Store promotions will not appear on search results page

[thrashmetalbassist]

I've searched the internet and ebay forums for weeks in an attempt to find a solution to this, and have contacted ebay support three times. I have a promotion on all my movies and books, buy 3 get 1 free, and although this promotion appears where it's supposed to on an actual item's page, I cannot get it to show up on the search results. Of course many other sellers have this working just fine, but I'm missing out on potential sales because potential buyers don't know I have a similar sale.

I've seen this issue going on literally for years but have yet to find anyone who knows what the actual solution is. Ebay support is no help, naturally, and all I get is generic "filing a ticket with tech support, should get a response in 2 days" nonsense, and of course I never get a response or even notification that a tech support ticket was ever opened in the first place. 

For the love of all that is holy, has anyone figured out how to resolve this? Is it store level? I have a basic store, top rated seller, 0 defects.

[wastingtime101]

eBay may or may not display promo info as a small tag under the item on search results. They do not reveal the algorithms behind this. It's not a tech error, just that your promo/listing is not meeting the unpublished requirements for the tag to appear.

I've noticed that markdowns and volume discounts appear pretty much all the time. eBay is much more selective with displaying order discount promos. I expect it has to do with numerous factors including the # you have to purchase, the discount level, buyer engagement levels, etc. That's about all the info I have @thrashmetalbassist.

[thrashmetalbassist]

Thanks @wastingtime101 . I get what you're saying and in a twisted ebay way there's some crazy logic to it, though I'm not sure who it's supposed to help. I've seen literally the same buy 3 get 1 free promotion from other sellers on items at the same price point as mine. The appearance of this is that some sellers are being punished for some unnamed reason while the same huge sellers are benefitting at my expense.. And ebay is losing fees when I sell 1 item or 0 items instead of 3 or 4. At the end of the day, I really have no reason to keep a store subscription if I don't receive the same benefits that others get. I'm paying the same as they are but getting less, and that's a slap in the face.

[wastingtime101]

It's possible those sellers have really strong buyer engagement with the promos, so eBay shows the tag in search.

And that brings you to a catch-22 of how to get a promo to appear so you can increase buyer engagement when it won't appear unless buyer engagement increases.

If you have a social media presence I'd advertise the promo that way and encourage people to take advantage, or if you use your store newsletter function you can advertise that way.

I get the frustration, especially when eBay doesn't reveal the algorithms. From their point of view, if they revealed that info then people would abuse the system.

Good luck with it!

[donutking]

I have the same complaint.   When I enable "volume pricing", the "Save XX% when you buy more" banner doesn't consistently show up in Search results.   It will show up within 24 hours of a new listing, but then it will randomly disappear and re-appear as it pleases.  

On the most recent of my numerous calls on this issue, I requested to speak with a supervisor who declared that it was the algorithm.  I can understand the concept of promoting a seller's listing using algorithms based on level of participation/traffic/etc.  But to me, the volume pricing is a basic "feature" and turning it off seems unfair.  

[thrashmetalbassist]

I just can't fathom why ebay does this. When you have sales, people buy more. I know I do. Everyone wants more bang for their buck, and everyone loves getting something for free/at a significant discount. Ebay lives to charge fees for everything under the sun, and more items sold means more fees collected. It's counterproductive for literally everyone involved.

[buy_at_less_123]

Mine use to show up when I used the Promotion Type as "coupon". I use to use the Promotion Type "order discount" and the discount WOULD NOT appear in the search results. HOWEVER, now "coupon" is not showing either. I cannot be sure, but I was really cranking over the last 2 months with LESS products, but now I have slowed to a crawl. I cannot be sure that is related, but the promotions stopped very recently.

[buy_at_less_123]

Try the "coupon" if you can. I left another post about this. That worked for me, but now not all show up in the search. It takes a little while also. I'd say a good hour before showing up.