mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Regards,
I'm unsure why sellers take recommended rates to be the ultimate word on the subject. Ebay recommends all kinds of things all the time on all kinds of subjects. They aren't always correct for every seller. The same is true for PL rates.
I simply don't understand why anyone would think they are accurate. It is a self serving number. And remember they are Recommended rates, NOT required rates.
It is only a "sad state of affairs for many sellers" if they are believing this to be correct.
The PL fees do NOT have anything to do with if your listing shows up in Google.
@dbfolks166mt wrote:PL was and is an ingenious way for eBay to increase revenues without having to do an across the board FVF increase. By using PL eBay put the decision in the sellers court on whether or not to use PL and once the seller started down that rabbit hole eBay had them right where they wanted them. If nobody used PL the playing field would be level but somebody is always looking to get ahead in the game so the PL rates started to rise and sellers started adjusting their prices to absorb the cost of the added fees or taking the decrease in their ROI. It is a race to the bottom. I have never used PL and never will and while my sales may suffer a bit those losses are being offset by increased sales on other platforms and venues.
Very true on a number of those points ... prior to 2022 when running one 30 day PLS campaign per quarter it boosted sales during that time which were sales over and above normal sales levels. It drove traffic and I saw more long tail items sell then during non-promoted periods. Some Sellers use the Continuous setting for their campaigns and ideally that is what eBay would want ...
PLS does not perform like it used to unless one uses the much higher Suggested rates ... I proved this out with my own testing. And I'm not even in highly saturated categories ...
@mam98031 wrote:
I'm unsure why sellers take recommended rates to be the ultimate word on the subject. Ebay recommends all kinds of things all the time on all kinds of subjects. They aren't always correct for every seller. The same is true for PL rates.
I simply don't understand why anyone would think they are accurate. It is a self serving number. And remember they are Recommended rates, NOT required rates.
It is only a "sad state of affairs for many sellers" if they are believing this to be correct.
The PL fees do NOT have anything to do with if your listing shows up in Google.
@mam98031 Very true on the Suggested rates eBay is showing. When PLS was first launched they called them Trending rates .... duh, trending from WHAT historical data? I suspect none, just a ploy. Then they renamed them as Suggested rates ...
@vintagecraze50 wrote:If they believe this to be correct and then they are bumping these ads rates to incredible high levels ads then listing their product at incredibly high prices they are going to get a rude awakening as this product will not sell on here.
Who is "they"? Ebay or the seller? The seller has control. They don't have to jack their PL rates up that high unless they want to.
If the seller has agreed to use a PL program that auto updates their rates, then maybe they should consider going back to PL standard.
Sellers have choices and in this matter, they have choices. If the seller says the rate is too high for them, change it. The seller does have control, but they must use it.
For some sellers that used PLS, not all of them. The program works great for some seller and not so much for others, even in 2022.
Well yes, it is the Holiday season, so there is lots more stuff for sale now and it will only get worse as we get closer.
@mam98031 wrote:
For some sellers that used PLS, not all of them. The program works great for some seller and not so much for others, even in 2022.
@mam98031 They worked great for me prior to 2022 ... then sales were cut by half unless I jacked up the ad rates at or above their Suggested rates ... I'm not in highly saturated categories so it makes no sense other than they want more Fees per transaction. Not sure if I will run any more PLS Campaigns this year ...
@mr_lincoln wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
For some sellers that used PLS, not all of them. The program works great for some seller and not so much for others, even in 2022.
@mam98031 They worked great for me prior to 2022 ... then sales were cut by half unless I jacked up the ad rates at or above their Suggested rates ... I'm not in highly saturated categories so it makes no sense other than they want more Fees per transaction. Not sure if I will run any more PLS Campaigns this year ...
I'm not arguing this point, as I said, PLS works great for some sellers and not so much for others. Each seller needs to test and research the use of PLS and then decide what is best for them.
In previous posts I believe that Ebay's recommendations on many things are not realistic for many sellers. I don't pay much attention to them myself. I decide what is best for me.
All of the major Internet Marketplace sites are having a surge in ads and ad rates for mass market goods. Too much product too little time spent shopping has made that necessary.
It has boosted revenues for the sites.
Interestingly enough the revenue has been pretty much flat but the GMV has fallen off drastically. So you are correct eBay is moving less items while sustaining revenues at the sellers expense.
GMV
Revenues
