My Case Against eBay Promoted Listings - You're the Judge!

[ten_o_nine]

Buyer bought a set of vintage dinner plates, the sale did not come from a promoted listing.

I shipped the item and buyer left me positive feedback below,

Buyer came back 2 weeks later and purchased the bread plates from the same set, eBay charged me a promoted listing rate on the second purchase, why?

[wastingtime101]

Because the buyer found the second listing through a sponsored placement.

Perhaps they clicked a sponsored link in an eBay marketing email, or a sponsored link in search when looking for the matching smaller size plates.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ten_o_nine  Well, it would help if you provided more info. The second purchase, the one you were charged a PL fee....was it, in fact, in a PL campaign?

[ten_o_nine]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

All my listings are promoted.

[12345jamesstamps]

Interesting, I sold something around the same time. My item sold in like 6 hours after being promoted and listed ....I promoted it at 20 %. I was so happy to see I did not get charged a promoted fee. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ten_o_nine 

Well, OK then...why would you be surprised that a listing that is promoted was charged a PL fee? 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ten_o_nine 

Basically, I'd say it comes down to this. The buyer conducted a search for the second item, found your item as a Sponsored (Promoted) listing, and bought it, perhaps directly from the search results , or from placement on another listing, etc.  That's a "direct sale".

The other possibility , as @wastingtime101 said, is that the buyer, sometime within 30 days before the purchase of the second item, clicked on one of your other Promoted Listings (perhaps completely unrelated to the dish pattern), and then , on the day he bought the second item,went to your store, where he saw the second item (shown organically, but part of a PL campaign) and then bought it. That would be a "halo sale".

You can check to see whether it was direct or halo by going to Seller Hub>Marketing Tab>Advertising Dashboard" and look for "sale report", around the top right area of the page. Click on that and it will show you your recent PL sales and whether they were direct or halo.

[ten_o_nine]

Ok, let me ask a question, now that this returning buyer (Supposedly) bought the second item thru PL, all the next purchases they make would be considered promoted also? 

Buyer stated in their feedback " I would buy from this seller again.", and they did, not based on PL.

It's vintage and I am sure the buyer did their homework before they bought the first item.

[hartungcards]

"All my listings are promoted."

And voila !  There's your answer.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ten_o_nine OK, so your question assumes the buyer purchased the second purchase as a "sponsored" listing? A direct promoted listing sale?

That's the assumption, right?

And all your listings are always in a PL campaign?

So if he purchases something from you that he finds as a "sponsored" listing, the PL fee will attach as a direct promoted listing. That's the way it has always been.

However, if ,within 30 days of clicking on that item he previously bought, he comes directly to your ebay store---where your PL items are shown as organic, not sponsored listings---and he buys an item from your organic store listing, the fee will still be applied, this time as a "halo" PL.

If he did the same thing but MORE than 30 days after he last clicked on one of your PLs, there would be no PL fee.

You have ALL your items in a PL campaign ALL the time, so you definitely increase the chance that any sale will be charged a PL fee....either as a direct PL, or a halo PL.

[solidguitar1961]

If they were both promoted ,they probably saw the second listing from the first listing. Now that everybody's listing are bombarded with everybody's promoted listings.

[ten_o_nine]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

So if he purchases something from you that he finds as a "sponsored" listing, the PL fee will attach as a direct promoted listing. That's the way it has always been.

However, if ,within 30 days of clicking on that item he previously bought, he comes directly to your ebay store---where your PL items are shown as organic, not sponsored listings---and he buys an item from your organic store listing, the fee will still be applied, this time as a "halo" PL.

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No, their first purchase was organic, and they came back in 2 weeks and bought the same pattern.

[ten_o_nine]

Wow. How smart!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ten_o_nine 

"No, their first purchase was organic, and they came back in 2 weeks and bought the same pattern."

Do me a favor. In a post above, I explained how to find out whether the second purchase was a direct or halo PL. PLEASE look that up and let me know whether it was Halo or Direct. The Sale Report will tell you.

[solidguitar1961]

the yellow is pointing to a sponsored item from the same seller . Your buyer probably saw your second listing from the original listing .