Weekly Community Chat, June 21st @ 1pm PT - Promoted Listings

[alan@ebay]

Hi Community, 

Join us here tomorrow for a Community Q&A hour on the topic of Promoted Listings. You may have heard the news that Promoted Listings is now available for single quantity items,  please feel free to join in and ask us your questions on Promoted Listings.

The chat will take place from 1-2pm Pacific. 

Thanks. 

[alan@ebay]

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@do.you.read.me wrote:

If I were to pay for promotion of 250 low priced auction listings with Buy it Now thru a storefront (with my seller preference and ebay recommended  allowance of 30 days to complete their purchases) , plus I specify that I am happy to combine shipping rates to save my buyer money,  will my buyer still be forced into Immediate Payment on each of those purchases?

 I mean, we seriously need more bang for our buck, and all that.  

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Hi @do.you.read.me

Your buyer will still be able to add items to their cart and checkout in one transaction. 

Thanks! 

[mg152]

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@mg152 wrote:

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@gw_products wrote:

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@copper.boom wrote:

Hi Alan + Team.

The phrase "Sponsored Listing" is a turn off to many buyers who won't even click on the listing as a result.

Has it been considered to change this wording to "Featured Listing" or "Promoted Listing" to see what kind of difference it could make?

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Thank you for your feedback. Previously we were using the "Promoted" label for the listings however due to FCC requirements we had to change it to "Sponsored".

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What's wrong with 'Featured'?

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Don't we already have a "featured item" in our store? Gonna check but I think we do.

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I can't find "featured" items now but we used to have it. Maybe it was confusing, I don't know.

[copper.boom]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@gw_products wrote:

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@copper.boom wrote:

Hi Alan + Team.

The phrase "Sponsored Listing" is a turn off to many buyers who won't even click on the listing as a result.

Has it been considered to change this wording to "Featured Listing" or "Promoted Listing" to see what kind of difference it could make?

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Thank you for your feedback. Previously we were using the "Promoted" label for the listings however due to FCC requirements we had to change it to "Sponsored".

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What's wrong with 'Featured'?

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@d-k_treasures It is similar concept to when a blogger has to disclose if they are using affiliate links or their blog post is sponsored by a company. There are certain terms and phrases that have to be used in these instances to comply with FCC requirements. They really don't give you any wiggle room.

[alan@ebay]

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@mg152 wrote:
Alan,
If I may, I'd like to thank my fellow ebay members & staff for their support again. We lost my mother in law last Wednesday just weeks after my father in law passed. It's been a hard 2 months but as usual, my ebay friends have been there for me.
Thank you all! Love to everyone! ❤️❤️❤️

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Hi @mg152,

I am sorry to hear that, my thoughts are with you. 

Look after yourself! 

[shefsing]

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@copper.boom wrote:

When you create a PL and it shows you the average fee percentage other sellers are paying for a listing in that category, how do you suggest determining the best rate to choose for a listing?

Obviously the higher the fee you are willing & able to offer, the better the placement you'll get, but if you go with the average fee or slightly below average how much does it affect your placement and the frequency your listing is featured? How much does this vary by category?

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You can chose the ad rate you are comfortable with or your margins allow. Our recommendation would be to bid at or slightly higher than the average to stay competitive. Chosing competitive ad rate can improve the chances if your ad being displayed more often. 

However, there are other factors that determine where and how often your ads show. These include relevancy to buyer search, past history etc.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where are PL shown?  Not meaning to try to get the nitty gritty info, but just an idea.......  If I promote a comic book.....is it shown in a search for clothing? or is it just in "perhaps" a higher placement within the comic book category?

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Hi -

Great question. 

Ads appear in prominent locations across the site, such as the 4th & 5th spot on the first page of search results as well as view item page.  Placement is influenced on the relevance of your item listing against the keywords being searched. 

Hope that helps.

Promoted Listings Team 

[do.you.read.me]

You're comments about that cart don't meet the stink test.  

There is NO CART until the buyer is made aware of using the cart.  

If y'all are so dead set on using the cart, then force the cart as the only way to pay.

Better yet, provide us a "cart only" button on all offerings where the seller offers combined shipping. 

Maybe then it would behoove us to consider using your featured promoted or CART ONLY methodology to have our items seen and purchased en masse.  

Until ebay provides better support systems for the seller, your so-called  incentives fall flat.

[copper.boom]

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@shefsing wrote:

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@copper.boom wrote:

When you create a PL and it shows you the average fee percentage other sellers are paying for a listing in that category, how do you suggest determining the best rate to choose for a listing?

Obviously the higher the fee you are willing & able to offer, the better the placement you'll get, but if you go with the average fee or slightly below average how much does it affect your placement and the frequency your listing is featured? How much does this vary by category?

---

You can chose the ad rate you are comfortable with or your margins allow. Our recommendation would be to bid at or slightly higher than the average to stay competitive. Chosing competitive ad rate can improve the chances if your ad being displayed more often. 

However, there are other factors that determine where and how often your ads show. These include relevancy to buyer search, past history etc.

thanks!

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Can you please elaborate on "past history"? Does that mean the listing's history with PL or history with organic search placement or history with sales or something else?

Thanks!

