eBay

callixto · ‎06-05-2019

I HATE, I repeat HATE Sponsored Listings. They are ruining my eBay experience, and you can best believe that I will NEVER purchase a Sponsored item.

I want a way to turn them OFF. I do not want to see the same overpriced item at the top, middle, and bottom of every page of results, especially when I have specific sort criteria. What is the point of 'newly listed' or 'price low to high' if the first results are the Sponsored Listing? I guarantee you that seeing these same listings over and over is not going to weaken my resolve and make me want to purchase these random items. Au contraire, mon frère. Any seller that makes frequent use of Sponsored Listings is going to go on my blacklist. You people are the worst.

reda3615 · ‎06-06-2019

Hey, it was a shoe-in. Thanks so much berserkerplanet, you rock!

Sponsored and Ranged Price results removed for baja windows:

PRFilt v0.2 removed Sponsored Ranged Price results.png

(Hacked ROM in 6809 on RS CoCo to get unlimited, okay 256, lives for Centipede.)

jeannicho22 · ‎06-06-2019

@callixto wrote:
@mudshark61369

eBay is calling them Sponsored Listings, but they are ordinary auction results. Usually overpriced Buy It Now auctions for the same type of things I'm already browsing. Never anything I'd be tempted to buy. First it was all the fraudulent auctions out of China, now it's the ad spam, eBay has really been working hard to make my experience less and less satisfying.

Whoa....

So you will never purchase from a seller who chooses to promote their listings and are creating a list of seller to never purchase from. I often wonder why buyer feel they are doing a seller a favor by purchasing from them. I sell a pretty unique item that most buyers are pretty happy to have found me. I have the item they want, they have the money... We trade and hopefully both parties are satisfied with the trade. My attitude is that if a buyer doesn't want to purchase from me because I promote my listings, once again... both parties end up satisfied.

berserkerplanet · ‎06-06-2019

>>Sponsored and Ranged Price results removed for baja windows:

Woohoo! (glad it worked - I kept making so many typos transferring between a semi-normal version in a text editor going back and forth between bookmarks managers in 2 versions of Firefox testing it and then posting here that I wasn't sure it was functional in the final incarnation. Don't ask about how much manual url encoding I had to do to get it to work in the webpage version I uploaded due to all the nested quotes, doublequotes, and < symbols in that particular script)

>>(Hacked ROM in 6809 on RS CoCo to get unlimited, okay 256, lives for Centipede.)

Never used TRS80 for anything but RF transmitter signal data collection in late 80's and I didn't do the software. All my haxoring was 8088 Never messed with 6800 series anything except a Burroughs B6800 mainframe. FORTRAN 🙂

eburtonlab · ‎06-07-2019

A followup to my recommendation.

If you want to use an ad blocker to remove the sponsored listings from the top of the search results page, be sure to uncheck the box for "Allow Acceptable Ads" -- I believe that box is checked by default for Ad Block Plus, and in that state the sponsored ads get through. Unchecking the box removes the sponsored ads from the top of the list and lets them sort correctly.

alseyf-73 · ‎06-07-2019

@jeannicho22 wrote:
Whoa....
So you will never purchase from a seller who chooses to promote their listings and are creating a list of seller to never purchase from. I often wonder why buyer feel they are doing a seller a favor by purchasing from them.

I am here to buy, if I find what I'm looking for. To that end, I have criteria to narrow my search, in the sort order which the site itself provides to select.

Sponsored listings do not fit my criteria, nor my sort order.

You can finish this analogy yourself: Your company is looking for the right person to fill a job opening.

callixto · ‎06-08-2019

@jeannicho22 wrote:
@callixto wrote:
@mudshark61369

eBay is calling them Sponsored Listings, but they are ordinary auction results. Usually overpriced Buy It Now auctions for the same type of things I'm already browsing. Never anything I'd be tempted to buy. First it was all the fraudulent auctions out of China, now it's the ad spam, eBay has really been working hard to make my experience less and less satisfying.
Whoa....
So you will never purchase from a seller who chooses to promote their listings and are creating a list of seller to never purchase from. I often wonder why buyer feel they are doing a seller a favor by purchasing from them. I sell a pretty unique item that most buyers are pretty happy to have found me. I have the item they want, they have the money... We trade and hopefully both parties are satisfied with the trade. My attitude is that if a buyer doesn't want to purchase from me because I promote my listings, once again... both parties end up satisfied.

You know what? I'm not doing you a 'favor' by buying what you're selling. I'm GIVING YOU MONEY. If that isn't enough for you, you're asking too much from the transaction. I don't know what you're selling, but with the attitude you seem to have, I think I'd find some other way to get whatever it is. I don't care who you are, if I win the auction, I don't owe you ANYTHING except prompt payment and accurate shipping info.

