Advanced Search Tips

Category: Buying Last updated: 2026-07-15

Owning's search is powerful once you know how to use it. Beyond the basic keyword search, you can filter by category, price range, condition, location, shipping, listing type, and even category-specific attributes. This guide covers every filter and how to combine them for precise results.

Search basics

The search bar at the top of any page performs a full-text search across listing titles and descriptions. Type a keyword and press enter — results update instantly.

You can also search directly via URL:

https://owning.pro/listings?q=iphone+15+pro

Or via the API:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?q=iphone+15+pro&limit=20"

All available filters

Filter	Parameter	Description	Example
Keyword	q	Full-text search on title + description	q=macbook
Category	category	Top-level category ID	category=electronics
Seller	seller_id	Filter by a specific seller's listings	seller_id=usr_01JXK...
Min price	min_price	Listings at or above this price	min_price=100
Max price	max_price	Listings at or below this price	max_price=500
Condition	condition	new, like-new, good, fair, poor, refurbished	condition=like-new
Country	country	Two-letter country code (ISO 3166-1)	country=ES
City	city	City name (case-insensitive)	city=Madrid
Shipping	shipping	Only listings that offer shipping	shipping=true
Type	type	sale or wanted	type=sale
Status	status	active (default) or all	status=active
Sort	sort	newest, price_asc, price_desc, relevance, random	sort=price_asc
Page	page	Page number (starts at 1)	page=2
Limit	limit	Results per page (max 100)	limit=50

Combining filters

Filters can be combined freely. The more filters you apply, the more precise your results.

Example: Used electronics in Madrid under €300 with shipping

https://owning.pro/listings?q=&category=electronics&max_price=300&country=ES&city=Madrid&shipping=true&condition=good

Via the API:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?category=electronics&max_price=300&country=ES&city=Madrid&shipping=true&condition=good&sort=price_asc"

Sorting results

Use the sort parameter to control result order:

Sort value	What it does
relevance	Default. Ranks by search relevance score (best match for your keyword).
newest	Most recently created listings first.
price_asc	Lowest price first.
price_desc	Highest price first.
random	Randomized order — useful for discovery.

When searching without a keyword (q empty), relevance falls back to newest first.

Category-specific attribute filters

Some categories support dynamic attributes — filters specific to that category. For example, boats have attributes like length, year, and engine type; cars have make, model, and mileage.

Attribute filters use the attr[key] syntax:

Filter syntax	Description	Example
attr[key]=value	Exact match	attr[make]=BMW
attr[key_min]=value	Minimum value (numeric)	attr[year_min]=2020
attr[key_max]=value	Maximum value (numeric)	attr[year_max]=2024

Example: BMW cars from 2020 onwards under €30,000

https://owning.pro/listings?category=cars&attr[make]=BMW&attr[year_min]=2020&max_price=30000&sort=price_asc

Via the API:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?category=cars&attr[make]=BMW&attr[year_min]=2020&max_price=30000&sort=price_asc"

Discovering available attributes

To see which attributes a category supports, use the asset types endpoint:

curl https://api.owning.pro/api/asset-types/cars

This returns a list of available attributes with their types (string, number, enum), units, and allowed values. Use these to construct your attr[...] filters.

Note: When using attribute filters without specifying a category, the API will try to infer the asset type from the attribute keys. If the keys match exactly one asset type, it works automatically. If they match multiple types or none, you'll get a 400 error asking you to specify the category.

Price filters and unpriced listings

When you apply a price filter (min_price or max_price), listings without a price (price amount = 0) are excluded from results by default. This is because most unpriced listings are "contact for price" items that don't fit a price range.

If you want to include unpriced listings in your filtered results, add include_unpriced=true:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?category=electronics&max_price=500&include_unpriced=true"

Browsing by category

Instead of using the search bar, you can browse directly into a category:

Top-level category	URL
Electronics	owning.pro/electronics
Vehicles	owning.pro/cars, owning.pro/motorcycles, owning.pro/boats
Fashion	owning.pro/fashion
Real estate	owning.pro/real-estate
Home & garden	owning.pro/home-garden

Each category page shows featured listings and subcategory navigation. From there, you can apply additional filters.

Pagination

Results are paginated. The default page size is 20, and the maximum is 100. Use page and limit to navigate:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?category=electronics&page=1&limit=50"
curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings?category=electronics&page=2&limit=50"

The response includes a pagination object with total and pages so you know how many pages are available:

{
  "results": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 50,
    "total": 1247,
    "pages": 25
  }
}

Tips for better search results

• Use specific keywords — "iPhone 15 Pro 256GB" is better than "phone." The full-text search ranks by relevance.
• Combine keyword + category — searching "guitar" within the music category (under sports or other) narrows results faster than keyword alone.
• Use price filters to eliminate noise — if you have a budget, set min_price and max_price to avoid scrolling through items outside your range.
• Filter by shipping if you can't pick up — shipping=true shows only listings that can be sent to you.
• Sort by newest to catch fresh listings — sort=newest shows the most recently posted items first, useful if you check frequently.
• Save searches you run often — see Saved Searches & Notifications to save a search and get notified when new listings match.

Search via Markdown

AI agents and developers can get search results in Markdown format by appending .md to the listings endpoint:

curl "https://api.owning.pro/api/listings.md?q=macbook&category=electronics&max_price=1000"

This returns a Markdown document with YAML frontmatter and a list of matching listings — useful for programmatic consumption. See Markdown & JSON Formats for details.

Learn more

• How to Buy — the complete buying guide
• Saved Searches & Notifications — saving searches and getting notified
• Understanding Listing Conditions — what condition labels mean
• Markdown & JSON Formats — machine-readable search results
• Owning for AI Agents — programmatic access and automation