Fees

[brightwarrior74]

**bleep** promotional ads. What a crock of scamming **bleep**!!! Then what is the 13.6% still being taken for if they only put you in promotional areas and don’t put you in standard search results??? Isn’t it odd that when you buy promotional ads, every single item that sells does so from that promotion??? So what are they still taking a full 13.6% for if they are not providing the same service anymore??? There is no good answer other than because they can because they are greedy ??? 

[fbusoni]

---

@brightwarrior74 wrote:

There is no good answer... . 

---

@brightwarrior74 

Promoted ads are software that is guaranteed to do ONE thing: fund eBay's bank account.

It is software that you download from the cloud... it comes with no instructions.  And no one knows how it works... or IF it works.

PLs are designed to exploit sellers' fears of missing out.  In that regard, PLs have worked beautifully.

Think about it: if everyone is promoting at 10%, then the playing field is level.  Except that 10% (on top of the 13.6%) is now coming out of your profits when you make a sale.

And PLs will suck you into a vortex of dependency from which it will be difficult to extricate yourself.

There are far more effective ways of getting eBay to promote your listings that don't cost you anything.

[slippinjimmy]

If Promotions don't work for you then don't use them, Promotions Standard only cost you money if they actually generate sales.

[meme6253]

Would you care to elaborate on these far more effective ways?

[bonjourami]

"No replies needed from ebay planted brown nosers. "

Thats always hilarious to me to think that Ebay would hire and pay for ringers on the board, when they dont give a rats behind about their sellers, and what they complain about.

[kensgiftshop]

My nose is white so I guess I can reply?

Why wouldn't they still charge their regular fee's?

The items sold, doesn't matter if it was through promoted listings or not, they are going to get their fee's.

[inhawaii]

You're always in the "standard search results" promoted or not.

[luckythewinner]

Then what is the 13.6% still being taken for if they only put you in promotional areas and don’t put you in standard search results

Promoted listings do appear in standard search results as well - I have seen it with my own eyes. 

That aside ...

I agree with you that promoted listings is a money grab by eBay that plays on a seller's fear of missing out. 

[inhawaii]

---

@bonjourami wrote:

"No replies needed from ebay planted brown nosers. "

Thats always hilarious to me to think that Ebay would hire and pay for ringers on the board, when they dont give a rats behind about their sellers, and what they complain about.

---

In a roundabout way, i'm paid by ebay.

I'm a ebay cheerleader on the boards, in return ebay does not "throttle" my sales.

[chapeau-noir]

The vehemence over what is merely a tool is pretty funny.  You'd think PL mugged people in dark alleys and stole their wallets.

Use it if it works, don't use it if it doesn't.

[fbusoni]

---

@meme6253 wrote:

Would you care to elaborate on these far more effective ways?

---

@meme6253 

Sure, my personal experience over many years -- for the categories that I sell in, which appeal to older, more educated and more affluent buyers -- is that same day / 24 hour shipping and 30 / 60 day paid returns is a potent force multiplier for listing visibility.   I experience it every single day.  

I've written extensively about my experiences previously and don't want to sound like a broken record.  

But the long and short of it is that -- in my estimation -- eBay takes a holistic view of sellers here, for the simple reason that it has software and computers that can do that, effortlessly.

Put another way: sellers are evaluated not merely on the basis of their metrics.  eBay looks at everything:  how a seller organizes his storefront; whether he includes a video and fills in the "about" sections; how a seller corresponds with buyers on the platform; how a seller replies to negative feedback; to what extent the seller fills in details on a listing page; the degree to which a seller inflates shipping costs; and as was announced quite recently in eBay's updated user privacy notice (click on "Learn more about section 4" and look at the penultimate bullet), how sellers comport themselves in community discussions like those here on these boards.  

I have no proof of any of the aforementioned.  But I assume it to be standard operating procedure because the capability exists.  

And it seems for all the world to work for me, week in and week out.

[chevymontecarlo88]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

The vehemence over what is merely a tool is pretty funny.  You'd think PL mugged people in dark alleys and stole their wallets.

Use it if it works, don't use it if it doesn't.

---

@chapeau-noir Exactly. 

The problem that many sellers have with PL is that they assume using it equals sales. It is advertising and use it wisely or not at all. 

[meme6253]

Some good info., Thanks

[chapeau-noir]

---

@chevymontecarlo88 wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

The vehemence over what is merely a tool is pretty funny.  You'd think PL mugged people in dark alleys and stole their wallets.

Use it if it works, don't use it if it doesn't.

---

@chapeau-noir Exactly. 

The problem that many sellers have with PL is that they assume using it equals sales. It is advertising and use it wisely or not at all. 

---

Exactly, and like a lot of other things in life, it's just playing the odds. It's definitely not an on/off switch, just another tool. Ads are nothing new - I used Google Ads back in the ? late 20-oughts.

[fbusoni]

@bonjourami 

And he didn’t even say “please.”   😁

(Even the mods were offended.)