eBay

stephenmorgan · ‎09-22-2023

Why don't the promoted listing advertise correctly what is being offered.

Example, I understand the sponsored item below is offering 100 to 400 boxes with a starting price of $23.95 for 100 boxes.

But when you click on the advertisement and go to the listing the price of $23.95 is only for 25 boxes and 100 boxes is $48.95. So is this what a promoted advertisement is suppose to do? It this what it really takes to get you product up front to be looked at?

This is a bait and switch scheme. I see this often and it encourages me to look elsewhere for the product.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎09-22-2023

A seller can 'promote' their listings.

When they accidently or purposely input the wrong info, which is obvious as the title shows- this site, ebay does NOT look at Every, or ANY listing for 'accuracy'.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as it's

a.) few and far between

b.) this seller won't be getting any sales from this listing as they are obviously showing 100 to 400 yet their 'titles' are smaller amounts.

khetzel · ‎09-22-2023

I wouldn't say it's few and far between. A great many of those promoted listings are like that. A clickbait price is shown that is for whatever the cheapest item in the drop-down select list is.

Best to treat those ads like any other click bait, just ignore them.

stephenmorgan · ‎09-22-2023

I was just wondering how they are able to do this.

I used tried a promotion and it was a simple percentage fee to promote the listing. There was no option to create a separate advertisement that will be used as the promotion and then linked my listing. The advertisement being promoted is my listing.

I do like this New! Dynamic ad rate. I can not wait to try it. I am curious how long it will take to get to 40 or 50 percent.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎09-22-2023

@khetzel wrote:
I wouldn't say it's few and far between. A great many of those promoted listings are like that. A clickbait price is shown that is for whatever the cheapest item in the drop-down select list is.

Best to treat those ads like any other click bait, just ignore them.

A great Many??

Do you know how you have NO CLUE what you are saying??

10,000 listings out of 1,800,000,000 is FEW and FAR between.

Probably best if you didn't talk when you have no clue what you are saying.

khetzel · ‎09-22-2023

It's a great many. Meaning I see it all the time. If it's only 10,000 ads out of 1.8billion it sure is strange how they always appear.

joliztoyco · ‎09-22-2023

Help us out.
Are you saying that only 10,000 of eBay's 1.8 billion listings are "promoted"?
Or am I missing something?

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎09-22-2023

@stephenmorgan wrote:
I was just wondering how they are able to do this.

I used tried a promotion and it was a simple percentage fee to promote the listing. There was no option to create a separate advertisement that will be used as the promotion and then linked my listing. The advertisement being promoted is my listing.

I do like this New! Dynamic ad rate. I can not wait to try it. I am curious how long it will take to get to 40 or 50 percent.

What are you saying? What are you asking?

My understanding of your question is "How can they use a promotion to make the ad say "100-400 boxes" and show 23.95 as the price when that is the price for 25 boxes not 100."

My answer would be 1) I don't see how the promotion/ad has any bearing on this. Whether they promote the item or not makes no difference. 2) You said yourself, you understand the price shown is for the smallest quantity available, which based on the title you assumed to be 100 (so $23.95 for 100). 3) The fact is, they simply created a listing, and wrote a title, that is designed to deceive you into thinking there is more item for less $. They simply wrote a title implying min qty is 100 and you are smart and know the price shown is for min qty, but the min qty was lower than you knew.

Not sure where promotion or ad plays in, and how there is some "separate" promotion to link. Its simply promoting the item as it was listed, no? Thats generally how it works. The promotion/ad simply promotes the listing exactly as the seller listed it, not some separate ad linked it to use for marketing.

annadryl · ‎09-22-2023

They put 100-400 as clickbait. They simply don't mention the low quantity of 25 which only shows when you open the listing page. In other words you're seeing the lowest price but it's not for 100.

I see it a lot but they never get my sales. Or really many sales at all, if that's the real price.

Last I was shipping for bulk shipping labels, many qty. listings offer a qty. of one "sample" for a couple bucks. The title mentions 200-20,000 etc.

Lowbrow salesmanship but ebay can't really do much about it.

stephenmorgan · ‎09-22-2023

I guess it is a terminology thing.

The advertisement I came across as I am looking for boxes says Sponsored Items and the Advertisement is right under that. You can not buy from that Advertisement. You have to click on the Advertisement and then it takes you to the eBay listing that does not offer what the advertisement advertised.

So maybe a Sponsored Item is not the same as having a Promoted Listing and they have nothing to do with each other? If this is the case then that explains why they are able to do it.

What ever this form of Advertisement is I call it a Bait & Switch.

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎09-23-2023

@stephenmorgan wrote:
I guess it is a terminology thing.

The advertisement I came across as I am looking for boxes says Sponsored Items and the Advertisement is right under that. You can not buy from that Advertisement. You have to click on the Advertisement and then it takes you to the eBay listing that does not offer what the advertisement advertised.

So maybe a Sponsored Item is not the same as having a Promoted Listing and they have nothing to do with each other? If this is the case then that explains why they are able to do it.

What ever this form of Advertisement is I call it a Bait & Switch.

1) Sponsored Items = Promoted Items.

2) IMO you are treating this "Advertisement" as some sort of "separate being". That little square, the little picture, the little "advertisement" is a link to the listing. It took you directly to that listing.

3) MOST IMPORTANTLY, that listing is EXACTLY what that advertisement advertised. It is a listing, with that title, that main picture, and that base price. It is all the "basic info" (title, main pic, and price - or base price in this sort of listing) that is extracted from the listing and placed into that "Advertisememt" as you have called it.

That "Advertisement" is providing the same same info you'd find for that item or ANY OTHER item that came up in a baic set of search results, or if it came up under any other row of items other than Sponsored Items. Literally could be shown under the header "You Might Also Like" or "Other Buyers Purchased" or "Similar Items" or if you did a search for "boxes" and that came up.

The issue is not the "Advertisememt". The "Advertisement" is functioning 100% properly and taking you to the exact listing it suggests it will take you to.

THE ISSUE is that the TITLE is misleading. That is the only deceptive part of any of this. The seller created a title for the listing that has misled you. They say 100-400 instead of 25-400. The "advertisememt" hasn't gone "off-script" it is functioming 100% as intended and 100% as it should and 100% "as advertised" giving you the listing you asked to click on. The listing itself (title specifically) is the root of the problem.

NO different than ANY other standard false-advertised, misrepresented misleading listing.

So to recap, the "Advertisement" (little square you see with pic, title and price) is not a bait & switch, it delivers exactly what you asked for (corresponding listing). The listing itself is a Bait & Switch, or Click Bait or whatever you want to call it as it does not provide what it purports to provide as the Min Qty is much lower than suggested in the title. This could actually be an unintentional, harmless thing the seller has done, in theory, after changing minimum quantity but not changing title and not realizing or connecting the idea that min price is shown and min qty in title doesnt match up w/ min price in such situations.