Promotion Fees Not Displayed?

[bethsattic3031]

When you go to promote your item, was it not previously showing how much it costs ? I noticed, no fee is being shown, and no matter what percentage rate you choose, it's not displaying how much you'll pay? Was it not showing the costs of the promotion before, or am I just thinking it was? Has Ebay seriously hidden this feature now,  so you have no idea what fees you will pay??

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Are you using Promoted Listings Standard? And , if so, are you using the "Automated" version? That shows as Automated (no number, because it varies day by day) in your Active listings panel in Seller Hub. 

Or...are you talking about after a sale, that ebay isn't showing you the cost of the ad fee?  

It would help if you gave us some details.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Ah, OK, my mistake. I think you are saying previously, if you chose a percentage rate for Promoted Listings standard, ebay would tell you the dollar amount of the PLS fee based on the dollar amount of your item and the rate. However, ebay can no longer show you the dollar amount, because it can vary....since the fee is now calculated not on the item price , but on the total of item price, sales tax and shipping...which can vary for each purchase. So, basically, now you can take a ballpark guess to figure out what it is likely to cost you....

[bethsattic3031]

I may not have explained it clearly, but yes I'm talking about before a sale.  Ok, so it seems there has definitely been a change there. I didn't know if it's a glitch or what.  Thanks for explaining, as that makes more sense now. I do not like this at all, but there's really not much left to like on Ebay at this point.

 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@bethsattic3031  The change was announced a few months ago, in the Seller Update. It went into effect June 1st. Previously, the PLS fee was based on the item price alone. Now----just like the regular Final Value Fee---it is based on the total price: item price, plus shipping, plus any sales tax.

I think it is pretty safe to say no one likes the change (except ebay and its shareholders).  I adjusted my PLS rates before June 1st, and we'll see how it goes. 

It's not only more money in ebay's pocket with no extra effort on ebay's part, but also less work for ebay, since they can now calculate this the same as FVF.

As far as an upside for sellers, I don't see any. But, as you say, nothing we can do about it except adjust how we handle our Promoted Listings.

[anne3261]

I used to quickly add it when I was listing something new.  Lately I find myself just skipping over it because it's too much of a hassle to stop and try to figure it out.  When you could simply glance at it and quickly add it to a new listing and adjust your price accordingly it was just a quick impulse thing.  But now that they can't show you the price it makes it easier to just skip it (especially if you're listing a bunch of stuff). 

I do "get" why they can't show it now......and I'm really not even complaining about it (since I have NO idea if it ever helped much anyway).  Just making an observation.  And I'd venture to guess there's a lot of sellers who....... rather than stop and try to figure out the different percentages and what they MIGHT have to pay........ just skip it altogether

[scorebuys]

I used to like the feature but now seems ebay removed it so that we sellers no longer are able to make wise decisions and so they now want us to work blindly so they can make more money....its like removing the numbers on a weight machine so that we are not able to know what we have and then overpaying.....but its going to karma back to ebay becuase I am just skipping it

[slippinjimmy]

we sellers no longer are able to make wise decisions

You could "cheat" and use a calculator!

[free2beyou]

YUP! Me too, no longer doing promoted listings. If they can't automate the amount it will cost me then I'm not going to promote it. If I make most of my sales on Poshmark or Mercari as a result, so be it!