How do you search ebay?

[rattimoth]

Hi everyone :>

This question popped into my head a while ago, and I have asked some other people, so I thought I would begin a discussion here.........

How do you define your ebay searches, when you are looking for something for our resinkids????

Me?? Dollfie first.. then BJD, then Obitsu, then Hound... SOMETIMES I will put in a particular brand (elfdoll, dollshe) if I am after something in particular, and occasionally, if I have spare time, I will type in by size (70cm, 44cm etc) just to see what comes up... I do this, even though I don't own a proper "dollfie" (by that I mean a volks doll). But I do own about 9 different companies worth of BJD's.

I do all this from the Dolls home page, or from the ebay home page, depending on the search, and I nearly always look by highest price first, then by ending soonest.

I must admit, that some of the more obscure searches have netted me some absolute bargains, and I am sure its because people dont' think to do them, they stick to Dollfie or to BJD. Of course, that also means that some sellers are missing out on good money for their items, because they aren't being seen - bit of a two edged sword, particularly as I am a buyer AND seller.

So, what are your searching habits and what bargains have you gotten??

Seek peace

Carol

[Shizalent]

I usually search ebay using the terms dollfie, BJD, ball-joint doll, and ball-jointed doll, or occasionally as you do by a particular company or brand name, or size acronyms like MSD, or a combination of the above. I'd have to agree that more cryptically or specifically named items tend to go for maybe a little to a lot less than they might have gone for had they included more general terms in their auction names. :) But I suppose people could be accused of name-spamming if they crammed something like Dollfie Obitsu Luts MSD Ball Joint Jointed Doll in the title. XP Otherwise, I know that some people prefer to keep the trademarked "dollfie" name out of their auction if the doll is not specifically a Volks dollfie.

[demitasse]

I just plug in 'super dollfie' and browse what comes up. :doh Lazy, I guess.

Sometimes I'll put in something specific if I'm looking for something specific, but since I'm usually not, I don't.

...Wow, that was a convoluted sentence.

[rillystar]

I actually cheat and use the specific Dollfie category that way I catch everything that's in there. If I need to I can refine the search and take out all the...say Obitsu's since I don't collect them and go from there. A lot of sellers don't know how to make use of their keywords - sometimes also adding the checkbox to search item descriptions as well helps especially if the seller has typoed the title or something like that ;)

Also if you check out the 'Playground' you can do more 'Window Shopping' style searches where all the images pop up in tiles and you can see much better what it is the seller is trying to sell :)

playground.ebay.com

But remember afterwards to switch back to the normal eBay site (link at the top) otherwise you're stuck in the Playground if you don't like it. (I believe everything still works as normal)

[hiritai]

Dollfie, mostly, unless I'm looking for something in particular. Most people list things as dollfie related, and it works. I don't think I've ever used BJD, lol.
Unless I'm angsting over unoas. Then I'll type in Unoa.

[Merry]

I just browse through the Dollfie category. I might narrow the search if I'm looking for something with a common search term like 'dress'. This way I'm less likely to miss something.

[Lishe]

I search using "dollfie" first. But if I am looking for something specific, I may use just "unoa" or "Luts". I check under dolfie also - not everyone lists correctly!

Lishe

[Moggie]

If i'm curious to see what else is selling in Australia I'll type in dollfie in the general search box on Ebay Aust.

If I'm very curious or just browsing I'll actually browse the dollfie category from Ebay US from beginning to end.

If I'm after something in particular then I type in the details of the search to try and narrow the field. :)

[desiderus]

I usually just type in "dollfie" as well xD

And if I'm searching for something after that, I type that word in after "dollfie" ^^

[jinlin]

Usually I type in dollfie and go through all the pages; this is when I'm just browsing and not really in the mood to buy something specific. (it used to be a manageble number like 14 pages, but now it's gotten to 23 pages) DDD:

If I'm after something specific I'll type in a keyword I think is related, eg - MSD, or search for 13 boy within dolls category, that sort of thing. It helps narrow down the number of pages.

