How to Do a Basic eBay Search

Can’t find something that you’re looking for on eBay by browsing around categories of merchandise or checking out what’s trending? You might want to try searching for items directly. You can search for items by their name, category, brand, type of listing, and more!

To do a basic search on eBay:

1. Go to www.ebay.com in your web browser and log in.

2. If you have an idea of what category the item you’re looking for is in, click the drop-down menu beside the Search button and select a category. Then (or otherwise) click in the box at the top that says “Search…” and type in what you’re looking for.

As you do, eBay will suggest key words or phrases that might match what you’re looking for. Click on one of the key words or phrases to use it as your search term(s), or click the Search button to search for exactly what you typed in.

3. Once you get to your results page, chances are that you’re still going to have quite a few different items to sift through, depending on how general or specific your search terms are. Fortunately, there are several ways to organize and narrow down what you’re looking for. For instance, try clicking one of the “Related” key words or phrases underneath the search bar to make your search terms a little more specific.

You can also click the check box beside “Include Description” if you want to search for your search terms within the description of the item as well, as opposed to just its listing name.

4. Click one of the buttons at the top-left of the results display to show All Listings that match your search terms, ones that you have to win in an Auction, or ones where you can Buy It Now.

5. The options at the top-left of the screen allow you to narrow your search results to items within a specific category or subcategory. Click the category that you want to look inside.

6. You can also use the options below the “Categories” options to filter your search results by various criteria, such as the brand name, item condition, price, delivery options, or any special seller stipulations (such as whether or not they accept returns). If you click See All beside any criterion (or click More Refinements at the bottom of this list), a new window will pop up allowing you to set several conditions at once.

Click the tabs on the left to select the different types of filters, and then use the buttons, check boxes, etc. on the right to set the parameters for those filters. A checkmark will appear beside each type of filter where parameters have been set. The specific filters will display at the bottom of the window; click the “X” beside a filter to remove it. When you’re done creating filters, click Apply to narrow your search results (or click Cancel if you don’t feel like applying these filters right now).

7. If you wish to sort your results, click the drop-down menu beside “Sort” and select an option. You can sort items based on:

8. You can change how your results display by clicking the drop-down menu beside “View” and switching between a Gallery-style view and a List-style view. You can also click Customize to bring up a window with additional options.

Here, you can select a gallery-style view or list-style view, the sort order of your results, how large the pictures of your results are, how many results are displayed per page, and what additional information displays (or does not display in the listing). When you’re done making changes, click Apply Changes to change how your results display, Cancel to stick with what you have, or Restore Defaults to go back to eBay’s default display.

9. You can click a result down the right-hand side to view popular items on eBay that match your search terms, items with related search terms, or collections that other people have made whose names match your search terms.

10. Finally, if you want to save this search and have eBay give you updates in your email an on your eBay home page about new and popular items that match your search terms, click Follow This Search at the top of the results display. (Click this button again to stop following this search.)

11. When you see a result that you like, just click on the item’s title to take you to its details page.

That’s pretty much all there is to know about how to do a basic search! If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, head on over to our next tutorial — eBay Advanced Search — and see if the extra options you have there can point you in the right direction.