Promoted listings are now forced.
As an experiment I turned off Promoted listings when the **bleep** on the 13th began just to see what happens. Well given its now been ten days the results are. 1 sale , down 63%, so it clearly shows you basically have no choice but promote. Just a sad pathetic company who we hired to sell our product doing everything possible to take every last penny from your pocket. Any brand that allows you to "give" them 100% promoted listing fees while still taking the normal % of the product is just criminal. PAY US MORE THEN YOU MAKE BAY sounds like a more accurate name. At the end of the day we are all human beings and if this is the way the want to treat us just goes to show their true characters.
30 comments
squinkercat59
·8 months agoI have never used promoted listings and my sales are fine. But then again, I don't sell items in over-saturated categories. The only reason to use promotions is if you are in over-saturated categories to begin with, where there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of other sellers promoting as well. Sort of defeats the purpose.
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoThis whole "must promote" thing certainly appears to have been a bit of racket. Certain categories will always need a "boost" but so far it doesn't look like they honestly made any difference for me. I'm seriously starting to wonder whether my "promoted" items were just externals all along that were getting hit with promotion fees because they also happened to be promoted. I have a feeling I'll be better able to tell in another month or two when things really start to slow down, but so far....
bbcardzman
·8 months agoEBay is losing a LOT of money with this pay-to-play crap. Maybe they will figure this out soon, but it is doubtful since greed is their goal. I do not and will not give them MORE money. Sales have slowed since Christmas but there's always ups and downs with eBay, it's just a fact.
stuff4divas
·8 months ago@seenbetterdaysdiecast thanks for your opinions, i guess 🤔
promoted listings become irrelevant if one decides to stop using ebay to sell from
luckythewinner
·8 months agoAny brand that allows you to "give" them 100% promoted listing fees while still taking the normal % of the product is just criminal.
eBay also allows you to withdraw your profit and set them on fire in your front yard.
spendingcents26150
·8 months agoI understand what you mean. Some people do not require more than a couple of sales a day or a few a week which organic may bring. In your category it is likely tough without promoting. I have a few categories like that.
Something is definitely off right now though, I am not getting any organic sales in a couple of my active categories and I regularly do.
Another, and better question is what is going on with the board, or your store? or me?
As inquiring minds do .. I clicked on "View Listings" Nothing came up.
I thought.. ok, that's a buying account maybe. I clicked on your feedback and it said there was a prob (see pic)
eburtonlab
·8 months agoAnother, and better question is what is going on with the board, or your store? or me?
As inquiring minds do .. I clicked on "View Listings" Nothing came up.
Khoros is no longer providing up-to-date link info from eBay when users post here; as a result, board links no longer work when a user changes the username on eBay. If you copy the new username into the old link, you should be able to reach the user's listings or feedback.
https://feedback.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/seenbetterdaysdiecast
This has no effect on buyers when they search on eBay; it is purely a community forum link issue.
spendingcents26150
·8 months agoThank you! Learn something new everyday. 🙂
onefootflipper
·8 months agoI eliminated all promoted listings on January 1st and I actually have a smaller month over month dec-jan drop then I had a year ago back when I promoted.
kchcollectibles
·8 months agoEbay is great for reaching new customers but the goal should be to have your established customers purchasing your products via other platforms where you do not have fees charged. A personal webpage for your products in addition to eBay is a great option along with using message boards, facebook, and whatever free marketing is suitable for your niche.
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@kchcollectibles ,
Any ideas on how to do that?
kchcollectibles
·8 months agoIt all depends on your product. I sell sports cards. I do as little as possible on eBay. There are message boards that have buy/sell/trade sections. No commission to be paid. No returns to worry about. I use eBay more for easy access to pricing comps than actual selling.
