So sad that the Search Function is still so Bad!

[DolphinMoonCreations]

I know this has been brought up many many times before but I just need to vent!

I usually love to search on Etsy to find unique and interesting things but when you are searching for "Specific Items" and the search pulls up pages and pages of unrelated items it is soooo frustrating. 

I am a buyer and a seller here.  I just can't believe that the search function is still not working correctly.  This has been going on for such a very long time.  Over the last few weeks I have tried to search for various items that I need and wanted to purchase and have had to look at so many pages of unrelated items that I finally just "Gave Up" scrolling and went to other sites.  If this is suppose to be an "AI" driven search engine - Its not working!

This must also be effecting me as a seller and maybe why my sales and views have dropped.  Its so frustrating but also proves to me that customers are probably experienceing the same thing! Will Etsy ever address this issue because no matter how many people bring this up it and constantly complain it never seems to be addressed by Etsy.  (Please refrain by saying Etsy doesn't read these posts - Been there done that)

I just needed to Vent and see if anyone else feels the same. Maybe if this gets alot of likes  and comments it will bring some more attention to our frustration.

[BLUEskyBLACKbird]

I came here to say the same thing actually!  I went to search for something very specific, sterling silver mushroom earrings....75% of the search results have ZEROOOOO to do with mushrooms....full of "etsy picks" of things that have nothing to do with sterling silver or mushrooms.... I got gold labradorite earrings, horses, necklaces, etc.... what on earth??

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Etsy

We make it easy to find your thing.

If they can't find it, they can't buy it.

[BagmakerSupply]

Not disagreeing with any of you, but based on things that have been written search is working exactly the way Etsy wants it to. The problem must be with us because we don't really know what we want but the algorithms do.

[BomberGirlVintage]

Oh my, I agree! It wasn’t like this a few years ago. I don’t know what they did to break their search engine but it’s atrocious and definitely costs them sales.

As a buyer it’s so frustrating, so I just end up going to search and buy somewhere else. When I search for a particular 60s dress maker like I did today, I don’t also need to see a dozen pages including random dresses and handbags of all decades that have nothing to do with what I was looking for. I would understand plugging some similar items to nudge you to buy something else instead/too, but they do that and then also add sooo many random items I’ve maybe searched for over the years that I don’t need or want right now. It’s like the opposite of effectively targeting ads to a consumer.

It’s bizarre and just makes carefully searching for a specific thing I was going to buy become overwhelming and too scatter-brained for me to want to even stay on the site, much less make a buying decision.

I sometimes just google the item I need and see if it pulls up a better search, which if often does, but I worry if I buy that way the seller will have to pay advertising fees when it wasn’t really the ad that made me buy — it was just google that worked around Etsy’s awful, keywordless search function.

As a seller, I’m not sure. I don’t list online much since earlier this year, but I found that my listings (vintage clothes) sold well when I listed a lot regularly to purge my store and also kept prices low. It wasn’t really sustainable at all. 

[Elligan1]

Search results can also depend on how sellers title and tag their products.  A lot of sellers don't always keep their words descriptive and relevant to the product(s) that they list.

[JDTotesnDolls]

It's not perfect but better than most I have run across.

It's not that bad.

Thing is use the text box for one and then you may have to use different terms because Etsy is global and not everyone uses the same terms for everything. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

Search currently has no filters for categories..so in addition to the crappy search return, you can't drill down to a category that would make sense for what you are looking for. I was looking for antique children's clothes and the only search category available was Toys& Hobbies which would have NO antique kids clothes. Others have been saying they get ZERO search categories to filter down to. SO as bad as it was,,it got worse. Just checked and it seems they are back so maybe it was just a 24 hour glitch?

[HeatherJordanJewelry]

I think Etsy designed its internal search to scramble results on purpose, so more shoppers have to search externally, then come in through offsite ads to make their purchases. 🤫 

[CollectionSelection]

I just tried to search for 'antique button hook sterling', and then use the filters (to weed out all the nonsensical items). The BIG problem is, there's not even a drop-down for "Categories"!  Like, isn't that the FIRST "filter" for a search? I'm sure this makes buyers RUN from Etsy. Their search has always, ALWAYS, been so frustrating!

[SJGriffinArts]

My theory is that Etsy makes more from OS ads than onsite, seller ads. They've said they make substantial amount of their income on seller ads. If you have to go to Google to search for something on Etsy and you find it via a Google search?... cha-ching for Etsy!

[gregcircanow]

This has frustrated me to the point where I'm actually leaving a comment online. I have loved Etsy for *years* but lately trying to find anything has become a fool's errand. I search for a specific Jules Verne book and I get *hundreds* of results. Anything and everything even tangentially related to Jules Verne. When I search for "Jack Davis shirt" on ebay I get 79 results, almost all of which are spot on (a couple of Miles Davis shirts managed to slip thru.) On Etsy I get 1000+ results which must include every shirt for sale on the whole site. I'm not spending money on Etsy, but it certainly hasn't been for lack of trying.

[TheKiltedKnitter]

Search does give me a few laughs so there is that to be said for it. I just listed a 1970's paperback copy of The Hobbit and wanted to see whether it appeared in search. For some of my searches it did but not all. But there on page 2 of my search results for "The Hobbit paperback" was a cookbook titled "250 ways of serving potatoes". I guess there is a link there, but it's a bit tenuous!

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