Finally have Sales/but had to take PLs (Promoted Std) to 10-12% for ALL listings to Make it Happen

[katzrul15]

The title really says it all.

Have sales, but my PL percentages are killing me.  Played with it over and over on percentages and when I lower then to even 8%, sales stop.  At the 10-12% range, we have consistent sales.

Really dreading then the FALL update, additional fees and USPS increases.  Not certain how we (us) are going to be able to do this and remain profitable overall??  Anyone else concerned about this?

[katzrul15]

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@evelyb30 wrote:

I've said it before and will say it again: companies that mistreat their customers (i.e. sellers in this instance)  eventually have neither customers nor company.  eBay has yet to understand this. 

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@evelyb30 

SO very true!

Greed fuels so many issues.  This is and remains about the "money trail". 

Never mind who paved the streets to get there.

[htownmma]

I agree with this, but this has been the trend for awhile now right, what's the alternatives?

Ebay knows they can charge what they want and most sellers won't turn away as the alternatives pale in comparison... at least for cards and collectibles, my categories

[katzrul15]

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@stacy_pme wrote:

I did notice Etsy doing lots of TV advertisements lately....

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Noticed this also- all sorts of media platforms also!

[katzrul15]

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@the-hook-and-the-loop wrote:

Unfortunately, it's not a choice. The second I reduce the rates, no sales. eBay techs aren't so stupid.

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Same here - tweak the PLs down, even slightly = no sales at all.

[katzrul15]

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@htownmma wrote:

I agree with this, but this has been the trend for awhile now right, what's the alternatives?

Ebay knows they can charge what they want and most sellers won't turn away as the alternatives pale in comparison... at least for cards and collectibles, my categories

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@htownmma 

@zamo-zuan 

I do not know the alternative.  Am hoping others have ideas for a solution.  😩

[zamo-zuan]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

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@htownmma wrote:

I agree with this, but this has been the trend for awhile now right, what's the alternatives?

Ebay knows they can charge what they want and most sellers won't turn away as the alternatives pale in comparison... at least for cards and collectibles, my categories

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@htownmma 

@zamo-zuan 

I do not know the alternative.  Am hoping others have ideas for a solution.  😩

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Sadly for many categories there's not good alternatives. For our auto parts, other markets such as Amazon and smaller sites aren't really known for auto parts. So the only option to to make your own site, which requires more up front investment.

We do have to roll with the punches on here a bit, but it's reaching a point where problems have added up and are reaching the limit. Back in 2018-2019 it was getting bad, but they realized and backed off.

But now seems like it's gotten worse than it was then... 

[kathieskorner]

I conducted a little experiment the first two weeks of August - I promoted 20 listings at 5% over two of my accounts, added best offer to 20 more, and added free shipping to 20 listings in my other two accounts.  The listings have all now ended.

The results :  Sold 2 offering free shipping, 3 with best offer although one paid the original price, and 1 with promoted listing which was also the first return I have had in 2 years.    And I had the fewest August sales in 20+ years.   I may use best offer on higher priced items in the future but not going to waste time or money on free shipping or promoted listings. 

And to make things even more dismal - I just committed my sales from 2017 thru 2020 to paper so I could eliminate my solds emails.   I had more sales in August in every account in each of the four years than I had views + sales in August 2022.   A new low point - my August book sales averaged 18 over the four years - I had one out of 250 listings in August 2022.    Surely the increase in media mail shipping could not account for that dramatic decrease. 

[blacktopautoparts]

It does stink that there aren't many alternatives, especially for auto parts. eBay knows that very well, they just purchased MyFitment a month ago and I am scared to see how they will use them. You can have the best compatibility charts out there, but there are so many backyard mechanics that buy these parts and don't know how to install them that they just create a mess of returns. The worse is the SNAD cases where they blame it on the seller, yet in the comments they contradict themselves. Even after reporting them and providing reports to eBay, they still do not do anything to correct the problem.

Back on topic, just saw this posted on another site: https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-thinks-100-ads-on-listing-improvement/

This is part of the problem. Instead of evolving PL the proper way, they continue to do things like what is mentioned in this article. Customers do not want to see endless ads when trying to purchase an item. Not only does it take customers away from your item when they land on your listing when they see something even remotely $1 cheaper, but it has really messed up the search too.

