glad you posted, b/c i've had the same problem. They were coming every 2 or 3 weeks last year, sometimes for fixed price, other times for auctions. They were coming so often that a lot of times I would end current FP listings and relist on the promo to get a couple of extra weeks. Other times I'd have to spend time reformating from auction to FP, or vice versa to get the most out of using promos. I'm also a small seller but amped up inventory to really take advantage. I got the last promo last month and that's it. So now my inventory will have to sit until or if there is another promo.
I agree that there was more to it. I think they gave the promos for the past year so sellers would get used to FP, so they can do what they are doing now and trying to push us into opening a store. I also agree with the comment, " i think they are giving the free promotion to those sellers who move their items quickly on ebay and cutting out those sellers who sell very little", adding and/ or to the big sellers. I always laughed with the promos were for 5k, 20k, 200k listings. Obviously small sellers are not going to use that many free listings.
As far as 30cents killing a bottom line, Yes it does for a small seller. Not all items move fast. Sometimes my items don't sell for a few months. 30 cents might not seem like much on an individual sale (IF it happens to sell immediately), but it adds up, especially when you may only profit a little bit anyway. I don't mind only making a $5.00 profit on something I paid 50 cents for, b/c $5.00 here and there adds up too, but if I have to pay 30 cents over and over for several months, that little bit of profit is eaten up. Right now for example, if I am (lucky enough) to end up with about 50% profit a month, that's a good month - with 10% fv fee, 3% paypal, 20%-30% (free) shipping, + my investment cost (and not factoring in my time). Now they want another 10% (at least) insertion fees. For me around $100 a month. I don't make enough to pay that. Especially if I have to list an item several times before it sells.
Another impact - I will no longer be able to do small lots of items. For example - I recently purchased a large mixed lot of tupperware items (same with clothes, shoes, build a bear, etc). I usually break them up into smaller lots and list individual small lots (or single items), since buyers are usually looking for a specific item. I may have 20 individual listings. A few may get bids and sell right away at auction. Then I switch to FP because it gives a longer exposure time and eventually the buyer comes along. I also think buyers like BIN because they get tired of looking through 100s or 1000s of listings and/or waiting for an auction to end. If it's priced right, they just want to buy it and be done with it. Now, I will have to rethink even buying these types of items and being able to give buyers a decent price (usually with free shipping).
sorry such a long post. very frustrated with ebay at the moment.
