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.

[gracieallen01]

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@heckofagame wrote:

Anyone have any experience with any website creation software?

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Try 'Dreamweaver' if you can still find it.  Learning curve can be steep, but well worth it.

[katzrul15]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

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@chlipp-78 wrote:

The fact that they're making this change almost immediately after they started charging promoted fees on shipping shows just how greedy they are and how little respect they have for sellers... that was a huge change against sellers and they couldn't even give it two or three months to let it blow over. It's like hurricane season where one storm is immediately followed by another storm without hesitation... so destructive and sickening. 

At what point will sellers stand together and say enough is enough? We really need a social media presence with hundreds of thousands of followers, like an accountability account, so if they decide to hurt us they will at least receive negative publicity for it that can't be ignored... right now the backlash is too small and scattered to get them to listen. Negative publicity won't stop them from making greedy moves, but it could get them to think twice and slow them down. 

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Never - and ebay knows it.

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So very true.  It would be great to have a boycott day, but boycott what?  Unless a huge number of sellers all went on time away at one time, it would only be the pebble in the ocean effect.

[nuclearomen]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

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@chlipp-78 wrote:

The fact that they're making this change almost immediately after they started charging promoted fees on shipping shows just how greedy they are and how little respect they have for sellers... that was a huge change against sellers and they couldn't even give it two or three months to let it blow over. It's like hurricane season where one storm is immediately followed by another storm without hesitation... so destructive and sickening. 

At what point will sellers stand together and say enough is enough? We really need a social media presence with hundreds of thousands of followers, like an accountability account, so if they decide to hurt us they will at least receive negative publicity for it that can't be ignored... right now the backlash is too small and scattered to get them to listen. Negative publicity won't stop them from making greedy moves, but it could get them to think twice and slow them down. 

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Never - and ebay knows it.

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So very true.  It would be great to have a boycott day, but boycott what?  Unless a huge number of sellers all went on time away at one time, it would only be the pebble in the ocean effect.

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it won't happen, heard people talk about this forever, no one took it seriously, especially ebay. 
The game will remain played as always been, adjust to changes or be run out. Most sellers will find ways to adjust and make profit doing so. The benefit to ebay is you get do this every quarterly update, just come to expect it, 1-2-3... years later still here doing what you do. I guess if people can't adjust to the 1% minimal increase to sales that may or may not happen on a PLS (if any can predict sale to be on a PLS or Normal listing fill us all in btw). This only effects those who only elect the current minimal of 1% for their listings, but the 1% election rate was dead 2 years ago and those seasoned with PLS know that very well. 

[vintagecraze50]

I really try to wrap my head around having sellers raising their prices to accommodate the additional promoted listing increase. It would seem more logical to not do this so that sellers could continue to be able to offer product a bit lower to buyers to create MORE LARGER FVF and Sales. It seems almost half butt backwards, but hey I guess they know what they are doing.

[nuclearomen]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

I really try to wrap my head around having sellers raising their prices to accommodate the additional promoted listing increase. It would seem more logical to not do this so that sellers could continue to be able to offer product a bit lower to buyers to create MORE LARGER FVF and Sales. It seems almost half butt backwards, but hey I guess they know what they are doing.

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price increases are part of business, just as price deceases. ATM everyone selling everything are experiencing price increases, and those selling and spending more from increases to acquire product, supplies for shipping those items, etc... I do agree that ebay could be spending their time to find ways to help lighten the strain of costs to sellers, by enabling it's sellers to afford some savings to pass to the buyers - the ones who matter most, no buyers, no sales so it's really that ebay should looking for ways to help buyers keep coming to make purchases....unfortunately doesn't ever seem like that is ebay's interest and so it's up to each and every individual seller to attract buyers. Fact is ebay knows their ace in the hole for income is the fees they charge their sellers + things like store subscriptions, just easy target for them to say "hey, thanks for selling on ebay for xx amount of time, btw, so you know, a month from now we are increasing the fees on (fill in the blank) and we don't care what you think about it"  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@nuclearomen @valueaddedresource 

Thank you both for your input.  I was not aware of all the promos, I think I heard about 1 of them.  I also was not aware of the very interesting terminology Value quoted from that analyst call.  Yeah, they are for sure setting low expectations.  