And if you want to spam my feed with your sponsored listings, just enjoy the peace and quiet of not selling those items, mmmkay? Constantly annoying people into buying your product is a very 20th Century way of doing business. Intrusive advertising is the quickest way for me to NOT purchase something. If I want what you have, I will find you. I won't be tempted to buy something you have just because you kept pushing it in my face while I was searching for something that I did want.

jeannicho22 · ‎06-08-2019

@alseyf-73 wrote:
@jeannicho22 wrote:
Whoa....
So you will never purchase from a seller who chooses to promote their listings and are creating a list of seller to never purchase from. I often wonder why buyer feel they are doing a seller a favor by purchasing from them.
I am here to buy, if I find what I'm looking for. To that end, I have criteria to narrow my search, in the sort order which the site itself provides to select.

Sponsored listings do not fit my criteria, nor my sort order.

You can finish this analogy yourself: Your company is looking for the right person to fill a job opening.

Seems like a lot of negative mojo. YMMV

jeannicho22 · ‎06-08-2019

@callixto wrote:

@jeannicho22 wrote:
@callixto wrote:
@mudshark61369

eBay is calling them Sponsored Listings, but they are ordinary auction results. Usually overpriced Buy It Now auctions for the same type of things I'm already browsing. Never anything I'd be tempted to buy. First it was all the fraudulent auctions out of China, now it's the ad spam, eBay has really been working hard to make my experience less and less satisfying.
Whoa....
So you will never purchase from a seller who chooses to promote their listings and are creating a list of seller to never purchase from. I often wonder why buyer feel they are doing a seller a favor by purchasing from them. I sell a pretty unique item that most buyers are pretty happy to have found me. I have the item they want, they have the money... We trade and hopefully both parties are satisfied with the trade. My attitude is that if a buyer doesn't want to purchase from me because I promote my listings, once again... both parties end up satisfied.
You know what? I'm not doing you a 'favor' by buying what you're selling. I'm GIVING YOU MONEY. If that isn't enough for you, you're asking too much from the transaction. I don't know what you're selling, but with the attitude you seem to have, I think I'd find some other way to get whatever it is. I don't care who you are, if I win the auction, I don't owe you ANYTHING except prompt payment and accurate shipping info.

And if you want to spam my feed with your sponsored listings, just enjoy the peace and quiet of not selling those items, mmmkay? Constantly annoying people into buying your product is a very 20th Century way of doing business. Intrusive advertising is the quickest way for me to NOT purchase something. If I want what you have, I will find you. I won't be tempted to buy something you have just because you kept pushing it in my face while I was searching for something that I did want.

Ummmmm No, you are not GIVING me anything, I've earned it. As a matter of fact, you're right, you are not doing me a favor by purchasing from me. I don't owe buyers ANYTHING except to do what I say I will do... shipping time and item as described. I have a very high quality unique product that sometimes buyers don't know they need. Actually most buyers are very pleasantly surprised to find that such a product is available. No one is doing anyone a favor, I have the product they want that they probably won't find elsewhere.... actually, I know they won't... and they are willing to give me money they earned to get it.

I have no attitude, I just refuse to be treated disrespectfully. If there are other buyers out there who refuse to purchase because I spend some money on advertising, seems to me that we both get what we want.

I remember when employers felt they were doing their employees a favor by giving them money they earned for the J.O,B. they did. I remember at a RL job I had. We only saw the GM on payday so that she could pass out the paychecks so the employee felt an obligation to say thank you..... I never said thank you because she wasn't doing me a favor, I earned it. Every week it was the same thing, she would stand at my desk waiting for me to thank her before giving me the check..... THAT I ALREADY EARNED.... and I would put my hand out without saying a word in anticipation of the pay that was mine. NO, not giving me a thing

callixto · ‎06-10-2019

@jeannicho22 wrote:

Ummmmm No, you are not GIVING me anything, I've earned it. As a matter of fact, you're right, you are not doing me a favor by purchasing from me. I don't owe buyers ANYTHING except to do what I say I will do... shipping time and item as described. I have a very high quality unique product that sometimes buyers don't know they need. Actually most buyers are very pleasantly surprised to find that such a product is available. No one is doing anyone a favor, I have the product they want that they probably won't find elsewhere.... actually, I know they won't... and they are willing to give me money they earned to get it.

I have no attitude, I just refuse to be treated disrespectfully. If there are other buyers out there who refuse to purchase because I spend some money on advertising, seems to me that we both get what we want.

I remember when employers felt they were doing their employees a favor by giving them money they earned for the J.O,B. they did. I remember at a RL job I had. We only saw the GM on payday so that she could pass out the paychecks so the employee felt an obligation to say thank you..... I never said thank you because she wasn't doing me a favor, I earned it. Every week it was the same thing, she would stand at my desk waiting for me to thank her before giving me the check..... THAT I ALREADY EARNED.... and I would put my hand out without saying a word in anticipation of the pay that was mine. NO, not giving me a thing

You keep saying you have this unique product and advertise etc., but you have 0 listings and 0 feedback that I can see.

lindyslucky · ‎06-10-2019

I understand.

