Why does EBAY dislike it's Store Owners?

[namereader]

Why in the Heck does Ebay management and software teams allow competitors adverts to be placed "within" my store front? 

1)  Would Ebay Mgt. allow Shopify to place adverts "deadcenter" of their web pages?:

a) Ebay wants us to spend monies to advertise....while at the same time PUSHING our competitors to our prime viewership spots- our successful storefront.

b) One can say: "Hey that is Capitalism....just make your products better and price them lower than the

advertisement that is DEAD CENTER of within your store. 

=>  DOES this NOT drive prices down so far that EBAY mgt takes in LESS MONEY?

c) Ebay mgt. seems to want us to leave ebay when they "UNLOCK" our front doors to the Ebay store by auto placing internal adverts against us.  

NOT an issue of pricing or product quality- but one of respect for the Ebay partner or "supposed Partner".

Must we all go search for a sales service that protects our storefront? 

This is a really, really big issue for any storefront.  Electronic or otherwise.  Ebay mgt teams need to wake up on this issue.

[chapeau-noir]

That's basically the only way eBay profits now - unfortunately, it will not change. 😖

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@namereader 

Can you provide a screen shot? Competitors listings on a STOREFRONT---the Store Home Page---that's entirely new.  Competitors listings on my view item page, also called the listing page....that's not new. But you are saying on the storefront. I just looked at your store home page and I don't see any listings but your listings. But I know ebay sometimes shows different people different versions of pages. That's why I'm asking for a screenshot.

[ittybitnot]

Ebay mgt teams need to wake up on this issue.

@namereader 

Actually, eBay INVENTED the issue. When you "pay to promote" that is where your listings show up: on other people's pages.  The two rows that show in the middle of your listing is less obnoxious than it used to be. There would be many many rows of other people's products before your listing even started.  There are still plenty of rows of other people's products at the end of your listing as well.  I have a feeling not to many actually look at those though.  I think pricing and quality have taken a back seat in the visibility game.  Instead ranking is determined by how much EXTRA money you are willing to give eBay. 

[namereader]

Good Catch.  Not storeFRONT , but inside my store-  close to my listing - within inches. 

On a particular listing, same product type listed within inches of mine.?  Seems like most stores would not take this action.

Think of This:  You walk inside a McDonald's Restaurant, you look at various menu panels, and next to the

Big Mac Burger is "Burger King Burger" advertised "within the store/box called McDonalds Menu items. 

Which Successful, McDonald's store manager would allow BurgerKing to advertise on their menu(s)?

Will send snapshot.  But if you check other forums - you will see plenty of ebay store owners mentioning this.

[namereader]

one screen shot.  Within "my store" , four competitors are "inside" my paid for "store" - and allowed to

post adverts within inches.  (Just like McDonald's allowing Burger King to place ads inside the store on their menus????  )

[namereader]

Trying to figure out best path forward besides a "pricing war"?  Long shot of "hoping" that Ebay mgt. can model the impacts of this?  At first, second and third pass the best plan seems to look elsewhere for the hosting.  Hypothetically, if I spend tons on advertising, and the pages are top , super top and extremely successful, would NOT it make sense for ALL competitors to JUMP onto my pages to get the most views/SEO or whatever metric one uses. ??

My advert spend only pushes more competition "against me".

A losing battle over time.  Yes one can provide Better/Best "Service/Best Pricing"  all the while by boosting the competitors success by letting them walk into your menus and advertise.   Hmmmm.  ???

[kenneth686321]

You don't have a store, not in the way that you think you do. An Ebay store is just a more premium seller level with more organizational tools, promotional tools, more free listing and a teeny tiny discount on FVF fees. It is not a store.  Unlike Shopify which gives you an actual legit storefront.  

The basic reason why Ebay shows competitors ads on your listings is to make more money...for Ebay. This strategy increases the chance a buyer buys somethings from someone doesn't have to be you. No one makes money until the buyer pays.  

You and Ebay are not business partners period. You need to accept that. Just like you and the Post Office a not business partners. Or you and your wholesale supplier are not business partners. These are purely  buyer seller relationships nothing more.  

[az93]

No one can decide where ads are placed except ebay.

[kenneth686321]

---

@namereader wrote:

one screen shot.  Within "my store" , four competitors are "inside" my paid for "store" - and allowed to

post adverts within inches.  (Just like McDonald's allowing Burger King to place ads inside the store on their menus????  )

---

You don't have a store, not in the way that you think you do. An Ebay store is just marketing jargon for a more premium seller level with more organizational tools, promotional tools, more free listing and a teeny tiny discount on FVF fees. It is not a store.  Unlike Shopify which gives you an actual legit storefront.  

[tobaccocardyahoo]

There are too many sellers and too many listings for the customer demand.

Sponsored listings redistributes the sales when it works.

Unfortunately for those who pay for them, they often do not work.

But many sellers believe that they are stealing their sales, when they are losing the sales all by themselves.

Promotion can improve the number of placements in the first 20 search results, and that usually has a measurable effect on views.

Internet advertising has always has questionable results, whether it is on Ebay, YouTube or Google.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@namereader Oh, OK, so NOT your store front or store homepage. You are talking about the "view item page" or "listing page" and it doesn't really matter whether you have a store or don't....ebay will use the page to place promoted ("sponsored") listings from other sellers. This has been going on for some YEARS now, it isn't new, and I'm sure others here will explain it to you. 

As @chapeau-noir mentioned, ebay hasn't been growing sales for quite a long time....instead, they've been depending heavily on this ad revenue (promoted listings). So, I would not anticipate that ebay will change this any time soon. 

[namereader]

Agreed that this is "not new".    The core issue  => is the core issue.  "ebay hasn't been growing sales for quite a long time.....".

I wonder if this is related.?

Agreed: that ebay will not change this anytime soon.

🙂   =>    😞

But only my fault to stick with them......

[mordecai8614]

You walk inside a McDonald's Restaurant, you look at various menu panels, and next to the Big Mac Burger is "Burger King Burger" advertised "within the store/box called McDonalds Menu items. 

Not a good comparison. If McDonalds puts Burger King ads next to their menu & the customer decides to buy from Burger King instead then McDonalds gets no money on the sale.

But if a buyer decides to buy someone else's eBay item instead of yours, eBay still makes money on the sale.

What you're complaining about is like McDonalds putting the Quarter Pounder & the Filet O Fish next to the Big Mac on their menu, which they do

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@namereader  

"ebay hasn't been growing sales for quite a long time.....".

I wonder if this is related.?"

Yes, I think absolutely they are related. I think ebay has expected that its "focus category" strategy would eventually drive overall sales, but the ad revenue was the back up plan. Unfortunately for ebay, its focus category strategy has done little to grow sales overall, and so the back up plan became Plan A by default. 

So, here we are, a site that should be growing sales for its sellers has instead been increasing its take rate (the amount it takes from its sellers) while overall sales have basically been stagnant. ebay is claiming that sales will finally increase in Q3 or Q4, but whether that will happen or not is anybody's guess.