The few times I was looking for eyeballs and eyelashes I typed those in and did a general search instead of restricting it to the dollfie category, it brought back more variety in search results.

I also have saved searches for things I'm still looking for or things I'm interested in, as well as favorite sellers.

[CherryStreet~Sera]

(it used to be a manageble number like 14 pages, but now it's gotten to 23 pages) DDD:


I thought 14 was a lot, I remember when the section didn't even exist! Once it did, it really was just two pages of Dollfie items (rather than all the BJD related stuff there is now).

I usually don't search, I just brows the Dollfie section, but honsetly, that sounds weird. eBay aught to make an Asian ball-jointed doll sub section filled under 'By Type'.

Sera~

[Moggie]

Ebay Australia doesn't even have a dollfie section, let alone sub-categories. If we want to list something under dollfie we have to do it via Ebay US.

The way things are going on the Aust Ebay, they wouldn't even consider more categories. They have merged a whole lot of sub-categories just recently to make monster categories that make browsing nearly impossible now.

Their rational is that most people search rather than browse so sub-cats are unnecessary now. Imagine trying to browse for a dollfie item if there was only a single doll ctaegory and you can imagine what we are up against. ;)

[LindsaysCorner]

I just browse the

Dolls & Bears > Dolls > By Brand, Company, Character > Dollfie

category. I rarely search for a specific term...I just weed out the obitsus and pullips, etc. Occasionally, there will be some stuff sprinkled in the doll "clothing" or "by type > resin" subcategories, but not very often.

[Jenova]

Basically I browse the Dollfie category, like folks have said, but I have a silly way of doing things that I started a while ago, before most sellers were utilizing the category..

First, a search for super dollfie
Then a search in the Dollfie category, but with the string -"super dollfie". In other words, everithing in Dollfie that I didn't see in the first pass ^^;

I literally browse the category every day, so I just browse until I see stuff I saw the day before.. :sweat

[crazybib]

I go to my searches then, Super Dollfie, Unoa, Dollfie, Luts, Lishe, Juri and Dark Elf sometimes I will search other categories or specific sizes as for eyes.

[kersuru]

My searching is "dollfie" and the catagory Dollfie. If I feel really rich I will go into company names, clothing labels and so on. But I always select highest price because I want to see the dolls themselves.

[Nikittin]

I have 3 searches books marked in the Dolls & Bears category with titles and descriptions: "dollfie", "bjd", and "volks."

[jinlin]

What would be really interesting is seeing how other people search Yahoo!Japan. I remember logging on one day and then going (O.o)||| when I realised there were more than 90 pages in the dollfie clothing section alone.

[rattimoth]

Thanks to everyone for their input, it seems that most of us do things in a similar fashion, nad its obvious that the therm 'dollfie' has become generic..not sure that is a good thing, as I try and use Ball Jointed Doll myself.

Hmm.. I wonder if Ebay knows that dollfie is a trademark??

Y!J??? Oh, I WON"T search there.. its scarey... (my wallet told me so, its TERRIFIED of the place!)

Seek peace

Carol

[sgtgeorgecarter]

Tell me about it! I boggled.

I just wade through the whole 90 pages because I'm a luser and I just love looking at the stuff.


On Ebay I tend to do specific word searches if I'm looking for something, or category browsing if I'm not.

[beachgirl]

I search the category mainly, and sometimes dollfie, and occasionally if I am looking for something specific, words like Unoa, MSD, SD Hound, etc.

[lyrajean]

Like most everybody else I have the word "dollfie" typed into my fav searches, but this pre-dates the category on ebay so it searches the whole doll section by default, which scrapes up stuff that escaped the category.:balloons

[ravendolls]

I have a search saved (bookmarked) titled dollfie, abjd, unoa.
I bookmarked it two and a half years ago, and I think it's probably waaaay out of date. I don't think anyone uses the acronym "abjd", for example.

