Ebay Promoted Listings Suggest Rate is Higher for Old Inventory

[otkhaven]

Has anyone else noticed this?  I've recently started going through old listings fixing mistakes, cleaning up the titles and descriptions and noticed suggested ad rates were pretty high.  Thought it must just be the most fresh suggested rates based on everything.

But then I came across an old listing for a pair of Free People jeans.  2 views in the past 30 days and 1 watcher.  Once I fixed all the mistakes in the listing and made it to the promoted section, it was suggesting 15.5% ad rate!  None of the other jeans I created new listings for today were anywhere near that.

I experimented:  "Sell Similar" gave the exact same result for suggested ad rate.  15.5%.  So instead, I created a brand new listing from a template.  Inserted the exact same pics.  Copied all the exact same information in item specifics.  Copy and pasted title, condition and description.  Same price, same shipping, same everything.  Identical listing.  But the brand new listing is only suggesting 8.5% ad rate.  Both listings were using the same promotion campaign as well.

The only difference I can see are, the original listing had 2 views, 1 watcher and had been up there for a few months.  Has ebay mentioned this somewhere and I just missed it, or are they squeezing more money from ads out of old inventory?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@blurryrobot  Not really sure what's "shady" about this...as I said above, PLS wants to give preference to listings with a better chance of selling, and an older listing without a strong sales history/buyer engagement is probably considered less likely to sell....so, if you want ebay to even consider it, you probably need to go higher with the rate. (and even then, ebay might not give it very good placement).  On the other hand, a new fresh listing probably has a better chance of selling (or at least, it doesn't carry the weight of an old stale listing, so ebay is willing to place it higher without such a high rate.

As to the photos thing, I think ebay has disclosed this: ebay can now recognize a listing that has been ended and then listed---without substantial changes--using sell similar, so the old bump such listings used to get, is less or non-existent. Changing the photos, especially along with changes to title, price etc, will result in ebay treating it as a new listing----and yes, I believe ebay indicated they could read the data in the photo. 

So, basically, the old "trick" of ending and using sell similar is not very useful anymore...UNLESS you actually make a more or less new listing for the item. 

[blurryrobot]

By modern standards it's not shady.  I will grant you that.  I just parked my car in a garage the other day, and they required me to give them every scrap of data short of blood type, and left me uncertain whether I had actually paid or not, and how much.   For goodness sake, I had to tell them whether it was a work vehicle or a personal car.  All that data and no explanation of why they wanted it or what they planned to use it for or who they were selling it to...that's modern standards.

But at one time it was considered shady to sell people a service or good, and not fully disclose what the person had actually obtained for the money they were giving to you. 

[zamo-zuan]

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@otkhaven wrote:

Has anyone else noticed this?  I've recently started going through old listings fixing mistakes, cleaning up the titles and descriptions and noticed suggested ad rates were pretty high.  Thought it must just be the most fresh suggested rates based on everything.

But then I came across an old listing for a pair of Free People jeans.  2 views in the past 30 days and 1 watcher.  Once I fixed all the mistakes in the listing and made it to the promoted section, it was suggesting 15.5% ad rate!  None of the other jeans I created new listings for today were anywhere near that.

I experimented:  "Sell Similar" gave the exact same result for suggested ad rate.  15.5%.  So instead, I created a brand new listing from a template.  Inserted the exact same pics.  Copied all the exact same information in item specifics.  Copy and pasted title, condition and description.  Same price, same shipping, same everything.  Identical listing.  But the brand new listing is only suggesting 8.5% ad rate.  Both listings were using the same promotion campaign as well.

The only difference I can see are, the original listing had 2 views, 1 watcher and had been up there for a few months.  Has ebay mentioned this somewhere and I just missed it, or are they squeezing more money from ads out of old inventory?

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This is something that has been going on for a long time. 

There's been reports of people mistakenly creating duplicate listings, and even the duplicates had different ad rates.

I also know that some of the categories in Motors that do not support variations, eBay has instructed to do separate listings for different specifications (such as urethane stiffness). These are also given different ad rates, even though PLA keyword statistics can confirm that the keywords demand doesn't align with the suggested ad rates.

We're also very aware of how far the PL rate can be "pushed" in this category. We know the cost to manufacture these items directly, and many items in categories such as Engine Mounts can only be manufactured in several factories in the entire world. The rates they are suggesting are impossible.

So I wouldn't give much credibility to them. They're guaranteed NOT the rates competitors are promoting at. There's only a target rate that would be best for eBay, and not you as a seller. 

[isaiah53-57]

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@otkhaven wrote:

Has anyone else noticed this?  I've recently started going through old listings fixing mistakes, cleaning up the titles and descriptions and noticed suggested ad rates were pretty high.  Thought it must just be the most fresh suggested rates based on everything.

But then I came across an old listing for a pair of Free People jeans.  2 views in the past 30 days and 1 watcher.  Once I fixed all the mistakes in the listing and made it to the promoted section, it was suggesting 15.5% ad rate!  None of the other jeans I created new listings for today were anywhere near that.

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You are freaking kidding me - Seems to me there is no end to the gall of the this company - Site is crumbling and in a state of decline, yet they ask you to give them another 15.5% of the ENTIRE SALE on top of already ridiculous 13% to 15% Final Value Fees - In a large portion of sales, 30% of the entire sale equates to likely 40% or more of the items selling price! If you own the item you are selling for half of the selling price, such as a $50 item you own for $25 then ebay is wanting you to give them $20 in fees - 80% of your profit - ARE THEY MAD?!

