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'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsHi all, I am not sure if everyone is aware of this, but occassionally I go into the Search on eBay just to see what other bears are out there, and see my listing amongst everyone's work.
Well, the default when I go to eBay is the 'Newer Version of Search' and I did not see my Featured Plus listing, nor did I see many of yours who have listed with Featured Plus! I only saw about 5 Featured Plus listings... Even when I change the 'Sort By...' option.
I contacted eBay Live Help (what a joke... by the way) and they informed me that Featured Plus! in the new version (I wonder how many collectors are viewing eBay now with the 'newer version'!) means that your Featured listing will be at the top of whatever page your auction happens to fall on... So, as an example, if your auction is on the 14th page out of 20 in Artist Bears>OOAK it will be at the top of the 14th page... NOT on the first page before all of the regular listings. But we're still paying the extra for more visibility!
This is 'How eBay is changing for the better'.... They say. 
Kimberly W.
P.S. By the way, I was on 'LIVE HELP' for over an hour to get this information... she only divulged this after trying to send me many links saying, "Here's your auction right here..." and giving me the run around by saying things like, "I am able to see your auction..." and "It IS in the featured section on my screen".... Yeah....
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsHere is Featured Plus! As quoted from eBay in their policies section:
How Featured Plus! works in Search:
Search results can be organized by the listing end date, price, or other options. There are 50 results per page. Your Featured Plus! item will display at the top of the page it naturally falls on in the search results list.
desertmountainbearI know that I have said this before, but for the years I have been searching ebay I have only ever searched by key words. mohair.. artist bear, what ever I am looking for. It has always been that way when you search that way. I punch in the keywords, then go to newly listed. The featured pluses for that page are are the top of the page. I do not think I am alone in searching this way. When I go to the library that is how I search. I went on artist..bear..ooak one time, and I hated it because I had to go through all the featured pluses to get to the regular listings. So I went back to keyword search. Just be very aware of the keywords you use on your listing title and people will find you. I always see the bears I see on TT when I search.
Joanne
Ah ha! I see that ebay is driving us all crazy with their changes...we've got several threads going on this same issue: Gemma just posted one about ebay's Featured First and yesterday Roxanne started a similar thread (under: "I'm confused") about these ebay changes.
Since in the past, I have been very successful listing ebay, I read them all with much interest....especially since I am thinking of listing on ebay again.
I hope that someone out there has some good solutions to dealing with all of these new ebay changes...because I don't have a clue 
:hug:
Kathy
desertmountainbearAah ebay has not changed these two, they are the same confusing things that they have always been. They are changing the way they are using featured plus. I will still stick with that
Joanne
Dolls N Dreamswell, say what you want, whatever version I choose to search, old or new, I never get more that 3-9 'featured plus' listings at any one time. there used to always be 50-60, all of the featured plus.
funny, loads and loads of 'buy it now' show up next, every time. . .
White Forest BearsAt the very bottom of the page you can switch back to the old listing format....At least I did it and ALL the featured ones are together up top again.
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsAt the very bottom of the page you can switch back to the old listing format....At least I did it and ALL the featured ones are together up top again.
Yes, you can always revert back to the old version, but you won't be able to once they decide to start using the new version completely... And how they have changed the definition of Featured Plus, that tells me that they plan to go ahead with this new way of searching... Our Featured Plus listings may still be all on the first page for now with the old version, but if you view with the new version (which I think is going to eventually become the only option) featured plus will be broken down into the pages of your search results.