Raven

[saranilla]

I have the dollfie section of ebay bookmarked. I love to browse everything.

[Melaidhrin]

I usually search "dollfie" since that seems to be the keyword that gets me the most results. If I'm not happy with what search is brining up I'll either refine or change to plain "bjd" or something.

[Loki's Mom]

I actually cheat and use the specific Dollfie category that way I catch everything that's in there.
Also if you check out the 'Playground' you can do more 'Window Shopping' style searches where all the images pop up in tiles and you can see much better what it is the seller is trying to sell :)
I have used the 'Dollfie' category/section, but usually I just type the word dollfie in on the home page (lists all auctions with dollfie in the title) and start sifting. If I'm looking for something specific (wigs, eyes, type of clothing), I use that word or even a brand name (Volks, Luts), types (Yo-SD) or doll names (Bermann, Chiwoo, Siwon, etc...). If I'm looking for furniture/accessories, I use the sections. Dolls & Bears-American Girl for a lot of furniture and accessories, mini or miniature for accessories, size specific like 1/12 or dollhouse/doll house/dolls house.. The list goes on.

I've never heard of the playground before (checks into it).. It's on eBay.com.. that's why. I never bother with the US site because I hate opening an auction to find out the seller doesn't ship to my country. I just use eBay.ca as it shows all those that ship to me.

I thought 14 was a lot, I remember when the section didn't even exist! Once it did, it really was just two pages of Dollfie items (rather than all the BJD related stuff there is now).
Sera~

Yeah, I remember when there were anywhere from 1 to 6 pages (and 6 was a lot). Now it's overwhelming. When there were only a few, I'd also look under Obitsu, Volks, Luts, and the like to bring up more auctions. It certainly was a lot quicker to peruse the pages back then..

Hmm.. I wonder if Ebay knows that dollfie is a trademark??

Y!J??? Oh, I WON"T search there.. its scarey... (my wallet told me so, its TERRIFIED of the place!)

Seek peace

Carol
What eBay doesn't know, won't kill it. Letting them know that will probably cause sellers no end of grief and make things harder to seller because we won't be allowed to use the word Dollfie (or even Super Dollfie) unless the item is specifically for a Super Dollfie or a Dollfie.

I have looked at Y!J but find it really hard to search it. I won't buy because it costs too much between the exchange rate, the fees for SMJ, Celga and the like plus shipping to them then to us and don't get me started on customs.. By the time you're done, something that should cost $10 becomes $50.

LM

[redcountess]

I've set up a saved search for (dollfie, bjd, msd, unoa, sd), and also separate searches for other dolls who have clothes that bjds can wear (like Ellowyne Wilde, 5" Madame Alexander, etc.) and a particular accessory I'm looking for.

[Tsuminaki]

I didn't know there was a dollfie category...I got into my routine before there was one. ^^;; i just search "Dollfie" and to a lesser degree, "Luts" and "unoa", but I have my nice refined search that blocks out all the terms I could think of that annoying ebay store spammers are likely to use, like "keychain" and the keywords for dealers I don't like (when they're good enough to always list the same way). That leaves me with 13-16 pages (looks like it needs a blocked keyword update, though!)

[Gelfling]

I try Dollfie, BJD, then specifics like Unoa, YoSD (and variant spellings). I always tick "search title and description" which nets me more chaff but it's better to catch more stuff. Mind, I haven't stumbled across too much random dollie stuff on eBay that I've snaffled up - usually when I'm looking for something specific I have specific keywords in mind - just recently ann estelle kitty shoes and teen trends clothes. And these items are *cheaper* when they don't have YO-SD and U-noa in their listing. :)

[frzndaqiri]

I browse the category first. Then when I've gone through all of that (yes, I have a lot of time on my hands), I'll do other keyword searches.

