eBay

fine_find · ‎09-16-2018

Just food for thought. If enough sellers with stores agree to these new 'promoted' listings, it will only be a matter of time before you will see the actual percentages we are now paying in the differnt catagories raised to these new projected levels. Promoted listings was simply a way for them to see just how much more the sellers are willing to pay to sell their items here. Smart. Devin Wenig obviously knows what he's doing, and now you do too.

essencehomedecor · ‎09-18-2018

Amazon started doing this.. so now eBay, of course, has decided to follow suit. Just another way to gouge sellers for even more $$$.

If they find this to be profitable enough.. they will change their algorhythms so that NOTHING relevant shows up in search any more. The only way anyone will be able to make any sales will be to pay for "promoted" listings. Sellers are just hanging themselves if they buy into this **bleep**.

I figure eBay is already getting plenty from me in the way of final value fees, as well as the monthly store subscription fee. They will not be robbing me of any more of my money!

ronmacungie · ‎09-19-2018

It depends how much or what promotion E BAY does. The current way of list and be subjected to hounding by E BAY for seller to list too low to make a respectable dollar, plus pay percentage of sale price, plus pay percentage of shipping cost, plus store fee THEN be hounded to keep lowing the price with no regard to seller time to list, sell, package, and ship plus be expected to offer free shipping and free returns. I am not throwing items away because selling for as little as a dollar or a few dollars is not working. I have agreed to a few items on promoted listings and will do more to see if my sales and income improve.

orangehound · ‎09-19-2018

@essencehomedecor wrote:
Amazon started doing this.. so now eBay, of course, has decided to follow suit. Just another way to gouge sellers for even more $$$.

On-line, I think it actually started many years ago with Google. It is simply a characteristic of the internet ... not much different than a retailer paying extra money for higher traffic spots in malls, at a trade show, flea markets, etc.

Not suprisingly, eBay is simply the last to catch on.

This is an optional fee. You don't have to pay for it, but I think it is a great way to get items in front of buyers that are normally buried in eBay searches.

mightymouse · ‎09-19-2018

Just list enough to sell to use you 30.00 a month promotion (I figure for me thats about 75 items, with only 5-7 selling) and hope that it drives them to your store for more items. Also I have found that about 30 % of my sales have been without free returns (with 80 % of my listings offering free returns) so offering that does not seem to help sales. Why bust my butt to save 30-50 a month in fees.

calistas_closet33 · ‎09-19-2018

The percentages have gone up since ebay has made it seem like sales will not exist without promotion of items. I promoted a dress, did a search and the dress showed towards bottom of page with 10.5% promotion fee if sold. If you have a lot of items in different categories possibly mark up some to absorb fees and then offer a multi item discount to lure customers to look at other items if yours. Otherwise Ive found that dedicating time to pinterest has helped me, as well as diversifying where I sell now so I don’t worry about ebay because now I have 3 other platforms to work on that have been easier, it’s just hard to have to re list items elsewhere so it’s a slow process but worth it.

essencehomedecor · ‎09-19-2018

@orangehound wrote:
@essencehomedecor wrote:
Amazon started doing this.. so now eBay, of course, has decided to follow suit. Just another way to gouge sellers for even more $$$.

On-line, I think it actually started many years ago with Google.

I don't mind spending money for Google advertising. However, eBay is already getting a percentage of everything I sell.. that should be enough without them being greedy and trying to gouge me for even more.

All this does is drive the prices up for eBay customers. Those "promotion" fees have to be paid for.. and ultimately it is the eBay customer who is going to pay.

calistas_closet33 · ‎09-19-2018

Exactly..and in the end I think that is where the heavy reliance on revenue from sellers vs making this site easier for shoppers to find what they want vs what is promoted, combined with higher pricing..well IMO it’s not a recipe that works, and I sell for 10% or more less on FB BST groups and also another site because the risk is less, and it costs less to sell, and no returns. Savvy shoppers will move to wherever the best deal is, when it’s impossible to pass along savings to customers because it needs to be paid for visibility..not much is selling, not nearly as much as when I could price better and when there was not manipulation of search results to bury my listings. To go from 18k high in Aug 17 to a low of 4k in Aug 18 here..I sell less than when I first started selling in Jan 2016 here.

fine_find · ‎09-20-2018

I have tried the promoted listings with no results in my favor. I still have very few views which means my listings are not being seen by the buyers with or without the promoted listings. It seems other platforms are the only answer for this type of problem.

fine_find · ‎09-20-2018

My concern is that we now have a 'stated' percentage for what the final value fees will be on our items. It is reasonable now. But with so many sellers willing to pay twice as much is fees just to sell their stuff, it won't be long before you see those 'stated' fees go way up. Then you can blame it all on these promoted fees everyone it so willing to pay. Desperation can cause all of us to have to pay more in the long run unless the sellers here recognize this and pull the plug on this type of extortion. 10% now 20% later. How does that sound to you just to sell here? Not everyone can read between the lines. 😞

mstcwrld7 · ‎09-20-2018

Do the promoted listings sell well enough to offset the fees?
Yep, that is the question,.
Looks to me like the promo listings in my categories are mpre expensive (to the buyers) more than the non-promoteds.
We have not tried promoteds yet..

calistas_closet33 · ‎09-20-2018

Promoted listings in women’s fashion, my category, used to work, they do not for me anymore, therefore I now promote only a few items in different subcategories as a just in case and offer order discounts for multiple items purchased.. rather pass along savings to buyers and can offset with combined shipping usually.

essencehomedecor · ‎09-20-2018

@fine_find wrote:
My concern is that we now have a 'stated' percentage for what the final value fees will be on our items. It is reasonable now. But with so many sellers willing to pay twice as much is fees just to sell their stuff, it won't be long before you see those 'stated' fees go way up. Then you can blame it all on these promoted fees everyone it so willing to pay. Desperation can cause all of us to have to pay more in the long run unless the sellers here recognize this and pull the plug on this type of extortion. 10% now 20% later. How does that sound to you just to sell here? Not everyone can read between the lines. 😞

Yes.. unfortunately some people don't have a lot of business sense.. and evidently they are so blind they are not able to see the writing on the wall either.

essencehomedecor · ‎09-20-2018

@calistas_closet33 wrote:
The percentages have gone up since ebay has made it seem like sales will not exist without promotion of items. I promoted a dress, did a search and the dress showed towards bottom of page with 10.5% promotion fee if sold. If you have a lot of items in different categories possibly mark up some to absorb fees and then offer a multi item discount to lure customers to look at other items if yours. Otherwise Ive found that dedicating time to pinterest has helped me, as well as diversifying where I sell now so I don’t worry about ebay because now I have 3 other platforms to work on that have been easier, it’s just hard to have to re list items elsewhere so it’s a slow process but worth it.

From what I have heard.. you have to do at least a 15% promotional fee for it to be of any benefit.

If you are going to be paying the final value fees PLUS an additional 15% you might as well be selling on Amazon.

calistas_closet33 · ‎09-20-2018

It’s insanity. Definitely we are a byproduct of a bigger issue. I was just pinning some of my listings and kept looking at the big Honda advertisement banner in my way..ugh