Am I understanding this right?

[allthings-collectible]

So let me get this straight..... if I use Promoted Listings to let's say... "promote a listing", I get to pay a percentage of my total sale to eBay for each and every time a buyer clicks on one of my PL listings and makes a purchase?  Yet, at the same time, eBay loads my listing page with Sponsored listings from my competitors which can take a buyer off the page I'm paying to promote...with a single click??

[pls-consignments]

What choice do I have if I choose not to give up more of my profit to eBay?? 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@fashunu4eeuh

You mention the effectiveness of social media to drive traffic. What social media do you use? I have a FB business account and an Instagram account and Pinterest, but haven't done much with any of it, and have not been at all consistent.

Any tips you might want to provide would be helpful. I do know ebay stores now have a social media tool, and have used it a bit. I also have suggested to ebay that they add a Community Board for sellers to exchange social media tips etc, but I'm not holding my breath on that....

[isaiah53-57]

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@allthings-collectible wrote:

So let me get this straight..... if I use Promoted Listings to let's say... "promote a listing", I get to pay a percentage of my total sale to eBay for each and every time a buyer clicks on one of my PL listings and makes a purchase?  Yet, at the same time, eBay loads my listing page with Sponsored listings from my competitors which can take a buyer off the page I'm paying to promote...with a single click??

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So let me get this straight.... if I use Promoted Listings to Let's say.... "promote a listing" using ebays recommended rate of say 10%, I get to pay eBay 23.25% of my TOTAL SALE including shipping and sales tax?

And if I owned the item for 1/2 of what I sold it for, that could easily equate to ebay taking close to or even over 65% of my profit, leaving me about 35% of the profit to cover all the rest of the expenses of the sale, and take ALL the risk?? And really the little I have left is not really mine until 6 months down the road, after my sale passes through all the fiery hoops of buyer fraud and chargebacks???

Well....And here I was thinking Promoted Listings was a nasty, self-defeating program....

[mam98031]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

What choice do I have if I choose not to give up more of my profit to eBay?? 

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That doesn't happen if the seller appropriately considers the additional fees when setting the pricing of the item they are selling.  It is what we all do or should be doing now.  Nothing changes if you decide you want to use PLS.

[mam98031]

Again, if you are going to increase the amount you pay Ebay for a sale using PLS or any other tool that adds costs to your sale, you have to consider this when you set your pricing of the product.  You don't leave your price the same as it was when you had 13.25% FVF.   That is just plain silly.  

[isaiah53-57]

Isnt it crazy how some person posting here thinks you can just arbitrarily make the price of your item be whatever you want it to be regardless of worth or value to compensate for costs to the item - now THAT is just plain silly - and whats more silly is that person posts senseless comments JUST LIKE THAT all the time...

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@mam98031  The key is the same as it always has been: You make your money when you buy. That is, sellers---especially resellers of used and vintage---should always be buying with a certain multiplier in mind. I remember many , many years ago the advice given to antique mall dealers was: you need to sell your item for at least double what you paid for it. I also remember when that advice changed to: you need to sell your item for at least three times what you paid for it. I don't know what advice mall dealers are given these days.

I will say this: each seller must choose a multiplier that works for that seller (and it can be a range, rather than a fixed number).  And just how you arrive at that number will vary. But on ebay, you obviously need to factor in fees, and , depending on what you sell and your business plan, PL fees. Some sellers will want to factor in room for give and take on the price (offers, discounted sales, coupons), etc.

Ideally, these factors are considered when you BUY the item. 

This can vary: If I'm buying an item I know is a fast seller, I am often willing to reduce my multiplier (and pay more) because I am pretty confident it will move quickly. Like I say, each seller needs to factor this stuff in before he buys.

If you (not you, mam, just a general seller) have already bought and listed, and did not factor in , for example, PLS, or you didn't understand that the FVF is based on the total price , not your item price, that's on you, as a seller. You can increase the price and risk losing the sale because you are now priced too high, or you can keep your price and accept that your margins will be squeezed and hopefully you will have at least learned a basic business lesson.

