Yes. There is something going on with Ebay algorithm. Where is my promoted listing?

[bill.purvis2012]

I keep reading posts about poor sales, listings not showing up, and questions about promoted listings. 

Where is the Ebay I used to know? Where your listings appear for buyers to see. Where promoted listings are listed first? 

What are you doing Ebay?

I just ran a check on one of my listings to check placement since I promote all my listings at a 10% cap. The reason I did it is because I was sending out an offer the other day and there was a note on the offer that if it sold the promotion rate was 19.2%.  I couldn't believe it. I've never done anything but a standard promotion and it is capped at 10%.

So, I took time to check a listing to see the placement.

I have a pair of Fendi earrings listed. There's only 128 of them showing up when I check for mine.( I just put in search Fendi earrings.).

Guess what? Mine doesn't show up at all!

Now, here's a listing I'm paying 10% promotion on and it doen't even show up under search. 

If I remember correctly some years ago ALL listings were available for buyers to find and if it was promoted it was FIRST and then the not promoted listings followed.

When I look through the Fendi earrings listings the promoted and non-promoted are all mixed together. What's with that? And where is my listing?

No wonder sales have tanked.  What is wwith this?

[myfrugalboutique]

I just did a search of the whole title and they did come up.   My sales are down from last month (which was a horrible month) 41.3 %.   You tell me and we will both know. 

[luxgoods]

By reading your posting makes me feel a little better since my sales are down 24%. The ebay search engine is broken and needs to be fixed. Their stock is tanking because no one wants to touch it. There needs to be a change and soon. 

[vintagecraze50]

Possible the listing does not appear for an hour or so. Keep looking for it. If you promote at low levels and even 10 percent may be too low to be on those continuous fist page slots. It depends on what these other merchants are doing with their promotions. Some may be paying ebay huge amounts with pay per click which  can get really expensive. Many promoted listings at the lower level of promote appear UNDER other sellers items so you have a chance to grab that buyer with a better priced item.

[luckythewinner]

I have a pair of Fendi earrings listed. There's only 128 of them showing up when I check for mine.( I just put in search Fendi earrings.). Guess what? Mine doesn't show up at all!

For us to investigate the appearance in search, you must give us the search criteria you are using, and item number you expect to find with that search criteria. There are many valid situations where a listing does not show up in a given search. 

Where promoted listings are listed first? 

Agreeing to a standard promotion rate does not guarantee that a promoted listing is listed first. It merely gives it a chance that it will be randomly selected for one of the limited promoted spots.  The more listings that are promoted, the lower your chances because what your competition is doing affects your results.  

Now, here's a listing I'm paying 10% promotion on and it doen't even show up under search

If it did qualify for the promoted fee, you would not be paying a promoted listing fee. But I think you pay the promotion fee on a listing if the buyer views ANY of your promoted listings from ANY promoted listing slot at ANY time in the previous 30 days. 

there was a note on the offer that if it sold the promotion rate was 19.2%
 I promote all my listings at a 10% cap

Can you give us the specifics of the offer and the fee? Because the promotion rate applies to the transaction amount, not just the sales price. So if you put a 10% promotion rate on a $10 item with a $9.20 shipping fee, you will pay $1.92 as promotion fee which is 19.2% of $10. 

[myfrugalboutique]

@luxgoods 

I hope this wakes someone up, as it is getting very serious. 

[myfrugalboutique]

@luckythewinner 

This sounds like a copy and paste from some random inquiry. The OP was clear what the issue was. As I stated I did see his listing in a search. 

[luckythewinner]

Also, if you as a seller do a search I doubt eBay would waste any of the promoted listing slots on your own items since you would not be buying your own listings. 

[luckythewinner]

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@myfrugalboutique wrote:

@luckythewinner 

This sounds like a copy and paste from some random inquiry. The OP was clear what the issue was. As I stated I did see his listing in a search. 

---

My response was written specifically for the OP to address four specific points in the OP which I quoted directly in my reply.  

[myfrugalboutique]

@luckythewinner 

How about keeping it simple. That was no help 

[monica-sells]

I am not taking sides, but it appears you are casting a wide net to locate a specific buyer. I would question if a buyer just types Fendi Earrings as a start to a search (I could be wrong)...

If a buyer is looking for a specific type of earring, and enters the keywords you list in your title, it looks like it is working.....(#1 position)

...and don't forget...if you want to 'search' for your own stuff and investigate placement and effectiveness...you need to incorporate a VPN and a 'clean' incognito, uncookied browser. I truly think an intelligent search does not waste the placement on showing you your own stuff accurately......

[bill.purvis2012]

Your questions are fair.  I'll respond.  Years ago ALL promoted listings appeared before non promoted. In fact if you promoted a listing, you got 2 placements for your listing--1 above regular listings and the original wherever it fell. Big change in the way they now do it.

There is no valid reason for a listing to not show up. None.  All listings should be included. Yes, it takes a couple hours on new listings.  This listing is not new. 

All my listings are promoted. So, it should be listed as promoted. 

Promoted rate is figured on total including tax and shipping, yes. 

186139626575 item number

[bill.purvis2012]

Listings is several days old. 

[bill.purvis2012]

Doesn't make sense. Are you thinking Ebay is blocking a seller from seeing his own listing? Doesn't block me finding my other listings.   I did search on my cell as well. 

[bill.purvis2012]

Thank you.