It should reflect almost exactly. Rank order is given to us directly from eBay. It reflects the view that a domestic buyer from that country will see. We have calibrated ShelfTrend’s Top 500 Live Listings Report to match at least 90% of what is on the eBay website. However there can be some discrepancies - here are some possible reasons why:
Your data report may need to be refreshed. Rank can change pretty frequently, especially in fast moving categories. eBay is constantly shuffling product listings so when you click “Run Report,” the rank is reflective of when you ran the report. Check the day and time for when you ran the report to ensure you have the most recent data.
Promoted Listings are excluded from ShelfTrend’s Top 500 Live Listings report. Promoted listings are not ranked but paid seller ads that are intermingled and made to look like a listing. Depending on which country you are in, the number of promoted listings can appear to push out rank numbers.
You are not in the same country as the marketplace you are researching. Your eBay experience is greatly influenced by your geolocation and your registered shipping address. You need to reflect the profile of a domestic buyer to get the true listing rank that eBay intends.
Some countries like Canada and other smaller European countries supplement a lack of domestic inventory with listings from other countries that will ship to their location. Intermingling listings that will ship to that host country, or will ship “Worldwide” can impact your view of Best Match rank.