This document contains the agenda and notes for an UnderstandingE meeting on eBay Best Match. The agenda includes introductions, a 101 on UnderstandingE, and a discussion of eBay Best Match. The Best Match discussion covers the history of Best Match, what it is and how it works, factors like popularity, relevance and reputation that impact search rankings, and tips sellers can use to improve their rankings. It concludes with a reminder about future UnderstandingE coffee mornings.

1. Tuesday 25th March

2. Thank You!

3. 25th March - Agenda
1. Introductions & Housekeeping
House Rule + Overdose if we go beyond 1hr
2. Quick 101 of UnderstandingE for new members
Quick overview of UE ( 3 mins tops )
3. Todays topic is...
eBay Best Match 101
4. AOB
EML Update + Order Tutorials
Responsive theme is now live for premium users
Internet Retailing Conference (IRX), Tomorrow
+40 Tutorials for the Magento Website Foundation Course
Premium users webinar

4. “ There is no such thing as a daft question,
if you don’t know the answer ”
House Rule

5. We’ll quickly going to go through the following sections:
1. Where to login
2. Your dashboard
3. How to start a course
4. Where to track your progress
5. Where to ask questions & obtain help
UnderstandingE 101
101

6. Best Match 101

7. Visit us at: UnderstandingE.com
eBay Best Match 101
In this discussion you’re going to be learning the following:
● The history of Best Match
● What Best Match anyway?
● A special note on “Hacks”
● How Popularity, Relevance & Reputation impact Best Match
● What things eBay use to rate a listing and a ratio they use
● Why every listing is created equal (ish)

8. In the old days, all listings were shown in date ending order. So if you had listings ending
right now, you were at the top.
Since 2008 Best Match has been the default method with which eBay show listings on
search result pages.
Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay.
The History of Best Match
Note:
eBay Best Match is a proprietary search algorithm as such we are unlikely to know exactly
how this works right now, in the past or in the future.

9. Cassini is eBay’s latest search engine which is taking over from the
Voyager engine.
Key Points:
● Voyager would only read the 80 characters in the eBay title.
● Cassini will now read everything, including the full description
● Cassini will also show results dependent on that individual buyers past buying habits
and preferences
● Cassini was first released in June 2013 ( although some sellers believe it was earlier
than this ) and was completely rolled out by the end of 2013 on the eBay.com site
● International sites are to follow throughout 2014
The Introduction of Cassini

10. ● Returning the right products to buyers
to make sales
● Nothing more
● Nothing less
● It’s all about the buyers
What is “Best Match”?

11. All eBay does is return all the results for your
search on eBay
So if you searched for “Camera” and you
have a camera listed, you will be in one of
the ~450,000 search results
Best match also searches item specifics for
matches to your search term.
When you make a search

12. ● They typically start with a search
● Some buyers carry on making more searches to
refine their original search
● Others use the left hand navigation to drill down
into categories and item specifics
How do customers search on eBay?

13. THERE ARE NO LONG
TERM “HACKS”
quality always wins

14. eBay measures how your buyers interact with your listings:
1. Clicks to view an item page
They leave the main search to view your product
2. Whether a buyer purchases
The ultimate goal
3. Bids on an Auction
And made a bid action
4. Watches a listing
At least they made an action!
Popularity

15. Insight
● Each time your listing is displayed in a search
result, ebay counts this.
● It doesn’t matter if you’re #1 or #50 in the list
● Then when a clicks through to your item, this is
also tracked
Why?
1. A high click through rate could indicate a desirable
product
2. A poor click through rate could indicate a
undesirable product (or at least a miss-fitting one)
Clicks to view an item page

16. Insight
● More sales = A decent listing
Why?
1. Someone bought it!
2. Someone bought it!
3. Someone bought it!
Whether a buyer purchases

17. Insight
● More bids = A decent listing
Why?
1. Someone wants to buy it!
2. Someone wants to buy it!
3. Someone wants to buy it!
Bids on an Auction

18. Insight
● More watches, indicates buyers are
interested
Why?
1. The customer has saved it for later
Note:
● Expect the follow action to become
a factor too
Watches a listing

19. In short you are being measured
Popularity Summary
Bids & Purchases
Clicks
Views
Watches
Maybe follows too

20. Basically eBay wants buyers to engage with your listings, through bids, buys, clicks and
watches.
The good news is many things impact this, such as:
● Categorisation
● Item specifics use
● Multi variations ( special note on this next )
● Description
● Images
● Handling time
● Free shipping
What does this mean for you?
● Listing titles
● Low handling time
● Fast shipping
● Delivery options ( click & collect )
● Sales history
● Proven seller

21. Views : Clicks : Sales
The Ratio

22. Views : Clicks : Sales
Think about variation listings for a few moments....
More products on one product page = A higher number of chances to make a sale
PS. More recent sales = higher rankings
The Ratio

23. eBay wants to return your products at the top of the search results.
But only when the listing is relevant.
Relevant by:
● Category ( Choosing the right one )
● Keywords ( Title & Item specifics )
● Pricing
● History
● eBay Catalog
Relevance

24. you can’t build a reputation
on what you are going to
do
Henry Ford

25. eBay wants you to be at the top of the search results.
However eBay doesn’t want to put a seller at the top of eBay search that is unproven or has
proven not to be a “great” seller. That’s not great for buyers
Things to consider:
● Selling history in your category
● eTRS ( top rated seller )
● Policy compliance ( understand them, it’s your responsibility )
● DSR’s
● Feedback
● Disputes
● Soon to be “Defect Rates” ( Aug 2014 )
Reputation

26. Brand new listings are given a chance in the search
results to be viewed and to gain...
● Clicks
● Watches
● Bids
● Purchases
And yes your “Popularity”, “Relevance” and
“Reputation” will impact all of these.
Rating Zero

27. The only true way of working out what really works
for your business is to think like a customer and for
you to become your customer.
1. Be your customer
2. Be everywhere your customers are
3. Look for negativity
4. Look for speed
5. Make print outs
6. Plus a bonus step
UnderstandingE.com/1rule
One Simple Rule

28. We learned the following:
● Best Match is nothing scary
It’s about returning the right products to the right buyers
● eBay wants you to sell products
They use a ratio & other metrics to measure you
● It’s about being popular, relevant and trusted
● New listings are given a fair ride
● There are lots of things that you can do to go higher
Titles, images, descriptions, cheat sheet etc...
Summary

30. AOB

31. 1. EML Update & Order Tutorials
- Still being worked on, PickPack is “Sick!”
2. Responsive theme is now live for premium users
3. Internet Retailing Conference (IRX), Tomorrow
- We’ll be there, find us at the PayPal networking cafe at 1pm
4. +40 Tutorials for the Magento Website Foundation Course ( link )
- Live to premium UE members the second it’s ready
- Will follow to everyone else, a week or so later
5. Premium users webinar
AOB

32. We look forward to seeing on
the site & in the forums
Matt & Dave
PS.
Remember the coffee mornings, they’re every Tuesday
Thank You Once Again

33. Join in Next Week
Join us next week by following the link below and reserving your seat:
UnderstandingE.com/coffee-morning
Every Tuesday at 10am GMT, see you there!