Promoted Listings Standard - Ad Rate Minimum Increasing (1% to 2%)

[wastingtime101]

Got this e-mail from eBay:

We're continuously evaluating the performance and impact quality of Promoted Listings Standard as a tool to drive seller success. As part of this work, effective July 11, we’ll be changing the minimum ad rate for Promoted Listings Standard from 1% to 2%. While we recognize this impacts your business, this change will ensure your campaigns remain competitive in reaching buyers in our growing marketplace, and also allow us to deliver products and services that drive best-in-class returns for eBay sellers.

Just in the past year, we’ve added new Promoted Listings Standard features like an all-in-one campaign dashboard and downloadable reports that provide sellers with a convenient way to review important campaign data. On July 11, we’ll be rolling out a new feature that’ll allow sellers to edit multiple listings at once for both Bulk and Simple campaigns. This’ll make it quicker to adjust ad rates versus having to make manual changes for each campaign.

And there’s more to come.

Next steps

We’d encourage you to adjust your ad rates that are below 2% on or before July 11 to 2% or higher so that your promoted listings can continue to appear in advertising placements across the eBay network. If you decide not to make any changes, those listings will still be active but won’t be promoted.

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

@valueaddedresource wrote:

"They also have two new ad types coming soon - Cost Per Click Promoted Display ads that show at the top of the View Items page and seller funded direct Google ads."

I started reading about Promoted Display and my main question circled around whether these "above the fold" ads are intended exclusively for stores, essentially advertising your own products within your own store search results. Since it will be a CPC model it's obviously geared towards mega sellers and large retailers that have a presence here.

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@wastingtime101  stores was my first thought too on Promoted Display. 

At the very end of VP Ad Alex Kazim's segment at Investor Day he said there would be an ad product for stores coming in the second half of the year.

There were no details given but by the way it was worded, my mind went to the idea that it would be an ad product to drive traffic to your store (which would make sense given everything they've done around the new stores experience and might actually be useful).

However, now I'm wondering if what they really meant was an ad product that displays on your store page.

The article I referenced in that thread said they would display on the View Items page, which every seller has whether they have a store or not, so it's still not clear to me exactly - was it originally meant just for stores and they've expanded the scope? Did they really mean store page but something maybe got lost in translation?

And why is eBay revealing this stuff on a niche marketing industry news site instead of/before telling sellers about it directly?!

It definitely left me with more questions than answers, for sure.

[dbfolks166mt]

      I have never used PL of any type an never will but I am not a high volume seller and do not depend on eBay for my livelihood. The following is a big snow job by eBay and is analogous to listing to a politician telling you what you want to hear. The sole purpose for the increase is to increase eBay's revenue and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

" We're continuously evaluating the performance and impact quality of Promoted Listings Standard as a tool to drive seller success. ............ While we recognize this impacts your business, this change will ensure your campaigns remain competitive in reaching buyers in our growing marketplace, and also allow us to deliver products and services that drive best-in-class returns for eBay sellers."

I am actually very grateful to those that do use PL hoping that those additional revenues to eBay will stave off any other fee increases that would have an adverse impact on my selling costs. 

[ulfesharpe]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

I do hope someone in the executive suite can explain the concept of "tipping point" to Jamie, because if ebay keeps this up, that tipping point might not be very far off. 

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Seems to me we're already there

[ulfesharpe]

bleep it, I'm cancelling all PL too

[dhbookds]

I'm presently promoting at 1.5%......have gotten no email......

My personal take on this.......based on nothing......is that the change 6/1 to include shipping/tax on the % rate caused a BIG dip in rates sellers choose.  Previously, I used 3-4%......  Someone panicked and threw out this 2% minimum to try to recoup lost revenue.  Whether it will be accepted/rejected by the vast majority of sellers NOT represented on this board remains to be seen....... Personally, I think I will opt out at least at the beginning.....

At the same time, I think Ebay may be counting on the outside Google advertising PL stuff (I have not studied the details) that will come (maybe) whenever they said to draw more buyers.  Despite the statements at various times that Motors will be the new "vertical" like sneakers, etc, there has been no blather about that so I wonder if it has been sidelined or perhaps too complicated to get done.  If that's true......they had to have been counting on it to produce more sales which hasn't happened, so more reason to try up revenue from the proven cash cow of PL........

The only other "income enhancer" I can see coming is the Vault....which could be a success in that it will encourage turnover on high end items......with the accompanying increase in the number of fvf of those items....  but, of course, that depends on the increase in value of the items...how many times can a $10,000 item increase in what time period?  Can the item increase in value enough to be resold at a reasonable profit to the holder?  I can see a possible boom then bust......but they should be able to collect enough rent to make something out of the investment.

