New Etsy Search by Category Issues

[#1]

After getting extremely frustrated with the new formula search method which forces a general search through a maze of predetermined options/categories.. I finally realized the buyer must use the category for the item they are looking for in the search bar in order to refine and reduce results.  Which means if you are looking for an item that can possibly fit into more than one category it's not going to be easy to track down using the "formula" method. 
Example... I wanted to do a price comparison on some wire birds I made to sell as supplies. Using the new method the category choice  is now on the main search page. 
First choice. Craft Tools and Supplies
Second choice is an option of Home &Hobby, Sewing & Fiber, Paper & Party, Sculpting & Forming etc..
I choose Home & Hobby
Third choice is an option of materials.. Wood, Plastic, Fabric, Metal
I choose Metal resulting in a new page with "metal home and hobby" automatically placed in the search bar
5,000+ results with the only additional filters limited to price, estimated time of delivery, shipping and sellers
If I try to add 'wire bird' into the search bar by erasing "metal home and hobby" I go back to the main page of search with 25K unfiltered results. 
If I add 'wire bird' to the existing 'metal home and hobby' it filters the search to a more manageable result (under 200) but includes wire birds sculptures.. There are actually only about 25 listings that could be considered supplies and my listing isn't included in the search results. 
Home and Hobby is the only category that has a "metal or wire" in Craft Tools and Supply other than jewelry (not the right category for 5 to 6 inch birds)

If I type in wire bird supply on the main page and use the filter for USA, handmade, and physical item... there are 172 results and my listing shows up on the first page.. 

How is the buyer to know to put the category in the search bar if they actually want to not waste time running through the Etsy formula search maze? 

[busterbeanknows]

There are a series of tv ads for Etsy...  All using the theme song from Mission Impossible!!! Each one shows a buyer scrolling through screen images of completely unrelated items
If you want to watch..
google: etsy mission impossible tv ad

With their "new" search format... finding what you want IS mission impossible.. 

[busterbeanknows]

I found a thread that addresses this issue from a marketing viewpoint. https://community.etsy.com/t5/Marketing-Your-Business/Etsy-search-is-moving-away-from-relevancy/td-p...

It an informative take and matches precisely with Etsy's holiday tv add spots which ironically are using the theme song to Mission Impossible 

[JMOldeVintage]

Searching for "poodle brooch" (a friend in mind) the results at over 2K. Yet if I get the hare-brained idea to go into the filters & pick "Theme - Animals" the results go down to just over 1,000.

I thought a poodle was an animal so tbh I didn't expect to see such a change in the search results. 
Is this an indication that if a shop doesn't "check/use all the boxes" when setting up a listing their totally relevant item is suddenly excluded? Just because a buyer might opt to use a Theme or one of the other options - "gift for him" or whatever?

Though don't get me started on using "Themes". Out of curiosity after the "animal surprise" I opted for "Music" as a theme and the results were 2 brooches - both of a guitar - & no a poodle wasn't strumming either. 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

All things considered, about 90% of the listings that muck up the search for me could very easily be (well maybe not very easily, as it would still be Etsy) filtered out of a search if they would just reinstate the ability to use the minus sign.

The minus sign was such a great tool!
I could search for 'sterling silver bracelet' and add -plated -gold -personalized and PRESTO! there would be a page of mostly EXACTLY what I wanted to see.

[radtothebad]

Ok I'm not the only one.

My first question: does having the category option cost Etsy a lot of money?  Enough to alienate those that use it?

My second: what's going to happen when I can't easily find what I want on Etsy, using the category filter (which is GOLDEN to me) - will I fuss around on Etsy?  

No.  I'll start looking for independent stores.  I'll also just go to Google shopping.  I will do less browsing, so far less purchasing.  I've been on Etsy for a super-long-time, but nothing is so sacred that I'll keep at it if it's wasting my time (as a buyer and a seller).

[SJGriffinArts]

For them to do this right before Giftmas is stupefying. 

Has anyone scrolled down on the new not-really-filters list?

I just did a search for a specific type of earrings. Scroll down past all the stuff you usually ignore when searching for a category and you'll see a list of all the terms Etsy has available for a seller to specify on a listing page! For earrings I got: location, color, material, closure, theme, style, occasion, shape, holiday, gemstone, recipient, setting, and can be personalized!!

It's a very, very long list and I don't think many will take the time to actually read it or check a billion tiny check boxes. I don't think it's very helpful, and especially so because it's completely buried under all the standard stuff on the filters list. I've been fuming about this since it happened - and even I, a seasoned and ancient seller on Etsy since 2007, just discovered it today.

Brilliant decision, Etsy (not).

[JMOldeVintage]

@SJGriffinArts  - As I posted above on the "poodle brooch" I got all those "filters". Apparently these options readily appear for jewelry since I looked for items of interest to me & I consistently am shown these options.

Yet once again typing in my generic "vintage garden tool" term I am not shown Categories that will allow me to drill down to "garden tools". Going past all the location, arrival dates, etc. "faux filters" I am shown the "option" to choose a Color. Well, they left out "Rust" so that's no help, lol.

But seriously I'm not going to browse thru 99,338 items. I'd like to be able to filter out the vintage artificial flowers, the flower pattern afghan, sea shells & sea glass results. And No these aren't "Ad items". But they are listings I used to be able to eliminate from my results & now I can't. 

[Rabbitdogfinearts]

I'm glad to see others have had this issue. I sell and buy on etsy. When I buy I would LIKE to buy handmade, made in the USA (where I live). I can't filter for that now.

[VintagePussycatShop]

Just coming to add to this thread, in case by some miracle Etsy decides to recognize how frustrating this is.  I was doing a search for "vintage ribbon crochet dress".  Couldn't find the categories in the filter, so I was getting results of ribbon yardage, patterns, kids clothes - and of course all the basically unrelated crap in the etsy ad posts.  When I finally saw the categories next to the search bar, I thought it would solve my problem.  Nope.  If i choose catagories, it will show me womens dresses.  But it will NOT maintain that category choice if I actually add words to the search bar.  But even if I search for "vintage crochet ribbon dress for women", I STILL get unrelated items.  A sweater.  Patterns.  Ribbon.  WHY WOULD THEY MAKE IT SO FRIGGIN HARD TO SHOP, I NEVER UNDERSTAND THEIR REASONING.  I really wish they would stop driving buyers away with this endlessly fruitless search.