Promotion on 200+ items - Results so far - 1 click ???

[cathydale]

I ran a promotion on all of my listings at the medium range ad rate.  I can see in search that some of the items are showing up on the first page sometimes - bottom of first page - but so far has not helped - Had 1 click and I think it may have been me ??

[ckudika]

I've noticed a drop in sales for the items I have promoted over the last month or so. With the recent change that eliminates the duplicate un-promoted listing in search there was discussion of whether ad blockers are causing promoted listings to be totally hidden. The official statement from Ebay is that that's not the case, but I've seen mixed opinions from people talking about it on these boards. Seems like some ad blockers may be doing it and others arent.

I would like to hear from more people about what they are seeing as far as listings being hidden. 

I've also considered making duplicate un-promoted listings for some of my top sellers, but I'm not entirely certain how much I would need to make them different from each other in order to not violate the duplicate listing policy.

[amricons]

eBay promo is a outdated SEO program for ad placement within their own site. Internet . It has really screwed up searches within the site.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I'm hoping this a result of Fall breaks. Schools now take a whole week off in this area. Families on travel, outdoor sports, Fall festivals, and getting their yards ready for winter.

[nineteenfiftyfour]

I took off my promoted listings when this happened and have seen no decrease in sales. I am on eBay.ca. It might just a money grab.

[amricons]

If you recall in the 1st quarter eBay annual report, they announced that they were cutting back on advertising and recently they have reduced the co-share  with 3rd parties for their referrals.    eBay should be spending on R&D or advertising as they  are getting buyers. They also have a massive stock buyback program. Stock buyback and paying dividends do not reflect policies of a growing company but a mature one.

Stocks go up on solid guidance news not on revenue growth.   The investors want capital gains not dividends.

Promoted listings is a revenue grab not a growth vehicle.

[divwido]

I think we missed the closing bell.  I did the same a couple months ago.  I promoted a couple hundred items and got no response.  Time to see what else is out there.

[amricons]

perfect storm ?  Sales taxes, tariff tax, shipping cost increases , recession fears etc,  = net result buyers have less money to spend. On top of that buyers cannot find anything in search anyway .  Less visibility, less money to spend, fewer buyers = less sales  no matter what sellers do. My guess the average sellers should see at least a 30% drop ear if they made no changes at all . eBay grows their revenue because of the triple dip on shipping, promoted listings, managed payments etc.  

[Anonymous]

I agree with you on the state taxes and increased shipping costs causing buyers to think twice about internet purchasing now. Where is the incentive anymore? I've had a MAJOR decline in sales since October 1st and I'm guessing that was because of so many more states starting to collect taxes on that date. I can't think of any other reason and if I KNEW what it is, I could fix it. I'm getting desperate since I have to pay property taxes soon and I don't have the money since I was counting on my sales to continue as they had been before this month. I sure can't BUY anything unless it's absolutely necessary.

[amricons]

I feel it is also the real effects of the Trump econ policy as the effects get spread across the economy, according to the experts they think it will cost each family up to $1600 this year, add that to the fact that many working families live on very thin incomes as proven by the govt shutdown early this year.   No matter what Trump says we are in a global economy so China has one of its slowest growth rates in the 3rd quarter. It takes time for all this bad news to spread but when it hits , it had a huge impact on sales. There is more chaos, fear and possible recession in the world and in the US today.  Given the majority of stuff sold on eBay is not  a necessity , eBay items then to get cut first when people tighten the budget.  There are a lot of people that go from paycheck to paycheck and cannot blame then holding or trying to hold a few paychecks back.   

The really sad thing is that eBay has not been concentrating on outside advertising and getting in new buyers and what buyers are left are getting encouraged to make offers making eBay more and more a flea market. They stopped advertising and reduced commissions for referrals as the policy for 2019 exactly at the time they should be doing the opposite.

The real shame is the lack of effort  to gain international sales . Their focus is on revenue growth , stock price support, and appeasing stockholders rather than enpowering sellers and  organic growth (GMV)

[corvettestainless]

Nobody seems to understand this. It's all or nothing.

1.) The biggest reason to ALWAYS at least do 1%, is the banner that runs across your listing, as soon as you scroll down, they show 'Other Promoted Items'. You DON'T want these items to be someone elses. 

2.) You are selling new/used clothing so you need to be at the top of the percentage, not middle, to get at the top of the page, as this category has millions of listings

3.) Advice- you need to include shipping (Free Shipping)- way too many of your competition are, as well as you charging $6.95 to ship something that can go in a manila Envelope and ship USPS 1st Class for about $4. Raise your price and give Free Shipping. 

[luxgoods]

I would not offer free shipping on clothing and I do not.  Thankfully I do not get a lot of returns but in the area of clothing sales, buyers do not read the entire listing and they ignore the measurements.  Then of course there are the scammers who will claim "item not as described" in order to avoid postage charges.  I sold a 40 dollar item recently. It cost $12.45 to ship.  The buyer opened a case "Does not fit". Now for that 40 dollar item this buyer will lose 25 dollars in postage because they did not look at the measurements I posted.  I certainly am not paying return shipping and never will.

[cathydale]

Reply to Underhood_Dressup -- As far as free shipping and raising my price goes -- A very large majority of what I sell is PLUS SIZE -- if you check Plus size in my store you will see what I mean. Many knit items - not just sweaters - in 4 or 5x or even 3x weigh over a pound when packaged.  I am in Maryland -- I get tons of buyers in Calif and out west.  It costs me $10.95 or more to ship alot of my plus size items when I have only charged 7.95 - 9.95 shipping so I already eat some of the cost.  Also - even with my lighter packages i use bubble and tissue - I wrap items with a backing so they come out neatly folded -- and with embellished items with beading, etc. I used extra bubble to protect this - I never ship in a wrinkled ball - my feedback shows that my customer appreciate my thoughtful wrapping but it does cost me money. I have bought clothing from others on Ebay and I am shocked at how items arrive literally shoved in a wad in a bag.  I just can't do this. 

[cathydale]

In reply to the person who thinks it is the economy slowing individual sales -- I believe it is an influx in other sellers flooding the site now that the Holidays are approaching. There is just so much stuff on Ebay right now that they can't show it all - all of the time. We just have alot more listings to compete against. I think the economy is doing great - Can't blame this one on Trump - LOL

[ckudika]

Wait, who's economy are you talking about? Who are you getting you info from?

The added sales taxes seem like the most likely culprit. And Ebay's constant 'improvements'