Never Thought I would See it - Promoted Listing Fee Higher than Final Value Fee

[seymourssi]

First time ever - my Promoted Listing fees (Standard) are $1 more than my Final Value Fees for the month.  And sales stink, so that's not saying much.  Suggested rate is over 10% in my category for Promoted Listings, so it's costing an arm & leg just to be seen here ...

[motortown_inc]

Wow, That is shocking.  Thanks for sharing. I have chosen not to pay to play, and it is costing me sales big time. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

The suggested rate can be completely ignored and you can just use the minimum 2%. 

For what you sell, that's all I would do. 

[reallynicestamps]

Suggested rate is over 10% in my category for Promoted Listings,

The suggestion is from eBay.

It is an excellent suggestion for eBay.

EBay is not your friend.

EBay is your landlord.

You can choose the rate at which you promote.

If you are choosing to pay 22.9% on the selling price, the shipping fee, and your buyer's sales tax, you have to take responsibility for that choice.

You can reduce it to as little as 2%

You can not use PL and go commando.

You can raise your prices.

You can stop using PL and instead discount your selling price by 10%. You are still ahead on this, since you will not be discounting your shipping, and the buyer's sales tax will be lower.

Your choice.

FWIW- there are only 339 listings for "leather buckskin" and that includes your 177 listings.  You don't really have much competition.

For interest sake, there are 128 listings for one of the most popular stamps I sell, from over r 100 sellers.

[dolcetreasures]

I’m certain that the suggested rate in some categories on some items may approach 100% shortly. 

[lakefor94]

@seymourssi @  Just wondering about your titles

Search is going to identify with the first 3 or 4 words the most.

Your titles are for example:

Premium Heavy 3.5 oz Palomino Brown Sheepskin Leather Hide

Are your buyer's mainly using "Premium Heavy 3.5 oz" to search for your product?

Or do they use something like "Palomino Brown Sheepskin Leather", as their search words?

[sin-n-dex]

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@seymourssi wrote:

First time ever - my Promoted Listing fees (Standard) are $1 more than my Final Value Fees for the month.  And sales stink, so that's not saying much.  Suggested rate is over 10% in my category for Promoted Listings, so it's costing an arm & leg just to be seen here ...

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I do a max of 5% for PL - except low profit items, then I just do the minimum 2%.

At least it keeps it lower than FVF.

C.

[dbfolks166mt]

Wow, That is shocking.  Thanks for sharing. I have chosen not to pay to play, and it is costing me sales big time. 

Curious how you know that or are you just making an assumption? You have sold 141 items in the last 90 days and currently have 217 active listings. Most sellers would consider that a pretty good flow through rate given the current state of affairs. 

[dbfolks166mt]

      Not really surprising if you are posting at that rate. Of course eBay is going to recommend a percentage that garners them the most profit. I have never used, nor will I ever use PL, it is a race to the bottom and the only one that benefits is eBay. 

     I am however grateful for those that do use PL and other revenue generating scheme's that eBay puts out there, the latest being spendable funds, since these probably keep eBay from increasing the FVF % across the board. 

[anjofak]

I have a theory about how sellers are clicking the $9.49 promotion fee on a $6.00 item...hmm

 

[mam98031]

What?  You CHOSE the rate you pay for Promoted Listings!!!!  So if you are paying more than the Ebay FVF, that is because you decided that was OK.

Ebay suggests all kinds of things in all aspects of the site, that doesn't mean sellers have to do it.  They are suggestions, not requirements.

If you feel you are paying to much, LOWER the rate you are willing to pay on your Promoted Listings.  You can go as low as 2%.

[motortown_inc]

I know that because my accounting software tracks sales, by day month and year. My sales are down big time. I have been at this for 20 years, and have the history for all 20 years at my finger tips. One can never make assumptions, and I do not.  

[laststopgeneralstore]

It only becomes more when you promote over 12.9% as the promoted listings rate is calculated on the entire sale now instead of just the sold price of the item. So if you're promoting at 13% or more, then yes it will be higher than the final value fee's. With all of that being said, you don't have to promote to get sales and you also don't need to promote that high if you don't want to. It's all your choice, no eBays.

[reallynicestamps]

@dbfolks166mt 

Good.

All too often we see sellers wailing here because they sold less this week than last week.

Sigh.

Actually having the numbers available to make sensible comps seems to be a rareity.

BTW- did you see the "pandemic surge" in your corner of the economy?  How do your sales compare with pre-pandemic selling?

[sextons-sweet-deals]

educate me here. 

A seller enters a percentage that they are willing to pay for promoted listings. Does this mean that if I enter say 5%, my listing will be viewed before someone who selected 3%? If so, this just does not seem fair to anyone.  

I remember reading post about 3+ weeks ago that if sellers are paying for promoted listings, how it is determined who gets first views?