[EvaFriedel]

Sometimes I'll just browse through the dollfie category. Other times I'll search it for something specific, or I'll try searching the doll category in general.

[Shankula]

I search dollfie, bjd, sd, sd13, lishe, unoa, narae...that pretty much covers anything that could catch my eye.

[Daggerchan]

Oooh, I love searching through ebay.

My most haunted is "unoa", then I sometimes check "SDC" (super dollfie cute), "MSD", "Narae", I sometimes go through "Tonner Tyler" and "Brenda Starr" since they have some outfits that fit slimmer Minis. I even check on "U-noss", but there's rarely anything there except a lonely pair of SD13-size shoes..

Then when I'm looking for something specific I put in "Miniature-" something or other, or "16" doll", or "1/4 scale", and when I'm checking on accessories/furniture I try "American girl".

:Ð

[Zozolala]

Usually Unoa, Narae/Narin, MSD.. or I check some of the specific stores in my eBay-bookmarks for new updates, and click the category 'Dollfie' from there.

I also like random browsing when I'm bored, and search for 'miniature', 'custom', 'handmade' or '1:6 or 1:4 scale', while using lots of '*'.

[Chops]

I do the usual searches: Unoa, Narae, Mini dollfie.

When looking for a doll I search by "highest first". It is always fun to see how high some of the bjds sell for!

[dicebox]

Yeah, I'm like the rest, I will usually put in "unoa" because it's a common word in titles and I want to see things that would fit my Narae. Sometimes if I'm bored and just want to browse everything I'll put "dollfie" but that's not very often. :)

[blackwingsblackheart]

Most often I'm looking for clothes for my Delf boy, so I usually search "luts" first, then "sd13". "Dollfie" is usually too broad a search, though like Dicebox says, when I'm bored I don't care how many wigs and eyes I have to wade through. I also have some favorite stores saved, like Dollheart, which I check for new listings regularly.

[mylittlefighter]

I don't search eBay...I use Y!J. >3

[Mich]

I always use 'Dollfie'

[talithax]

I usually start with 'Dollfie' and then move on to BJD.

Ever so infrequently I'll add 'SD' and 'Luts' into my searching as well.

[kuroda emi]

I just search dollfie, and view all items, then if I am looking for actual dolls, I change the order to list the highest priced items to the lowest priced.

[denise]

I use the terms Mini Super dollfie, MSD, BJD and the specific size like 16mm for eyes, 40cm, 60cm etc. if I'm looking for something in particular.

[derilan85]

I just type in dollfie and see what pops up, ebay is pretty good with some of the names and companies now.

[snowwhitegirl]

I search dollfie, msd, obitsu, and dim.:)

[clowve]

Well, I just type up "dollfie" and about 30+ pages of listings pop up~ ^^

[Sae]

i search bjd, dollfie, unoa, msd, yo-sd, yosd... ebay is so easy to search for things but sometimes people only put the make of the doll and not put dollfie or bjd >< so you can miss out on alot of good auctions -______-

[1000014]

I go for BJD first, then Dollfie. Then sometimes actual companies.

[Kangetsu]

I put in the name of the specific doll I'm looking for first, then proceed to typing in super dollfie, dollfie, volks etc.

[earthspirits]

Obviously by main category first (in this case, "dollfie"), then by newest / or newly listed. Sometimes also by specifics, such as seller name or item brand name, etc. , if I'm looking for something in particular. Or sometimes I just enjoy "browsing" in general (find some pretty kool stuff that way). :)

[MaggieMoonbeam]

I have a really bizarre search that has lots of "except" terms, like Obitsu, Momoko, MSD, 1/6, etc. I've recently added the words "eye, eyes, and wig" to my list, because I have realized I'm a total wig pig and have waaaay more than I will EVER use. And I was getting that way about eyes, too, so I quit.
Now that I've decided to get out of the 43cm size, I no longer search for Unoa or Narae. I'd found that those searches were clogged with wigs, shoes from China, and outfits my kids would never wear, so I was hardly looking at my daily email from ebay.
I'd love to know how to search on Yahoo Japan! I use limited searches via Crescent Shop, like SD16 and SD13. Would be happy to know more tips.

