Optimum Promoted Listing Ad Rate
What is the best ad rate to promote your listings at? Minimum 2% or suggested rate by ebay? Does having the rate at 2% get the same amount of sales as doing at suggested rate or 16%?
I promote mines at 16%
10 comments
christworks
·8 months agoI've done some thinking lately (watch out) and I've about decided I'd rather promote than run a sale or even send offers. I have found there are plenty of people who are willing to pay full price for my stuff, so I have heavily cut back on my offers and sales since about mid-December. I also stopped promoting everything, and switched to promoting a limited number of items at a value less than 5%. If I am going to give eBay money or give buyers a discount, I'd rather give eBay money. Ad fees go down as an expense at tax time, so there are some savings on the back end. You don't get that when you send a 10% offer to buyer.
I will keep testing some different things over the next month. I'm happy with January. YoY both gross and net sales are up over 100%, and I did not re-open until January 12.
tools*
·8 months agoI'd sooner set my stuff on fire than give eBay an even bigger fee.
simply-the-best-for-you
·8 months agoThere is no optimum. It's completely dependent on your selling category/ies & your competition in those categories. Someone selling vintage radios is going to have a much different competition profile than someone selling books or pre-owned clothing. If your items frequently appear near the top of search or isn't much competition, than you may not need to promote at all. If you search for your item & there are 10k competitors, different story.
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@trustn-57 ,
It depends what you sell and what margins you have.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·8 months ago@trustn-57
An ebay ad exec was very candid recently, basically stating that suggested rates are designed for casual sellers ,people cleaning out their closet or whatever, who just want stuff gone quickly and don't care about profit margins and running a business. In short, those rates are not really intended for any seller who treats ebay as a business (part time or full time).
meme6253
·8 months agoAll promotions are not created equally, What works for some does not work for others, & promoting does not guarantee sales it is supposed to put your items in better view so they possibly will sell, Also you need to choose how much profit you are willing to give up comfortably, Experiment for awhile is my best suggestion.
femmefan1946
·8 months agoEBay's suggestions are good--- for eBay.
I dropped all PL when the new "halo" charges were announced.
I had been using 2% on about 10% of my listings.
It was my experience that PL got more Views, but that less of the PL listings actually sold than the non-PL listings.
I came to the conclusion that PL brought more eyeballs to my Stores, but shoppers were buying other products not the PL ones.
I don't think I spent more than $10 in any month on PL fees (which apply to the ENTIRE payment including shipping) in the three years I used it.
What does appear to work is listing every day. Newly Listed is still a preferred Search for some buyers, and is part of the default Best Match Search.
frugalmarketplace
·8 months ago@femmefan1946
I always promoted at about 5% until this new gimmick started. However I stopped promotion about 4 days ago (just because of the click game) and have not had a single sale.
‘’Not sure what do it. Is it the weather, the economy..who knowsâ€
jbbowers12012
·8 months agoHi, We here in New Jersey are very small-tyme (always less than 200 listings up) We actually couldnt' decide between a General Promotion of 3.0% & 4.0%. We promote at 3.5% and do ok with it. Seems a bit silly I guess.
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoHow heavily you promote, if you promote at all, is entirely up to you. What you sell, how many other sellers are selling the same items, your cost of goods, your seller level, and the quality of your listings all contribute to how successful you are. When I promote, which is less and less frequently and at lower rates than most, I promote at 2-3% for eligible items. If you're in a saturated category with lots of other big sellers, and your cost of goods is very low, 16% may be necessary.
No one here can tell you what rate is right for you. You'll have to do your own research, do the math, and work out what is best for you. You may have to experiment a bit to figure it out, and then go back and make adjustments as necessary. It isn't a static situation. What works this week may not work next week.