Pay to Promote Listings - Is it worth it?

[thefootyflogger]

I have noticed that since it's now free to sell on eBay I'm actually selling less and at a much lower price. 

I don't currently promote any of my listings, but when I saw an eBay quote : "50% of items like this are currently being promoted on eBay" I thought that this could be the reason why my items aren't being seen or getting many clicks like they used to. 

If promoted items are getting placed above mine, should I also be promoting my listings? I see that this may be the new way that eBay is making their money.

Am I being stupid not promoting my items?

Would be good to hear opinions on this and find out wether promoting would boost my clicks and sales.  

[inhawaii]

There is no correct answer for this question.

Everyone will have their own opinion.

My opinion is: No, it's not worth it.

I don't use promoted listings.

[annadryl]

I promote at the minimum 2% and it seems to help as about half of my guitar parts (with lots of other sellers) are found through PL. I can work the 2% into my price. With clothing and shoes I might consider it more unless my prices were super low. That's a very saturated category. Good luck~

[masterblasterplanet]

In my opinion promoting listings does help especially if you are selling things that other sellers have. I promote 99% of my items. That said, my number one selling item on eBay I do not promote.

[tarotfindsandmore]

I promote at 2-2.5% and it does seem to help a little. I have one category that is ineligible for promotion so I do have a basis of comparison.  Promoted items do get a lot more traffic and sell more quickly than the items in my one unpromoted category.

You can always try it for a few weeks and get rid of it if it doesn't do anything for you.  You can start/stop promoting in a couple of clicks with the bulk listing editor.

[fern*wood]

You are on the US board where it isn't free to sell, so not sure if the comparison would be equal.

[ebooksdiva]

@thefootyflogger 

One thing I would like to point out to you.

You stated "I have noticed that since it's now free to sell on eBay I'm actually selling less and at a much lower price".

You get 250 listings that you can list without paying an insertion fee per month. But selling is NOT free. 

I just wanted to clear that up for any new sellers reading this thread.

[klhmdg]

@thefootyflogger    being in the UK you may want to post this on your home site.

Things are different in the US and so promoting here may also have different outcomes.

[dbfolks166mt]

@thefootyflogger 

One thing I would like to point out to you.

You stated "I have noticed that since it's now free to sell on eBay I'm actually selling less and at a much lower price".

You get 250 listings that you can list without paying an insertion fee per month. But selling is NOT free. 

I just wanted to clear that up for any new sellers reading this thread.

     OP is in the UK which has a bit of a different arrangement when it comes to fees. 

[dbfolks166mt]

      As others noted you are in the UK where eBay has shifted fees over to the buyers. Since this is mostly a US based seller forum not a lot of us are going to know how this works with promoted listings. If you promote does eBay also shift the promoted fees over to the buyer thereby increasing the price? 

     I have never used, and never will use PL. Some swear by it but it is a race to the bottom and there is no way to prove that the use of PL increases sales. 

[meme6253]

If you sell in a saturated category, It can be helpful, I use PL but only between 2-3%, I don't like using it, but that is the world we sell in, It's worth trying, see how it goes for you, you can stop whenever you want.Good Luck!