11-04-2018 04:50 PM
I understand promoting a listing will get the item higher placement. However lets say you a model 123 widget. There are a number of other seller's that sell model 123 widgets both here on ebay as well as the entire world wide web. The model 123 widget is a current production item still produced and sold all over the place.
In order to be competitive with everyone selling on and off ebay you must keep prices in line with all other seller's here and off ebay.
My question of course is how are seller's going to keep drawing new buyer's to this site and their store here on ebay when the cost of selling keeps rising.
Ebay keeps telling seller's lower your price while on the other hand raising the cost of selling here.
I like selling here. I want to keep selling here, but I like all seller's need sales.
Just about everyone selling new current items competes with a huge number of other seller's on the entire world wide web.
If I promote my items I would need to raise my prices. Just dosen't make any sense to me.
11-04-2018 05:52 PM
11-04-2018 08:24 PM
"I understand promoting a listing will get the item higher placement."
1. The circumstantial evidence would suggest otherwise.
2. Let me know if you detect the pattern placement of where "sponsored" items fall on every single search.
3. Shouldn't any search result show all "sponsored" or "promoted" items first? Side by side? Those people are paying for extra visibility right? In all cases why are entire rows preceding their listings?
11-05-2018 03:36 AM
In my case I don't make money from shipping costs, just from the sale of items. It has served me well. It builds repeat business & buyer trust.
I added that to my f/b as many buyerls did not know that they were getting refunds. If a buyer had not claimed their refund within 30 days it would return to my account.
11-05-2018 03:42 AM
I am just thinking if I were to promote an item here on ebay I would have to raise the price of the item to cover the promotion cost. That would make me less competitive with a seller of the same item.
Most buyers are going to search for the lowest cost for any new item.
For me it's not about wheremy items show up it's about being priced to make a sale.
11-05-2018 05:04 AM
Then my friend you've answered your question yet again, which I feel you did initially in your first post. Maybe you were just sharing a thought or venting mild frustration? Your the mouse that has avoided the trap long before it has a chance to catch you.
1. The structure and placement of the "sponsored" items patterning in search results show those people are being scammed and paying for this makes zero sense.
2. If promoted or "sponsored" items worked the way it was supposed to every item would be side by side as I've suggested before. No other criteria should proceed it but you can tell that eBay is severely confused about what criteria should proceed which. I've had these discussions within companies I've contracted at to know this is most likely what's happening.
Here's a sneak preview of my eBay movie script.
Bill thinks "Guaranteed Delivery" should sort the listings first but Dan says absolutely not, it should be "Free Shipping" because that's what consumers want. Sarah chimes in and says the data suggests you're both wrong, "sponsored" links is the new revenue stream so users need to see it working so we should sort by that criteria. Sheryl, Robery and Trevor also have opinions and input for the team. A week later and 80 hours of meeting time burnt no one can come to a conclusion that reveals a viable solution so they decide to make a jambalaya, pray and just hope for the best.
11-05-2018 05:37 AM
you must keep prices in line with all other seller's here and off ebay.
that might be true in a totally controlled world..........but it isn't true from what I see......prices can vary alot across venues and ebay...... for various reasons.....some source cheaper thru buying larger quantities, some are satisfied with less of a profit margin, some use cheaper shipping methods...... some sell seconds or used.
As far as PL are concerned.......you don't pay unless it sells.......you chose the % you pay.....and you have the choice as to whether to use the method at all. Some sellers will use it and their costs will be higher than other sellers who don't, but to them moving an item faster may be worth the higher costs.......
if you are satisfied with sales as they are, no need to use it at all which, according to what you say, will make your item price cheaper and thus easier to sell, so you could actually benefit from others using it.
As to whether it works or not........up to each seller to decide that, but I can tell you there was a similar program years ago......and I made a good bit with a consumable item simply because it was a new program and most sellers didn't understand how it worked and didn't use it. Whether that holds true for this one, I can't really test as only sell one offs now.
11-05-2018 06:59 AM
I am a very small seller, promoted listings work well for me and I do not have to raise my prices to use it. I take advantage of the $30.00 credit for promoted listings that eBay offers each quarter to top rated sellers, so pay eBay very little or nothing to to use promoted listings. Anchor stores that are TRS get more of a $$ credit to use.
I realize that for a large seller with thousands of listings the credit may not be enough to entice a seller into using promoted listings. However, you might consider trying it for a month or so on some of your items to see if it generates sales.
Another "feature" that I have seen with promoted listings is that they are also displayed on other seller's listings of like items. I am not too sure about this feature being such a great idea. It probably angers sellers when they check their listings and see another seller's items displayed on their listing page.
11-05-2018 10:02 AM
Who knows? But I did just read on one of those e -commerce sites that ebay is going to start charging for pixels? Sounds like a company desperate to me.???? I had to think that over about pixels, and decided I had no clue. But thought to myself. Whah ha ha.
11-05-2018 10:05 AM
Just a little while ago that sponered listings gallery of items right below your pics used to be YOUR cross promotion space for your items only... eBay failed me when they moved it to the bottom and started promotions, which in my category are averaging 25%!
11-05-2018 10:56 AM
@ag47silver-us wrote:Just a little while ago that sponsored listings gallery of items right below your pics used to be YOUR cross promotion space for your items only... eBay failed me when they moved it to the bottom and started promotions, which in my category are averaging 25%!
I agree with you. Even though I use promoted listings, I don't think that my promoted listings should be invading another seller's space. Higher placement on the search page works fine for me.
11-05-2018 11:05 AM
The invasion of other items between your pics and description is bad... but the fact the cross promotion was moved to the bottom, when that happened i used to get people that shopped my store, looking for a second item at 15% off... then they switched it and i had multiple item sales (must less often) and the buyers didn't even SEE the promotion discount so they never paid for the items together... i must have had 8 or 10 multi item sales where the buyer just didn't even know there was a promotion since it was at the very bottom of the screen... so they didn't even ask to get a discount after paying seperately, they NEVER knew because eBay's decided only buyers that scroll to the very bottom of the page are desperate enough to shop from the same seller twice!
11-05-2018 11:10 AM
Something Ive never understood about the promotion deal. When you have thousands of sellers selling the same thing and the max items you can see on a page is 200. How can you be sure your item is going to get promoted within the 200 listings with thousand of other seller paying for the same promotional deal?
Maybe logistics come into play. Most of my sales seem to be the farthest in shipping as they can be. Lots of sales to PA. Im in CO. When I shop around most listings come up from either CA or FL. I dont have many sales in the time Ive been selling but I do know there are more than four states buying on ebay.
11-05-2018 11:34 AM
11-05-2018 02:21 PM
I do understand promoted listing are set on a % sliding scale. I am not concerned with the product placement part of it. I had to chuckle one day as I searched an item I sell and there was a promoted listing right above mine, exact same item but mine was less! I know maybe a buyer couldn't see mine.
But my thought on it is say a buyer wants a new Do-It mold model 1234. Lets say there are ten seller's with a new Do-It 1234 mold for sale. Any buyer is going search lowest + shipping 1st to get the best price.
The other issue I have with it is I compete with other stores that do not sell here. I talking about seller's that own their own website. Just about any seller of new current production items competes with other seller's on the web, not just other seller's here on ebay.
How many buyer's check Google to find the lowest prices on any new items.
I am just thinking promoted listings will make many seller's here less competitive.