Again, personally........with the loss of Harry, the new guy in charge of something concerning sales.....seems like to me the "long term plan" is floundering or rather they haven't instituted a new one.   They've invested time/money into upgrading the back end computer stuff, they upgraded IS, I think to most categories, the high end verticals programs are in place..........so what's next?   How can they get more buyers to Ebay?  Been a long time (to me) since they've placed any general emphasis on that.....except to try to lure them in with the vertical stuff....perhaps the paid Google ads will do it or at least get them back on that track.

Going to be an interesting year.

Just thoughts......

[fern*wood]

I have a bad feeling that if this change doesn't create the numbers they want (or worsens them), then a rate increase will be coming our way for everyone.  They tend to get their way one way or another. 

[kabilab]

As a seller, I am in, what I assume is, a minority; I only list items I am unable to sell in my store. Monthly, I reduce the price until It reaches a level where it would be more advantageous to donate. If the PL rate is no longer acceptable, merely exit the option. 

[siamjane8]

      Its a shame that they just have no real understanding of this business. no vision, no direction, and definitely no understanding of its customer base.   Ebay is a reactionary company.   They never fix or put effort into the root problems, just raise fees when revenue is down. PL has probably slumped as people realized that its not a good value, there is no transparency, and promoting within the site is not really that helpful.   Instead of improving the platform for sellers and advertising and bringing in more buyers- the knee jerk reaction is to squeeze another 1% out of sellers.   Not  understanding or anticipating that a good portion of sellers will discontinue using PL out of principle, thereby causing another deficit and the cycle continues as the platform declines further.  

    Ebay fails to recognize the human aspect of what ebay is- individuals trying to make money.  

[nuclearomen]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

@dolcetreasures wrote:

"Having every expense paid in cash directly to eBay has also completely removed the previous incentive for cash back rewards and points through the credit cards we previously used."

Yeah, that was a huge blow for me. I used my cash back rewards from paying the eBay bill each month to invest in new inventory.

@nuclearomen wrote:

"the 1% election rate was dead 2 years ago and those seasoned with PLS know that very well"

Yes and no. In many categories that's 100% accurate, but in other categories the 1% still works very well. GF says that 1% won't do squat in clothing, bags, books, music, movies to name a few.

@valueaddedresource wrote:

"They also have two new ad types coming soon - Cost Per Click Promoted Display ads that show at the top of the View Items page and seller funded direct Google ads."

I started reading about Promoted Display and my main question circled around whether these "above the fold" ads are intended exclusively for stores, essentially advertising your own products within your own store search results. Since it will be a CPC model it's obviously geared towards mega sellers and large retailers that have a presence here.

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@wastingtime101 
True there are still some categories the 1% election strategy still (or did) work, speaking in terms of most categories and my categories of music / books / video game related (though, truthfully any more mostly just music but I pulled all my listings from another site about month ago where it was all video game related merch, eventually just going to list them here - but I'm too lazy in the motivation dept lately to do it lol). The part i said that 2% will soon be dead is because once PL's started to really catch and more and more used them the 1% election became the standard, thus there became no real benefit to electing at 1%, if everyone else in the category is electing the same 1% including your competitors then that PL will likely not get much action - exception is of course if there aren't any other or very few other listings for same item up on ebay, but unless you check listing everyday to see you don't know, in categories like media, at any given moment someone else can list same thing. 

Idk about credit card thing - I tend to run and hide when ebay sends me credit card offers lol - but they did eliminate the 10% TRP discount that was credited at end of month and that did pay for my store, they of course still give it, but it's credited via discount on FVF now immediately at time of sale... just another aspect to what ebay cut or changed in terms of "perks"

The CPC model would normally be used by larger sellers, but this CPC Promo Display - if it will be on sellers store that maybe different and could possibly work for any seller since buyer would actually have to go to your store to see / click it, thinking the amount of worthless clicks would be greatly reduced(?) idk - just a thought. 

[corsev_777]

Remember a few years ago when eBay told us getting rid of PayPal would make things cheaper for us? Every time they make a change (which seems to happen on a daily basis now), it’s a power grab using their monopoly over the industry to take a bigger cut from everyone. I’m surprised at this point they even try to say it’s to “improve the experience”. Just tell it like it is. Like, for example, how a few weeks ago, eBay  took away the ability to see exactly how much a promotion percentage would cost. It’s very easy math to do on your own, but how exactly does taking away the ability to see it automatically help the seller? In what way is that for our benefit? The only thing that does at all is make it a little more difficult for us. It was another move to try to trick people into paying for a higher percentage, not knowing how much they would have to pay until after it was sold. But when eBay sellers proved to not be as stupid as eBay  expected them to be, they just raised the minimum percentage all together. In 10 years, if another private selling app doesn’t start competing with eBay, they will likely be taking about 50% of anything we sell. And we will still see all these “people” saying things like “well it’s actually way better than it is on any other website”. Which obviously means nothing, BECAUSE THERE IS NO OTHER WEBSITE.

