Why Did My Research Fail?

AI research doesn't always succeed. Here are the most common reasons and what to do about each one.

"Unable to identify product"

Cause: The AI couldn't determine what the item is from your photos and hints.

Fix:

1. Retake photos with better lighting and clearer shots of brand labels, model numbers, or distinctive features
2. Add a more specific hint — instead of "electronics," try "Sony portable CD player D-EJ011"
3. Include a photo of any text on the item (stickers, engravings, printed labels)

"Insufficient comparable sales"

Cause: The AI identified the product but couldn't find enough comparable sales data to generate reliable pricing.

Fix:

• This often happens with very rare, very old, or very niche items
• Check that the identification is correct — if the AI misidentified the item, it's searching for the wrong comps
• You can still use the item; just set pricing manually based on your own research

"Research timed out"

Cause: The research pipeline took too long and was stopped to prevent indefinite processing.

Fix:

• This is usually a temporary system issue — retry in a few minutes
• If it keeps happening for the same item, simplify: reduce the number of photos or add a more specific hint

"Network error" or "Service unavailable"

Cause: A temporary connectivity issue between ListForge and an external data source.

Fix:

• Wait a minute and retry
• If persistent, check the ListForge status for any known outages

How to Retry

1. Open the failed item from your inventory
2. You'll see the error message explaining what went wrong
3. If you want to improve the input, edit the photos or add a hint first
4. Click Retry Research to run the pipeline again

Before retrying, always check the photos and hints. Retrying with the same bad input will produce the same result. Improve the input first, then retry.

When to Skip AI Research

Some items are better researched manually:

• One-of-a-kind handmade items — no comps exist
• Bulk commodity lots — pricing depends on your specific lot composition
• Items you know extremely well — if you're an expert, your knowledge may be better than the AI's comp search
• Damaged items where condition is the key pricing factor — the AI may not assess damage severity correctly from photos alone

For these items, create them manually and set your own pricing. ListForge doesn't require AI research for every item.