I had a favorite pair of earrings.

Not really expensive, Sterling silver, uncommon style.

I lost one.

Pretty much, the only chance I have to find another pair similar is on eBay.

Trying to shop recently was a frustrating experience.

Ebay is adding promoted (that is the seller is paying extra to have their item seen) items at the top and bottom of pages, (maybe more)

These show up regardless of my filters.

I don't want gold earrings, new earrings,expensive earrings, out of the country.....

I was constantly confused.

I stopped once because I thought I had gone out of my top price I was willing to pay, but, no, I had promoted listings thrown in, with no attention to my filters.

Then, at the bottom of the search page was seven (7!)sponsored sellers.

None had the remotest chance to have what I am looking for.

I didn't/ haven't found my earrings and may not, dealing with this search set up.

But.....We are sellers on ebay too.

In order to make sales, we have been forced to pay to promote listings.

Ebay is doing this to get more $$. Buyers pay in the form of higher prices. Sellers pay in more fees.

Do we like this whole set up? No.

We are between a rock & a hard place.

Yes, we will promote listings to make sales.

no, I'm not fighting my way through a pile of sponsored and promoted things to find what I want.

When you block sellers, you are blocking people who are probably just trying to deal with the circumstances.

And yes, you are paying for items. You are making a trade. The best sale is one where both parties walk away satisfied. A seller isn't giving away anything. A buyer isn't giving away money. That's what selling & buying is.(capitalism)

Most of us work hard for our money. We assume you are not a seller on ebay.

From what we have found, ebay sellers work ridiculously hard for what they make.

This platform used to be based on trust.

At this point, we need to assume we are all doing our best, given the circumstances.

lindyslucky · ‎06-10-2019

The poster is using a posting ID.

They choose to hide their identity because of possible undesired consequences.

jeannicho22 · ‎06-10-2019

@callixto wrote:
@jeannicho22 wrote:

Ummmmm No, you are not GIVING me anything, I've earned it. As a matter of fact, you're right, you are not doing me a favor by purchasing from me. I don't owe buyers ANYTHING except to do what I say I will do... shipping time and item as described. I have a very high quality unique product that sometimes buyers don't know they need. Actually most buyers are very pleasantly surprised to find that such a product is available. No one is doing anyone a favor, I have the product they want that they probably won't find elsewhere.... actually, I know they won't... and they are willing to give me money they earned to get it.

I have no attitude, I just refuse to be treated disrespectfully. If there are other buyers out there who refuse to purchase because I spend some money on advertising, seems to me that we both get what we want.

I remember when employers felt they were doing their employees a favor by giving them money they earned for the J.O,B. they did. I remember at a RL job I had. We only saw the GM on payday so that she could pass out the paychecks so the employee felt an obligation to say thank you..... I never said thank you because she wasn't doing me a favor, I earned it. Every week it was the same thing, she would stand at my desk waiting for me to thank her before giving me the check..... THAT I ALREADY EARNED.... and I would put my hand out without saying a word in anticipation of the pay that was mine. NO, not giving me a thing
You keep saying you have this unique product and advertise etc., but you have 0 listings and 0 feedback that I can see.

I see that you've never heard of a posting ID. The reason experienced sellers use a posting ID is because occasionally someone on the board may decide to take their disagreement over a post into real life that affects the welfare of their store. eBay is an on-line venue open to anyone who has access to the internet... there is no mental screening and sometimes people decide to do bad things. Yes, I have this unique product with almost 70,000 sales.

airsheep · ‎06-10-2019

"This platform used to be based on trust."

Yep. Then, through a combo of sketchy sellers and buyers and ebay's insatiable desire to get a bigger piece of the pie. that trust has eroded. You can still find good sellers and buyers, but it's much harder these days; every time ebay trots out something to 'help with' a new scam, the clever boys and girls quickly figure out a new twist on it.

Coffee is my friend.

T&S Tool #10mm ratchet

callixto · ‎06-11-2019

More and more, it's looking like the real solution is to just stop using eBay altogether. As far as I'm concerned, Sponsored Listings are the equivalent of robocalls or other intrusive advertising, like how the cashier at Target and other stores asks you if you want to apply for their store credit card every time you go through the checkout line—even in the self checkout line. Any time I am being harrassed with intrusive advertising like this, it turns me off, and makes me want to take my business elsewhere. I put my phone in permanent Do Not Disturb mode, and I stopped shopping at Target, and I can give up eBay too I guess. I think I need to embrace the Marie Kondo lifestyle and stop accumulating stuff anyway.