This past week or so, our sales have taken quite the tumble. The problem this time is not even with the impressions, even though those have dropped, but the page views are down 30% from internal (eBay) vs. 20% from Organic. This is a huge issue and I continue to bring this up to them, but nobody knows what in the world is going on or has answers.

I think another issue at hand this month and not sure if many remember last year in September when the new category changes and item specifics occurred? Many of us had our sales get destroyed for 2+ months while this was all going on, and there was no care at all on what was going on regardless of high up you took the problems.

[mr_lincoln]

I am happy to report that my current PLS Campaign is performing well ... it's right around the halfway point and runs through October 1 ... it has driven a lot of sales during the week on Fixed Priced listings.

It is also possible that this September could set an all-time high for both the number of sales and total dollar amount for ALL Septembers on my selling history ... I am currently very close to doing that and it is only halfway through the month ... three months in a row like this could right the ship for the year ... time will tell.

[uncseniorsportsfan]

Seems to me that paying eBay 8-12% more to increase visibility and get sales is like paying blackmail.   I'd rather donate the items to a charity thrift than reward eBay for making more off their sellers. 

[flyingmvp]

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

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@katzrul15 wrote:

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@htownmma wrote:

I agree with this, but this has been the trend for awhile now right, what's the alternatives?

Ebay knows they can charge what they want and most sellers won't turn away as the alternatives pale in comparison... at least for cards and collectibles, my categories

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@htownmma 

@zamo-zuan 

. So the only option to to make your own site, which requires more up front investment.

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Maybe it's time for some car parts sellers to create a new car parts venue that will be the place to go for all car parts, new and old, hot rods, classics, muscle cars, 4x4, ATV'S, Motorcycles whatever.

auctions, Buy it now etc'.  buyer and seller friendly with no PL's PLA's and other FVF scams.

It seems that Ebay sees the car parts category as a high income source, I see their Ebay motors commercials on TV and listen to them on the radio, if they see the potential it is there...

[katzrul15]

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@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:

Seems to me that paying eBay 8-12% more to increase visibility and get sales is like paying blackmail.   I'd rather donate the items to a charity thrift than reward eBay for making more off their sellers. 

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It is kinda like that, except we are Sellers doing it "voluntarily" but not really willingly.  

@mr_lincoln  - SO glad to hear your campaign is working out well.  Mine has pretty much now dudded out again.  Bummer.

[mr_lincoln]

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@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:

Seems to me that paying eBay 8-12% more to increase visibility and get sales is like paying blackmail.   I'd rather donate the items to a charity thrift than reward eBay for making more off their sellers. 

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@uncseniorsportsfan   It depends on one's perspective on the value of PLS to 1) drive traffic, 2) sell some long tail items and 3) sell items PERIOD.  My higher priced items are typically not on the PLS and are sold Auction style.  My low to mid priced items wind up on the PLS ... it's a function of deciding to "give away" a certain % in exchange for moving things, many of which are already from profitable lots so whatever they sell for is pure profit.  The "average" item sale price on the PLS is about 30% below the overall "average" sale price that I have ... 

You can look at the numbers in many way but the bottom line is it increases sales ... 

[2013grotz]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

Same here - tweak the PLs down, even slightly = no sales at all

I had a thought.  I keep wondering what this "Suggested ad rate" is exactly, and if it's this point.  Right now I'm running with a constant %, but it is always below the "Suggested ad rate".   I'm wondering if I go to those "Suggested" rates, if sales are going to pop on them.  Of course, I'd have to raise my prices a lot further (honestly I'd have to double them to recoup all my costs here), but half-tempted to find a sane set of items to test that on.

Overall, I'm not really getting how anyone sells here and makes a reasonable profit.  I sure don't.

[dbfolks166mt]

I had a thought.  I keep wondering what this "Suggested ad rate" is exactly, and if it's this point.  Who is making that suggestion? Right now I'm running with a constant %, but it is always below the "Suggested ad rate".   I'm wondering if I go to those "Suggested" rates, if sales are going to pop on them.  You have no way of knowing if this will happen and no way of knowing if it does whether the PL was what caused the sale. Of course, I'd have to raise my prices a lot further (honestly I'd have to double them to recoup all my costs here), but half-tempted to find a sane set of items to test that on. 

Overall, I'm not really getting how anyone sells here and makes a reasonable profit.  I sure don't. It's getting tougher and tougher with the costs increasing. In addition a lot of my  favorite sourcing venues are either drying up or people are simply paying crazy prices for items.