Promoted Listing ------ Does the % make a difference?

[remlik]

I've been using a wide range of promo % in the past few months.  I'm trying to get an idea of the sales convestion impact for the different %s.

From the stats pulled ....there is no corellation between what % is chosen (whether its 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, or 20%).  What does matter is that the item is promoted (at least 1% is chosen).  So it seems to be either promoted or not (with the % selected not really making a difference).

Has anyone noticed the same?

I'm thinking the ebay analog to prioritized based on % selected is not running yet....Any thought from you guys would be appreciated.

[tamaralea]

Do ANY "Promoted" make a difference? What have you found?

[nawlinsron2]

If I were you...imagine the mindset of a buyer who finds your "promoted" item, regardless of the % you chose.
Say your item is priced at $15 shipped, and you're at the #1 spot.
The buyer sorts by PRICE...the guy in 2nd place is 10%....maybe 20%...cheaper, with shipping.
9/10...who gets the sale?

[remlik]

I get what you are saying but I'm taking about the % paid to ebay to promo lidtings under the marking tool.  Not the actual % off item that buyer see.

[remlik]

As far as the "promoted listings" tool, I've found that at least adding them makes a difference.   Right now I have 1/2 my inventory at 1% "promo" sponsored.   

As for the markdown manager tool,  it does make a difference.  My favorite is the extra 5% off at check out.   If a buyer is clicking on an item they have already seen the price.   Then if they add it to their cart they will be an additional 5% off.  I think this helps the buyer to make the decision to buy (if they are on the fence about buying the item).

[nawlinsron2]

That was EXACTLY what I was talking about...if you pay 5% or 20% promo fee, that will not in and of itself guarantee you a sale if there's a cheaper price in a price search.
And you'll never know if the promo PRIMARILY got you the sale, or some other factor.
Correlation and causality don't always show the same results.

[remlik]

Okay, I see what you are saying sorry for not understanding.

What you are saying is very true, especially for the same item with multiple sellers.  

80% of my items are unique (so we are solely concerned with product placement).  For the other 20%, we ussually dont have the lowest price.

We are semi-longtailers....we dont neccessarily try to move invenory fast.  So the 20% of items where we have competion now, we dont plan on having the same item competion a year from now.

Taking what you said into consideration,  I did get a get idea for the 20% of items that have competion.  Thanks

[nawlinsron2]

I see your point...now you've raised a 2nd question.
Why promote a unique item?...if you categorize right and have all the right search words, you'll be on page one even without promotion.

[swenson8781]

Markdown Manager is the single most effective tool I've found on here, as it scrambles the search status of all items that are on sale.  

That being said, I looked into the 'Promotions' you are referring to, where the seller pays a percentange.  And I've observed how items 'show up' in search for those promoted items. 

Here's my take, according to the site, if one pays more, their item is 'promoted' more.  From what I've seen, that simply means your item is shown on page, after page, after page.  It is usually in the first 1-3 pages, which is great placement overall.  I'm guessing if you pay less, your item will appear on one page, and that's it.  If you pay more, the more pages it will show up on overall.  So 1% gets you 1 page, decent placement, 5% gets you a spot on 4 pages, decent placement, etc.

No doubt it gives a seller great visibility IMO.  I see the same items that keep coming up on each page.  Visibility doesn't guarantee a sale though, but certainly  makes it more likely overall.

[markdown-media · Accepted solution]

I have noticed the same thing. I currently run mine at 1%, but have upped it as high as 10% and have seen no noticeable change in impressions (when they were still showing them in the stats). That is the only area I would expect to see any change, as CTR and sale conversion rate shouldn't be affected by what percentage you are paying.

[remlik]

Thanks for answering the question markdown.

[shefsing]

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@remlik wrote:

I've been using a wide range of promo % in the past few months.  I'm trying to get an idea of the sales convestion impact for the different %s.

From the stats pulled ....there is no corellation between what % is chosen (whether its 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, or 20%).  What does matter is that the item is promoted (at least 1% is chosen).  So it seems to be either promoted or not (with the % selected not really making a difference).

Has anyone noticed the same?

I'm thinking the ebay analog to prioritized based on % selected is not running yet....Any thought from you guys would be appreciated.

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Hi,

I am a member of the promoted listings team at eBay and wanted to get back to you with a response re: how does ad rate affect your promoted listings.

At a high level, Promoted listings algorithm uses a combination of relevance and ad rate into account when considering showing your ads to buyers. Relevance determines whether or not your ad should be shown to a buyer and ad rate influences how often or prominently your ad is shown. Your listing's quality then affects the CTR and conversion rate. If your ad rate is competitive your ads are shown more often thus increasing the likelihood of a sale.

If you are selling a unique, one of a kind item, your competition maybe negligible and hence your ads have the potential to show at even 1%. But if you are competiting with other sellers on your items, a 1% ad rate may not do you any favor. For these items our recommendation is you look at the trending rates and bid at or slightly above it to ensure visibility of your ads.

I hope that helps!

Best,

Shefali Singla,

Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Promoted listings.

[sharingtheland]

If you are selling a unique, one of a kind item, your competition maybe negligible 

If you are selling a unique, one of a kind item, you have no competition for that item.

[mistwomandancing]

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shefsing wrote:..........ad rate influences how often or prominently your ad is shown..........If your ad rate is competitive your ads are shown more often.........

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Love how the bribery payment is called the ad rate. 

It's a SICK, TWISTED, PERVERSE turn here when sellers have to BUY better placement from eBay than their listings would otherwise deserve. 

We look down on the slime taking bribes for the letting of contracts that aren't otherwise deserved.  We're finally reacting to the disgusting practice of Casting Couch auditions which require young hopefuls to BUY (by way of their favors) their way into roles in Hollywood.

The greasing of palms has always been a stinking looked-down-upon underhanded classless way of protecting and promoting those who BUY undeserved special favors.

Charging sellers this **Better Placement Fee** by way of an *ad rate* for promotion placement over and above what is deserved and/or higher than deserved is disgusting.  We've been told forever that duplicate listings were a NO-NO here.   Now we're being told that we can make that policy *go away* by PAYING eBay to go along with it.  (wink. wink. wink.)   

[remlik]

Shelfia,

Thanks for the helpful explanation.