[dhbookds]

eBay took away the ability to see exactly how much a promotion percentage would cost. It’s very easy math to do on your own, but how exactly does taking away the ability to see it automatically help the seller? In what way is that for our benefit?

@corsev_777 

They CAN"T show the PL cost in dollar terms any more......since it now includes shipping and taxes......and those can't be figured until a buyer buys and they know the shipping cost & tax to them........

[valueaddedresource]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

The CPC model would normally be used by larger sellers, but this CPC Promo Display - if it will be on sellers store that maybe different and could possibly work for any seller since buyer would actually have to go to your store to see / click it, thinking the amount of worthless clicks would be greatly reduced(?) idk - just a thought. 

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@nuclearomen  my big concern about Promo Display is, what are they going to put in that ad slot if you *don't* opt in?

They say it's going to be "above the fold" on the View Items page, presumably that's going to be somewhere between the top of the page and where your store header or list of items starts - which means your items will likely be pushed down the page/require more scrolling to see.

Some sellers use PLS at the minimum rate at least in part so that at least some of the ad space on the listing page points to their listings vs competitors (essentially paying ad fees just to reserve some of the real estate on the listing page).

My concern is that sellers may end up being put in the same position with Promo Display, depending on how eBay handles that ad space if you choose not to opt in - is it just left blank or will they show other ads there?

To be clear, I have no idea at this point if they will show competitor ads in that space or not because eBay has not released much information. The article references those ads being aimed at repeat customers but...are those the individual account/store owner's repeat customers or repeat buyers on eBay more generally?

Again it's not clear and there could be room for interpretation. So until we get some more detailed, direct communication, it's up in the air for me whether or not it will be worth it for sellers to participate.

[ittybitnot]

 so it's really that ebay should looking for ways to help buyers keep coming to make purchases..

@nuclearomen 

They had one...it was called eBay Bucks.   Unfortunately, the drawback was that it was funded by eBay.  

Presently, eBay is moving to the "funded by the seller" model.  Wait for it, eBay is NOT finished. 

[ittybitnot]

 And we will still see all these “people” saying things like “well it’s actually way better than it is on any other website”. Which obviously means nothing, BECAUSE THERE IS NO OTHER WEBSITE.

@corsev_777 

The internet is a big place now.  It is no longer true that eBay is the only place that gets sales.  That pitcher of Kool-Aid went dry years ago.   

[nuclearomen]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

The CPC model would normally be used by larger sellers, but this CPC Promo Display - if it will be on sellers store that maybe different and could possibly work for any seller since buyer would actually have to go to your store to see / click it, thinking the amount of worthless clicks would be greatly reduced(?) idk - just a thought. 

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@nuclearomen  my big concern about Promo Display is, what are they going to put in that ad slot if you *don't* opt in?

They say it's going to be "above the fold" on the View Items page, presumably that's going to be somewhere between the top of the page and where your store header or list of items starts - which means your items will likely be pushed down the page/require more scrolling to see.

Some sellers use PLS at the minimum rate at least in part so that at least some of the ad space on the listing page points to their listings vs competitors (essentially paying ad fees just to reserve some of the real estate on the listing page).

My concern is that sellers may end up being put in the same position with Promo Display, depending on how eBay handles that ad space if you choose not to opt in - is it just left blank or will they show other ads there?

To be clear, I have no idea at this point if they will show competitor ads in that space or not because eBay has not released much information. The article references those ads being aimed at repeat customers but...are those the individual account/store owner's repeat customers or repeat buyers on eBay more generally?

Again it's not clear and there could be room for interpretation. So until we get some more detailed, direct communication, it's up in the air for me whether or not it will be worth it for sellers to participate.

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idk either, but if they are targeting View Items Page or Store real estate it should only show any ad that the user of that account activates. Can see users going berserk if they display others ads on their real estate - especially on store - that users pays for to have. 

Yes, and I have said that thousand times as to why I personally use PL's, because the top row of suggested listings will be filled with your PL's and also, usually the last row on the bottom, that is the purpose of the minimal election, but it doesn't hold sway to search results - only works for listings. But gains you some "extra" exposure on your own listings and that while is crazy in itself, ebay designed it to be more like amazon and how they display PL's on their site listings.