When one does a search on ebid, the results are shown and of course one can go on to perform another search.
But very often the second search is a refinement of the first. For example, if I search for 'cabochons' I find 300+ auctions. So I want to refine that search by looking for 'cabochons swarovski'. The search box is blank, I have to type 'cabochons' again.
Many shopping web sites leave the search box populated, e.g. in this case it would still say 'cabochons' and I could add the second term to the search easily. But on this site the box has been cleared.