Your opinions on Top Rated Seller & Promoted Listings
I just wanted to see the communities opinions on these topics and see if you think they will be worth it here in 2026?
With Top Rated Sellers, your listings must qualify with both 1-day shipping and 30-days seller paid returns. Do you think its worth the benefits ebay provides of 10% off FVF and the ability to provide 50% refund on things returned used or damaged?
As for Promoted Listings, I saw the update now if any promoted item sells, you will be charged the fee for promotion. Do you other sellers feel as though promoting your items is creating more sales? And is it worth continuing to promote your listing knowing every item sold will be charged the fees?
And slightly off topic, but curious since these cost continue to rise! How do all of you list your shipping prices? Do you only do free shipping and calculate it into the cost of the item? Or do you use calculated/fixed shipping prices and let the buyer pay for it?
Looking forward to seeing how other sellers operate and to see if its time for me to continue as I have always done or make some new changes for 2026!
UPDATE:
Thank you all for the replies! Just wanted to see how some other sellers utilize these options that eBay provides. I too utilize TRS+ for the added FVF saving, and shipping each day is easy since my post office is less then 2 miles away. I have been promoting all my items at the minimum 2%, which I have noticed helps for some items, but will have to reconsider if I am charged now for every item that sells. And I have always done free shipping, but will agree it does become a pain with the constant shipping price increases.
jbbowers12012
·8 months agoHi, We like the Top Rated Seller perks - But we also think that that one day shipping & free returns is attractive to buyers & has helped net us a few sales.
As far as promoted listings we do a general promotion at a low rate. Dont' really know if it has helped us much but it just seemed like the best thing to do.
We ship USPS Ground Advantage at a set rate as most of our items are of the same size & weight.
From here in New jersey we are so happy to add to this - it will be an interesting read.
fern*wood
·8 months agoI am a top rated seller, but none of my listings qualify for TRS+. I do not promote anything. I have a handful of free shipping listings, but usually use calculated shipping.
meme6253
·8 months agoI use calculated shipping that the buyer pays for, I do not offer free shipping, As far as promoting your Listings that is entirely up to each individual seller, It works for some & others not so much, You need to try it for yourself & see if it works for you, I use it at a bare minimum 2-3% never more & I only do so because I am in a highly saturated collectibles market.
bashort
·8 months agoDo you think its worth the benefits ebay provides of 10% off FVF and the ability to provide 50% refund on things returned used or damaged? I offer free returns on most items to promote buyer confidence and the 10% off. I have never used the return deduction.
is it worth continuing to promote your listing knowing every item sold will be charged the fees? No, this change only cemented my no no paid promotions tendency.
Do you only do free shipping and calculate it into the cost of the item? No, I gave up free shipping years ago, many advantages to calculated to buyers and sellers.
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoTop rated is a seller designation
Top rated plus is a listing designation
I don't bother with TRS+ - one or two returns blows that tiny discount, and I sell mostly clothing.
Promotions are changing enough that I'll have to reconsider, but I've used them for saturated brands (which I try not to carry).
participatrophy
·8 months agoTRS yes, promoted no, mix of flat rate & calculated for shipping
krazzykats
·8 months agoYes, it’s worth it. The post office is only two blocks away.
I don’t get enough returns to really comment but offer free returns.
I do run different promotions by category, though at Christmas I had everything promoted.
And I only use calculated shipping—what might cost $7.00 to ship to the West Coast can be $10.00 to the East Coast. I offer all my buyers the eBay discounted rate on postage.
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fm2000
·8 months agoYes, they are all worth it for my business, but they definitely may not be right for everyone. One day shipping for me is no sweat, I have good, reliable, drama-free daily USPS pickup. Not everyone does unfortunately. Some people have to drop their packages off and they may live a distance from a post office, or have unreliable pickup, etc., making 1 day shipping very difficult.
Free returns works for me because of 1) what I sell and the audience the items appeal to, and 2) I am very, very thorough with details and condition description. If you sell mass market "amazon" items, items that are a fraud risk, items that involve "fit" issues (clothes, car parts) or items that appeal to problem buyers, free returns may be a very, very bad idea.