I rather be the purchaser on eBay and have all of the policies in my favor than try to navigate all their crappy policies and fees as a seller.
shire123
·8 months agoTotally disagree. Mostly depends on what you sell and your pricing strategy. I'm a small time seller. For the past 2years I've averaged 2 sales per day which I am very happy with. Have never promoted and have no plans to promote
meme6253
·8 months agoYou only disagree because evidently you fall into a category where you don't have to promote, But due to other categories that are saturated a seller does not have much choice.
ten_o_nine
·8 months agoYes, and look for "Promoted listings +" coming soon to your mailbox.
bashort
·8 months agoIf it gets to the point where you have to promote to sell I will just quit because I am not doing it, but we are not there yet
eric.lang
·8 months agoWhat you can do is maybe test some listings to see like mess about with the sponsored rate. For example, a lot of sellers say 8% is the sweet spot. See how low you can go and still get enough sales that you are comfortable with it is up to you to choose what margin is best for you.
iamthecrosseyedcow
·8 months agoBetter than half of my listings are clothing...can't get into a more saturated category than that. I don't promote at all. Granted, I don't sell tons of items each day, but I DO sell nearly every day and DO just fine (for the amount of time I'm willing to put into it - retired...) without promoting.
I did promote for several years, but quit about a year ago. I'm actually selling a bit more without promoting and definitely taking home more money as a result.
It can be done!
hartungcards
·8 months agoYou lost me at, "Well given its now been ten days..."
theteamsetguy
·8 months ago@seenbetterdaysdiecast ,
Not everyone needs to promote and many don't. But in your case, you sell die cast cars. There are currently almost 2 million Hot Wheels, Match Box, Johnny Lightening, and ect. listings on ebay. You have a lot of competition and many die cast sellers that do promote.
You have to decide if lower more profitable sales or more less profitable sales due to promoted listing fees are the way to go.
kensgiftshop
·8 months agoProbably doesn't help when Ebay shows other listings, using the same photos and cheaper then yours, in your listings.
kibble-net
·8 months agoBlaming ebay because your business isn't doing as well as you like?
Sounds like a skill issue to me.
totally_rad_movies
·8 months agoDo you even know what hes talking about? It kind of sounds like you dont
inhawaii
·8 months agoPromoted listings are now forced.
No, they are not.
gloryglorygifts
·8 months agoThat's not true. Lots of sellers get organic sales without promoting. I don't promote and neither do many on these boards. I think what you are experiencing is what some have called a chastisement period and they have said that their sales have died or slowed after promoting listings. You will bounce back. Good luck to you!
monroe67
·8 months ago"Just a sad pathetic company who we hired to sell our product doing everything possible to take every last penny from your pocket."
As my selling ID, I do not consider that I have "hired" eBay "to sell [my] product[s]".
Indeed, eBay itself says that sellers take full responsibility for their listings. My selling ID has listed many items here on eBay that did not sell after months, even years. I don't place even the slightest bit of blame on eBay for those non-sales.
eBay does not force any seller to promote their listings.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoThe conclusion may be that YOU have no choice other than to promote or change your product selection criteria.
What is criminal is the number of sellers who have minimal criteria for what they offer here and clutter the site with items where the supply exceeds the demand, and then complain about the costs of promotion.
Many of us can avoid promotion because of how buyers search for what we sell, how few competitors we have and the words we use in our listings.
totally_rad_movies
·8 months agoIm so sick of people like you chiming in on something you obviously no nothing about. Some item categories simply require you to Promote or be buried. For quite some time now youve had to pay the promotion fee just to maintain the views and impressions you were already getting organically. Now once your item is clicked on one time by any buyer every sale you make from the listing is charged the promoted fee in perpetuity. Its quite literally insane.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoAny one with half a brain knows that you have to promote collectible die cast cars in order to sell them.
There are far too many offers and not enough collectors. And in production cars for kids to use are dirt cheap.
Do not accuse others of knowing nothing, and go back to playing with your toys.
meme6253
·8 months agoThere is truth in what you say, But you can't expect sellers who have a massive surplus in any given category, To just go & buy an entirely different inventory in a different category.