# Evilbay search wildcard removal



## nvladik (Jan 12, 2012)

Yep... evilbay is crap!


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

Never knew a wildcard was needed. They usually include crap you didn't even intend to search for.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Okay, today's frustration is Concoa regulators. Knowing that many of them are rebranded, it often does no good to search for the manufacturer. So, instead of "regulator 412*", which would have given me every regulator with a model number starting with 412, I now can't see any option other than search for particular model numbers.

Which means that in order to hit on every concoa brand regulator with a model number starting with 412, I need to search for "regulator +(4122301, 4123301...)", with 10 or so more models in the parenthesis. And this doesn't cover all models - there are hundreds of possibilities. All this does is cover the dozen I included based on their usefulness and likelihood of finding them.

On the other hand, you can search for "VTS250" and get a "VTS250C" as one of the results. Probably due to the length of the input and the shortness of the addition of the "C" in the result. Evilbay's helpful search engine is actually occasionally helpful.

Again, if anybody has any helpful suggestions, please let me know!


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Okay, I don't have any new information, other than that I've actually (finally) learned to use the "saved searches" feature. I update the searches every few days.

As frustrating as this (IMO ridiculous) change is, it's made me think more in terms of exactly what I am, and am not, looking for. I have saved searches for regulators (minus single-stage, minus voltage regs, minus a bunch of other garbage) from a long list of manufacturers. The same for solenoids, metering valves, and some other crap.

In fact, has anybody else (actually, I'm sure of a couple of you that have) noticed how many people mis-spell "swagelok"? It opens up a small new world of products.

Anyway, it's an evolving experience. And I added several new search terms (+ and -) to my regulator search today.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

kevmo911 said:


> In fact, has anybody else (actually, I'm sure of a couple of you that have) noticed how many people mis-spell "swagelok"? It opens up a small new world of products.


lol

I've always assumed 1/2 of what I'm looking for is either misspelled or totally listed wrong. Most of the sellers have no idea what they are actually selling.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Okay. Newest frustration. Yesterday, you could do a search for "regulator +(victor, concoa)" and you would get a list of all items that had both "regulator" and "Victor" OR "Concoa" (or both) in the title. Today, the plus sign screws it up, and you get no results. Which means I have to go through all my saved searches and remove the "+" from them. I don't know why. Fortunately, the fix is simple - just remove the "+" before all parenthesis, and the searches work fine. Still, obnoxious.

I originally used the "+" to all saved searches because I'd seem some write-ups on the new search rules that included it.


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