Promoted Listing Fee Calculation is Evil

[geek-quest]

The way ebay is calculating the fees on promoted listings are evil, ebay is  just letting sellers with the lowest possible profit, this is not fair for sellers and buyers, ebay's greed is worst every year.

While they should be calculating the promoted listing fee only to the base price of the item, they go beyond that and calculate it to the final price including taxes and shipping costs, that's amazing seeing how they take advantage on everything only for their own benefit. sellers and buyers are struggling to offer and get better prices, at the same time we're competing against amazon and walmart, so we hardly can expect to get decent profit margins.

Honestly I do not see a good future to ebay market, ebay is making their own business disappear, maybe they're squeezing the last drops from what years ago, was a great business.

[gator08041971]

@geek-quest 

Their fees have been the same for the most part for a while now.  I haven't seen any "yearly" increases as you suggested.

And if they didn't access a fee for the entire sale, what's to stop a seller from selling an item for 1 dollar and 100 for shipping?

If you don't use any promotions, that saves too.  I have always found their fees to be exactly as listed.

[fbusoni]

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@geek-quest wrote:

The way ebay is calculating the fees on promoted listings are evil,

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@geek-quest 

I'd rephrase that thusly:

Promoted listings are evil.

But they will not make eBay's own business disappear... not by a long shot.

As long as sellers are paralyzed by a fear of missing out, they will remain psychologically vulnerable to the appeal of software from the cloud that no one really understands but which is rumored to provide some sort of advantage insofar as sales are concerned.

And that's ok with me, because the hundreds of millions of dollars PLs generate and which are pouring into eBay coffers means that ordinary fees for sellers like me -- who would not touch PLs with a ten foot pole --do not change much over time.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@geek-quest wrote:

The way ebay is calculating the fees on promoted listings are evil, ebay is  just letting sellers with the lowest possible profit, this is not fair for sellers and buyers, ebay's greed is worst every year.

While they should be calculating the promoted listing fee only to the base price of the item, they go beyond that and calculate it to the final price including taxes and shipping costs, that's amazing seeing how they take advantage on everything only for their own benefit. sellers and buyers are struggling to offer and get better prices, at the same time we're competing against amazon and walmart, so we hardly can expect to get decent profit margins.

Honestly I do not see a good future to ebay market, ebay is making their own business disappear, maybe they're squeezing the last drops from what years ago, was a great business.

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I think a big part of the problem with PL is how many eBayers have no idea how it works and when it makes sense to use. It is advertising and can be useful if used properly. PL does not equal/guarantee sales.

It does feel predatory, but the responsibility (understanding of policies/procedures) should fully fall on the shoulders of the sellers. 

[meme6253 · Accepted solution]

You sell Very Specific items which allows you to ignore the whole PL thing, But if you were in over saturated categories you might have to think differently.

[squinkercat59]

I would agree, Meme. if you have unusual, vintage or hard-to-find items, there's no need for promoted listings. I believe they are only good for if you are selling something there are already a dozen, or a hundred, or five hundred (or more!) of. Even then, they could get lost among all the others.  When buying, I don't pay attention to promoted listings either. I do my searches starting from least expensive, and go from there (checking feedback, shipping time, etc.)  I don't buy from sellers that consistently have a history of items being ruined from bad packaging, undisclosed damage etc. It doesn't matter if they promote or not. 

[luckythewinner]

so we hardly can expect to get decent profit margin at the same time we're competing against amazon and walmart, so we hardly can expect to get decent profit margin

Not all sellers here are choosing to sell products that compete with Walmart and Amazon.

Honestly I do not see a good future to ebay market

Countless people have predicted eBay's demise on this board over the past 25 years. 

 ebay is making their own business disappear

There are approximately 1.5 billion items listed here, and GMV has shown modest YoY growth every quarter for the past couple years.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@meme6253 wrote:
In response to fbusoni

You sell Very Specific items which allows you to ignore the whole PL thing, But if you were in over saturated categories you might have to think differently.

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Very good point @meme6253 

It is a tool (PL not any specific user) that can give you an edge if used properly. 

[jerseyboymusic]

Promoted listings are optional. No one is forcing anyone else to use them

[aeparts1]

If you sell items that you need to use PL  in order to try & sell them, due to the category being super saturated, you probably should give up selling that type of item.

I've never used PL & never will.