I'm searching for a used car part, a seat track/slider mechanism.

Searching for the car year, model, used and "seat" comes back with 1,016 results.

1,013 of them are for seat belt mechanism refurbishing companies.

All from 3 companies. About 5-10% from one company, all the rest from the other 2.

So what's the point of having 500 identical listings?

Is it like an arms race? "Well the competition has 400 identical ads, in order to stay in the game, we need 500 identical ads!"

The parts overlap and tendency to show items with similar names is annoying. I’m not sure how they are doing listings these days.

eBay can at times be both a treasure trove as well as a garbage dump. For extremely hard to find items it can be worth while but as you pointed out, when you are on the quest for that hard to find item you often have to sift through mountains of seemingly unrelated items on eBay.

I’ve noticed for certain bike brands and bike related parts with generic names there can be a ton of overlap. I try to add things to the search to narrow it down but that doesn’t always help.

Try car-part.com

Online salvage yard search engine, very easy to use and open to all both professional and back yard wrenchers.

I've used it for late model cars and as far back as looking for a transmission for a 1939 Cadillac, actually found one listed there.

Ebay has changed and not for the better at least in my opinion. Hardly ever seriously look at it any more.

EBay: I bought a LL Bean wool shirt from a high rated seller. When it arrived, it stunk so bad with some kind of unidentifiable stench that I could not keep it indoors. After multiple washes, it stunk up the washer. Off to the dry cleaner it went. Dry cleaned the stench. I ended up throwing it away.
My Ebay buys lately run the gamut from really great ($400 Eddie Bauer GoreTex/Goose Down parka for $65) to the really crappy. You pay your money, you take your chances.

The multiple identical ads I'm talking about aren't even for the part, they're to repair your part. So model, makes, year etc are really irrelevant, that's what makes it even stranger.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
EBay: I bought a LL Bean wool shirt from a high rated seller. When it arrived, it stunk so bad with some kind of unidentifiable stench that I could not keep it indoors. After multiple washes, it stunk up the washer. Off to the dry cleaner it went. Dry cleaned the stench. I ended up throwing it away.
My Ebay buys lately run the gamut from really great ($400 Eddie Bauer GoreTex/Goose Down parka for $65) to the really crappy. You pay your money, you take your chances.

Curious why you didn't send the garment back to the seller for a refund or replacement? This is one of the reasons I try and buy stuff locally even though it may cost more money.

IIRC, the seller said they did not accept returns.
And after the dry clean bill, return shipping would have just added insult to injury.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
IIRC, the seller said they did not accept returns.
And after the dry clean bill, return shipping would have just added insult to injury.

I imagine a lot of buyers get burned by misunderstanding that "does not accept returns" thing.

Thing is: That does not apply if the item is not as-advertised or as-described. If an item is Significantly Not As-Described (SNAD - yes, there's really an acronym for it), they have no choice but to accept a return on their dime.

One time I received something SNAD. Notified the seller. He balked. He finally invoked the "returns not accepted" thing. I explained that didn't apply if the item was SNAD. He stuck to his story. I opened a dispute with eBay. He waited until the very last day to initiate a return.

Clothes are tricky on eBay. I'm disinclined to do it, anymore, after receiving UA shirts that were, technically, as-described, but not as expected.

Then there was the one I bought, one time, that seemed fine--until the first time I put it on. Some of the weave must've been marginal, because it all-of-a-sudden developed this big patch that had a distinctly different color and texture. Had to take the hit on that one.

Yes, there are no listing fees, for many sellers. Here's mine and I haven't sold anything in over a year.

No listing fees and they charge you like 15% of your sale price for fees.