I sell many both very rare/unique items (items not searched for specifically) and items in saturated categories (like media). If I don't promote, at least a little, they end up just buried. I don't see how I have much of a choice. If someone is selling "hot" items (expensive watches or purses, or Labubus or Starbucks mugs or other "trendy" items), or recession-proof necessities (like brake pads, light bulbs or dental supplies) they probably don't need to promote Some items need promotion to be seen. It is what it is.
I use flat shipping using a few shipping policies. When postage goes up, I change the policies to reflect the increase. Free shipping would require me to edit every single item to account for the increase, which would be a massive time sink.
christworks
·8 months ago@njtoyreseller You are asking a lot of questions. Everybody will have a unique answer, because every single one of us has to decide what is best for our business.
No two businesses are alike. I do not understand why you would base your business decisions on what your competitors are doing for their business. Dominos isn't asking Pizza Hut if a million dollar Super Bowl ad is worth it. Walmart isn't asking Target whether it is wise to remove self check-out lanes.
The advice you need to hear is for you to figure out what is best for you and your business.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoThe discount for our listings being Top Rated Plus more than offsets any returns we get. I like it. We don’t do promoted listings anymore.
lakefor94
·8 months agoI wouldn't want to run with anything less than TRS+. Been TRS since ~3 months after I went fulltime in 2017.
Like many here, that 10% kickback on fvf's offsets all return costs, the 6×4×4 shipping boxes I buy and my store fees.
Too easy.
ryry-jj
·8 months agoAll sellers need to do what works for them. And we each have to know our markets and how to apply the tools. And to be successful, sellers really need to know the shipping rules and cost of the carrier they use. Shipping can make or break on line sellers more than anything. None of us should be blind to the FVF, but for some reason many of us guess and are clueless to the true cost of shipping
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoPromoted listings are GREAT for those that have competition selling the same thing (when there are more than 50).
They are beyond 'no brains' if you use them when you have a 1922 Sewing Machine and there are 3 other sellers.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoA seller does NOT need to do both 1 day shipping and 30 day returns to be able to utilize the 'up to 50%' deduction on returns.
The 10% off final value fees? yes, you need to do those 2 things (and be Top Rated)
Also note; the 'up to 50%' is ONLY when it is required and not a habit; or ebay will simply take that away from you, so be sure your pictures (that you submit) are clearly showing the issue.
ethylsgarage
·8 months agoDefinitely worth it. About half of the 250,000 items in my category are promoted, without promotion my items would never be seen. TRS+ discount pays for my shipping materials. If you have a store you get further breaks on listing fees, too. I usually carry about 1,500 active items at a time and the $59.95 store fee with free listings is far cheaper than paying $525/mo for 1,500 listings without a store.
kibble-net
·8 months ago> Do you think its worth the benefits ebay provides of 10% off FVF and the ability to provide 50% refund on things returned used or damaged?
Yes. Considering buyers can potentially get a free refund anyway, by claiming INAD and damaging the item themselves, I'd rather just let them return it no questions asked --- and get a discount on my FVF too.
> Do you other sellers feel as though promoting your items is creating more sales? And is it worth continuing to promote your listing knowing every item sold will be charged the fees?
Yes, it's worth it. I am passing the fee onto my customers, as if it was a tariff. 50 cents additional handling fee per order.
> How do all of you list your shipping prices? Do you only do free shipping and calculate it into the cost of the item? Or do you use calculated/fixed shipping prices and let the buyer pay for it?
Calculated 100%. Any time a fee goes up, I am not paying. The customer is paying. Everything is gradually increasing in price these days, that's just life. 🙂
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoI am a TRS and 0% of my listings are TRS+.
None of my listings will ever be TRS+ because I believe in lowering expectations and then exceeding them, and I am not hungry enough to work as hard as one day shipping requires.
My FB is full of fast shipping comments, in spite of the efforts of USPS to delay shipments.
tinseltownresale
·8 months agoThe new policy ("An attributed sale will be when any buyer purchases the promoted item within 30 days of any click on the ad, regardless of whether the buyer themselves clicked on the ad.") is a disrespectful money grab. As many have experienced, eBay isn't there for its sellers, regardless of their marketing to the contrary. We're all out here starving, and they're taking advantage of our position by squeezing us. In certain categories (I'm primarily in clothing, shoes, accessories) we have to promote to get sales. Almost 60% of dresses, for example, are promoted. I know this because eBay now makes a point of telling you what percentage of items in your item's category are promoted. Without promoting, you're dependent on a longer attention span than most consumers -- in the social media era -- have...
eBay is now charging us whether ads do what we're paying for (get us the sale) or not. It's insane. But they can, so they will. Business doesn't care about people. That's fact. What's annoying is the corporate-image gaslighting they all, including eBay, are obsessed with pushing as they gorge themselves while watching us scramble for crumbs.
