No more extra free listings?

[knifebeardthepirate]

I used to get extra free listings, typically 200 to 500, every few weeks, but haven't had an offer in over three months now. 

Has eBay discontinued this practice?

I just had a ton of unsold listings disappear because they were over 90 days old. Going to be a pain recreating those.

[dhbookds]

it's random.......you never can tell...........

[rktoyandhobby]

eBay's customer base is so small and poor, would it even make a difference at this point?

[mr_lincoln]

@knifebeardthepirate   You need to pursue a Store Subscription, you can not depend on Promos to run your business.  While they are alleged to be "random" the pattern I've seen on an account here is the Promos help build the number of listings and then they stop ... then the account has many more items then it does Insertion fees ... so the question then becomes, "Pay extra Fees to Relist, wait for more freebies or open a store".  The account in question then got a messaged offer to try a store for 3 months free ... so, you tell me, is that "random"?  I think "targeted" might be more accurate.

In any event, while you may not have received an offer for a store you have built up a backlog of listings that you are not willing to pay a fee to list but have already learned that if you don't and wait too long you will lose a lot of time and effort when they drop off the Unsold file.

Your best bet is to calculate your "average" sale amount and then compare that to the Store Subscriptions available to you.  I worked my average up to over the monthly cost for the Basic level store and then opened one.  What that meant at the time was ONE "average" sale per month paid for the store subscription.  Then they came out with the $ 25 coupon for eBay Branded Supplies (one per quarter) so using that simply defrayed the cost of the store per quarter.  Additionally, the eBay FVFs drop from 10% to 9.15% (for most categories) so there is a little savings there too.

[eleeper-half]

FWIW, I've had these offers more recently than that.

[lex-talon]

Ebay has sent me promos that are useful and others not so much. Not sure if their sent randomly, been receiving a few every month. 

[fun-snowbunny]

I didn't receive any for a couple of months and then BAM! I got one around the 3rd week of February for 500 free listings. I had used all of my 50 free ones for the month at that point too.  I think it has something to do with that.  I re-listed a bunch of my Un-Sold items and I think my total listed out of the 500 was 108 items.  FINALLY items started selling again. I think its random when they do it and I wish they would do it more.  I'm hoping to get another free-bee to get items going again. 

[chapeau-noir]

The question I would ask myself is why am I sitting on salable merchandise waiting for freebies?  Selling one $30 item pays for many, many listings and, well, we all know 'if it's not listed it can't sell'.  A starter store is only $7.95 a month.

[buyselljack2016]

I know it does not help now, but "unsold listings" can be saved as "drafts". You need to update them from time to time so that you do not lose all your hard work.

[membersinceaug2001]

I just received a 200 free auction or FP promo on all accounts, good thru the 16th.

[catwands]

I got the 200 free listings so they are still sending them out.

[phanoto]

I got a Promo offer for 200 free listings a few days ago .…… I had a few items that very few people want to buy even if I listed them at cost ...… I listed them at a high enough price so I could make a profit if they sold ...… Only one of them sold. ……. I would prefer that eBay not offer anyone free Promo listings. If it is good for eBay to offer extra free listings every 2 or 3 months, then it would be good to let it be a standing offer that sellers could use any time, and it would be less trouble for me .…. My opinion about free Promo listings is that they clutter up the buyer's SEARCH with overpriced items that almost no one wants to buy.

[femmefan1946]

EBay used to give out lots of free listings just before the quarterly reports.

The  stockholders would then sell their stock and take a profit. Rinse, repeat.

As of March 2019, eBay moved to paying dividends on profits, which they had never done before.

They didn't need to artificially increase the value of the stock, since the newer stockholders got paid, without having to sell.

Promotions are for the good of eBay not for sellers or buyers.

Today's eBay wants the reliable income stream of Store subscriptions and won't be encouraging unsaleable Free Listings to encourage the punters.

As a Best Practice, don't list it if it won't sell and don't list it if you can't make money with a 35c listing fee.

BTW, you can double the number of your Free Listings, by putting listings on eBay Canada.

Your 50 Free becomes 100 Free at no extra expense.

There are some quirks (currency, shipping).

[upgradedendmills]

Just curious, why do you think you need any free listings beyond the 50/month??? You have a number of nice listings priced from $100-$1000.  If you have similar listings to put on it seems like they should be able to absorb the 35 cent fee. If you just want to list a bunch of cheap junk, free listings don't help you or eBay and only serve to clog up the site worse than it already is.

[chapeau-noir]

Over and above the 50 free listings for casual sellers and those included with a store subscription, I wish eBay would just get rid of the 'free' listings completely - its just generated a culture of obsession.  If it's not worth 35 little cents to list, then it's not worth listing??