[isaiah53-57]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@otkhaven   LOL!  I've posted on quite a few threads so sometimes when I am busy I forget ... You are not alone noticing the immediate increase in suggested (trending) rates ... another Seller and I have been discussing this in PMs for quite some time.  And what is interesting is we are in totally different categories and sell nothing similar at all on our accounts.  

eBay's cash flow is like a Parking Lot ... the only way to make more money is to raise the parking rates ... 

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@mr_lincoln

There is another way they could make more money - They could grow the company(Increase the user base) - If they had 2 parking lots(twice as many users) they could keep prices the same and still make 2x the money - But from past history and in my opinion, that aint happening - I cant even remember the last thing they did that I would equate to a growth strategy and I've been using the site off and on since the early 2000's...

[mam98031]

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@prepping2survive wrote:

eBay is competing with Amazon and pitting Sellers against each other. It's a bit disgusting and in my opinion a great way to steer away allot of people from selling on eBay.

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Ebay isn't competing against Amazon, as Amazon is a completely different type of site.  It is sellers here on Ebay that keep saying that Ebay is competing with them, not Ebay.  

I do not feel in any way that Ebay is "...pitting Sellers against each other."  How is Ebay doing this?

[mam98031]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

"...I don't use  promoted listings and..."

Just curious, have you seen any drop in sales since Promoted Listings has taken over?

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Can you provide the information you have that Promoted Listings have "taken over" please.  Ebay's numbers certainly don't show any such thing.

@pls-consignments 

[pls-consignments]

Lol...pardon the hyperbole. I guess I opened the door for people who are more focused on semantics than offering a helpful response to my question. My bad.😉

[inhawaii]

I haven't noticed.

I don't pay any attention to ebay SUGGESTIONS.

[attirelyvintage]

Hi, 

I noticed the promo rates jump. For instance I do not click on their suggested rate after I finish a listing. I then go to the back of the pages to find the listing, click on the blue button promote listing now and look there. It is usually a different rate. I then change the rate to what I want yo pay. 
EBay has been charging more and more on their promo rates. I think they’re fishing to see what they can get. 
But I work according to the price of an item. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@attirelyvintage wrote:

Hi, 

I noticed the promo rates jump. For instance I do not click on their suggested rate after I finish a listing. I then go to the back of the pages to find the listing, click on the blue button promote listing now and look there. It is usually a different rate. I then change the rate to what I want yo pay. 
EBay has been charging more and more on their promo rates. I think they’re fishing to see what they can get. 
But I work according to the price of an item. 

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@attirelyvintage   THAT is exactly what I am talking about ... the rates aren't real, just a ploy to make Sellers think they have to increase their AD rates ... sorry but that too is my opinion.

[mam98031]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

Lol...pardon the hyperbole. I guess I opened the door for people who are more focused on semantics than offering a helpful response to my question. My bad.😉

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@pls-consignments 

Maybe so because if you look at the actual numbers on Promoted Listing, what you said is far from true and it has nothing to do with "semantics".

While PL works great for some sellers, it doesn't for many others.  According to Ebay's own number about 250 million from PL listings in 2019 and in the first quarter of 2023 it is up to 285 million on the site with just under a Million sellers using them in 2019, I'm not sure of the number now.  

That however doesn't mean that PL isn't important for some sellers because it is a great program for some.

https://smallbiztrends.com/2023/04/ebay-q1-2023-financials.html#:~:text=eBay%20Inc.%20has%20released....

[jupiter_collectibles]

My suggested ad rates went from 6% to 8% now up to 12 to 15.5%. it's absolutely pathetic that I need to be paying another final value fee just to get some sales on this site.  Promoted listings will be the downfall of eBay. People continuing to make a higher rate just to get by. Another money grab by eBay. I'm seriously getting ready to close down shop completely after 12 years. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@jupiter_collectibles wrote:

My suggested ad rates went from 6% to 8% now up to 12 to 15.5%. it's absolutely pathetic that I need to be paying another final value fee just to get some sales on this site.  Promoted listings will be the downfall of eBay. People continuing to make a higher rate just to get by. Another money grab by eBay. I'm seriously getting ready to close down shop completely after 12 years. 

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@jupiter_collectibles  I have been doing some testing with PLS campaigns but want to point out that I recall when PLS first came out (several years ago) the Ad rates were termed "Trending" which implied they were based on actual historical data ... but they now use the term "Suggested" which clearly implies they are NOT based on historical data.  I believe the intent is to have Sellers "think" they need to be using higher ad rates in order to sell items via PLS campaigns.  

My actual PLS campaign results are supporting the assumption above ... I ran a test PLS with higher rates then I have ever used and sure enough, the results went back to the great success I had with PLS PRIOR TO 2022.

Sadly, it is a form of manipulation that I am NOT impressed with.  "Misleading" is putting it mildly.  

[mam98031]

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@jupiter_collectibles wrote:

My suggested ad rates went from 6% to 8% now up to 12 to 15.5%. it's absolutely pathetic that I need to be paying another final value fee just to get some sales on this site.  Promoted listings will be the downfall of eBay. People continuing to make a higher rate just to get by. Another money grab by eBay. I'm seriously getting ready to close down shop completely after 12 years. 

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@jupiter_collectibles 

You do realize that a "suggested ad rate" is just that, a suggestion.  And of course they are going to go high.  It all sounds logical to me.  But it still remains the seller's CHOICE as to what the ad rate will be.  Ignore the suggestions, as it will likely be better for your blood pressure.  Do what you think is best for YOU.