eBay

ritasloft · ‎05-02-2018

Hi all!

I am noticing my promotions banners are again showing at the BOTTOM of listings, and no longer up near the top of the page (my understanding was that eBay decided to revert back to displaying the banner back at the top of the page from their ill-conceived decision to move them to the bottom).

Perhaps there is valid data to support better conversions with the banner at the bottom of the page. Regardless, I still prefer it to appear at the top, and it is disappointing not having not having an option to choose from.

Is this a new test? Is anyone else experiencing this?

These constant changes and lack of communication are getting frustrating.

Thanks for any insights,

ritasloft · ‎05-14-2018

My brief moment of promotions banner happiness has gone. I would welcome an end to this "test" at any time.

All my promotions (as of this update) are all now back at the bottom of my listings again.

IMPORTANT: If eBay decides to stick with this poor choice of keeping the promotions banner at the bottom of listings, if you use the "Store header and left-navigation category list" header option (basically a horizontal + vertical nav pane), when your item description text is significantly shorter than the vertical span of the left-side nav pane, buyers are much less likely to ever notice your promotion before they begin the checkout process!

This is a bit tough to describe properly, it's one of those things you need to see. In the image below, the web browser nav pane is outlined in green and the item description area in grey.

If most of your listings have a description area (grey box area) that doesn't come close to the bottom vertical area of your nav pane (bottom of green), you may want to revert to "store header only" mode in order to have your promtions banner visible closer to the top.

Hope that makes sense... I sure wish this wasn't such a friction point.

😕

Anonymous · ‎05-15-2018

The biggest problem is that if your promotion isn't showing at the top of your item page, it ALSO isn't showing in search results! Which probably affects search placement as well. So what is "special" about some sellers that their promotions actually work the way they're supposed to? Why are we paying eBay for a store when nothing works how it should? What a freaking disaster eBay is. If they think promotions work better at the bottom of the page they're dumber than we thought. Most people don't even read the description much less scroll to the bottom. Contacting customer service seems to be a useless exercise. Maybe you can get someone that fixes it for 1 day, then it will revert back again. Again, why are we paying for a store? eBay seems to be only concerned about getting the seller's money and don't give a rat's A after that if anything works.

tpowers1971 · ‎05-15-2018

I've been notcing the same thing: Some Large Sellers Banners are Showing at the Top and in the Search Listings.

In a few cases it can't be the promtion as they were buy 2 take a 3rd for 10% where mine were buy 2 take a 3rd for 25% off.

My feedback rating is better and They are not Top Rated either.

They are however far larger (and I actually belive two of the listing are really the same companies using two different store names, which I see all the time).

So...is it pure favotism, Luck or does LENGHTH of the Promotion have any effect as I tend to use 2 and 3 days at a time.

rockbottomvalues · ‎05-16-2018

I have NO banner on some of my promotions - NOTHING.

shoptalkid · ‎05-24-2018

@ritasloft wrote:
I received a reply from the social team stating that they did a test over the holidays and determined it delivered the best experience.

https://twitter.com/RitasLoft/status/991861269610336256

Did someone forget that after making this banner placement change "permanent" earlier this year, they reverted it back up top where it belongs? ...and now it's being thrust back to the bottom again where it's nearly worthless?

So frustrating.

Their actions defy logic. If I walk by a store where I like to shop and there are no sale signs in the window, I'm less inclined to stop in, even if they are running sale. Whereas if there are sales signs on the windows, I'm probably going to walk in.

My sales slow down significantly every time they move the banner to the bottom of the page. Even worse, as of today, there are no banners showing for my listings on the mobile app even though I"m running a promotion. So, I had to write in the promotion myself.

previously known as boardnpostsid

press-start-gaming-electronics · ‎05-24-2018

@shoptalkid wrote:
@ritasloft wrote:
I received a reply from the social team stating that they did a test over the holidays and determined it delivered the best experience.

https://twitter.com/RitasLoft/status/991861269610336256

Did someone forget that after making this banner placement change "permanent" earlier this year, they reverted it back up top where it belongs? ...and now it's being thrust back to the bottom again where it's nearly worthless?

So frustrating.

Their actions defy logic. If I walk by a store where I like to shop and there are no sale signs in the window, I'm less inclined to stop in, even if they are running sale. Whereas if there are sales signs on the windows, I'm probably going to walk in.

My sales slow down significantly every time they move the banner to the bottom of the page. Even worse, as of today, there are no banners showing for my listings on the mobile app even though I"m running a promotion. So, I had to write in the promotion myself.

