Help me not drive to Salford to pick up a bloody lamp
August 10, 2017 3:46 PM Subscribe
Has the internet yet sussed out how to defeat 'collection only' eBay?
How does one filter out all the 'collection only' eBay items for any given search?
I have hunted high and low for approximately the last two weeks trying to find a way to filter out 'collection only' eBay results. I'm hoping that I've just missed an obvious search term and there is a simple and easy fix. Basically I'm shopping for furniture, and it is super annoying to NEED to sift through page after page of great bargains and great items, only to find out they're located like 12 hours away. Yes I could sort by distance and just find the nearer items to collect. But what if I don't want to collect at all, ever? (Having to do so would totally defeat a majority reason of why I value online shopping.) I want to pay shipping, or at least have the option, and not need to arrange a third party delivery service (at great expense) to buy a £10 bookshelf.
I found a few scripts that no longer function, some links to websites (promising to filter) that are now defunct, and some only mildly helpful forums posts telling me to subtract terms in the search bar like 'collection'.
eBay in their infinite wisdom do not seem to make it easy to omit 'collection only'. But the internet is vast and full of tenacity.
How do I make my dream a reality?
I have hunted high and low for approximately the last two weeks trying to find a way to filter out 'collection only' eBay results. I'm hoping that I've just missed an obvious search term and there is a simple and easy fix. Basically I'm shopping for furniture, and it is super annoying to NEED to sift through page after page of great bargains and great items, only to find out they're located like 12 hours away. Yes I could sort by distance and just find the nearer items to collect. But what if I don't want to collect at all, ever? (Having to do so would totally defeat a majority reason of why I value online shopping.) I want to pay shipping, or at least have the option, and not need to arrange a third party delivery service (at great expense) to buy a £10 bookshelf.
I found a few scripts that no longer function, some links to websites (promising to filter) that are now defunct, and some only mildly helpful forums posts telling me to subtract terms in the search bar like 'collection'.
eBay in their infinite wisdom do not seem to make it easy to omit 'collection only'. But the internet is vast and full of tenacity.
How do I make my dream a reality?
Response by poster: @rd45 Thanks for your answer! It's always illuminating to hear from other side of the eBay experience. I can't help but believe in a world where each of those three goals can be a reality. The shipping may be expensive (and/or fiddly AF), but it also must be possible. Faith abounds.
posted by Vrai at 4:31 PM on August 10, 2017
posted by Vrai at 4:31 PM on August 10, 2017
Is the kind of furniture you are trying to buy generally sold by business sellers or private individuals? In my experience business sellers are more likely to offer shipping and less likely to be collection only, although that’s obviously just a trend and not a universal rule.
If you’re willing to reduce the number of results, you can filter for business sellers only in the seller options - you may need to click on More Refinements at the bottom of the left-hand column first.
You can also filter for Click & Collect and/or free postage in the left-hand column. (Although be warned, sometimes private sellers mark items as free postage when they mean they won’t ship and the item is collection only.)
posted by badmoonrising at 1:03 AM on August 11, 2017
If you’re willing to reduce the number of results, you can filter for business sellers only in the seller options - you may need to click on More Refinements at the bottom of the left-hand column first.
You can also filter for Click & Collect and/or free postage in the left-hand column. (Although be warned, sometimes private sellers mark items as free postage when they mean they won’t ship and the item is collection only.)
posted by badmoonrising at 1:03 AM on August 11, 2017
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I sent a bike to the Czech Republic a while ago, using the buyer's courier service that they arranged. Even that was more trouble than it was worth. If you want to buy something big &/or heavy, limit your search to the radius through which you already know you can transport that thing for free. That's why those things are cheap, after all - there's only a small no. of people who are close enough to want them.
posted by rd45 at 4:22 PM on August 10, 2017 [3 favorites]