Best Match guide: Value, Specifics & Efficiencies

eBay have posted some guidelines regarding Best Match on the PowerSeller board this morning, so for that that don’t have a PowerSeller account the message is value, specific search and efficiency.

Value

eBay say that when two items have different sell through rates it’s generally because one represents a better value deal. Naturally Best Match is tweaked to surface the best value deals to the top as that increases the overall sell through rates on the site. Best value doesn’t always mean best price, it may be based on product, accessories included in the deal and service, but you can bet your last dollar that price is the over-riding factor for many buyers.

Specific Search

eBay say that most buyers are fairly specific in what they search for. Don’t worry if your item isn’t on the first page of search results for generic searches as (so long as you have keyword rich titles) buyers should still find your items from the kinds of searches buyers typically use.

Efficiency

eBay are starting to use search impressions (how often your item is on a search page viewed by a buyer) to order items in search results. Keyword spamming will increase visibility without a corresponding increase in sales reducing the items overall quality score and lowering it’s position in Best Match. Make sure your titles are relevant to the product.

eBay also said that a side effect of moving to a new system is some volatility immediately after switching over, and that’s why some sellers are seeing fluctuations in sales. They expect this to settle down within a couple of weeks at most and will be monitoring the site to ensure Best Match is running as intended.

My main takeaways from this are that a competitive price is critical, subtitles could be used effectively to increase conversion rates by calling out any accessories or service benefits in buying from you, and that as has always been the case on eBay, concise, effective and relevant titles are essential to ensure your products are found.

9 Responses on "Best Match guide: Value, Specifics & Efficiencies"

1. 1
   JD says:

   October 9, 2009 at 2:13 pm

   The greater or lesser presence of auction listings in a best match search has a huge impact.

   The dilution is currently 80% in my searches (4 auctions for every BIN).

   Many of these are free to list, non selling 99p ‘private’ offerings.
2. 2
   Jimbo says:

   October 9, 2009 at 2:25 pm

   I guess having a large inventory listed is also going to give you an added bonus as items rise & fall on the best match search.
3. 3
   whirly says:

   October 9, 2009 at 4:41 pm

   Lower Margins, Subtitles…. Stuff that Chris

   A good product will sell itself, I wish eBay would ditch the ‘cheapest is best’ attitude.

   All these DOTD and end of line outlet sellers flogging stuff no other bugger can sell or wants is turning eBay back into an online version of Poundland.

   I thought the whole idea of BINS was to take the business forward selling new quality products.
4. 4
   Joe says:

   October 9, 2009 at 4:54 pm

   You can basically sum up the ‘advice’ in one line.

   ‘Be the cheapest’
   • 4.1
     whirly says:

     October 9, 2009 at 5:08 pm

     Seems to be the general idea Joe.
     • 4.1.1
       board_surfer says:

       October 9, 2009 at 8:30 pm

       actually

       ‘Be the cheapest’

       or

       “use auctions”
5. 5
   Lisa Thomas says:

   October 9, 2009 at 8:48 pm

   Why cant they just leave things alone – just when you get used to the way it works they go and change everything!!
   • 5.1
     whirly says:

     October 9, 2009 at 9:25 pm

     Whilst I would admit Lisa my greatest pleasure is gained from moaning vocally about eBay, behind the lines I just get on and tow the line…everytime they change something more wannabee sellers leave, that leaves more ££££ for me.

     Powerseller status is far to easy to achieve, folk who are serious about business just crack on. If your product,description,and feedback is good then the buyers will find you.

     I know it’s a ball breaker but seriously, what are the serious alternatives? I am not saying dont have a website (yours is fab btw) dont use ebid etc etc, but in terms of bang for your buck eBay is still king. IMHO.
6. 6
   Lino says:

   October 10, 2009 at 9:09 am

   The new Best Match has been interesting for us. Generally speaking, the items we used to have on Featured First are now well down in search, but items that were previously hidden on page 2 or 3 have now jumped up to the top of the first page. We now seem to be selling more of our higher priced items.