I doubt their actions defy logic; it's just likely that such logic would not take into consideration 95% of sellers, ie smaller guys like us. Ebay is simply following in Amazon's footsteps of making policy changes aimed at supporting their bigger players while leaving everyone else out in the cold. I'm not exactly sure how that would work in this particular case (perhaps they can selectively grant a top banner placement to specific sellers), but I guarantee you there is a real reason they are doing this, and that's what should concern all of us.

ritasloft · ‎05-25-2018

tyler@ebay wrote:...
We encourage you to make sure your promotional offers are competitive and enticing, as poor promotions can lead to a lower conversion rate. I don't have much more information at the moment, we'll keep you updated as we hear back.

Hi tyler@ebay! Would it be possible to please get an update now 3 weeks later?

Very much appreciated would be guidance on specifically when promotion banners will or will not appear at the 1) top or 2) bottom of listings (and 3) when they won't appear at all as many are reporting. Also will the display criteria work differently on moble web view and apps.

If their are specific triggers or thresholds based on promotion types, such as markdown percentage or order discounts, resulting in different placement that would be helpful to know.

Or if there are certain account types or store subscriptions that garner top-of-page promotion banner placement?

Some transparency and disclosure with specifics on how these will be handled will be appreciated.

Thank-you Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎05-25-2018

@ritasloft wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:...
We encourage you to make sure your promotional offers are competitive and enticing, as poor promotions can lead to a lower conversion rate. I don't have much more information at the moment, we'll keep you updated as we hear back.

Hi tyler@ebay! Would it be possible to please get an update now 3 weeks later?

Very much appreciated would be guidance on specifically when promotion banners will or will not appear at the 1) top or 2) bottom of listings (and 3) when they won't appear at all as many are reporting. Also will the display criteria work differently on moble web view and apps.

If their are specific triggers or thresholds based on promotion types, such as markdown percentage or order discounts, resulting in different placement that would be helpful to know.

Or if there are certain account types or store subscriptions that garner top-of-page promotion banner placement?

Some transparency and disclosure with specifics on how these will be handled will be appreciated.

Thank-you Tyler,

Hi @ritasloft

I recommend that you work to provide the most valuable promotions that you can to have the best impact on your business. I’m not able to provide details on the banner position that is being tested but am happy to reassure you that we are always working to ensure that changes or updates provide the most benefit to our Community.

Tyler,

Anonymous · ‎05-25-2018

Adding to my previous message, when I look at my own listings the banner has been showing at the top of the page for the past several days. BUT when another family member looks at any of my items when logged in or not, using a different pc but the same browser and operating system, it DOES NOT appear at the top! So if you think it's working correctly you might need to think again. Is this a deliberate trick by eBay to make us believe it's showing at the top of the page? Showing it only when looking at your own listings? What a cluster-bleep.

Another matter is the new eBay stores "experience". Also a mess. I posted about this here https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Stores-quot-New-Experience-quot-dismal-for-sellers/qaq-p/28523...

shoptalkid · ‎05-26-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
Adding to my previous message, when I look at my own listings the banner has been showing at the top of the page for the past several days. BUT when another family member looks at any of my items when logged in or not, using a different pc but the same browser and operating system, it DOES NOT appear at the top! So if you think it's working correctly you might need to think again. Is this a deliberate trick by eBay to make us believe it's showing at the top of the page? Showing it only when looking at your own listings? What a cluster-bleep.

Another matter is the new eBay stores "experience". Also a mess. I posted about this here https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Stores-quot-New-Experience-quot-dismal-for-sellers/qaq-p/28523975

That is very odd indeed. I sure hope this is an actual "GLOBAL ISSUE" and not another beta test, because missing sale banners on the mobile app is not good for sellers or eBay.

When I called up CS two separate times, both agents looked at my listings on both the regular PC and mobile app. They both saw what I was seeing: NO promotional sale (i.e. Buy 1 Get 1) announcement at the top of my listings (above the main picture) on the regular site and NO sale banner/link to other items on sale on the mobile app. Because it isn't there on the app, buyers have NO idea that I'm offering discounts! So I had to go in and manually revise my listings and add somethign to both my seller notes and description that there is a promotion going on.

previously known as boardnpostsid

ritasloft · ‎05-26-2018

tyler@ebay Thank you for the response.

@dukeontario:

Mr. Kupbens,

I am currently running a shipping discount promotion for $6.95 flat-rate shipping on 2+ item orders
A few minutes ago I received the following inquiry asking if I offered bundled discounts or combined shipping:

This item is not displaying the shipping promotion banner ANYWHERE on the listing -- not at the top or at the bottom (!) (I've attached a screenshot instead of taking up room inline.)
Because promotion teasers aren't displaying in search results, any buyer viewing this listing in search has NO IDEA that there is an active promotion running for this and other items
Any buyer viewing this listing has NO IDEA that there is an active promotion running

Not knowing I am running a promotion, I am grateful this customer chose to reach out and ask. But that begs the question, how many sellers are loosing sales because buyers have no indication of a running promotion?