Nuclear you are correct that one of the reasons I haven't used it is b/c I sell one-offs, but that actually isn't the main reason.  The main reason is that even being a techie, it's too in-the-weeds for me.  It's like that thing Warren Buffet says (paraphrasing) about if you can't understand the company, don't invest.  I don't understand the program, much of the terminology or what I'm getting for my $$ & without those things being present, I'm not going to use it.  

I do use PLS extensively & b/c of my category, at rates that are WAY higher than 1 or 2% (also I still have not rec'd today's email, I wonder if that's a coincidence or not), but I was not really positive about the pgm to begin with.  I still have concerns about it, BUT I get amazing results, so I stick with it. 

I'll take a look at that link for the new types that are coming too, but probably too rich for my blood. 

[cdvar]

I think the fact that ebay recently removed the feature where they calculate for you up front exactly how much extra you're agreeing to pay if your item sells via promoted listings says a lot.  Removing that level of transparency just seems shady.  And now this.  About half of my sells come from promoted listings, but I have no idea if that means the buyer wouldn't have seen it, if it wasn't promoted.   So, I'd like to see a lot better transparency on where the sell came from.  I too set most of my  items (all used) at 1% as well.  But, I use the recommended amount on items that might justify it, IF it's not too unreasonable - unreasonable being anything over 5% extra.  But, I can't tell that using the recommended percentage brings in any more traffic than setting your own, and the recommendations are pretty all over the place, sometimes being twice as high for the exact same type item.  So, again, ebay's doesn't do much to encourage a sense of trust. 

I don't get exactly how rampant inflation caused mostly by fuel prices justifies price hikes from a hands-off e-commerce company that doesn't do anything but maintain a virtual marketplace, unless electric prices have permanently skyrocketed wherever their servers are located.  Surely they're not actually trying to make up for a struggling market out of pure unadulterated greed.  But, ebay never has seemed to think they should have to suffer along with everybody else.

[nuclearomen]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@nuclearomen @valueaddedresource 

Thank you both for your input.  I was not aware of all the promos, I think I heard about 1 of them.  I also was not aware of the very interesting terminology Value quoted from that analyst call.  Yeah, they are for sure setting low expectations.  

Nuclear you are correct that one of the reasons I haven't used it is b/c I sell one-offs, but that actually isn't the main reason.  The main reason is that even being a techie, it's too in-the-weeds for me.  It's like that thing Warren Buffet says (paraphrasing) about if you can't understand the company, don't invest.  I don't understand the program, much of the terminology or what I'm getting for my $$ & without those things being present, I'm not going to use it.  

I do use PLS extensively & b/c of my category, at rates that are WAY higher than 1 or 2% (also I still have not rec'd today's email, I wonder if that's a coincidence or not), but I was not really positive about the pgm to begin with.  I still have concerns about it, BUT I get amazing results, so I stick with it. 

I'll take a look at that link for the new types that are coming too, but probably too rich for my blood. 

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It's not "you" specifically, it's just general with PLA's, one off items will be very hard to use PLA's and make profit that will be worth the investment of time and money to do a PLA on... Since your paying per click and being can't determine how long something will be listed till it sells, playing russian roulette with your money.

stick with the PLS format, especially if your results have been more then satisfying for you. When PLS started (was the only PL format they had anyways at the time) 1% election rate sored sales, then they went flat when ebay started to greed it out, 1% election rate doesn't quite do anything these days, and soon nor will 2% once every seller using PLA's all have to elect 2% minimal, need to invest more then competitors to get advantage with it...but I'd never (really NEVER) elect what ebay suggests, especially when those suggested rates drop within a day or few from listing and usually dramatically) then they returned, and now I would say, in general PLS' make at least half my sales per month, but, they usually happen with new buyers, my repeat buyers seem to avoid PL's - maybe because they aren't searching ebay search but going to my store instead ....whatever the reason PLS works fine, no need to highly complicate things with PLA that will ultimately loss me money anyways.  

