ebay faceted search filters

Search filters are now a part of most modern websites, ebay uses them on categories to help buyers narrow down from a large list of related items.

Example if a shopper was looking for shoes and their shoe size was a 5 then they would not really be interested in looking at a shoes that are only in available in a 6, 7,8.

If the shopper was only interested in a size 5 that was a certain colour,  a certain style the only way for the user to find the the shoes that match their requirements is to trawl through a sellers shop.

Now if the seller had not categorised their shoes correctly and they had a number of shoes, chances are the buyer would not spend a great deal of time searching for the pair they want.

If however they could simple choose

Size

Colour

Style

and the relevant pairs were loaded as they made each selection the user is a much more likely to

A Check out the shoes that match their search criteria

B Spend more time browsing as a result of not being shown to many pairs they have no interest in

Price filtering is also helpful for buyers who have a set amount to spend.