You can of course use more complicated searches with exclusions. Prefixing a search parameter with "-" will exclude them.
Me, I just search all categories and narrow down my search with a mixture of exclusions and wildcards.
Also consider using google to find brand names and then search for that.
It just so happens hes into HiFi so I thought id get him a nice mains cable
No-one on ebay is going to use terminology like "mains cable". To be honest I am suprised you didnt get a load of power cables ;-)
