Organic sale charged promotional fees...?

[originalgentlemen]

Earlier today someone contacted me about a cross listed item on a different selling platform that was having shipping issues, so I directed them to my store here by telling them to copy & paste the item's title with my store name in a search engine, (they likely used Google), to find my item here on Ebay. I do not use the off-site promotions, only the standard ones to bump my items here on site.

I told this person how to find my item that is unique to my store only - especially when searching by the exact title with my store name, which is directly organic, then they bought the unique item and I was charged the promotional fee as if they found it by the promotions...how was it found by promotions when directed to it?

This makes no logical sense and leads me to believe promoted listings are not accurately accounted for while also skewed in Ebay's financial favor.   

[ten_o_nine]

Very hard to prove.

[wastingtime101]

If the listing was promoted, then the PL "halo" fee can apply even though the buyer didn't find that specific listing through a PL spot in search.

Read about PL halo fees in the FAQ here:

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/promoted-listings/promoted-listings-standard

What ad rate am I charged if a buyer clicks multiple times on my promoted listings, and I’ve changed the ad rate during that period?

You are in control of setting the ad rates for your Promoted Listings Standard campaigns. For items in an active Standard campaign, you will only pay the ad rate you selected for the listings when they sell.

There are two ways an ad rate will be charged on listings that are active in the Promoted Listings Standard program: as a Direct sale or a Halo Item sale. A Direct sale is when a buyer purchases the same item that was featured in the Standard ad they originally clicked on within 30 days. A Halo Item sale is when a promoted item, different from the item originally featured in the ad the buyer clicked on, is purchased within 30 days of the original click.

For Direct sales, we measure the 30-day sales attribution window from the click closest to the sale and charge the ad rate in effect at the time of that last click.

For Halo Item sales, you will only be charged an ad fee if the purchased item is in an active Promoted Listings Standard campaign at the time of the sale, and you will be charged the ad rate of the sold item.

The ad fee for Halo Item sales will be calculated based on the ad rate in effect for the sold item at the time of the sale.

[monica-sells]

There is no "fool-proof' way to monitor a promoted listing fee and whether it was a clean or promoted sale....I will say that I think you directed the buyer to the item wrong.....

If there are no promotions active on the listing I direct the buyer to use the direct URL (sample) to make sure they don't stray from the item....

Stealth Cam STC-XNVM Digital Night Vision 9x Zoom Monocular - Black - Brand New 813628000273 | eBay

if you click the ebay link, you will notice there are no identifying syntax in the strong of the URL, just ...../itm/315137065201 (with nothing trailing)

This almost eliminates the chance of them accidentaly clicking another item that might be "promoted" in the store....

that being said, it is not foolproof, but has not failed me yet......