Many buyers start searching on eBay by doing simple searches from the eBay main page. For example, when I first started using eBay I used to type the word Lionel into the search box on the main eBay page and look at what came up.
This was very ineffective. I got thousands of results for Lionel Barrymore prints, Lionel Hutz dolls – he is the lawyer on the Simpson’s TV show, Lionel Riche records and more. Mixed in with these undesirable results were some Lionel trains. This was too much for me to look through. So I went back and searched for Lionel Trains. Still too much to look through and I knew I was missing items because not all sellers were using the words Lionel and trains in their auctions.
After a while, I found a category for Lionel trains made before 1942. I was in heaven. I bookmarked the category so I could look at it every day. This was when I really started buying a lot of items on eBay. After a few months, I discovered many sellers were not listing their trains in the right categories. These items listed outside the normal ategories sold cheaply because fewer eBay searchers knew how to find them. I found really nice trains at incredible prices. A little later I learned some sellers didn’t even know who made the trains or maybe they were just lazy as the name is on most items, and I started doing broad searches within the different categories these uneducated or lazy sellers were listing in.
You can and should search eBay this way. Today, eBay even makes it easier to find items listed incorrectly. You can see the categories in a list on the left side of the search results page. When you click on these links you will see only the items listed in these categories. This is important. Once you find a category many sellers are listing items you want in, start browsing the category regularly. You will find some good deals.