Promoted Listings Question

[shes*a*beauty]

So I am just wondering exactly how Promoted Listings works as far as search results.  When you pay the extra cash to promote your listing (and you go with Ebay's recommended % or even a higher percent) shouldn't your listing appear somewhere at the top of the search results?  If not, what exactly is the benefits of promoting?  Am I missing something here?

[luckythewinner]

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When you pay the extra cash to promote your listing

You do not pay extra cash to promote. You agree to pay higher fees only if the buyer purchases via the promoted listing and not the regular listing. (I know it is a minor point, but I don;t want readers to be misled.) 

shouldn't your listing appear somewhere at the top of the search results

No.  It merely increases the chances that your promoted listing will appear somewhere near the top. 

Promoted listings do not guarantee that you will be near the top, because that would be physically impossible if dozens of promoted item came back in the search. eBay reserves a certain number of promoted spots, and promoted listings are rotated through these spots. 

If your item is not promoted, your item is still visible and you wqould not pay the increased fee if the buyer found it through a normal non-promoted listing. 

[shes*a*beauty]

shouldn't your listing appear somewhere at the top of the search results

No.  It merely increases the chances that your promoted listing will appear somewhere near the top.

Ok I didn't realize that.  I'm not so sure the promoted listings fee is actually worth the cost now.  Unless there are other benefits I'm not aware of 😞

[hpenryessentials]

Does this affect top rated seller placements as well? I've also wondered where the suggested percentages come from and what promoting your listings actually does. I always assumed the higher the percentage, the more exposure. Is it better to list items as top rated or to promote? 

[meme6253]

I keep wondering about that myself!

[pooh333piglet]

I feel like Promoted listings sell more definitely on the app. I dont have any evidence to prove that.

Also I wouldn't promote higher than the recommendation. In fact I would try lower and see how it goes. Try it out on some listings. When a listing sells you will know if promoted and charged. It's about 50/50 chance. Again my opinion. 

[acem4]

Have you noticed that bid items hardly ever sell any more?  Also, did you know that you cannot promote bid items?

[calntom]

I sell some items from promoted listings. I don't offer eBay more than 1% on any promoted listing.  I figure it is worth it at 1% from what I see in sales increase via the promoted listing sales. 

[ryanrobyn]

Never chose the recommended amount - they are there to make Ebay more money. Studies have been done that show 1% brings in the same results as higher % does. Ebay actually goes times where hardly any promotions show up. Seems that once sellers get onto this Ebay kicks up their views again for awhile. Sellers MUST always be on guard.

[dhbookds]

It's not only search results that PL show........... They are in the lines of products in the middle of listings and on the sides of listings,  Note the "Sponsored items for you"  on the left of these listings...........those are PL that I've looked at...............or ebay has decided I might want based on searches..............

[slippinjimmy]

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@shes*a*beauty wrote:

shouldn't your listing appear somewhere at the top of the search results

No.  It merely increases the chances that your promoted listing will appear somewhere near the top.

Ok I didn't realize that.  I'm not so sure the promoted listings fee is actually worth the cost now.  Unless there are other benefits I'm not aware of 😞

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Promoted listings appear on other sellers listing pages, appear in sidebars, are included in promotional emails eBay sends out and other places unrelated to search results.

Placement in those areas are as important or perhaps more important than showing up in regular search results.

As previously pointed out, if you don't make a sale directly from a promoted listing then you pay no fees at all. So either they work and you pay extra or they don't work and you pay nothing.

That said, no matter how much you promote there has to be buyers wanting to purchase your goods. It doesn't matter how many times eBay shows me your listings, I have ZERO interest in woman's jeans. Even I had an interest you would still need to have the lowest price or I would buy from another seller.

[robxznyc]

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@shes*a*beauty wrote:

shouldn't your listing appear somewhere at the top of the search results

No.  It merely increases the chances that your promoted listing will appear somewhere near the top.

Ok I didn't realize that.  I'm not so sure the promoted listings fee is actually worth the cost now.  Unless there are other benefits I'm not aware of 😞

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How did you decide the promoted listing fee isn't worth the cost? 

1. The cost is variable. You can set your promotion rate from 1% to 99%. At 1% your listing has a smaller chance of being placed on top of the search results, while 99% might guarantee the top placement. Its effectiveness is also contingent on the rates set by other sellers. 

2. Search result placement is only one benefit of promoted listing. Promoted listings also appear in various banners as a viewer browses the eBay site, e.g. eBay homepage, listing page both above and below listing description, side banner of search result page, etc.

3. Promoted listing is a tool designed to improve not only listing impressions (visibility), but also your brand. You don't know how many viewers visited your store page and your other listings and subsequently made purchases because they clicked on one listing you promoted.

So before you make the decision whether it's worth it, I think you should give it a try.

[theteamsetguy]

There are a couple big of reasons bid item don’t sell as well as the past in my opinion.

1. Buyers don’t like to wait for the auction to end.

2. A lot of sellers set the minimum bid too high for fear of selling too cheap.

Sellers have to entice buyers to bid. What do a lot good realtors do when they want to sell a house fast and for highest price? They purposely list the home 10k to 20k less than what the house should sell for in order to start bidding war.

There’s a seller gregmorriscards who uses the same concept on eBay by starting all items at 99 cents. A lot of times his items end up selling for more than the same item sold another seller.

[reallynicestamps]

I'm not so sure the promoted listings fee is actually worth the cost now.

The cost is zero, unless someone buys a Promoted Listing.

Zero is a pretty good price for occasional higher visibility in Searches.

Unless there are other benefits I'm not aware of

The number of Views I get from PL has dropped by about 2/3 since I first opted for it in Nov/19.

Then my (long tail, slow moving) items went from 10 or 12 Views a month to hundreds.

Now we are down to 20-30 Views monthly.

But.

While my sales also increased, it wasn't the Promoted Listings that sold.

It was my other  unPromoted listings that were flying out the door (for a given value of flying-- as I say-- slow moving).

So I got and continue to get more sales, while NOT paying anything for those unsold Promoted Listings.

I didn't keep close track after March because of the pandemic surge in sales, but my Jan-March 2020 sales were up by 200-300%. And I noticed today that on one of my IDs my January 2021 sales are up 89% over 2020.

Free advertising, increased sales, no* fees.

Seems reasonable.

*I paid out less than $10 in PL fees in Jan/20. I only use 1% as my chosen fee.