Promoted Listings - Giving credit where credit is due ...

[mr_lincoln]

Its time to give eBay some Credit where Credit is Due ...

We have a pile of sales and advertising flyers on our dinning room table, we cull through it about once a week and keep what we'll use then can the rest.  It seems like every store known to man is offering some kind of a discount to get you to come to visit them and spend money ... I call that driving traffic.

If someone handed you $ 30.00 would you take it?  I would and I do with eBay's Promoted Listings.  Each quarter they offer Store Owner Sellers $ 30 ad fee credit on Promoted Listings.  I run no more then one Promoted Listing Campaign per quarter. 

I don't over think it, I put every GTC item on the Campaign and select one Promotion % to apply to all of them AND I set a specific start and end date, usually 30 days plus or minus depending on where the end date falls in relation to either a weekend or holiday ... and then I let the big dogs run.

I know what my "average" sale is and below are some pics of the current PL Campaign that runs until just after Thanksgiving.  This campaign is almost 1/2 way over and the way the math stands right now, after eBay's $ 30 ad fee credit it will take ONE average sale to cover the current ad fees I will owe eBay.  That's good math considering 32 items have sold thus far ...

[dasarock]

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@pink.fish.rule wrote:

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@lindyslucky wrote:

I ran across a situation last week where every item like mine was promoted. (A vintage collectible) 

I was stymied. (Thank you for your reply Mr_Lincoln) .

At some point, the promoted items will saturate some categories. Then what?  If everything is promoted, it's promote, or your item just won't be seen. 

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But at some point if yours is the ONLY one (or one of a few) which isn't showing as "sponsored", maybe you can get the buyers who avoid sponsored listings?

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the previous ceo stated at or just after ebay open this year that ebay intends to open a 2nd tier of promoted listings that will trump promoted listings.  I forget what he called it though... another planned attempt to garner more funds from sellers.

[corvettestainless]

The biggest reason to do Promoted Listings is to keep other sellers items off of my pages. When you click a page, you see 'other Sponsored Listings' right across the center of your listing, before customers even get to the written details when scrolling. 

Now, customers see 'my other items' when seeing 'other sponsored items' as well as My items are on others that don't use Promoted...

All for 1% only. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@lindyslucky wrote:

Good point! 

We already do that!

we have waaaay over promoted a few things to see what happens.

Items get sold! 

But, it seems there will be a point of diminishing returns.

Then, do bigger stores get more $$ for promotions? 

Thats rhetorical, it already seems to be so.  

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Here's my opinion and since I see sales go up there must be some validity to it.  PL is more cut throat in highly saturated categories where Sellers are splitting ad fee % to get that extra penny edge on their competitor.  In low saturated categories I view PLs as an advantage to simply get more exposure and thus drive traffic.  At times I know I have the ONLY one of an item for sale on eBay but most of those are on my Auction style listings but occasionally they are GTC.  When I find an item that I am either interested in or just doing a Sold Search I will often see what else the Seller has to offer ... I think that's natural and is what happens when Buyers find an item from a Seller ... they snoop a little ...

[lindyslucky]

Do you think there are that many buyers that avoid promoted listings? 

I would like to think so, that there are buyers that look at feedback & price.

But, what I see is buyers who don't really know how to use the search options, and are not willing to use their time to find things they are looking for. (It's becoming more necessary to devote time, rather than putting in your highest auction bid) 

The whole "buyer experience" has gotten too complicated. Too many options,  buy it now, make offer, auction, recieve offers from sellers. It takes a lot to know how to navigate buying on eBay. We are still selling to a lot of low feedback buyers.  Probably easier for them to buy the first thing that comes up. (Promoted) 

Sometimes when hen I am at a B & M store, and there is computer trouble or the credit machine has a variety of buttons to push, sign or not  sign, etc. I will say "take my money and let me leave." 

I think a lot of ebay buyers probably feel the same way!