Impressions slowly declining since late January

[orientalstyle_au]

I've been on eBay since the 2000s, and although the peak in sales was during the first 12 months of the COVID pandemic, the last 3 months I'm seeing a steady decline in impressions.

It seems that I keep having to hike up my advertising spend to get impressions, and even though I'm paying what eBay recommends, my impressions are now down to under 5000 a day, from a peak of 27,000 in late January. The average over the last 12 months was around 20,000 impressions a day.

Is anyone else seeing a gradual reduction in views and can do nothing to arrest it?

I can't increase my marketing spend any more without losing money, and if I increase the cost of items, they just won't sell any more.

[ittybitnot]

@orientalstyle_au 

Impressions are not views.    It just means your item is displayed somewhere as a SEARCH result.  It could be on page 234, or last in a carousel across a page that requires the user to actually use an arrow to view. It could be in that long list of items displayed on another person's listing at the bottom of the page that is likely rarely seen. 

Granted, your product has the ability to be shown in more places, but it doesn't mean anyone actually sees it. 

A view is recorded if someone actually clicks through to your product page. 

The important thing is SALES.   

The more people the eBay convinces to use promoted listings, the less effective they become.   Even if all the owners of "widget A" promoted at some high percentage, it would be as effective if all the owners of "widget A" did not promote at all. 

Just some things to think about. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     As ittybitnot stated I have NEVER worried about impressions, views or watchers. The only thing that really matters is sales. There is NO way to prove that promoted listings does anything to improve/increase sales. It may jack up your impressions or views but it means nothing if the items do not sell. 

[chariot_badges]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

     As ittybitnot stated I have NEVER worried about impressions, views or watchers. The only thing that really matters is sales. There is NO way to prove that promoted listings does anything to improve/increase sales. It may jack up your impressions or views but it means nothing if the items do not sell. 

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And, beyond that, the $/sale.

I made some changes mid-last year that increased my dollars per sale by 6%.

It also caused a reduction in the number of sales by 3%.

So, I am working less and making more.

I backslide once in a while and get weak with giving too much of a discount just to get a sale.

I resist that.  

I'd rather keep it than give it away.

While there is no way to "prove" that advertising sells stuff ... it is pretty much an accepted fact that it does.   That's why there's so many commercials on TV.  

Last month, my total spend for Promoted Sales was about $85 ... it generated sales in the amount of $910.   I will do that all day long.

[orientalstyle_au]

Agree 100%. In my case though, sales track fairly consistently with impressions. Obviously not 1:1, but if impressions drop, sales drop at the same rate.

[dbfolks166mt]

And, beyond that, the $/sale.

I made some changes mid-last year that increased my dollars per sale by 6%.

It also caused a reduction in the number of sales by 3%.

So, I am working less and making more.

I backslide once in a while and get weak with giving too much of a discount just to get a sale.

I resist that.  

I'd rather keep it than give it away.

While there is no way to "prove" that advertising sells stuff ... it is pretty much an accepted fact that it does.   That's why there's so many commercials on TV.  

     I have a DVR so I don't watch commercials on TV I just skip over them. 

Last month, my total spend for Promoted Sales was about $85 ... it generated sales in the amount of $910.   I will do that all day long.

     The big question is  how many of those sales would have sold organically without the use of PL? I have never used PL and still manage to make sales and I don't have to jack up my price by xx% to compensate for the PL cost.

     When I search for something on eBay, which is seldom these days, I rack and stack the results by price + shipping lowest first.  I totally ignore the barrage of sponsored adds that popup on eBay but that's just me. 

[ittybitnot]

In my case though, sales track fairly consistently with impressions

@orientalstyle_au 

Again, there is a finite number of places your listing can be shown.  The more people that join up the number of positions available would naturally decline.  Thus lower "impressions".   These are just my thoughts, as I find the process rather manipulative.