eBay Dropship Sellers: The Basics of Best Match

If you are an eBay seller, you are probably at least aware of the infamous Best Match search function that was rolled out back in 2008, but if you don’t have at least a working knowledge of how it works, you need to get busy and learn the basics.

Whether you are into dropship sales on eBay or just a small volume Mom and Pop type seller, you should still make it your business to try and understand Best Match as best you can.

You won’t be able to completely understand Best Match, because eBay doesn’t make all of the algorithms known to those outside the charmed inner circle.

But gaining even a little better idea of how it supposedly works might help you boost your listings in the search rankings for Best Match, which is some help, anyway.

Want to be an eBay Powerseller? Download our FREE whitepaper & get insider information about success on eBay!

Here are some suggestions from eBay about how to weigh Best Match in your favor:

• Keep your prices competitive. This entails keeping an eye on your competition to see how they are pricing the same or similar items. If you are both selling the exact same widget and yours is significantly higher, this might affect your position in Best Match search results.

• Provide excellent customer service. To eBay, this means being a Top Rated Seller. To a large extent, whether or not you achieve TRS status and maintain it depends largely on luck. However, if you can somehow manage to consistently stay up there as a TRS, it is supposed to increase your exposure in Best Match. Ditto for offering Free Shipping and maintaining a Seller Performance in accordance with eBay’s extremely stringent guidelines.

• Write good titles using your best and most relevant keywords. You have a 55 character limit for the title line, so this can be challenging. Avoid superfluous words such as “Wow” or “Must See.”

• Be sure to list in the appropriate category.

• There are drop down menus that allow you to provide Item Specifics. eBay apparently loves these things and you will allegedly achieve a higher position in Best Match search if you use them.

These are some of the main things you should do to try and get a better search ranking and more exposure with eBay’s Best Match.

According to some sellers, faithfully adhering to these best practices doesn’t guarantee having your listings elevated in Best Match. But at least you might have a better chance of getting your items seen if you do follow these practices!

If you liked this article, you may also like this one: 

eBay Sellers: Can You Afford the New Reduced Fees?