Did A Full Year of Promoted Listings Standard From 2% to 15%. Turned It Off Today

[jettshutt]

Just wrapped up our #'s after 365 days of standard promotions.  We did 3 Months of no ads (to set a baseline), then 3 months @ 2%, 3 Months @ 10% & lastly 3 Months @ 15%.  We come find, as action figure merchants with some vintage stock, our sales did not increase and of course our revenue % decreased.  In addition, each time we raised our promotional %, it cut our return customer purchases in 1/2 each 3-months.

Also, having to raise our prices to cover the additional fees (and fees on taxes...) did not only bring in less sales, according to our reports.  It seems the only benefit (not of our doing) was that it drove more traffic (according to our outside analytics) to our .www site of 14 yrs.   

Again, this of course was not our goal, but it happened & eBay may wish to take note of this for merchants such as us that have 14yrs of loyal customers, even though we are somewhat new to eBay as a storefront with 400+ followers, the customer seems to want a good price and will do the extra work, searching checking out sites etc. to get it.

Lastly, I get that eBay wishes additional revenue for it's shareholders, I get it, I'm a shareholder myself of 20 yrs.  However, this merchant feels these promotional listings are becoming counter-productive to profit.   And if it continues, the site will become nothing but a haven for 1-off merchants that don't mind paying 30% in selling fees (as well as postage) and making $1-$2 profit per sale.

With this said, Toy Hutt is back to the lowest price (when able) @ 15% fees & in hopes we did not anger the "Search-Powers-That-Be" for our current listings with our findings.  But, Math is Math...

[stephenmorgan]

It understood Promotion Lising to work like this.

Once a Promotion is started that anyone who had looked at the item while it was in the Promotion status and then purchases this item after the Promotion has been discontinued the Seller would still be charged the Promotion Fee. 

With automatic relistings how long will the Promotion Fee be valid for someone who looked at item prior to the Promotion being cancelled?   If Promotion has ended and they purchase item 6 months later does this still cost a Promotion Fee to the Seller or does the automatic relist completely kill the Promotion?

[jettshutt]

It's 30 days.  So, were good to go after 18 Dec.

"If a buyer clicks on your promoted listing and purchases any of your promoted items within 30 days of the click, you will be charged an ad fee."

[stephenmorgan]

---

@jettshutt wrote:

It's 30 days.  So, were good to go after 18 Dec.

"If a buyer clicks on your promoted listing and purchases any of your promoted items within 30 days of the click, you will be charged an ad fee."

---

Thanks.

It has been months ago but I did an experiment with the Promoted Listings and I kept incresing the Promotion to 40% to see what would happen.  I never seen my items appear anywhere and have since cancelled the Promotion.  I did see a few more Views (9) as compaired to my other listings of similiar items  1 to 3 views.  However other more desireable items without a Promotion I had dozens of views and made several sales.

My conclusion is if you have desireable items that have limited offerings then Promoted Listings are not necessary.

[pls-consignments]

Thank you for sharing your data. It pretty much confirms what I suspected long ago. I've been experimenting with PL percentages myself for 6-mos or so, and have yet to see a profitable benefit... that is to myself. Additionally, there has been no noticeable bump in sales due to PL, even with 200-300 more items listed.

Although I appreciate added "visibility" that PL provides. However, when inflation affects the pocketbook, it's price that people are looking for. Sure, if you're selling "needles", PL will indeed place it in the "line of sight" of the buyer. Unfortunately, now it's in the middle of a haystack. ☹️

[caldreamer]

This is EBAY help "If a buyer clicks on your promoted listing and purchases any of your promoted items within 30 days of the click, you will be charged an ad fee."

The way I understand above statement is you will be charged up to 30 days "after ending promotion".    

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

I am sure that is to prevent sellers from answering a question and then turning off PL when they think they have a buyer. Unfortunately it doesn’t let you switch from PL to a discount with either ending the listing or having both the PL fee and discount

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

I am not sure that the concept of PL is to necessarily make it possible to sell your items at a higher price. It is to make your listing more visible in search results and to turn your merchandise at a higher rate. With all things being equal in quality and price the goal is to make your listing stand out when there is a field of many

[stainlessenginecovers]

How many 'others' were listing/selling the EXACT same thing as you?

Did you have MANY of the same item, that you then 'experimented' with the 2%, 10% etc. thing??

[meme6253]

Thank You for the Great Info.!

[jettshutt]

I understand this & yes, you are completely right.  However, the higher price comes with having a heavier margin with the 2-15% ad fee.  With this said, it would be hard to be a 2P non the less a 3P merchant at 50% in selling costs with 30% in fees and 20% in postage (current average for my industry).  Not to mention your COG.

These percentages are an unsustainable business strategy and is the reason why eBay will become a 1-off reseller platform if this continues (IMO).  You will have become a profit engine for both eBay & USPS/UPS and not yourself.

[jettshutt]

During those 356 days, I had many vintage/rare items that many others did not have.  I have since either sold them on eBay or my own .www (or trade show) or pulled them from eBay to avoid the low-ball offers.

Also, I have zero stock images, which eliminates a good 20% of my competition that carries stock photos.  With this said, it don't feel it has much to do with competition/like items (IMO).

[chapeau-noir]

---

@jettshutt wrote:

I understand this & yes, you are completely right.  However, the higher price comes with having a heavier margin with the 2-15% ad fee.  With this said, it would be hard to be a 2P non the less a 3P merchant at 50% in selling costs with 30% in fees and 20% in postage (current average for my industry).  Not to mention your COG.

These percentages are an unsustainable business strategy and is the reason why eBay will become a 1-off reseller platform if this continues (IMO).  You will have become a profit engine for both eBay & USPS/UPS and not yourself.

---

This is the unsustainability factor.  As shipping rates go up, fees go up, add the necessity for increased promotions (now with halo), depending on market, but certainly with more and more people taking up promotions and raising their rates, it's pretty much a spin-down insofar as selling here goes.

I don't think it will happen right away, but I've participated in two ad campaigns down through the years that have finally had to be eliminated because either the bidding became too competitive (Google ads) or so many people were doing them that the differentiation was lost. This was something I knew would eventually happen when eBay started up this particular promotional ads scheme, but was kind of riding the wave until it petered out.

[chapeau-noir]

I dabbled in Poshmark's new promotional ads and they were ridiculously expensive - way more than eBay - and pretty useless. It took only a few weeks for me to decide it was a terrible idea at least for me. I've participated in eBay's promotions since they started it a while ago, but with full knowledge that it wouldn't last.

[slippinjimmy]

---

@ebeths_eclectic_collectibles wrote:

I am not sure that the concept of PL is to necessarily make it possible to sell your items at a higher price. It is to make your listing more visible in search results and to turn your merchandise at a higher rate. With all things being equal in quality and price the goal is to make your listing stand out when there is a field of many

---

The majority of the added exposure using PL is not in search results but rather (usually) substantial increase in  non-search impressions.