Other sellers are reporting calling into customer service and are being told it's an issue affecting certain sellers: here's an example from @shoptalkid in my original thread about this issue:

"So I called eBay this am and spoke to a US rep who confirmed that the problems I'm having is a global issue affecting some sellers and that there may not be a fix for another couple of weeks. "

Apparently some sellers are being told it's an issue, whereas here on the forums we're being told it's "testing".

This is a very poor customer experience, both from a platform as well as interaction touchpoints perspectives regarding these store promotion banners:

No proactive communication
No transparency
No acknowledgement of the problem
No empathy for the situation
No communication that things are being worked on
No planned solution

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

Signed,

Frustrated eBay Seller

wpe2-2 · ‎05-26-2018

I share your frustration. Ever since eBay decided to implement this stealth change AGAIN, my sales have fallen off a cliff (see img attached). It's not just small sellers being impacted, it's large volume sellers like myself that are seeing an significant impact to sales.

No where on any of my promotion listings does it state a promotion is going on. Some have reported it's on the bottom of the listing. Does this make any logical sense...? I strongly believe that answer is no. It's like walking into a retail store and having to go the back storage room to know there's a promotion going on. eBay has given the excuse "we have statistical data showing a rise in sales". Sorry, but that's garbage. Common sense > statistical data in this particular scenario.

Last time this happened I called and complained about this as many other sellers did, luckily the changes that were implemented were reversed, I'd hope eBay would have enough common sense to reverse this time too.

mousesqueen · ‎05-26-2018

I feel your frustration too as I am going through the same thing. I had to call ebay twice. The first time the rep told me he was going to put in a ticket for it and it should take about 42 to 72 hours to be fixed so I waited and nothing. I had to call again this time I was transferred 3 times and again nobody seems to know the problem. I was told by the last rep that it is a glitch on eBay side and that they would forward everything to try to resolve the problem. I had told them that many other sellers are having the same problem. I have ran promotions about four times in the past 2 months with my banners not showing up. The first couple times I did not do anything about it I just thought it was a glitch and that it would be fixed. So this issue has been going on a while. I really wish they would have never taken markdown manager away. I'm glad there are a lot of other sellers coming forward with this and hopefully something will be done about it soon.

shoptalkid · ‎05-27-2018

@mynewfindstore wrote:
I called about this twice today....the second time after I saw other seller's promos the "old" way or I'd say, the right way! Funny thing is, the sellers whose banners are at the top and in search results are the LARGER sellers. I sell clothing and I know who those sellers are...very familiar with them. Their promos are in search AND at the top of each of their listings, just like they should be. Ours do not even show up on mobile at ALL! Nobody will see ours. Last week we sold 12 extra items through our promotion. Helped a LOT! Now we will go down the tubes. 😞 The second time I called, the rep thought it was a glitch and reported it....it's supposed to get fixed. We will see! I will be calling back on Thursday if it is not fixed by then. It's not fair that it is working for some and not others!

I feel your frustration. My listings usually show at the top of search results, so while I don't consider myself a large seller, I usually sell as much as most of my US competitors and yet MY listings with promotions are not being shown the "old" way like theirs are. NOTHING ON MOBILE HERE FOR ME EITHER, but the competitors still have their little "sale" announcement button (which links to all their items on sale..super helpful for buyers using the app).

previously known as boardnpostsid

shoptalkid · ‎05-27-2018

@press-start-gaming-electronics wrote:
@mynewfindstore wrote:
I called about this twice today....the second time after I saw other seller's promos the "old" way or I'd say, the right way! Funny thing is, the sellers whose banners are at the top and in search results are the LARGER sellers. I sell clothing and I know who those sellers are...very familiar with them. Their promos are in search AND at the top of each of their listings, just like they should be. Ours do not even show up on mobile at ALL! Nobody will see ours. Last week we sold 12 extra items through our promotion. Helped a LOT! Now we will go down the tubes. 😞 The second time I called, the rep thought it was a glitch and reported it....it's supposed to get fixed. We will see! I will be calling back on Thursday if it is not fixed by then. It's not fair that it is working for some and not others!
Not sure if this would be relevant or not, but I noticed that the promotion banner DID appear at the top of my listings which utilized promotions I had set up last year. However, after updating my promotions across the board a few weeks ago, I noticed they had moved to the bottom of all listings.

I deleted my old promotions, so can't try this trick. The last promotion I had that ended last week was showing everything the "old" way. It's when I created a new promotion that I notice all the missing banners.

previously known as boardnpostsid