[pls-consignments]

So, you're saying that in order for me to be able to maintain my sales in a PL competitive marketplace, I can chose to pay to use the PL "tool" to remain competitive for visibility. Then, if I want to maintain my traditional margins of profit, all I need to do is raise my prices?  Are you serious?? 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I'm sorry you didn't understand what I was saying. Your ebay ID suggests you are a consignment business, so I'm not sure if you buy merchandise to resell or not. So I won't speculate.

What I do, is I buy for resale and I pay an amount that allows me to price my items at a price I'm happy with, along with extra room to cover ebay fees (including PLS, which I might or might not use), negotiated prices, etc. That's what I mean when I say : Sellers make their money when they buy, not when they sell.

Right now, I'm running a 25% off sale. I'm also running a PLS campaign on about a third of my items. And I have Best Offer on a number of items, and I have taken offers on some items.

I did not increase my prices to do any of this. I built the wiggle room into the price when I first listed it. And I could do that because I didn't overpay for my items (Of course, I do make buying mistakes sometimes, but that's just part of business).

So, an item sells at my sale price. That's 25% off right there, but I'll still make money on that sale. If that item was a PLS item, that's another fee on top of the FVF and the 30 cent fee. And I'll still make money. I'd make more without the PLS fee, sure, but I can afford it if it does sell via PLS.

Now, if a seller has tight margins because they paid up for the item to begin with, that reduces their options. Maybe they can't run a sale. Maybe they can't use PLS without taking a serious hit to their bottom line. Maybe they can't accept offers.

And some sellers take the approach that they don't want to do any of that, their prices are firm, they won't use PLS, and they have deliberately kept their margins thinner because they expect lower prices bring faster sales. That's a choice, just another way of operating. Nothing wrong with that.

I don't know what your approach is. If your prices literally leave you no room to use PLS , then don't use it. If you really feel you can't get any sales without it, then maybe its time to re-evaluate your business model, and figure out how to acquire stuff that you can price and make a nice profit even with PLS as a cost.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Oh, and in case you still misunderstand this : Do I enjoy seeing that PLS fee coming out of my margins? No. I have room for it, I accept it, but I celebrate a little every time I get a sale WITHOUT a PLS fee. 

I think ebay has a lot of room for improvement, and I also don't see much indication that ebay is planning them (at least, not of the sort I'd consider real improvements). 

So I'm here, I'm not leaving, but I have a wait and see attitude. 

[rugerskick]

Other sites actually work to get sellers items sold, so that they make money from the sale.

Ebay just devises plans and schemes to take more money from sellers, regardless if they help them sell their items.

Its quite a radical difference in mindset and philosophy.

[mam98031]

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@isaiah53-57 wrote:

Isnt it crazy how some person posting here thinks you can just arbitrarily make the price of your item be whatever you want it to be regardless of worth or value to compensate for costs to the item - now THAT is just plain silly - and whats more silly is that person posts senseless comments JUST LIKE THAT all the time...

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I would be the "some Person" you are referring to and you are doing it again.  Twisting what I said.  Stop posting like that.  I'm more than willing to have a civil discussion with you as long as things aren't made up along the way.

[mam98031]

I agree, with just one small note.  Increasing your pricing over what you may see other sellers doing for the same type thing isn't always a bad thing.  I have a few items that are priced a bit higher than other sellers, mine sell just fine.  So while it certainly doesn't always work, increasing pricing doesn't always equal no sales.

[mam98031]

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@rugerskick wrote:

Other sites actually work to get sellers items sold, so that they make money from the sale.

Ebay just devises plans and schemes to take more money from sellers, regardless if they help them sell their items.

Its quite a radical difference in mindset and philosophy.

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As many times as it has been explained to you, you just refuse to consider anything but what you have set in your mind.  

[isaiah53-57]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@rugerskick wrote:

Other sites actually work to get sellers items sold, so that they make money from the sale.

Ebay just devises plans and schemes to take more money from sellers, regardless if they help them sell their items.

Its quite a radical difference in mindset and philosophy.

---

As many times as it has been explained to you, you just refuse to consider anything but what you have set in your mind.  

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"You are doing it again". I'm sure @rugerskick would be "more than willing to have a civil discussion" if you would stop berating his opinions with your condescending attitude...