Searching Facebook Disasterplace

I have been wandering FBM automotive for 45 minutes or so while I relax after work.  The senseless search from what I assume is keyword spamming is crazy.  I search for Cutlass on a whim.  Oldsmobiles show up (and other cars) but no Cutlasses.  So I waste some time looking for other cars and my current search term is Monza.  Which brings up a Chevette, a Celebrity, a Cavalier, a Geo Tracker, a Cutlass, (which did not show up when I looked for Cutlass) a herd of other cars that are not Monzas and of course Monzas.   Wild, Wild West advertising?  Or is it just to get more clicks per second even if it does not produce anything usable...

Signed,

Annoyed at home

Don't know how common those are where you're at, but I have results like that come up when there's nothing for the car I'm actually searching for. They also limit what the seller can choose as the "model" so if they don't specifically type in what it actually is that will get lost. It's kind of a mess, but good things can come out of it still..

In reply to noddaz :

Here is something I have noticed.  The distance of your search matters.  

For me, if I have my search distance set as 40 miles from my home and I put in the search word of Cutlass it will then return about the first 5 listings as Cutlasses.  Then they listings are for Lesabres and Grand Prixs and any and everything you can think of.

If I then set the search for 500 miles and put in the search word Cutlass it will return many Cutlasses before reverting to Lesabres, etc.  

I think what happens is it thinks it is being helpful.  In the first example of 40 miles it shows the few Cutlasses and then shows other things it thinks you might like in or near that 40 mile range.  It wish it was more like CL where it keeps looking the other markets for just Cutlasses.  

Are you able to access and search FBM without having a FB account?  I’d like to see what is out there since Craigslist postings seem much smaller in number vs past years, but I also have no desire to otherwise participate in FB or have an account if it can be avoided.

I absolutely hate it. The move from Craigslist to FB marketplace has been so annoying for this exact reason. The search function is terrible. 

I also hate how FB has pretty much killed model specific car forums. Everyone uses FB groups now. Of course there are 11ty different groups with no organization, searchable databases, etc. I feel like there has been so much info just lost to obscurity because of this. It seems like a lot of people are also listing cars for sale on these model specific groups but there's no way for someone to find them unless you are a member of the group. 

l'm probably doing it wrong or maybe it's because I refuse to download the FB app (dataminer) to my phone so my experience is different?

I really wish things would go back to the good old Craigslist days.

get off my lawn

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

Are you able to access and search FBM without having a FB account?  I’d like to see what is out there since Craigslist postings seem much smaller in number vs past years, but I also have no desire to otherwise participate in FB or have an account if it can be avoided.

You can browse without an account but can't contact anyone. I think they limit search results without an account too. I made a burner account just so I could use marketplace and some of the groups. I still think the algorithm limits my search results because my account is not active with friends, conversations, etc. I often get messages that tell me to add friends to see more results. I also did not add the FB app to my phone. I don't know for sure but I suspect the experience is different with the app vs the website. 

old_ said:

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

Are you able to access and search FBM without having a FB account?  I’d like to see what is out there since Craigslist postings seem much smaller in number vs past years, but I also have no desire to otherwise participate in FB or have an account if it can be avoided.

You can browse without an account but can't contact anyone. I think they limit search results without an account too. I made a burner account just so I could use marketplace and some of the groups. I still think the algorithm limits my search results because my account is not active with friends, conversations, etc. I often get messages that tell me to add friends to see more results. I also did not add the FB app to my phone. I don't know for sure but I suspect the experience is different with the app vs the website. 

Interesting.  I'm not a member, but have been browsing stuff.  Kinda sucks that they filter the ads- both for the buyer and seller- I would join if something good came up that I wanted.

Well, I can only hope something better eventually pops up to fill the void caused by Craigslist’s apparent downslide that isn’t FB.  Why did CL become less popular as a place to post automotive ads, anyway?  Too many scheisters ?

In reply to einy (Forum Supporter) :

My initial guess is craigslist's way to cut down on scam/spam posts was to charge five bucks.  Ironic that they killed newspaper classifieds by being free and now FBM is basically trying to do the same thing to them.

I've found that yes, the search sucks. But, if you click on the all the cutlasses they give you, even if you aren't interested in that particular one, next time you go on the marketplace there will be more. I think the algorithm works better than the search.

There is a lot of FB marketplace hate, but I will say I love that it takes away some of the anonymity of CL. There have been numerous times I've seen something I'm interested in, then looked at the sellers profile and noped out. I'm not willing to get shanked trying to get a good deal on something. 

In reply to gearheadmb :

By the same token, you can choose who you do and do not want to sell to. 

Facebook has ruined a lot of things. Forums and craigslist are two of them. 

I miss when super niche forums used to be foundations for institutional knowledge on a specific brand or vehicle. I.e. LS1tech, honda-tech, vwvortex, NASIC, etc. Yes some were terrible but it is/was easier to search and ask for information. 

Marketplace is an exercise in patience. Their search queries and indexes are off the wall sometimes. 

Honestly, for me the search on FB seems to work better than CL.

The chances that someone filled out the extra fields (*cough* transmission type *cough*) are 100000% higher than on craigslist. 

Rarely do I see the same dealer list the same 3 cars 10x a day each, spamming all of the results.

In general, the quality of ads seems to be higher than CL (low bar, I know).

I dont like FB, but the marketplace seems to work well.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Except that it defaults transmission to automatic and nobody bothers to change it. I had one ad listed as manual, went to edit it to add some more details and it defaulted back to auto transmission.

Has anyone figured out on FB how to eliminate ad from dealers and only see cars being sold by owners? 

This was a favorite feature of mine on CL.

I find FBM very hard to use. Filtering options are often not available or don't allow for what I need. Listings seem to stay up forever, often see things that are 6 months old and not in order.

My favorite FBM "quirk" was a few months ago when it decided that if the car you were listing wasn't made in the last 10 years it was going to go ahead and change that for you. 

So see an ad for a 84 Dodge omni and click on it and as the page loaded you could watch the text change from Omni to Dart or VW fox would change to jetta. Baffling and strange

Put me in the same camp as preferring CL over FB.  I don't think FB was designed to compete with CL, per se, until CL started charging for ads and FB saw an increase in Marketplace.  Speaking of which, has anyone figured out how to search just parts on Marketplace without getting anything not car related? 

-Rob