It used to be something along those lines.

Has anyone else noticed a difference?

[9deadjoes]

yes it sucks

[rfarrell22]

I had the 2002-now as a saved search.
Now its a big mess

[kuh_rupht]

Yes and I hate it! What's up with Ebay? Not sure why they would change this

[Steve T]

Yes, they changed it. No offense to the 12 inch collectors, but I hate having to sift through that stuff. Also, they updated the iPad app, and it's really weird. It's like it's from the future, but I'm not ready for it.

[JoeJunkie]

It is a change, but it is kinda better. Before, you just had "old" or "from the last decade." Now you can better filter on year(s), size, packaging type. . .all kinds of good stuff. If you want to re-create the blanket "2002-present" you can. Choose Categories under the main eBay logo. Then choose Toys and Hobbies. Then point at (don't click) Action Figures, and choose Military & Adventure.

Then on the left there's all kinds of attributes to search on. Expand year. Choose "Choose More" down at the bottom. There you can pick several years.

If you want 2002-present, just choose those 11 choices. But, say you don't want DTC or some of the older stuff, just 25th, 30th, POC, and ROC, you can narrow this down to just the last 6 years.

As far as why they would change it. . .it's probably to push more of the site maintenance out to the users. Think about how many toylines didn't have their own category. GI Joe only had "2002-present" to cover what, nearly a dozen toylines? Marvel had a category for Legends and Select, but not one for Universe. I think eBay just didn't want to pay people to keep creating new categories as new products are made (and we can expand this just beyond the toy category -- collectables, electronics, etc).

Plus all those attributes are searched when you do a good old description search. So though they limit the listing's description to . . .what?.. 55 characters? . . .sellers can add as many attributes as they want and those are searched. It **should** help both buyers and sellers find what they want.

Can you tell I pretty much like what they've done? Yes we'll have to adjust, but in the end it will be better.

[Raw Dog]

I noticed a change as well, but haven't figured out whether or not it is going to negatively impact my searching habits yet.

[89PILOT]

They changed it over here aswell and it will negatively impact your searching habits.....that's my experience of it anyway. I don't like this change at all!!!

[niknak96]

Not liking the change either. I had a search for "custom" in the 2002 to present category and would get about 200 or so results. Now its closer to 1800.

[djdmac24]

It's like it's from the future, but I'm not ready for it.

This is awesome ^^^^^ I don't know why but this comment has me cracking up. Lol.

[cobracobra]

Really hate it. Saw it about a week ago and decided that I wouldn't be on Ebay as much. Too hard to wade through all the 12 inch stuff.

[spiderpumpkin]

Only works if the sellers chose to use item specifics when listing. Of course they should use item specifics so buyers can narrow searches. However, not all sellers have updated their listings or started using them or are using them incorrectly.

It is a change, but it is kinda better. Before, you just had "old" or "from the last decade." Now you can better filter on year(s), size, packaging type. . .all kinds of good stuff. If you want to re-create the blanket "2002-present" you can. Choose Categories under the main eBay logo. Then choose Toys and Hobbies. Then point at (don't click) Action Figures, and choose Military & Adventure.

Then on the left there's all kinds of attributes to search on. Expand year. Choose "Choose More" down at the bottom. There you can pick several years.

If you want 2002-present, just choose those 11 choices. But, say you don't want DTC or some of the older stuff, just 25th, 30th, POC, and ROC, you can narrow this down to just the last 6 years.

As far as why they would change it. . .it's probably to push more of the site maintenance out to the users. Think about how many toylines didn't have their own category. GI Joe only had "2002-present" to cover what, nearly a dozen toylines? Marvel had a category for Legends and Select, but not one for Universe. I think eBay just didn't want to pay people to keep creating new categories as new products are made (and we can expand this just beyond the toy category -- collectables, electronics, etc).

Plus all those attributes are searched when you do a good old description search. So though they limit the listing's description to . . .what?.. 55 characters? . . .sellers can add as many attributes as they want and those are searched. It **should** help both buyers and sellers find what they want.

Can you tell I pretty much like what they've done? Yes we'll have to adjust, but in the end it will be better.

[Python Viper]

I hate it too. I used to narrow it down to 1982-2000 and i would be good to go, now I have to dig through everything too. I am afraid to restrict my search any further now because if a seller didnt do the specifics on their listings, i wont see them on my end. Plus the categories used to be at the top of the page, now its halfway down, now I have to scroll down to get to the category at all.

Annoying.

[lips]

That must be my issue. I usually use the same listing and "sell similar" so I don't have to copy/paste all my shipping info and just change the description and category if needed. But whenever I tried changing something from a "Star Wars" to "WWE" category it wouldn't let me change that. It just sent me to a screen to start a brand new listing from square one. Grrrr.