[FunnyLori]

I browse the dollfie category, however I have mine listed highest price first. ;) That way I am less focused on "OMG it's going to end in an hour and I must have it!" Yeah... Saves me some trouble.

I also occasionally do specific company searches.

[mclamm7]

I search ebay everyday and I always start specific and go general to expand my results (SD16, Super Dollfie Volks, Super Dollfie, Dollfie, ABJD, BJD, etc.).

[javasoy]

it's about time for ebay to come up with subcategories!!!

[mikan]

I'd type in the search term "dollfie", then go by the highest price down the list.

[repulsive333]

I always search Dollfie first, then any specific brand i am looking for if i cannot find what im looking for.

[susiesadeyes]

Sometimes I just click on similar items I have been watching that have closed...super easy!

[Robomantic]

I usually just search ABJD, BJD, dollfie, or some combination thereof. Depending on if I'm looking for something specific I'll add extra stuff (Luts, DoD, clothes, etc.).

[bbogacz]

I look at used dollfie and used bjd. Then I will check under certain company's name.

[asecondbreath]

I search 'BJD'; DIM; Dollzone and 'resin dolls'.

[betsyhoneyvenom]

Well it depends on exactly what I'm looking for-- I tend to take advantage of advanced search parameters as much as possible. Like this: (6,7,8) wig -9 -5
And I usually search all ebay items or dolls and bears>dolls, since you cannot rely on sellers to use the categories correctly. The keyword spam is often atrocious, so it's sometimes not useful to try to minus out things you're not looking for, lest you miss something you are looking for.

[Kyrenea]

I stopped trying to do "searches" on eBay a long time ago. If you do things like "BJD wig" you miss all the wigs entered by general doll collectors - and you can't do just a title search since some info is only in the listing. So I tend to just get out there and waste time. I start w/the Doll & Bears category and then will do simple searches like "doll wig" or "doll boots". But lately I don't find much on eBay, I've been buying through on-line forumns, on-line dealers and direct from the company.

[luluna]

Carol,

One other thing I'll do...after I'm in the category I'll first look according to "newest" listing and if I'm looking for actual dolls (which is more costly...I'll search under highest price first). Then I can look at the dolls first and work my way down to expensive clothes and such.

Up until last month all my bjd's came from ebay. ;)

[mellaney]

usually i use the searchwords like sd, msd or 70 cm bjd then it almost find that's related to the dolls^^

[blaiseantoine]

i just search for bjd or dollfie

[Cheebee]

What has been working well for me, since I am a soon to be owner of a msd girl, is typing in 1/4 ball jointed doll. That usually comes up with about 20 pages of wonderful items to browse through and it's mostly all related things.

[Kressdan]

i'm terrible at this. i usually just type BJD on the search engine and browse hundreds (maybe thousands) of BJD-related products. i only discovered the keyword and search option thingies, which helped a lot. haha, i've got to admit, i learned a lot from this thread. ^_^

[dodg1123]

I usually put in dollfie or bjd and minus (-) things like acessories clothes and wigs that clutter the search selection.

[Exie]

This is helpful info because I've had the worst time finding decent clothes on ebay!
I reeeeally look forward to having some type of market access!

[Silver Sycle]

I`m usualy searching for volks sd by highest price first (maybe I just want
to see that there`s another pretty girl I can`t buy T_T).
When I want a specific item I search for the company`s name
(company`s like Leeke World not have as many results).

[KnightJeran]

I first search the terms: bjd, dollfie, msd, super dollfie, mini super dollfie, ball joint doll and then go on by company.