Some picture researchers will be tracking certain place-based keywords in eBay, looking for new public-domain pictures of historical locations, old folk-costume and similar. You don’t necessarily want to limit your search to just “postcards”, as that will omit much. So you do a search with a wider range. But then how do you filter unwanted users who regularly clutter your location-based search results with unwanted items such as key-fobs, fridge-magnets, stock or reseller aerial-photography images, and heavily watermarked images?
There’s a handy Web browser script for that problem. EBay: Custom Page Controls And Seller Block List, a UserScript for blocking users who regularly clutter your search results with unwanted items. Like all UserScripts, the script can only work inside a handler add-on such as the TamperMonkey UserScript handler.
I should point out that EBay does provide the ability to block natively, but only per search, and not as a perma-block.
Usage of the script is fairly straightforward.
1). First, we need to enable usernames in search results. Do any eBay search. In the right-hand corner, above the results, there’s a “View” drop-down. In this you’ll find “Customise”. Put a check-mark in “Seller information” and click “Apply changes”. This is a one-time action and it ensures that the seller name turns up in results listings in future. And that means that the UserScript can hook onto the names of unwanted sellers and remove them from the results.
2). Now install the script. If you’ve hidden eBay’s useless “Browse Related” taste-matching sidebar, unhide it (for instance, by temporarily turning off your uBlock Origin ad-blocker). That’s because the Block List control panel shows up at the top of that sidebar.
3). Put a check-mark in “Prune Results” (see above screenshot), then add a few user-names of unwanted sellers. It’s just a question of copying the username, pasting it in the Seller Block List, and pressing “Enter”.
4). Once you’ve done a few test searches and are happy you’ve barred all the unwanted sellers, you can turn uBlock Origin (or any similar ad-blocker) back on, and thus once again hide the useless “Browse Related” and other unwanted page sections. This means you’ll no longer see the Block List’s control panel in the sidebar, but the script still go on working to block the unwanted users.
I’ve just had a look at this script. Unfortunately, it no longer works and the author doesn’t appear to support it any longer. If I knew how to fix it myself, I would but alas, etc, etc. Just thought you might want to know re your blog post.
Yes, it appears to have stopped working a year ago. There is one UserScript wrangler selling his services on Fiverr, who might be able to quote you a price for a fix.