Promoted Listings?

[shepar58]

Can someone please explain the promoted listings feature. What does it mean and how much does it cost. I have read and re-read the articles over and over and I just do not understand what it is and cannot find what the cost for it is? I would so appreciate it? Thanks so much! 😒  😁

[toysaver]

I am a latecomer to the process but believe it has increased my sales.   

If you look at any of your listings you'll see tons of similar items.  They appear because they are promoted.  I promote many items at 5% but you can go higher or lower.   That means when I have a sale eBay takes an additional 5%.   The deduction appears in the payment summary just like a shipping label.  It's possible to have a sale that was not generated from promoted listings and eBay then takes no additional fee.   

[pls-consignments]

I would exercise extreme caution in using it or deciding what percentage you would like to give to eBay. If you decide to use it as demonstrated from @toysaver , be patient as it may take a couple of weeks to see any benefit. Therefore, resist the urge to keep increasing your percentage in hopes of an immediate reciprocal return.

[lb23cavaliersmvp]

I never add PLs to my listings because in general I'm not selling items that 50 other sellers are listing and when there are multiple listings they are not in the same condition. That said why not search for 5 items you have listed and see where in the cue your listings appear. If you are 48th out of 50 and your profit margin can afford to take a 5-10% hit on your net maybe try it but if not then it might tell you that you need to sell different items.

[jonathanbrightlight · Accepted solution]

So it's worth noting that there are multiple ways you can promote your listings on eBay.  One is paid only when an item sells, but several other ways are pay-per-click and you pay whether your item sells or not.  Some types of items benefit from promoted listings (particularly items with lots of competition), while more unique items are less likely to benefit.  I'd suggest you give this page a careful read: https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/ebay-advertising/promoted-listings 

[luckythewinner]

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@shepar58 wrote:

Can someone please explain the promoted listings feature. What does it mean and how much does it cost. I have read and re-read the articles over and over and I just do not understand what it is and cannot find what the cost for it is? I would so appreciate it? Thanks so much! 😒  😁

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eBay sets aside a certain number of "special" spaces in the search results. These "special" spaces are filled randomly by matching listings that have been promoted by sellers. 

When you promote a listing, you set a percentage of the buyer's total payment that you are willing to pay eBay in order to give your listing a chance to be placed into one of those "special" spaces. The higher the percentage you offer to eBay, the more likely your listing will be to appear in those "special" spaces and thus get better visibility and hopefully a better chance of selling. 

After a buyer clicks on any of your listings while it is in one of those "special" spaces,  for the next 30 days you will pay your promoted listing percentage for any promoted listing that buyer purchases from you. 

For example:

Let's say you promote widget 1 and widget 2 and a buyer clicks on widget 1 while it is in one of those "special" spaces but decides not to buy it. If that buyer comes back 25 days later and buys widget 2 from you, you will pay the promotion fee for widget 2 even though it might never have been in  one of those "special" spaces. 

[jonathanbrightlight]

Oh, and @shepar58 , I also wanted to make it very clear: Promoted Listings do not guarantee views or sales.  They only theoretically guarantee more Impressions (meaning times your item shows up in search results), but that is not guaranteed to translate into Views (meaning someone clicked on your listing to view the details), or sales. That doesn't mean they're a bad thing, you just need to understand what you're paying for if you choose to use them.

[bashort]

Remember that promoted listings exists for the sole purpose of increasing ebay revenue. They are not at all concerned with helping you sell more

[valueaddedresource]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@shepar58 wrote:

Can someone please explain the promoted listings feature. What does it mean and how much does it cost. I have read and re-read the articles over and over and I just do not understand what it is and cannot find what the cost for it is? I would so appreciate it? Thanks so much! 😒  😁

---

eBay sets aside a certain number of "special" spaces in the search results. These "special" spaces are filled randomly by matching listings that have been promoted by sellers. 

When you promote a listing, you set a percentage of the buyer's total payment that you are willing to pay eBay in order to give your listing a chance to be placed into one of those "special" spaces. The higher the percentage you offer to eBay, the more likely your listing will be to appear in those "special" spaces and thus get better visibility and hopefully a better chance of selling. 

After a buyer clicks on any of your listings while it is in one of those "special" spaces,  for the next 30 days you will pay your promoted listing percentage for any promoted listing that buyer purchases from you. 

For example:

Let's say you promote widget 1 and widget 2 and a buyer clicks on widget 1 while it is in one of those "special" spaces but decides not to buy it. If that buyer comes back 25 days later and buys widget 2 from you, you will pay the promotion fee for widget 2 even though it might never have been in  one of those "special" spaces. 

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@luckythewinner  this is missing a huge piece of the puzzle - it's not just special spaces in search where ads can appear.

In fact, the vast majority of impressions for Promoted Listings ads comes from the hundreds of ad slots you will find on each and every listing on the site.

[aeparts1]

I've chosen to Just Say No to promoted listings and am doing just fine.

[bdmh-enterprises]

I suspect the vast majority of sellers using them would see better results by throwing that money into a wishing well...

[inhawaii]

My way of thinking...

Ebay wouldn't offer it if it didn't make them money.

If it makes ebay money, it costs you money.

I don't participate in it and i'm doing just fine.

[jonathanbrightlight]

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@bashort wrote:

Remember that promoted listings exists for the sole purpose of increasing ebay revenue. They are not at all concerned with helping you sell more

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I don’t think that’s quite accurate. After all, eBay makes money when items sell. They don’t really have any other incentive than the ad revenue to drive sales to one seller’s listings than another’s, for the most part, but they do want items to sell in general, and if they have a choice, I’m sure they’d prefer that it be Promoted Listings that sell.

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

Even when you understand promoted listings general, advanced, priority, etc, it won't matter as eBay changes the terms from month to month. It's a comedy act at this point and only shows how they rely on it for profits. Meanwhile, products on eBay have the highest prices because of sellers using promoted listings.

[luckythewinner]

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Ebay wouldn't offer it if it didn't make them money.

I agree. 

If it makes ebay money, it costs you money.

I disagree. If it makes eBay money, it costs someone money.

That someone might be the seller who is promoting his items - because his costs go up. 

That someone might also be the seller who is not promoting his items, because he lost his sales to the seller who is promoting his items. 

One seller might see a gain by promoting certain items, but that same seller might also see a loss from promoting other items.

It is a complicated playing field that varies from seller to seller and from item to item.