So you have decided that there is just too many search results to go through to get the item you want. What if you wanted a Portable DVD player, but didn't want to pay more than $100? What if you wanted to buy a vending machine that you didn't want to pay for freight shipping, but would rather pick it up? What if you wanted to avoid a bidding war for a brand new laptop computer? Want free shipping? Only want to pay with Pay Pal? The solution to all these "wants" is eBay advanced searching. You can do some of these things by clicking on advanced in the search bar above. However, for most of the above techniques you will need to visit the eBay Advanced Search Page. Click on the link below to open the advanced page in a new browser window.

eBay Advanced Search Page

I Want It at a Good Price!

You are now on the eBay page that should look something like the image below.



So you want a Portable DVD Player at a good price, huh? Just type in "Portable DVD Player" into the keyword or item number text box. About two lines down another option is item price. So if you didn't want to pay more than $100 you would simply type 100 into the Max field indicating the maximum bid or Buy It Now price you are willing to pay as shown in the following example.



Pretty cool, but let's say you have a thing against RCA products. To keep these out of the search results you can type "RCA" in the exclude these words text field.

I Want It Close to Home!

So you would rather pick up the item, huh? This is understandable for big items that cost a lot to ship like a big screen TV, vehicle, or let's say that vending machine mentioned earlier. Let's say that you also lived in Denver, Colorado and didn't want to drive more than 200 miles to pick up the item. First, enter "Vending Machine" in the text box that says enter keyword or item number just like above. Next, you want to scroll down to the section that says location. Then, select the option that says "item located in" and make sure United States. Lastly, check the box underneath the "items near me", select within 200 (or however many you want) miles, and enter a zip code or select a major metro area that is near you. Scroll down to the end of the page and click search. The next page will contain your search results. An example of this process is as follows.

No Bidding War Please!

There are a couple ways to avoid a bidding war. The first and easiest way is to pick a price you are willing to pay, enter it on the bidding page of your item, and most importantly, stick to it! The second method is a bit more practical though. If you scroll down to the section on the Advanced Search Page that says show only there is a check box called "buying options". To get that laptop without bidding type in something like "Toshiba Laptop", check the box previously mentioned, and select Buy It Now from the drop down menu. This will give you the results and price of everything you can buy immediately without bidding. There is one more great secret on how to avoid a bidding war that I think is the best, but I'm saving that for a future article so be sure to check back often!



The buying options section is very powerful. You can use it to narrow searches to include Pay Pal only auctions, items with free shipping, or if you feel like haggling, items in which the seller is willing to negotiate for the best offer!

Those are the absolute basics of advanced searching. As you can see by the form there is an immense amount of options when using the advanced search form. Play around with the options and you will be an advanced eBay search wizard in no time at all. If you run into any problems or have questions please use the Support feature to the left and feel free to contact us. We are always happy to help.