Promote

[sangu4772]

Hi!  I’m a “newer” eBay seller. 6 months. 45 sales. I’m unsure if I should be promoting all my listings and what percent. It really cuts into profits but if needed to make sales I will keep doing. I usually do 10% sometimes 5%.  Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you. 

[klhmdg]

That is something only you can decide.

I have never and will never Promote listings. I dont Pay to Play as such. If everyone uses Promoted Listings then every listing is the same just paying more in fees. 

As a buyer I never buy anything Promoted. I can usually find the same item for less $ from someone who doesnt Promote.

Many times, the Promoted listing pointed me to a cheaper option.

You need to decide if your able to add in extra fees and still make a profit or not.

[fbusoni]

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@sangu4772 wrote:

Hi!  I’m a “newer” eBay seller. 6 months. 45 sales. I’m unsure if I should be promoting all my listings and what percent. It really cuts into profits but if needed to make sales I will keep doing. I usually do 10% sometimes 5%.  Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you. 

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@sangu4772 

You are doing well after 6 months; 45 sales is respectable.

What I'd suggest is rather than lose money by paying for promoted listings, offer same day / 24 hour shipping and 30 day paid returns.

In exchange eBay will promote your listings at no extra cost to you.

I've been doing this for many years; I've never paid a penny for a promoted listing and will never do so.

[sangu4772]

Thank you. Do you just select those options then eBay promotes?  Also how do you process a paid return?  

[vintage-camerastuff]

I do 2 percent just for fun.   Never anything higher.  I also do 10 percent off of everything for a few days each month.   This seems to help my sales.   Best way to increase sales is to add more items.

[sangu4772]

Great ideas!

[sangu4772]

Good feedback!  Thank you. 

[fbusoni]

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@sangu4772 wrote:

Thank you. Do you just select those options then eBay promotes?  Also how do you process a paid return?  

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Sorry, I don't understand your first question.

As for processing a paid return... first, I should note that I almost never get returns.

But when I do, I simply send the buyer a pre-paid mailing label, then wait for the buyer to return the item to me.

Once I get it back, I inspect it to make sure its in the same condition as it was when I initially shipped it.

If it is, then I just process a full refund.

There are some risks here, of course... getting back an item that is materially different from what you shipped, for example.    But there is some recourse for such things.

[bdmh-enterprises]

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@sangu4772 wrote:

Thank you. Do you just select those options then eBay promotes?

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'Promotes' not really the right word. What happens is, using options like: free shipping, 1 day handling, 30 day returns and/or free returns all provide a boost in organic search results. Using these also give small visual boosts such as having the shipping price/time in green instead of black.

IMO, PLs are not something that should be pushed to new sellers. They are best used by experienced sellers familiar with the workings of eBay's systems. I would easily bet that over 60% of sellers using PL's are needlessly throwing money away.

[sangu4772]

Thank you appreciate the feed-back.  Disregard my first question.  🙂

[tools*]

If what you're selling cost you nothing but will sell for hundreds of dollars and can be shipped for under ten dollars, by all means promote for 10%. Otherwise, don't waste your money.

[meme6253]

Using 10% promoting is probably what is getting you the sales that you have, Do you need to use that high of a percentage is hard to say, used clothing is a saturated market, But I would try lowering your promotional amount for a month to see the results, & Then you can decide if it is worth for you or not, Best Of Luck!

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@sangu4772   Couple of things, first off the most important factor in whethr you choose to promote or not is how much competition you have.  In other words is someone bound to find your items either way or will your items be lost in a sea of a million other items.  The answer in your case is that you are in a very saturated, highly competitive market, therefore promoting may be beneficial.  

Secondly, I would suggest doing a trial of a month or 6 weeks to see what happens. 

I can tell you from experiences that 2% promotion will do nothing in your categories.   I'm in Clothing, highly saturated, I have to promote & promote high.  I started out trying to promote individual items & quickly realized that wasn't effective, so I just changed to promoting everything & then my sales almost quardrupled.  But that was a long time ago, when PL's were a novelty & eBay was paying us to try them.  

What's the harm in promoting all your items?  You only pay if they sell.  But you'll need to be closer to 10% to see much effect.  It's up to you whether you want to do it or not.  If I were you, I'd do a test & then decide.  That's how I came to what I do, I did a bunch of different tests.  Most everyone replying to you is anti-PL's.  The truth is that in some categories you almost have to do it. 

[sangu4772]

Thank you for your feedback!  I will definitely experiment. 

[sangu4772]

Thank you!