Has eBay Raised the Minimum Promoted Listings General Ad Rate to 5%?
Summary: rayneedsthespace expressed concerns about eBay not allowing them to set certain listings to a 3% ad rate even though their campaign is at a fixed 3%. When attempting to change new or edited listings to 3%, they encountered an error requiring a minimum of 5%. valueaddedresource noted similar reports from other sellers and asked eBay representatives for clarification. devon@ebay relayed information from eBay's Ads Team, indicating that a temporary pricing change occurred on October 1 and 2 as part of testing, but no planned rate increases were announced. dolcetreasures mentioned related issues with the bulk listing tool.
I have an active Promoted Listings General campaign using a fixed ad rate, not dynamic. The campaign is set to 3%, and many of my existing listings are still running at 3%.
The problem is that when I try to add certain listings to the campaign or lower a listing’s ad rate to 3%, eBay will not allow it. If I enter 3%, I get the error:
“Set an ad rate between 5% and 100%.”
I called eBay about this. The representative told me to promote the listing at 5% first, then go into Campaigns afterward and change it back down to 3%.
I tried exactly that, but it still does not work. When I go into the campaign and try to change the listing from 5% to 3%, eBay still says the minimum is 5%.
So my campaign itself is still a 3% fixed-rate campaign, and many older listings remain at 3%, but I cannot set some newer or edited listings below 5%.
Is anyone else seeing this? Has eBay recently changed the minimum fixed ad rate for Promoted Listings General to 5%? Are older 3% listings being allowed to remain at 3% while newly added or edited listings now require at least 5%?
I’m trying to determine whether this is a new policy, a gradual rollout, or a bug/account issue.
dolcetreasures
·Oct 5, 2026 at 5:55 PMThat explains why the button disappears when you try to lower the promotional rate in the bulk listing tool.
valueaddedresource
·4 days agoI'm seeing more reports about this from sellers across Facebook, X, and YouTube as well but it's not clear if this may be limited to certain categories, price points, account types or any/all of the above.
@devon@ebay @elizabeth@ebay @kyle@ebay has there been a change in the policy for the minimum ad rate allowed for Promoted Listings General ads using the fixed rate option? If so, does this only apply to a certain subset of sellers/listings - and if so, what is the criteria?
Thanks in advance for any info you can get from the advertising team.
devon@ebay
Hey @valueaddedresource ! Here is what we heard from the Ad's Team:
"For a very limited time on October 1 and 2, certain customers may have seen a temporary pricing change. We’re continually testing across our platforms to enhance the user experience and strengthen our processes. We have not announced any planned increases to Promoted Listings minimum ad rates. Should we make any changes, we will communicate directly with our sellers."
rayneedsthespace
OPOct 5, 2026 at 4:34 PMTo enhance our experience?
gurlcat
·Oct 5, 2026 at 7:45 PMAlways to enhance our experience.
valueaddedresource
·Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PMThanks @devon@ebay !