Can't find what you're looking for?

Don't despair, as we have put together an easy tips pages explaining exactly how Search works. There are four ways to search on eBay:

Home Page   The eBay home page has a Search box that allows you to search for items located in Australia or available to Australia.	Category Search   The Search box on all Category pages gives you choices for how you search. You can search for items in $AU and also search only in the current category.
Advanced Search   Using our advanced search, you can search by item number, seller, bidder or even region.	Favourite Searches   We will help you find your favourite items. Save your searches- it's easy!

•  Home Page
  The eBay home page has a Search box that allows you to search for items located in Australia or available to Australia. This means that you can search for items either from sellers in Australia or from all over the world. This search will only search the title of the item - if you need to search the descriptions then use the Category page search box or the advanced search in the top navigation bar.

•  Category Pages
  The Search box on Category pages gives you options for how you search. You can limit your search to the particular category or sub-category you are in, as well as specifying whether you want to include items from overseas.

  For example: your keyword may be "vintage" and you only want to search for items located in Australia and in the Antiques and Art category. This narrows your search and you are more likely to find the item or the closest match for what you are searching for.
  

  

•  Advanced Search
  You can try more advanced searches using our Search page. There are six options of how to specify your search:

  Search by Title
  You can search for an item using keywords, from nominated countries, in particular currencies, in specific categories and by price.

  

  Search by Item
  You can search eBay for a particular item using the item number.

  

  Search by Seller
  You may know a particular seller who sells items that you are interested in. You can choose how far back in time you would like to search.

  

  Search by Bidder
  You can even search eBay to see what items a bidder is bidding on.

  

  Search by Region
  Want to look for items located near you? - then use Search by region.

  

  Completed Item Search
  Thinking of selling and don't know the value of your item or simply want to see what something is worth? You can use Completed Item Search to compare pricing on similar items.

  

Still can't find what you're looking for????

Then Try These

What Country am I Searching? Search for items by the country they are located in.

How Search Works Find out how to get the most out of Search - using words, and punctuation.

Easy Tips

• Not finding what you're looking for?
  Don't despair—sometimes it just takes a couple tries. Think of different words to use. Imagine yourself as the seller of the item. What key word(s) would you use to list it? Or have a little fun and try an advanced search.

• Be specific to narrow your search
  Use specific words instead of general ones. For example, a search for "Beatles poster" will return fewer and more targeted listings than a search for "Beatles."

• Using words such as and, or, the
  You can use these if what you're searching for contains these words (such as "Diana Ross and the Supremes" or "Truth or Dare"). Don't use and, or, the as Boolean operators or as words to link together separate items for a more complex search. See the chart below for the symbols that will work that way.

• Use punctuation only when required
  If it's not necessary, leave it out. For example, you'll be successful if you search for Elvis t-shirt (correct punctuation with hyphen) or Elvis tee shirt (correct wording without hyphen). Try both searches if you want a complete listing of everything available.
  But don't try Elvis: t-shirt (unnecessary colon) or Elvis tee-shirt (incorrect hyphen).

• Expand your search by adding or deleting the letter "s"
  Let's say you've found several listings by typing diamond ring. Find more of the same with very little overlap by entering diamond rings.

Advanced Tips

• Search for exact phrases
  Using quotation marks such as "Opera House" or "Gone With the Wind" will find items with those exact words in sequence. For example, without the quotation marks you may wind up with many other listings containing the words "statue" or "liberty." Special note: the following modifiers will not work with this type of search: (+), (-) or wild card (*).

• Try plus (+) and minus signs (-) to broaden or narrow your search
  If you enter antique +lamp, that tells the search engine to include the words antique and lamp. If you enter antique -lamp, that tells the search engine to include the word antique but not lamp. Check the chart below for details.

• Specify the date an item was made
  For example, if you're looking for comic books from the 1950s, enter comic books 195* The asterisk is a wildcard search and can be used in other ways. See the next tip below.

• Use a wildcard for multiple endings
  By typing an * (asterisk symbol) at the end of a word, you can search for items with multiple endings. For example: Beatles man* would return items such as Beatles manager, Beatles music mania, Beatles Nowhere Man, etc.