I thought paying Ebay for promoting listings was supposed to increase traffic

[fishzlot]

I was just running an 80% charity  for  Grace For Ukraine Ukrainian relief auction and paid Ebay an extra $2 for promoting the listing.  It is a 283-page journal that is extremely rare on the world market.   A Ukrainian/American publication out of New Jersey.  Published in 2002 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the independence of Ukraine.  It is the only copy presently for sale in the world and there is no record anywhere of anyone selling this book in recent years.  Search for it on any venue on the planet and you won't find it.   Ukraine is a hot topic, for sure.  Part of the problem may be because it has no ISBN number.  But why should that be a problem?

But a day later it has a measly 42 hits!  What?  Did I just use $2 in promotion money for toilet paper?  And I think most of those hits are because I displayed it on my home page on Twitter and Facebook.  So I'm probably the one who directed most of those hits to my listing.  Not Ebay.  So what good is Ebay in promoting listings, anyways?  Apparently not very good at all.  With a title like "Ukraine Lives" you would think this would get more attention.  But not even on the week-end.  I'm going to have some one with a lot of followers share it on their Twitter feed so maybe I can see some traffic on this.    If I rely on Ebay I'm not going to see much traffic at all.   No matter how much I pay them.   Measly hits, measly impressions.   You know I've promoted other things on Ebay before and didn't get squat for traffic those times either.  Ask me if I'll promote anything else here again. 

Yet another reason I'll be delighted to open my web site soon and start to migrate away from this dying platform.  Dying for everyone but big companies and China, that is.     I'll have some one else promote my stuff on the Google platform since Ebay will not.   And maybe open a storefront on Facebook and link it with my new site.   Maybe the Chinese can keep this dinosaur we call Ebay afloat as competition like Etsy continues to bite into their market share.    China was 90%  of Ebay's new customers before Covid-19.   And when China's industry went down temporarily that drifted back to 50%.  But I'm sure soon Ebay will soon once again be the platform "Brought to you by the People's Republic of China."  As the American people promptly send their income tax refunds to Shanghai and Hong Kong via Ebay, Amazon and Wal-Mart.  Instead of paying down their monstrous personal debt.  I buy products from American-based sellers only.  If I order something like fishing tackle from China?  It is because no U.S. sellers had it in stock.

[katzrul15]

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@fishzlot wrote:

Thanks for your reply.  Where the hell did you find those?  I looked all over the place in frustration.  What search engine did you find them on?  Why doesn't Ebay, Amazon,   Bookfinder, Google, or Textbooks.com have a record of these sales?  Please inform me.   This is ridiculous.   I just love getting kicked in the gonads when I try to do something nice for people.  I thought this was rare after searching for over an hour looking for it.    Why didn't it come up on a Google Search?  Well, back to the drawing board.  Failed again.   I'm so used to failing at everything it just comes naturally now.   I hate tattoos but I should have the old cliche "Born To Lose."  One of my favorite joke was from Chris Rock.  When he said "If s--t was worth something poor people would be born without a------s. "  I'm not exactly going hungry, but you get the idea.  I just can't do anything right.  And I have never won anything at all in my life.  Not even a single lottery ticket.  Always the last in line, always the last to know anything.   Last one in my entire family to be eligible for a Covid shot when I was terrified the entire time.  The disease shut down all the book sales and my business suffered, pushing me into debt.  Couldn't source books.  And I have a serious health condition.    My poor nephew is younger than me,  a lot healthier than me, and  just got a breakthrough infection and the Doctor said it will take up to a year for the damage to his lungs to heal.   I have an immune suppressed member of my family.   It would kill her if she got it.  I've been living in terror now for years.  And now the gas prices making it more expensive to go to the distant booksales.   The nightmare just never ends.  I wanted to feel good about something by trying to help other people.   I'll just send them money, I guess and pull the stupid auction.  Maybe I won't fail at that.

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No one person can "fix" what is happening in the Ukraine.  Kinda like a pebble thrown into the ocean. 

It is noble to try.  We gave thru our employers where they matched our giving up to specific amounts per donation (i.e. it doubled it).  It likely won't change things quickly, but thru collective efforts, we remain hopeful for change.

Caring is an excellent start.  Hope the auction ends well.  Good luck.

[chapeau-noir]

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@fishzlot wrote:

This is clear evidence how Pro-Russian traitorous elements have been sparked by American traitors like Tucker Carlson.  I  bet you are a fan of this guy and have been indoctrinated by his propaganda.   This is genocide happening in Ukraine.   Pure and simple.   They are literally binding up civilians and executing them like the Germans did.

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@fishzlot   That wasn't @m60driver who made that comment - they were answering someone else who did make it.  I was gobsmacked by it, too (had a relative in Ukraine).

ETA:  I would just leave the book running as a fixed price listing, also.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Americans most certainly DO care about what's happening in Ukraine.  Most of them care very deeply.  

But on the business side of things, unless you used the new pay-per-click Promoted Listings, you didn't actually PAY for anything.  You only pay IF the item sells within 30 days of a PL View.  

Also, as others have noted, PL's are a waste for rare or OOAK items, they work best for items where there is a LOT of competition.   I am a huge fan of PL's & a huge amount of my sales come from them, but I sell in a highly competitive category.  It's not worth it for a one off book that is a specialized interest item.   I concur to put it up at FP. 

[anjofak]

Thats is the mass numbers..

out of 500 weekly auction listings only 30 had gotten over 20 views..and only 7 of those had over 50 and those were buy it nows that have been up since jan..

Also so many times we have watched items sell in auctions here post our same item and watch them go around month after month no action and low views..

Took same item to another auction venue sold week one and for a better than expected price..pretty odd

[stacy_1971]

If it makes you feel any better, I have a very tough time selling books on eBay too.   In fact, I have a tough time GIVING away books in my brick & mortar.  Books are not a good sell.  Nothing more I can really say to help you, other than the only book I have sold for serious money was a fairly old Circus Route Book, which if you know what those are, you'll know they are highly sought after collectibles.  All the other books I have tried to sell, even really nice collectible edition books, have sold for measly amounts.   Good Luck!