posted on December 5, 2000 05:37:46 PM
...from the "please shoot me" department, I've just been moved to start these two lists.
I have some auctions ending tonight. They are items I've listed before and turn up from various sellers from time to time. I was using the "poke around" engine to see what other like items were currently up for sale. You know checking the competition. Three of the four items came up to show that there were no others concurrently listed. The 4th wouldn't come up at all despite 2 exact title words. I thought it was the old "get a bid in the first 24 hrs and be hidden from title search" trick. It did get an early bid. So I clicked the description search box (same words used in description too) No can find! HUH? I checked for the one I sold last month (same title, same words in the search). That one came up fine. So I check the announcement board to see if description search is behind on indexing (4 days worth) or something.
What do I find? nothing about description search but HOORAY, they are testing a great NEW search feature! A very needed "Most Common Searches" search. I was so happy that they finally instituted this great new feature that I completely forgot that no one will find my item that is ending in an hour, even if they search for it using exact words. It's a shame its not a common item!
So after pounding my head on the wall in amazement, I'd like to start two lists.
First, lets hear what some think are the top 5 most needless features on ebay. Other adjectives (useless, pointless, counterproductive, dumb, constantly broken, etc..)
Second, how about the top 5 things that ebay should fix before they release any more ridiculous features.
You know what my current first choices are from my post above, but seeing your picks would surely help my vent. No need to justify or explain why unless you want to. If you can't think of 5, any will do. And, no arguments, please.
Not an ebay basher here, but I do think they should fix some things that've been performng poorly for a long time before they keep introducing all these "fun" features.
posted on December 5, 2000 06:12:33 PM
#1 dumbest feature is the chat rooms. Hundreds of people re-living their high school experience via the tactics of cliques, toadying, and bullying. Endless dull conversations about pets, cats, birthdays, etc. enlivened only by the attack of anyone who enters and dares to utter words contrary to the prevailing clique.
Runner up is the little gallery, billpoint, and picture icons.
posted on December 5, 2000 06:43:58 PM
I didn't say the *gallery* was a dumb feature...I said the *icons* were dumb. If you're searching under Gallery you're already looking at Gallery items. If you're looking under regular text search, then how does it help to know the item is also in the Gallery? You're not going to jump to the gallery to look for the item, find it, and then click on it---you're just going to click and go to the item without the extra step. That's why I think it's one of the dumbest features. I don't doubt that the Gallery makes people more money. I just doubt that the icons themselves(rather than the presence/availability of the gallery tab at the top of the search result page) is the method of getting those checks and money orders.
