Question About How To Promote Auction.

[mozartbach1971]

I've been trying to figure out how to promote an auction for awhile now and can't seem to figure it out.  Right now I'm on my page titled My Ebay Active.  It lists all my active auctions. For my auction items I see a blue bar that says Promote. When I click on it. It has the word General and there is a white bar to the right, when I click on the white bar. A box shows up and there is a option that says Dynamic Ad rate and has a black circle that is filled in. There is another option right below it.  Further down it says todays ad rate 8.5 percent and there is a blue bar that says apply.  Does anyone know what will happen when I click the apply button.  Will it charge me 8.5 percent of something? 

[reallynicestamps]

Avoid Dynamic!

The only PL worth considering may not even be available on Auctions.

That is the bog-standard original with the minimum rate of 2% (you can opt to go higher) which is ONLY paid if the item SELLS.

The rest of the time it advertises the listing and by extension, our Stores.

I find that while PL brings the eyeballs, I actually sell a lower percentage of PL listings than I do of non-promoted.

So Views, Sales (of non-PL listings) and practically no added fees.

Note that anecdote is not data.

It is possible that the forms of PL available for Auctions are fewer than those for Fixed Price listings.

Could I suggest that you might do better financially if you were to raise the starting bids on your auctions? You do seem to get multiple bids, but check to see if the $5 winner sniped or was in at the beginning.
You may be leaving money on the table if the $5 winning bid was actually a $25 maximum bid.

With your time and secure packaging as well as postage, is $2 enough to cover your costs of shipping?

For what it's worth, minimum wage here is 29cents a minute. How much does a sale pay you in wages based on your time at minimum wage?

[slippinjimmy]

@mozartbach1971 

I have followed your account for a VERY long time. In my opinion you don't need to spend money on promotions. You are a niche seller, the people (serious collectors) already know your stuff and on your better items you get plenty of bids.

For more details about using Promotions have a look at this page. Just remember that eBay wants to entice you into using this feature whether it would be helpful to you or not.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-advertising/promoted-listings/general-campaign-strategy?id=41...

Things to keep in mind.....

Only use a General Campaign

Do not use Dynamic pricing

Do not get suckered into using eBay's "suggested rates"

If you want to experiment I would suggest just selecting a small number of listings and see how it goes at a low rate 2 - 3% and see if it actually increases the level of interest. You have a lot of followers and I would guess you have many repeat buyers, you don't need to promote to attract those buyers, they already are checking your listings and getting notifications from eBay when you list new stuff.

[mozartbach1971]

Things to keep in mind.....

Only use a General Campaign

Do not use Dynamic pricing

Do not get suckered into using eBay's "suggested rates"

If you want to experiment I would suggest just selecting a small number of listings and see how it goes at a low rate 2 - 3% and see if it actually increases the level of interest. You have a lot of followers and I would guess you have many repeat buyers, you don't need to promote to attract those buyers, they already are checking your listings and getting notifications from eBay when you list new stuff.

That's what I'm interested in doing. Just experimenting with a few items, however I'm not sure what I'll be charged. I'll make sure not to use Dynamic Pricing. The only option after that is Fixed Ad rate. When I select that it says 9 percent.  Does this mean I will be charged 9 percent of the price it finishes at, plus the final value fees? 

[slippinjimmy]

When you use Promotions eBay will display your listings (just a picture and part of the Title) in various places, in search results, in marketing messages and most frequently on the listings pages of other sellers listings.

If a user clicks on one of those and ends up buying it will be subject to that additional fee. For fixed price listings that would be for any promoted listing you have that they buy in the next 30 days. Because of the short duration of Auction listings promotions may not be as effective.

In your Performance tab you will be able to see the number of Impressions and views that were generated by the promotions.

In general, promotions work best for items where there is lots of competition and/or for items that might have a wide appeal with many buyer searches including the same keywords.

[ittybitnot]

Does this mean I will be charged 9 percent of the price it finishes at, plus the final value fees? 

@mozartbach1971 

It is my understanding it would be 9% of the final item price, the shipping charged, and the sales tax the buyer pays. This would be IN ADDITION to the regular final value fees.

[reallynicestamps]

If your selling fee is 12.5% and you add a PL at 9%, your selling fee will be 21.5% on sale, shipping, and sales tax.

The only option after that is Fixed Ad rate. When I select that it says 9 percent.

Look again.

Is that a drop down menu?

Can you type in a different rate manually?

Those are usually "suggested" rates not carved in stone.

This may differ for Auctions which I rarely use, perhaps another seller who uses them can pitch in.

EBay's suggestions are good for eBay, but not necessarily for the seller.

EBay is our landlord, not our friend.

[mozartbach1971]

Look again.

Is that a drop down menu?

Can you type in a different rate manually?

Those are usually "suggested" rates not carved in stone.

This may differ for Auctions which I rarely use, perhaps another seller who uses them can pitch in.

EBay's suggestions are good for eBay, but not necessarily for the seller.

EBay is our landlord, not our friend.

When I have it on fixed ad rate, it does allow me to put in a different percentage.  Does this mean the exposure I will get, will differ based on the amount of percentage I put in?

[mozartbach1971]

In your Performance tab you will be able to see the number of Impressions and views that were generated by the promotions.

I just went and promoted one item, however I went to the Performance tab and could not find the information for the one item. Could you show me where to find it?  

[jonathanbrightlight]

It's under Traffic: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/traffic

You can also view the specific promotion's results from your Advertising -> Campaigns tab in Seller Hub, and then click on the name of the specific promotion.