[albany_sellers]

I am with most of you guys, I just ended all of my promoted listings.  I was at a standard 2% across the board and this would not have affected me, but enough is enough. No more fees, no more reaching into our pockets to appease investors. 

eBay could have left well enough alone and continued getting what they were getting, but they need to understand that money grabs like this will be having the opposite effect. We all need to be on the same page and boycott promoted listings completely. Even if this change does not affect us personally, eventually it will or something else will.

I am getting very close to taking my ball and going somewhere else if this sort of thing keeps happening.

[nkpina2014]

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@cdvar wrote:

I think the fact that ebay recently removed the feature where they calculate for you up front exactly how much extra you're agreeing to pay if your item sells via promoted listings says a lot.  Removing that level of transparency just seems shady.  And now this.  About half of my sells come from promoted listings, but I have no idea if that means the buyer wouldn't have seen it, if it wasn't promoted.   So, I'd like to see a lot better transparency on where the sell came from.  I too set most of my  items (all used) at 1% as well.  But, I use the recommended amount on items that might justify it, IF it's not too unreasonable - unreasonable being anything over 5% extra.  But, I can't tell that using the recommended percentage brings in any more traffic than setting your own, and the recommendations are pretty all over the place, sometimes being twice as high for the exact same type item.  So, again, ebay's doesn't do much to encourage a sense of trust. 

I don't get exactly how rampant inflation caused mostly by fuel prices justifies price hikes from a hands-off e-commerce company that doesn't do anything but maintain a virtual marketplace, unless electric prices have permanently skyrocketed wherever their servers are located.  Surely they're not actually trying to make up for a struggling market out of pure unadulterated greed.  But, ebay never has seemed to think they should have to suffer along with everybody else.

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Inflation should have zero to do with it. This isn't a flat rate increase, it's already a percentage. As the price of goods increases with inflation (y'know, the definition of inflation), that 1% naturally rises with it. 

2% minimum is a fee hike. Plain and simple. 

[rugerskick]

Only the most competitive categories really see promoted listings making a significsnt difference to sellers.  They are not the large majority of ebay categories.  I am sorry and aware this doesn't help sellers who do sell in the more competitive categories that it does help them in.

[rugerskick]

Its pretty clear their revenue strategy for higher profits is to increase fees and things like this, but it all boils down to taking more from sellers.  Not trying to increase the number of buyers here.  Not doing ad campaigns that appeal to most buyers here.  No effective type of campaigns like the very successful "I found it on Ebay" series of ads for all different kinds of items.  That could be made for all different types of items and potential buyers.

[wastingtime101]

@ckimodog 

Yes, I will still use PLS but will adjust my strategy. It will take more of my time initially as I need to do a thorough review to see where/how I'll use it and where I may not. I'll make it as easy as possible and review based on subcategory.

What do I think of this change? That will take more time to answer. Work is crazy this week and I've been up all night, but I will get back to you on it.

@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.

[powell-memorabilia]

I’ve been accused of being an eBay cheerleader, but I’m scratching my head on this one.  It isn’t about 1%, 2%, etc. - it is about PL as an idea.

PL is horrible for buyers.  eBay is knowingly and purposefully demoting listings that are a better match for a buyer.  short term, sure, this helps eBay.  Long term, it creates dissatisfaction and buyer exits.

I use PL on each of my accounts, but it really isn’t right for the buyer.  He shouldn’t have to wade through prompted listings to find a better seller at a better price.

[deep_purple_katharine_3]

Your comment about 2% becoming the lowest tier going forward was very helpful - equivalent to promoting at 1% today. Purely a money grab, I would see no benefit to revising upward, and potentially a loss if I do

not pay to play. I'll have to think more about this. I try to be very supportive to eBay since they have been

good to me. Interested in hearing how others will handle this latest circumstance.