January 13 change to ad fees
1) Sorry, eBay, you can't spin this to be a positive change. "Upgrade" is far from the truth.
2)Mel from Back from Burnout recently put out a video basically saying that if we want sales we have to "pay to play". That's not true. We don't have to pay eBay more to sell on the platform. Scale back. Make it so that you don't depend so heavily on eBay for your income. Find another source of self-employment (I know we don't want to work for "the man" any longer.) Your choice: Pay more, or add another stream of income - and I don't mean cross-listing. Expand your mind.
5 comments
corner-attic-emporia
·8 months agoI was convinced that opening a store to sell my items was necessary to gain higher views and sales. Not true. Every item I posted were not shown in the search except sellers items of the same product were highlighted, my item was buried who knows where; with that came weekly/monthly fees added fees in addition to promoting your sale items. I paid out more than I received. Never again. Demoted everything to nothing and I'm doing just fine. I'm in no rush to sell.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoI've done the 1% and then the required minimum 2% since PR started and I can tell you:
that of the 1700 items I sold in 2025 alone, 1690 were charged the 'PR' fee.
I've never believed that number (and even know I 'created' a listing for a couple people and still got charged the PR when I know they could NOT possibly have found it through PR)- but can't prove it so I just always figured:
If you do PR, then you will simply pay that for ALL items. 13.25% minus 1% (store) plus 2% PR means I pay 15% fees (it's a bit less, but with $60 mo store fee, right about that amount)
Has worked for me that past 5+ years (whenever PR started)
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoNot every seller needs to promote.
Sellers who are selling items in crowded and competitive categories may need to promote.
If you are selling items which are going to rely on broad searches with thousands of results, promotion might be essential.
Ebay does not offer an education on the skills needed to run a business, not even when promoting a service which could be useful for some businesses.
12345jamesstamps
·8 months agoThe wording of the upgrade is somewhat hard to understand.
Promoting just means you don't mind having higher eBay fees for each item sold.
Unfortunately some here sell on eBay and such to earn a living.
I guess it works for them.
Personally, Seven days a week I don't want to sit at the computer(my poor eyes)...in a chair(my poor back) and running to pack and ship items out.
Some sellers enjoy this lifestyle...and that's OK.
loose_goose_garage
·8 months agoI haven't used Promoted Listings ever. Yet, year after year, my sales continue to grow. I'm sure it would help sales if I enrolled, but the cost, in my opinion, isn't worth it.
My thought is if you have to be heavily reliant on PL to get sales, you may need to rethink your selling strategy. Maybe branch out to less saturated categories, be more picky on what you source, aim for lower cost of goods, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that the new system they implemented is a far cry from an 'upgrade' for sellers. Which makes it even less likely I would ever consider using it. And I would imagine other sellers feel similarly if they realize how it works now.