Have you used Promoted Listings Advanced? What do you think?

[gurlcat]

PLEASE DON'T REPLY TO THIS THREAD IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED PLA AND NEVER WILL BECAUSE BLAH BLAH BLAH.  --I might even agree with you, but it would be nice to hear from the people who are (presumably?) the ones getting all the sales that so many of us AREN'T getting since the rollout.  I for one don't even understand the "bidding" for clicks thing, or is it bidding for placement, I don't know.  I actually tried PLA on a dozen or so listings, with just a 2-day limit and $3 budget (is that ridiculously low?  high? -I literally don't know!).  It felt like a low-cost stab in the dark experiment, and didn't yield any results.  But then I had very little understanding of what I was doing, and that's why I'm asking anyone who DOES have PLA figured out: Do you like it?  What's important to know about it?  --Oh and by the way, the dozen items I tried it on were already (standard) promoted, and I didn't end those promotions before applying the Advanced ones.  So how does that work, if a seller has both kinds chosen??? 

[variety_nook]

Sounds as if you're on a rant and anybody can comment on these boards if they wish. BLAH,BLAH,BLAH!

[gurlcat]

Sounds like you can't stand it when your behavior is predictable.  But that's a beautiful little BLAH BLAH BLAH there.  10 Goldfish and a box of raisins for you!!!  

[downunder-61]

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@gurlcat wrote:

..........but it would be nice to hear from the people who are (presumably?) the ones getting all the sales that so many of us AREN'T getting since the rollout. 

You crack me up LOL, I would sure like to hear from them too ^^^^^ - ARE there any??

[and I want some Goldfish and a box of raisins as well]

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[variety_nook]

Excuse me @gurlcat 

I would prefer some southern fried chicken and a box of Tennessee whiskey as opposed to gold fish and a box of raisins.

You must be from California..... Lol  

[dnasilver]

It is bad enough them California types drink wine from a box but what does it really say about a person who drinks whiskey from a box? .......LOL

[vintagecraze50]

I think that the PPC program should be approached cautiously. It could end up costing you money with not that great of results, It is going to depend on how many in your category are going to be blowing money on this. It might be really good for folks in very saturated categories where they can spend spend spend and overspend to compete with others doing the same thing. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@gurlcat 

I am going to violate your rule. I have not used PLA.

I did, however, complete ebay's "Ads Academy" course, so I do have an idea about how it works (and why it is not a good fit for my business model ( single quantity, long tail listings, but it can be a good fit for others.) First, I would recommend if you are interested in PLA, take the course. It's free, and it's better than wasting money on something you admit you simply don't understand.

"I for one don't even understand the "bidding" for clicks thing, or is it bidding for placement, I don't know."

Unlike PL Standard, which offers a number of possible placements, not only on the Search Results page but other pages as well, PLA offers ONE and ONLY ONE placement: The top slot on the search results page. 

So, you are bidding for THAT placement. Think of it as an auction: you (and presumably other sellers) are all bidding to get the top search placement for whatever keywords you've chosen. 

So, the very first thing you need to ask yourself is:

How much benefit am I likely to get if my bidding is successful? 

Remember, the business goal is to get sales from being in the top spot. This is one of the main reasons I'm not interested in PLA. I don't sell in many highly competitive categories. My buyers are probably just as likely to buy from me if my item is in the 10th spot, or even on another seller's listing page (as a PLS). So, I don't care about winning the top spot. IF I sold in a popular, highly competitive category, I would probably try it. But, even if I sold in such a category, I sell single quantity listings. The top spot, even if it results in a sale, will bring me ONE sale. That's all I have in the listing. IF I sold multi quantity listings, gaining and keeping the top slot might result in dozens or even hundreds of sales from that top slot. That's a world of difference. 

OK. So what's with the clicks?  Clicks are what your successful bid pays for.  When you make your bid, you are saying to ebay: I'm willing to pay 10 cents, (or whatever) for each click I get from being in the top slot. This is whether your item sells or not. You aren't charged anything extra for the sale (unlike PLS, which charges you your chosen rate for the sale) But you are charged for every click at the amount you bid. So, let's say a 10 cent bid is successful. You are selling a single quantity item for $10.00.  Do the math. If the very first click produces a sale, you are only out ten cents. If, after 100 clicks, you still haven't had a sale, well, you can see why that wouldn't be good. If, on the other hand, you have multiple quantities of that $10 item, and 100 clicks produces fifty sales, you might be pretty happy.

This is a pretty simplified look at this. It's actually more complicated: you can set caps, etc. But basically, you need to look at your business model and ask if its actually compatible with PLA. PLA is not DESIGNED for everyone. ebay has even said so.  

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@gurlcat  Oh, I really should add....if you sell single quantity items in a niche, say, vintage postcards, and you have a huge selection, it might be worth experimenting with this, but with the realization that it is part of your ad budget.....in other words, you aren't just trying to sell that one valuable postcard, you are trying to get your buyer to look at that postcard and then look at other cards you have....so , even if he doesn't buy that postcard, he buyers another one (or more than one). 

Again, this is simplified, but I think it IS possible for a seller of long tail single quantity listings to use this to their advantage, but it would take some serious planning.

[Anonymous]

I have not used PLA, but you have always been very supportive of me here (thanks for that), so here goes:

PLA is more for huge sellers and companies that sell here who have marketing budgets to burn.

It will eat smaller sellers alive, who really can't afford such a money rake for the promise of views, not sales.

You already got a taste of what it will do for YOU......nada, just take your money and profits. Wanna try that on a bigger scale ? As small sellers, you and I should leave it for the big boys who can afford to play a house-sided gamble.

I do well enough using PLS at 1%, up to 50% of my promoted listings sell through the promotion.....much better odds, results, and guaranteed less cost.

[Anonymous]

I list on the app, and the other day when I was making an auction listing I was offered "Promoted Listings Express" which you can promote auction listings with. Never heard of it before, never saw a roll-out for it, and haven't seen it since. I probably caught a random beta offering. Yet another eBay money grab, I'm sure.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@Anonymous 

We've discussed it on this Board before. I don't list with the app, and its currently only available to those who list with the app and use My eBay. You are the first person I've seen on the Board who actually had the ability to use it . It launched a while ago.

Here's what little info there is about it: https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/promoted-listings-express.html

[gurlcat]

That is VERY helpful and totally makes sense, thank you!  I do still hope some people who've used it extensively will chime in simply because I'm very curious to see if this thing will even stick around or not, like if it's not popular then there's no reason to keep it a feature here.  My selling is just like yours, single items, including rarer ones, so just increasing the number of people who see them is not likely to be fruitful.   I'm sure a lot of my views come from sheer curiosity and/or sellers of similar items doing research.  Imagine Madame Toussaud paying to have visitors to her wax museum, lol!  

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@gurlcat  You're welcome. I'd like to hear from those sellers as well. I've seen some very positive comments from some sellers on various Facebook groups, and the positive comments have all been from sellers of new, multi-quantity listings (especially those who have experience with Pay Per Click campaigns elsewhere). But I think most people posting to this Board are like you and me---sellers of used/antique/vintage single quantity listings.  

I don't think PLA is going to go away....I suspect it will be popular with enough sellers to keep it. We don't hear from them here too often, but there are a LOT of sellers who will probably benefit from this. I'm just not one of them LOL (But I also don't expect to be harmed by this, either)