Kelly, with the older version, you should be able to see all of the Featured Items... There should be about 20 or 30 or so....
just opt out of the new search!
desertmountainbearI am so confused as to why everyone thinks this is a bad thing. This is the way I have always seen it when I search using keywords. This way the people who don't pay the extra also can be seen. You will be on the top of the page you are posted on. You will still get more exposure than when you are underneath. I always check by newly listed, and I want to see the featured items as well as those not featured that are newly listed. This way I can do that without having to scroll through pages and pages, not all the good bears are featured. For me it is a good change, now I will actually look at the whole category and not have to scroll through pages. I think I am on my own here, but it has always been this way for people who search using keywords. It is a good thing, give it a chance
Joanne
Newcastle, OntarioJoanne, I do understand what you are saying - the new changes actually enhance your search methods and you like them, but I bet if they did a survey, you might be in the minority. People tend to get used to searching their own familiar way and are reluctant to change. Me, I always like to go to Artists, one of a kind and look at all the featured listings together. I really enjoy scrolling through the pages on Ebay, when I have some spare time. I don't use Ebay anymore to sell , and I have to admit that I am looking at Ebay less and less, as all the changes take place. I do not like the new search methods at all. As a seller, if I was going to pay Ebay $20.00-$25.00 for a feature, I would want to be visible ALL of the time, not at the top of certain pages or possibly even at random. I agree with Kimberly - the search methods may be optional now, but they won't be for long!
hugs,
Brenda
Hi everyone, this is only my second post in the two years I've been registered here so its a monumental occasion for me!! I think Ebay have finally flipped!!! I have listed two auctions in the past few days on Featured Plus costing over $30 and after searching thru the 'new search experience' for my items, I am shocked that I can't find my bears at all. What do they think they're doing. Are they trying to close ebay down? I've been listing there for four years and have always thought it was a wonderful way to sell my bears to collectors all over the world. Now it all seems to be changing and thank goodness I have my website. I'm so mad about this. Does anyone know when the 'new search experience' will be in force? The old one is so much better, I think.
By the way, I love this forum.
Bear hugs, Sylvia
Bear hugs, Sylvia
Back Road BearsI'm posting as a collector here, and have seen other artist/collectors post similar in other discussions here so know I'm not alone in this:
I immediately scroll right through the featured listings and get to the regular list. I'll see all all those featured listings again and there's usually at least 10-15 pages of bears to sift through anyway, I don't have all day to look at the same listings repeatedly. I also figure the majority of talented but 'starving artists' can't afford the extra money for featured listings yet sometimes their work is by far superior to those in featured listings.... as a collector I'm going to look at all the listings for the bear I really want, not the one that's "in my face".
As an artist I ask: Is the featured listing option really worth the extra money? Is it usually your same collectors who bid on your bears or does it help you attract new collectors who wouldn't see your listing otherwise? Do you fetch higher prices using the featured listing option? Its been a long time since I've listed regularly on eBay so don't know if it's worth it anymore or not. I typically only buy, not sell on eBay these days. I can understand the desire to stand out from the 15 pages worth of listings, don't get me wrong. But is it worth the extra money? There are plenty of us who are going to skip right over the featured listings anyway.... but I'm sure there are more who look at them than don't so I truly hope it is worth it.
Just know that whether your listing comes up in the featured listings list or not, most if not all of us WILL see your wonderful creation anyway when we search through the regular listings.
:hug:
Daphne, I'm so glad you posted your opinion as a collector because I definitely see your point. Even though I did the majority of my collecting when I was doing teddy bear shows... I did not decide what new bear I wanted to bring home until I walked though the whole show. So I would expect serious collectors to do the same thing on ebay and try to look at everything or search for their favorites. Good point. Thanks.
:hug:
Kathy
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsPersonally, I do look at the Featured Items, at least once. And while I do like to see people's work who don't use Featured Plus, I do feel that there is more exposure by being on the first page. Somtimes I don't have time to filter through all the pages of bears... and I would imagine that there are others out there that don't all the time, either... It was very much worth my extra money to be listed in Featured Plus by their old standards, because I think that even if collectors do have time to sift through all of the pages, they do still look at the Featured items. It's kind of hard not to when it's right there in front of you, know what I mean? And I found that I had far more watchers and tended to get higher bids (often by new faces, not my regular bidders) listing as Featured Plus. And with eBay making these new changes, not everyone is opting out of the new search style... and I have half as many watchers right now. Just a coincidence? I dunno... maybe Count Cottontail isn't as good as I thought he was... or maybe I'm not getting as much exposure because eBay is in the middle of changing and my work isn't as visible.
