I tripled my promo percentages & my promo numbers actually went down for the week.

[greatmidwestcoin]

I'm just throwing this out there as my personal experience since eBay did something to negatively impact many of us sellers around the 20th. I am not stating EVERYONE has been impacted. So, from my experience throwing more money at eBay to sell your items via promo rates doesn't always mean more visibility or sales. 

Please no hate or snide replies. They get old after a while. Have a great weekend all!  And always remember - "In a hundred years it ain't gonna matter." Much less for some, including me. 😬

[pereirahawk]

I've watched dozens of Youtube videos from Ebay sellers and pretty much all are reporting a massive drop in impressions, and more importantly sales, sometime around early to mid July.  

If it's an impressions reporting glitch then why would it effect sales.

I wouldn't attribute it wholly to summer slowdown either, as this was/is a precipitous drop.  Summer slowdown are gradual and coincides with the dog days of summer...that we're now in.  

I'm currently promoting at the bare minimum of 2%...for me, there's no reason to promote at a higher percentage for the same results as 2% promoted.  

[joliztoyco]

I've long since given up on trying to decipher eBay's algorithms.
And swear Ebay itself can't decipher it . 
I'd like to come up with some sort of Skynet / runaway AI reference, but that wouldn't do their inept search function justice.
Let's debate something less stressful.
Like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. 🙂

[greatmidwestcoin]

Sage advice.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@greatmidwestcoin  No criticism, I always advocate experimenting and testing. However, as has been said many times, merely increasing the promo rate (especially ABOVE the suggested rate) is no guarantee of increased sales or even much of an increase in impressions (and that's when things are normal)

So, sure, worth a try, but one question: If you had ended up with a lot of sales, how much of a hit would your margins have taken due to the higher rates? Would it have been worth it? (And since I don't know your average margins or what actual rates we're talking about, I won't even try to guess)

To me, it's always a question of balance....I want the sales velocity, but I want it at an affordable cost. Of course, that cost can be higher and still be acceptable, if , for example, I need cash flow, or I am tryin to unload stuff that has been taking up too much space...

[joliztoyco]

Here's a novel idea.
Try not using Promoted Listings at all.
If you're suffering slow sales already, you might as well keep as much profit as you can from the sales you do make.
Just a thought...

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I am currently running PLS on about 500 of my 800 listings, at a rate lower than the suggested rates and only on my oldest listings. The few sales I've had since the campaign started have all been non PLS.

At this point, my basic view of PLS is:

In the era before PLS, it was common for sellers of long tail, used and vintage items, to simply say "List it and forget it, just wait till the right person comes along." Because that's the nature of long tail stuff----it usually doesn't have wide appeal, but eventually someone who wants it will come along. When PLS was first introduced I used it (with low rates) not because it provided better placement on the search results page....a sufficiently narrow search would usually bring my item up on the first page anyway....but because it put my items in front of people (for example, on a listing page) who might not be searching for it, might not even know such a thing existed, but ...they see it, they buy it. I believe it did indeed increase my sales velocity somewhat because , in effect, it meant I was selling to both searchers and people who were really browsers (and browsing was the real sales engine on this site for years). 

So, it was affordable, and it helped me sell stuff a little faster than I probably would have without it.

But, today, just as inflation means some things I used to buy go unbought, the suggested rates basically get ignored. And increasingly I'm back to "list it and forget it". Sure, I'm still willing to play around with PLS,usually at lower rates, but realistically,  my stuff is long tail, when I list it I expect it usually isn't going to sell quickly, and I'm OK with that. For my stuff, I think the key is ultimately list much more, and try to list frequently, and...be as patient as I can afford to be. I'm doing some other things as well, testing social media, sometimes revising older listings, etc.

But I don't feel any pressure to use PLS, especially at high rates. My experience isn't everyone's, of course, and everyone needs to decide to do what works for them. I will continue to test it out, but the idea of putting my entire store into a campaign at suggested rates? Not gonna happen (except maybe as a test). 

I think a lot of sellers are convinced they need to use it, and even they need to use suggested rates and above. And, maybe some do, I don't know. But I think a lot of the posters here are like me, with a lot of long tail inventory. My suggestion: stop chasing the rates, and instead, take the time to figure out what works for you...

[sapphire_studio]

My external page views skyrocketed yesterday. I have not listed anything new in a while and I have not messed with promoted percentages either. 

Ebay is definitely experimenting with something.

My sales have been very slow this last week including yesterday when apparently page views and Impressions went through the roof.

 

[thekittyshop]

My impressions did the same, slight dip on 17th and bigger dip on the 18th through now. It's clear eBay rolled something out on the 17th and is not telling us. It feels shady. It's very odd that page views is not mirroring it (although good). I also had one huge page view day, but on the 23rd. 

[jnsvintageradioandtubes]

I too, have noticed a drop in sales starting around the 9th of July. Used to have sales of $500/600 a week before July 9th, now my store is lucky to clear $100. That's a huge decline. Sales have been consistent this year although gross revenue has dropped monthly. July has turned out to be the worst month and PL doesn't work. I have used PL for the last year and have always been skeptical as to whether it works or not and I find the amount eBay suggests is way out of line for what I sell.  I'm as frustrated as everyone else who has been selling on eBay for years. There are variables summer months, economy, Bidenomics, buyers with no extra cash, but eBay needs to find a way to make the software platform fair for all sellers. Just my two cents.

[cool.jewels.by.jeff]

Ebay tries playing God with the algorithms and its a total mess when you literally enter the title and the item does NOT show up.  

[lilnbigteamsport]

Ours did too and there is no reason for it at all - and no sales - this is a mess!

[coolections]

Do not go by impressions. They actually mean nothing and most times are not accurate. Yes, impressions will usually go down regardless of promos. The best way to see what you get for your money is check each listings and see where it lands when doing a search. Almost all cases the promos mean nothing and should be avoided at all cost. It sounds like Ebay has you fooled into thinking you will actually get more sales. Remember the only thing it will do is slightly raise your item up a notch in best match. Almost all buyers on the planet search newly listed, ending soonest, and lowest cost.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@coolections "Almost all buyers on the planet search newly listed, ending soonest, and lowest cost."

Um, no. The overwhelming number of buyers use Best Match, the default, the lazy way, the simple way.