Does an Anchor Store boost visibility of products?

[cb-boards]

Over the last couple of years it has become apparent that eBay does a number of things to throttle sellers in certain situations and/or reduce/increase the visibility of an item to prospective customers.  For example, we might have an item that sells on average 1 every 4 days.  If we get lucky and sell 2 in one day or maybe 3 over a 2 day period, then eBay appears to pick up on the increase and will boost the visibility of that item and it seems that sales spike over the next few days to about 8 over the course of a week.  The same thing seems to happen on the other side of the coin; if we usually sell 1 of a particular item every 4 days and maybe go a week without selling any, then we probably won't see another sale for that item for another 2-3 weeks as eBay seems to reduce its visibility further.   We have seen this happen so many times on a wide variety of items that I can not think it is merely a coincidence.

We currently have a Premium Level Store; while our volume does not neccessarily warrant an Anchor Level Store, I would gladly pay the additional cost if I thought that eBay might give my items better visibility.  Does anyone have any input on the matter either personally or anecdotally that they could share? 

[honestabe411]

No! Many people have even lost visibility. With a lower store, eBay doesn't make as much on your subscription, so they will boost your sales so you pay more in FVF's. When you have an anchor store, you are already paying such a high store price, that they are already happy with the large fee you'll be paying them. 

Just a theory of course 🙂

[cb-boards]

Interesting!

[mistwomandancing]

I don't think stores boost visibility, regardless of what level you subscribe to.  In fact, I cut back the stores and have added a couple more simple basic selling accounts.  For what I personally offer here, I've found I sell the merchandise fastest and more importantly, pocket the most dollars and make the most money, by pricing the stuff to SELL instead of sit on the shelf, waiting.  So I don't need a huge store to house tons of merchandise.

And yes, I also believe that not all listings are seen front and center, everywhere, at all times.  It's pretty obvious that such an idea would be impossible.  Ebay simply has too many listings at all times.  We've all come to notice the 'churning and turning' of the pile and can put a finger on when our listings are seen with higher placement in more searches and when eBay is giving other sellers their share of the sunlight instead of us.

That's why I went to several selling accounts.  Since I don't want to carry a bazillion listings, this way all the acounts seem to have their good selling days to offset another's slower days.  Seems to work for me.  Yeah, I don't think an Anchor Store boosts visibility at all.

[sockmonkeydave]

@cb-boards 

I can't speak to visibility with a store, I did not see it when I had one.

But when I do research, sellers who have sold a bunch of the same items seem to be on top.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

No. An Anchor Store merely gives you more "free" listings. It is true that "popular" items get more exposure, but that happens with non-store accounts, too, because completed listings show sales and people look at completed listings.

To increase visibility, you might want to to avoid GTC listings and concentrate on shorter durations that show up as both "newly listed" and "ending soon."

As a buyer, I generally avoid sellers with more than 2500 listings unless I am seeking a very specific item not available elsewhere. I don't bother searching a store at all with 2 exceptions -- magazine ads (glassware and pottery) and postcards -- and then only when there's an advantage in buying multiple items.

Bottom line: Rotate your inventory to keep it fresh. Don't list everything all the time. Vary the start/end times and days to target different time zones.

~~C~~

[pauliesthriftshop2016]

I dont recommend getting a store here at all even a basic one. They stop giving you free listings. They also limit the way people can search you and monitor your every mistake to use against you.

[luckythewinner]

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@cb-boards wrote:

then eBay appears to pick up on the increase and will boost the visibility of that item

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eBay acknowledged years ago that repeat sales would improve a listing's score in the Best Match algorithm. 

I suspect that algorithm changes constantly, but I have no doubt that repeat sales are still a positive factor. 

[timemachine777]

The Cassini search engine is data point driven, so the increase in the conversion rate of sales would boost your visibility or in the case of the sudden decrease, you get buried in search. The more sales per listing clicks, the better your visibility.