Who knows... all I know is that right now, my husband is gone at Basic Training for the Army, and until we receive his first paycheck, this month all of our bills are riding solely on me, and I would have been fine if I were getting the bids like I was before. This is a heck of a time for me to not be making as much. 
And Denise, I know I can opt out of the new search, but what about when eBay changes absolutely and there is no 'old search'? eBay has already changed the definition of Featured Plus on their site, so it's only a matter of time if they are allowed to get away with all of their 'changes for the better'....
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsP.S. and I'd also like to mention eBay's AWFUL customer support... Has anyone else tried to get an issue resolved with eBay through Live Help, their only 'obvious' way to contact a (semi) human being? Every time I've contacted Live Help, I get somewhat automated answers and I get the run-around... I have never gotten on Live Help and received good, quick resolution to my problem...
As an example, and I will summarize the 30 minutes that it took for this issue: This last time I was on Live Help, the lady was supposed to be walking me through how to email eBay about my complaints with their changes and their new policy on holding a seller's payment through PayPal. She kept giving me the wrong info, then finally when she did actually give me the 'right' topics to click, she pointed me towards requesting a reimbursement of a listing fee. I said, "I thought you were directing me to the place to email about my complaints on their new policies, and were going to tranfer me to billing for my issue with the listing fees..." to which she replied, "Oh, yes. I'm sorry, let me help you with that issue," and then, "Hmm, my computer is a bit slow, and I am having trouble accessing the sites for fee reimbursement..." I mean, come on... At any rate, I never got the info, I finally just said, "Just PLEASE tranfer me to billing so I can sort out my listing fees...."
Kimberly, don't take the low sales on ebay personally because Count Cottontail was wonderful. It is just simply our terrible economy. People just are not spending money right now. But I'm in the same boat that you are, my family needs my income from my bears to help pay the monthly bills, so until the economy turns around I'll just be happy with whatever I can sell.
Best wishes to your husband as he goes through basic training!
I have always listed using Featured Plus too because I think of my listing as "advertising" and unless it's on the first page it will just get lost. Also it is listed twice...on the first page and somewhere in the back pages. Whenever I post an auction I always hope that nothing goes wrong because I've never gotten good customer service from ebay either.
:hug:
Kathy
This new way is not better for anyone! I wondered why the same listing seems to appear over and over on the same page. I don't mind seeing a listing twice the old way--with the first being on the first page and then the second later perhaps several pages later. But I find it ANNOYING to see the same thing just two listings apart. and I certainly don't think it is worth $25 extra to have your listing show up like that. Ebay is getting really stupid if they think people will pay extra for that! They are going to lose money that way. How is that better?
Beth
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsKathy, thank you so much for your morale booster; it is really appreciated! I think that what frustrates me the most is that eBay has become so big that they don't see how their 'policies' affect the smaller people. If I had billions of dollars, I couldn't care less about a payment held here or there... But I've had 5 of my 6 last payments held, and there isn't anything I can do about it! Plus, their whole change to Featured Plus, I really DO think that affected my auction! I had nearly half as many watchers as usualy lately... Even just watchers!
My thought (and not that I intend to do this, but do you know what I mean?) on the 'Payments Held' topic is, why bother trying so hard to uphold your standards and feedback rating if you're just going to be thrown in to that group of sellers who don't ship in a timely manner, or don't ship at all?? We who work so hard to have smooth transactions shouldn't be punished along with those who try to rip people off, just because we don't have a super-high feedback score!
I am just bummed that the place that used to be my favorite to sell has become the most frustrating place to deal with! Even their responses are obviously uncaring and automatic.
