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Promoted Listings
I've been forced to use Ebay Promoted Listings because if I don't, everything I am selling is invisible to potential sellers. Problem is Promoted Listings don't seem to work. So if you dont give Ebay more money to promote your listings, Ebay punishes you and pushes your listings to the bottom of the heap. So disappointing since I've been a seller on Ebay for almost 18 years and feel like I'm being I'm being extorted now in order to sell anything.
15 comments
kh-ornesh
·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.
cool.jewels.by.jeff
·2 years agoJoin the club. Promoted listings killed ebay and the search engine. I wonder if ebay even tested this idea before turning the whole site upside down.
baptized_by_fire
·2 years agoThis is one of the MANY REASONS, I stopped selling on Feebay. Ever since Feebay discovered they could increase profits by extorting money from Seller's, listings have turned into a Shell Game. Sellers willing to play ball get seen, those that just want to be able to market their wares get buried, obfuscated, or hidden.
I watched it happen with my listings for the better part of 2 years before pulling my listings and going elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong, without Feebay, nobody ever would have heard of Keith Baker Marbles or Talon Knives, and for that, I'm grateful. But there comes a point of diminishing returns. I reached that a few years ago.
Now I just sell/trade privately. I don't make as much as I used to, but I don't have to tear myself apart inside putting up with the **bleep** Feebay has created with their Greed & Bad Decisions... I am still able to get some of my stuff out there. I just do it elsewhere...
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@baptized_by_fire
I sell on more than just eBay, it has been my preferred platform but with the changes in the last 2 years and slow decline of sales more inventory has been pushed elsewhere then in years past ... that parrots about what you are saying happened to you.
thezoo247
·3 years agoI have been a seller since 2011 and feel the exact same way. I have noticed many of my items have zero views which seems impossible since this have never happened in all my years. Next to those listings there is always the large banner above it asking me to "promote" the listing. Seems like they are not allowing my items to be viewed unless I pay them even more than I already do. The word "extortion" seems fitting. Plan to try to get rid of my remaining stock and get out of Ebay. They are becoming more evil by the day. So sad.
toomuchstuffagain35
·3 years agoOkay, so. ebay decided to change the way views are counted and to not SHOW views that were made by spiders, bots, crawlers, etc and ONLY show those views from actual human interaction. So all our views dropped and in a lot of cases had as others have mentioned zero to only 1 view in a 30 day window.
Also as others have mentioned, sales dropped as well.
Call me cynical, but what IF by no longer showing views from all the bot action, a seller could no longer say with certainty that their items were being "seen" by these bots which as we know mostly feed search engines?
Then, ebay starts pushing PL to ensure your items are "seen". They don't say whether by human buyers on ebay or by buyers utilising search engines do they?
katzrul15
·4 years ago@donnanewbay2
Have you thought about other ways to promote your items?
You could
1) With a Store, Run a Sale
2) Send offers to Watchers
3) Create a Coupon
4) Enhance a listing with Video
5) Promote items on social media
6) Revise your listings for better Keywords
7) Research Deep-Dive on Terapeak your items to see what sold, what price, what keywords
Good luck to you. Many ways to showcase your items - not just PLs.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·4 years ago@katzrul15 Good suggestions!
I recently saw a seller post that he's had good luck with this (I haven't tried it yet): He bulk edited his listings to increase the item price by 20% on all listings, and then increased his PLS rate to a considerably higher rate as well (I don't recall the exact percentage). He claimed his sales really jumped.
I'm currently running a markdown manager sale, which hasn't resulted in a big jump, but after that ends I might try his suggestion....
mr_lincoln
·4 years ago@lamber9347, @donnanewbay2 , @my-cottage-books-and-antiques , @kabilab , @gosimus
Selling on eBay is kind of like bass fishing ... you put the lure on your line, cast and then pull the lure past the fish, they hit the lure because they see it and you catch the fish ... now, lets say the stream you are fishing in is owned by eBay and they happen to be upstream kicking around and generally making the water where you're fishing muddy as all get out ... you cast your lure over and over but nothing happens because the bass can't see the lure in the muddy water (ie: NO VISIBILITY)!!!
If the fish can't see your lure you will never catch them ...
lamber9347
·4 years agoI believe this is one of the first times I disagree with you @mr_lincoln and it 'feels' like you are pushing promoted sales. If I am incorrect, my apologies. I understand the reasons behind promoted listings. I understand why some people want to use it. I understand why some think it's the only way to sell on here anymore.
None of that works for me, personally, and only speaking about MYSELF. As I've stated numerous times, I am still selling without using promoted listings. As long as I still get sales, I will never use promoted listings. I don't care what anyone says about it, don't care about any analogies. If I ever do decide to use promoted listings, I shall. Until then, nope, period, done, end of my discussion about promoted listings....
mr_lincoln
·2 years agoHi @lamber9347
Actually I used to push PLS but not now. You are wise not to ever have used them. Now, prior to 2022 PLS worked great, as advertised and as expected. Then they fully launched PLA in early 2022 and changed how Views are counted AND they jacked up their "Suggested" rates for PLS. PLS results were basically cut in half and BIN sales would tank between PLS campaigns (I ran one per quarter for about 30 days).
So earlier this year I tested a theory, I ran a short 17 day PLS in between my quarterly campaigns and I jacked up the ad rates at and above eBay's Suggested rates ... sure enough, sales on BINs returned to their pre 2022 levels. The downside is the additional 12% ad rates on top of eBay fees cuts too deep into my margins.
Now, just so you know, eBay knows EXACTLY how Sellers prefer Selling. I think those who have used PLS have their items buried, hidden, etc so Sellers panic and thing they have to run more PLS or use the higher ad rates. Those who might be skeptical about this then consider this ... it is 4th quarter and I decided NOT to use PLS and I may never use it again. I need to see sales happen naturally in order to be sustainable. Well, low and behold, shortly after the time I would normally run my 4th quarter PLS campaign I got the message below ... "We've missed you" WHAT???? Oh, that's right, they keep track of exactly how I prefer Selling ... I just got another one today too ...
So for me the net-net is that in the last 19 months only 2 months have set new sales records, this drop in sales coincides with eBay site changes mentioned above as well as manipulation of listings. I did my own testing, I have kept monthly sales records from day 1 of Selling and can see what has transpired. Sell through rate has doubled and tripled and it seems one of the trends that emerged (at least for what I sell) is that items that do not sell in their first 2-3 weeks get buried, hidden, etc.
Hope that explains my position a little more clearly ...
baptized_by_fire
·2 years agoEverything He says x10..🔥ðŸ‘
pennpicker
·2 years agoPE Box currently listed had a suggested 19% listing ad rate when I ended all promotions 34 days ago. 3 days later it dropped to a suggested 11%. Noticed this thread and checked again a month later. It is now down to 4.5%.
Is the suggested rate based upon how others are bidding for increased visibility or are we competing against ourselves?
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@pennpicker In my view "Suggested" rates are what Home Office thinks they can get from a Seller ... when PLS first came out they called them "Trending" rates but guess what, they had no history to create a "Trend" so they changed the name and then almost overnight rates doubled and tripled. I and some others surmised the net Fee take they are shooting for on a transaction is around 25% TOTAL for all fees.
cool.jewels.by.jeff
·2 years agoSo your suggesting spending even more time and effort to make less?