12345jamesstamps
·8 months ago'Top Rated Seller'...I call it Amazon Seller...too many things can go wrong with 1-day shipping and you lose your status for a month.
As for promoted...I turned everything off promoted...and yesterday listed 11 of exact same items promoted at 20 % to see what happens 01/15/2026...and no other stamp seller is selling the set at 10 bucks with free shipping...domestic and International free shipping.
I also promoted 5 items(nice mint sets) from 4 different countries at 20% and where my pricing is lower than all other sellers with same exact item.
This will give some idea if promoting helps. So far nothing....
I wanted to reach out to International Buyers because I think there's a market out there for that...so now I have free domestic as well as free International Shipping(all new items).
The combined shipping creates a problem for combining items...especially International Shipping.
And getting 'repeat buyers' is my mission statement.
I don't like to nickel and dime buyers with shipping...and have no problem eating the cost of certified or priority mail out of my pocket...again...'repeat buyers'.
No one ever complains about my shipping...how it goes...if a signature is required for expensive items shipped and such.
Cheapo items I use no tracking...waste of money...since almost everything gets delivered faster the tracking shipments.
jenk56
·8 months agoTop Rated with 10% off the fees, yes and it amounts to about $400 a year for me. My post office branch is only 2 miles away (and that should be a consideration for you) as I need to ship everyday with 1 day shipping (excluding weekends). If your branch is several miles away you need to add up your gas cost vs 10% off ebay fees.
50% refund on returns: I don't worry about this. It's not a factor for me.
Promoted listings gets you more "impressions" not sales. Who cares about impressions, it's a made up statistic (buyer is on an ebay page with 60-200 other items and your item is one of those, hence one click away.) At least in my case this was what happened in my tests of promoted listings. There may be some categories where it matters. Promoted Listings is a "short term gain, long term loss" for ebay. It pits their "core business" against one another. Ebay sells nothing, the buyers and sellers on ebay are their core business and they have forgotten this for a short term gain in stock prices. Eventually sellers will have to have a higher % in promoted listings to get seen and it's an endless cycle until that seller quits. Ebay then has less sellers and less money coming in (that is the long term loss).
Shipping: for me it is the same price for all, I take a small loss if I include the cost of the box I ship in. However my postage cost and item price are what I want for the item. I could have free shipping and just up the list price. It works out the same. If you have heavy or bulky items you will want a calculated price based on the location of the buyer. It all depends upon what you sell.
tarotfindsandmore
·8 months agoI like the TRS+ program. It works for me and it's worth it. I ship daily and always have, so I don't have a problem with the turnaround time.
Returns don't phase me at all. They're so rare that they're hardly a consideration. In the past 12 months I've had a total of 6 in roughly 1200 sales. Three of the items came back in perfect condition, one was broken by the buyer, and two had cosmetic issues that I didn't feel like doing battle over. Of the three "good" returns, one sold immediately upon being relisted, one is currently listed, and the last I decided to hang onto til it's a bit more scarce.
Promotions are completely on hold for now, and will probably be used very sparingly, if at all, in the future. I was never a big fan but did the 2-3% thing for recommended items off and on. I don't know how significant promotions were for me, but I'm sure I'll find out in the coming months. So far it doesn't look like they made any real difference.
I absolutely do not do free shipping. Tried it and found it too costly. Buyers aren't stupid, they know that free shipping isn't actually free. Calculated shipping with the discount passed on to buyers works well for me. I know my shipping supplies average 1.10 per package so that gets added to the cost of the item and USPS can figure out the rest. The other reason I charge shipping is that it can be deducted from remorse returns. Of the half dozen mentioned above, I deducted shipping from the refunds in half of them.
dhbookds
·8 months agoLike the discount........if I sell 400 items a year and get 35c each.......$140...... I've always done 1 day shipping and free returns because I think it's a good selling point. Don't have many returns, so never used the 50% off.
Don't do Promoted listings..
Use calculated shipping with and a small handling fee.....always thought buyers should understand that shipping costs $$..... that may not help my sales....