[bigmotormania]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where are PL shown?  Not meaning to try to get the nitty gritty info, but just an idea.......  If I promote a comic book.....is it shown in a search for clothing? or is it just in "perhaps" a higher placement within the comic book category?

---

Hi -

Great question. 

Ads appear in prominent locations across the site, such as the 4th & 5th spot on the first page of search results as well as view item page.  Placement is influenced on the relevance of your item listing against the keywords being searched. 

Hope that helps.

Promoted Listings Team 

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Do these ads show up on other sellers items? While I understand the premise, we don't pay listing fee's to advertise for other people. 

If that is the case, is there a way to turn that off in my own listings, and if so, will that effect my search placement?

[d-k_treasures]

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@do.you.read.me wrote:

You're comments about that cart don't meet the stink test.  

There is NO CART until the buyer is made aware of using the cart.  

If y'all are so dead set on using the cart, then force the cart as the only way to pay.

Better yet, provide us a "cart only" button on all offerings where the seller offers combined shipping. 

Maybe then it would behoove us to consider using your featured promoted or CART ONLY methodology to have our items seen and purchased en masse.  

Until ebay provides better support systems for the seller, your so-called  incentives fall flat.

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Even better yet, let the SELLER decide if they want IPR - the way it's always been.

[vrykalak]

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@bigmotormania wrote:

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@gw_products wrote:

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@copper.boom wrote:

Hi Alan + Team.

The phrase "Sponsored Listing" is a turn off to many buyers who won't even click on the listing as a result.

Has it been considered to change this wording to "Featured Listing" or "Promoted Listing" to see what kind of difference it could make?

---

Thank you for your feedback. Previously we were using the "Promoted" label for the listings however due to FCC requirements we had to change it to "Sponsored".

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Sponsored implies it was sponsored. Considering the seller is the one paying for it, that means it's not a sponsored listing.

Sponsored means it's paid for by an outside source.

That makes it very... VERY confusing. 

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As copper.boom said: "sponsored" is a turn-off for most people, because those are the annoying, un-useful search results you get with generic search engines.
And bigmotormania is also correct: "Sponsored means it's paid for by an outside source." so calling such ads "sponsored" is incorrect as well as probably unhelpful.
Again, what's wrong with "featured"?

[dhbookds]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where are PL shown?  Not meaning to try to get the nitty gritty info, but just an idea.......  If I promote a comic book.....is it shown in a search for clothing? or is it just in "perhaps" a higher placement within the comic book category?

---

Hi -

Great question. 

Ads appear in prominent locations across the site, such as the 4th & 5th spot on the first page of search results as well as view item page.  Placement is influenced on the relevance of your item listing against the keywords being searched. 

Hope that helps.

Promoted Listings Team 

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Presuming that no one comes in to over bid.........does the placement continue indefinitely or does it degrade after x impressions?  i.e. is it better to let it run, if the item doesn't sell, or do a restart on the PL.?

[copper.boom]

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@bigmotormania wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where are PL shown?  Not meaning to try to get the nitty gritty info, but just an idea.......  If I promote a comic book.....is it shown in a search for clothing? or is it just in "perhaps" a higher placement within the comic book category?

---

Hi -

Great question. 

Ads appear in prominent locations across the site, such as the 4th & 5th spot on the first page of search results as well as view item page.  Placement is influenced on the relevance of your item listing against the keywords being searched. 

Hope that helps.

Promoted Listings Team 

---

Do these ads show up on other sellers items? While I understand the premise, we don't pay listing fee's to advertise for other people. 

If that is the case, is there a way to turn that off in my own listings, and if so, will that effect my search placement?

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@bigmotormania There was a webcast a week or two ago with Griff and the Promotions Manager team. Promotions Manager is different from Promoted Listings - it's where you can set things like BOGO offers, etc. If you use Promotions Manager you own more real estate on your listing pages for items that are included though Promotions Manager. Other sellers' listings don't appear. I highly recommend watching the webcast if that area is of interest to you.

 If you can't find it then PM me and I'll dig up the link for you. 🙂

Sorry to take this off topic...

[klassic*kids]

If I relist a multi-item listing can I turn it into a promoted listing even if it wasn't when initially listed?  Also, I've heard people talk about a $30 promo/coupon to use on promoted listings -- is this something that was emailed?  I don't recall getting an email as such.

[alan@ebay]

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@bigmotormania wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where are PL shown?  Not meaning to try to get the nitty gritty info, but just an idea.......  If I promote a comic book.....is it shown in a search for clothing? or is it just in "perhaps" a higher placement within the comic book category?

---

Hi -

Great question. 

Ads appear in prominent locations across the site, such as the 4th & 5th spot on the first page of search results as well as view item page.  Placement is influenced on the relevance of your item listing against the keywords being searched. 

Hope that helps.

Promoted Listings Team 

---

Do these ads show up on other sellers items? While I understand the premise, we don't pay listing fee's to advertise for other people. 

If that is the case, is there a way to turn that off in my own listings, and if so, will that effect my search placement?

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Hi @bigmotormania

Promoted Listings can appear on the view item page of other sellers listings, that is one the placements available. There isn't a way to "turn that off." 

Thanks!