GetItNext.com - The Easier Way To Search eBay

Shopping or searching for items on eBay nowadays can be a hassle. For one reason or another, searching for a single product can turn up all sorts of unrelated results.

For instance, a simple search on eBay for an 'iPod Video', even when filtered down to the iPod sub-section of the MP3 Players category, returned several iPod parts and accessories among the scattered results of the actual MP3 player. The search results can be narrowed down to better match users desired products, but this often requires use of advanced search functions and boolean operators, which many eBay shoppers either don't understand or would rather not deal with.

Get It Next is a website that is out to help eBay users by automatically filtering out the junk and only returning relevant results, and it works well. A repeat of my search for 'iPod Video' at Get It Next only returned actual iPod Videos… and nothing else!

"We started talking to friends and family and asked them if they too were frustrated with navigating eBay. Based on their responses we realized something else: eBay is a very intimidating site for many people," stated the innovative minds behind Get It Next. "While we had been using and loving eBay for years, we learned how to search and GET deals by brute force."

I can relate since I always find myself entering minimum and maximum prices, as well as using a combination of parentheses, commas, and negative signs around keywords to get the most relevant items. Now, through a filter that uses pre-selected keywords and categories, Get It Next is able to take out a lot of the extra work required and just provide what users are looking for. If necessary, keywords and categories can be added and removed after performing an initial search.

What is great about this service is the interface, which seems much better organized and less cluttered than eBay… not to mention its more welcoming "web 2.0" look and feel, compared to the dated, old-school look of eBay. Results at GetItNext.com are returned in a list format, each complete with its accompanying preview image, email and watch list links, the feedback rating of the seller, and a table containing the time remaining and the total price (current bid, shipping, and total price are all displayed in an easy-to-read format as shown in the screenshot). As on eBay, results can be sorted by time remaining or lowest price.

To the left of search results, in a thin column, users will find boxes meant to store Watch List items and Saved Searches, in addition to user options to change your location (ZIP code) and to enable/disable hints at the site.

Beyond just returning eBay results for users, Get It Next also goes as far as to show a listing page on its own site when an item is clicked, rather than just redirecting to the listing on eBay. Each item's listing page on GetItNext.com retains all of the design elements used by the seller on eBay. It is only after users click 'Bid on It' on Get It Next that they are redirected to eBay to actually place a bid on or buy an item.

This free service has won an Interactive Media Award (IMA) for Outstanding Achievement, which goes to show that people are definitely interested in finding better ways to get around on eBay. It also shows that eBay should probably work on a better search algorithm to help out its users if they are willing to go off site just to find items. I am not sure if this is on eBay's agenda, but at the very least, they should start cracking down on sellers who list items in inappropriate categories, since this is what seems to be one of the primary reasons why unrelated items are returned to searchers.

What do you think of Get It Next? It is worth visiting a second site just to find what you want on eBay?