Ebay Changes Large Format Category

[rknewcomb]

Went to my bookmarked large format section on Ebay this morning and found some big changes. They have lumped all film cameras into one category. You now have to drill down to find large format and then go to either a brand or "non-specified". Much harder to browse the newly listed items. And, items that were there last night don't show up upon browsing.
I called Ebay. They said they combined categories to make things easier.

If you're not happy with your items disappearance and/or the effort it will now take to find them, you might want to call them and let them know.
Robert

[Sevo]

On the positive side they did that in ebay Germany as well, where large format previously was a sub-category of "Zubehör" (accessories), for whatever bizarre reason - which also implied that international searches within the large format category excluded foreign offers (and foreigners did not get to see offers on ebay Germany).

If they sub-categorize "analoge Fotografie" by format, it would actually be a considerable improvement over the past state hereabouts.

[Steve Goldstein]

As a side note, I used to use a bookmark specifically for large format lenses. That one now returns all lenses, with a drilldown menu on the left. Selecting "film" as camera technology and "large format" as camera type replicates the function of my earlier bookmark. If I bookmarked the resulting page, the new bookmark replicates the performance of my earlier one, so it seems a one-time annoyance.

[rknewcomb]

Perhaps but... When listing an item, unless you have a UPC code for it or list a specific popular well know brand name, mostly Deardorff & Linhof or put the word large format in the "specific description" option at the beginning of the listing it may not even show up. It makes browsing for treasure much more difficult too. I listed 7 items in large format on Sunday night and now they are gone somewhere...
If it ain't broke leave it the hell alone.

[Dan Fromm]

This isn't a new change, its been like that, at least at the URL I go to, http://photography.shop.ebay.com/ , for ages.

The ebay.de change is similar to, not as drastic, as one to ebay.fr that went in a couple of years ago. Makes browsing LF equipment equally hard, though. After sellers have adjusted browsing by filmformat may do it. Maybe.

[William Whitaker]

Right now showing 248 items in Film Cameras>Large Format. Don't know how many were listed in the old Large Format category, but 248 doesn't seem like a lot.

This sucks for sellers AND buyers. Guess I'll have to practice my title spamming...

[rknewcomb]

For example, now there are only 230 items listed under large format - about 5 pages. Yesterday there were about 30 pages.
I can deal with the drilling down under film cameras to find large format. But now the title of the listing, the description, and the category chosen when posting the listing do not mean it will show up when browsing large format.
The Ebay person on the phone couldn't find my items either. She said that many of the items showing up said "large format" in the title.

[William Whitaker]

Under Film Cameras>Type there are more items in the unspecified category than all the others combined. Obviously Ebay is run by the federal government.

[rknewcomb]

After drilling down I found a whopping 11 Linhof items listed instead of the 300 yesterday.

[William Whitaker]

I just sent this to Ebay through their Tell Us What You Think link at the bottom of the Film Cameras page. That was the method suggested to me by the Ebay employee with whom I spoke. I have a strong feeling it will fall on deaf ears. But I think my points are good. Feel free to copy and paste...

The new categorization scheme implemented today (4/5/11) is a move back into the stone age. No longer can I browse the categories I'm interested in. In the case of Film Cameras>Large Format there are only 248 entries as I write. Everything else that used to be there has been dumped into the "unspecified" category. That "unspecified" category has over 25,000 entries - more than all the other categories combined. There is NO WAY that I can browse through 25,000 entries looking for things which might interest me. At the same time the three auctions I currently have running have also been relegated the "unspecified" category dumping ground. Nobody is going to find my auctions unless they specifically search for a keyword in the title. That severely limits my audience of potential and impulse buyers. Where's the value for me? The advantage of selling through Ebay historically has been the global level of exposure that it affords me. With this new categorization scheme, that advantage is gone. Why should I continue to sell on Ebay? And if I do, why should I have to pay the same ever-increasing fees for what is clearly less of a service?

As a buyer I'm left with no means of sorting through the vast number of auctions except by keyword search. That's fine if I know exactly what I'm looking for AND if the seller has put that keyword in the title AND hopefully spelled it correctly. Impulse buys (and I've made many) will be a thing of the past.

I hope Ebay will see the folly in this categorization scheme and return it to the way it was prior to this morning.