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Ebay is now applying BIG, FAST pressure by raising suggested ad rates
I remember maybe a year or so ago thinking that a couple of my items were showing higher suggested ad rates (henceforth SAR) than when I created the listings, so I asked about it somewhere, and was told that the items' categories must have gotten more competitive since I made the listings. That sounded logical enough and since then I haven't observed it very much in my listings, so nothing to get worked up about. But just recently ....I really can't guess when this started but lets say the past month or so ....... I started noticing the SARs of TONS of my items being way higher than when I created their listings, and many of them were less than a couple weeks old, so how could the competition on so many of them have risen so FAST?
I've started watching closely and taking screenshots to make sure I'm not crazy. Many of my items that I've had listed for less than ONE week have shot up by as much as 4 or 5 points. Oddly, a few have gone down, but very few. Odder still, they are in the same sub-categories as ones that have gone up.
So I recently did a term search here in the Community, found some threads on the subject (though none very recent). I saw one person's explanation that SAR's are calculated down to the item specific level, so not just what category or sub-category an item is listed under, but everything about the specific item you have, that you can select in Item Specifics. But I don't believe that and here's why: When you create a listing, if you fill out everything on the page except 'Choose category', you will not see a SAR displayed at the bottom of the page. ONLY the category choice generates the SAR, and changing the category is the only thing that changes the SAR (it's why the whole page refreshes when you change to a different category).
But I am now 100% certain that category choice (and competition with other sellers of that category) are not the only factors in an item's SAR .... AFTER it is listed. Because here's the thing: those listings of mine where the SAR has gone down --those are listings with more views and watchers than the ones going up. Like the bot is 'happy' with them, but not about the ones "failing" to draw enough attention, so it jacks up the SAR for you to see right on your Active Listings page, pressuring you to raise your ad rate, and I assume PUNISHING those listings by not showing them as much as when their ad rates were closer to their SARs, making them even less likely to get views.
If you want proof, here you go.
Screenshot #1: Three listings I made just this past Saturday. I promoted them at 4.7%, just one point under the SAR they had at the time, 5.7%. And look what happened in only 4 days. All their SAR's shot up, but the middle one by less than the others, because it has a more views. Oh btw, these Trifari brooches would have gotten tons of views (or just sell immediately, and for HIGHER prices) before May 12th when I caught the mystery throttling that tons of other people started experiencing around that time, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Screenshot #2: The 'create listing' view of the current SAR for one of these brooches, as a 'Sell Similar' listing. The same 5.7% SAR for the exact same listing, literally nothing different about it except being a brand new listing, as opposed to a rickety, moldy, pathetic, HOPELESS 4-day-old one. 🙄 
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kh-stanley1
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
isaiah53-57
·2 years agoI appreciate your desire to wrap you head around the dark mysteries of Promoted Listings - But I'm pretty sure it aint happening since I believe there are no mysteries other than good old fashioned greed at work and simple methods designed to see how far their customers can be stretched...
That aside, Here's the problems I see:
With your promotion fees tacked on to the FVFs, you are effectively paying 25% of the items price in fees(I'm looking at a $32 Lady bug alloy/enamel brooch of yours as example) - 25% IS TOO MUCH RENT!
Problems gets worse - In order to help you cover the approximately $8 in fees, you have that brooch priced at $32, which means the buyer is paying close to $40 to procure that item with shipping and tax - My guess is the item has a retail value of closer to $20 (Temoo has similar ones for $2) - I was looking at things like these in a Target Store the other day and they were priced at $12 to $20. That leaves you trying to sell your item for an untenable amount mainly in part due to the 25% in fees you are paying...
Problem gets worse still: Everyone else selling here is in the same boat - eventuality is the site itself becomes untenable due to all the over-priced items offered here because sellers want - no wait - NEED, the buyer to pay their high fees(and we wont even talk about ALL the other reasons I currently consider the site untenable)
The end result is an unsustainable business model for both you and the site. Hope you have an exit strategy...
ckimodog
·2 years ago@slipnslide123
This is an old thread from 2022.
Should you have any questions or concerns it is always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help and advice for your specific issue.
Happy Mother's Day
slipnslide123
·2 years agoI think it's time we as a community rise up and speak to a lawyer. Their deceptive practices need to end. When is the FTC going to step in and protect the consumer?