Sales Still Suffering? This Maybe Why!

[nuclearomen]

After a horrid September month and sales falling to lowest they been in a year I called EB MP, who connected me to Sales Team and what did we find? Promoted Listings dropped from the time I told them sale plummeted. Check your Performance -> Traffic and see if this affected you. Eb reported it to Tech Support to look into because - there is Nothing we can do about it, it's Ebay's job to promoted listings and generate traffic to your listings/store. Either something happened on the account or there is something wrong with the Promotional Campaign ebay has your listings in, mine is " Listing Campaign - US - 64" 

[diana3470]

i was charged an international fee also cause buyer lived out of USA but i mailed a package to Florida

[mam98031]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Mine are barely down at about 3% but my sales this year far exceeds last year, so I'm getting a better sell through rate from the views than last year to be sure.  It appears we are having all kinds of experiences with this.

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it is creating a varied experience, there are those not being hugely effect and those like me that are. However there is as said nothing we can do as the issue isn't in your listings themselves or how much you elect to promote listings...it's the campaign the listings are in and it's issue (whatever that is) is internal to ebay's systems and how they actually work/operate. Adjusting the percentage does nothing as that only determines the cut ebay gets if the item sells through that promoted listing...the campaign is what gets the listings seen, so i.e. much less promoting = much less impressions. 

These promoted listing never will hit a seller as to how much they can matter - until this happens and you see the sudden drop... feel it in your sales. Look on the charts and see numbers like 13,000 impressions and just say OK, where is the sales? but when you see those numbers drop to where everyone has been since Sep 3rd at approx 2,000 and have had extreme drop in sales that's when it hits and realize those impressions are actually making difference... I know my sales in past year since Promoted Listings really started went up, because ebay designed them to draw traffic to sellers promoted and non promoted listings - basically draw buyers to you store and maybe buy more was the idea, and of course for ebay to make $$ doing it. 

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I don't doubt there are experiences that are different than mine.  I apologize if my post seemed to imply that, it wasn't my intent.  I thought you wanted to know how various people were doing.  Did you mean for it to only be those experiencing an issues?  If so, again my apologies, I misunderstood.  😍

[mam98031]

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@diana3470 wrote:
i was charged an international fee also cause buyer lived out of USA but i mailed a package to Florida

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It is caused by how their account is set up.  Just like it was when we were in PP.  It hasn't changed.  We paid international fees in PP too.  There are lots of times that an international buyer will have something sent to somewhere in the US.  It could be to a reshipper, a family member, a friend, a hotel, etc.  And lots of reasons for that, a gift for someone, they are here on a vaca, there are here on a work visa, etc.  

You may be noticing it more in MP for some reason, but PP charged 1.5% MP charges 1.65%.  Maybe it is the increase you are noticing.

[nuclearomen]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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I don't doubt there are experiences that are different than mine.  I apologize if my post seemed to imply that, it wasn't my intent.  I thought you wanted to know how various people were doing.  Did you mean for it to only be those experiencing an issues?  If so, again my apologies, I misunderstood.  😍

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not at all, i was just explaining that the situation is/was playing out differently for sellers, some were slightly affected while others like me were affected a lot. They seem to have fixed it earlier tonight, my graph now has a sharp climb for promoted impressions from just under 2,000 raised to 13,000+ I also looked and see I have gained views and about 15 -20 new watchers on items since around 6-7pm tonight, also sold a item on a promoted listing soon after.

[bargainnation]

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@diana3470 wrote:
i was charged an international fee also cause buyer lived out of USA but i mailed a package to Florida

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I knew there was a separate international fee but I did not realize that it applied when buyer does not live in USA but packages are mailed to a USA address. I guess I need to pay closer attention and look at a breakdown of that particular invoice.

I would like to know why eBay decided to charge an international fee in the first place and why does it apply when packages are being shipped to a USA address.

[powell-memorabilia]

My thought is that eBay (and PP) charge a higher int'l fee because the processing cost is higher.  I'm not saying that the processing cost increase is commensurate with the increment in fees to you, but that is why people are routinely charged more for int'l transactions, just like when you use your U.S. credit card in Europe.

[nuclearomen]

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@bargainnation wrote:

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@diana3470 wrote:
i was charged an international fee also cause buyer lived out of USA but i mailed a package to Florida

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I knew there was a separate international fee but I did not realize that it applied when buyer does not live in USA but packages are mailed to a USA address. I guess I need to pay closer attention and look at a breakdown of that particular invoice.

I would like to know why eBay decided to charge an international fee in the first place and why does it apply when packages are being shipped to a USA address.

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@bargainnation same, but MP told me that it's been this way but I couldn't argue as I don't have a previous example to say "no it wasn't" ...I only sell inside immediate US and while I have had prior sales where buyer was outside US and shipping was to mail forwarding service I don't remember ever seeing those additional fees in Paypal. They also told me that as long as the package is delivered to US address and scanned you are protected, but it does still raise some concern with me, unfortunately nothing can be done to prevent these kind of orders, as long they use a address inside the country you ship to ebay requires you to fulfill that sale. But you wind up paying more in fees, you'll pay additional international fee PER ITEM + the norm $0.30 Transaction Fee.  

[maros9416]

I just watched a video on this with a YouTuber with the same problem. He blamed the cause on the new roll out of the ' Suggested Rate ' of promoted listings. His listings were all promoted at 1%, at the day of the roll out his traffic chart looked like it fell off a cliff, he then changed his rate to the 4% ' suggested ' and instantly got all of his traffic back. Personally, my chart is pretty consistent so I haven't had a need to increase myself, though in my case I firmly believe that the more you list the more sales you make as the bump all of your listings from the increased listing activity.

[nuclearomen]

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@maros9416 wrote:

I just watched a video on this with a YouTuber with the same problem. He blamed the cause on the new roll out of the ' Suggested Rate ' of promoted listings. His listings were all promoted at 1%, at the day of the roll out his traffic chart looked like it fell off a cliff, he then changed his rate to the 4% ' suggested ' and instantly got all of his traffic back. Personally, my chart is pretty consistent so I haven't had a need to increase myself, though in my case I firmly believe that the more you list the more sales you make as the bump all of your listings from the increased listing activity.

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yes, the drop was the same for most, but like I explained in another thread, the percentage elected on the promotional listing means nothing, that only determines the extra percentage ebay gets if the items sells on the promoted listing (not the normal). The issue was never the percentage elected, it was the fact that promotional listings are responsible for over 50% of your traffic and the error was that listings were not being promoted, thus the insane decrease on the chart - it flatlined for all at around 2,000, normally that is way way higher, the organic impressions are always lower. 

[zamo-zuan]

Sadly, it seems that nowdays, if you edit to be closer to the "suggested rate" it DOES give more traffic.

Now it seems to be the lower your % is, the lower the "flat cap" they are putting on your promoted impressions. It varies by category. Let's say for example, at your current rate you might be limited to 25,000 impressions in your category. If you put your rates higher, your cap will raise. If you check my thread, a user posted screenshots from both their stores, and you can see an example of this. It's a flat amount that the promo's are capped at, NOT a percentage of your usual.

I don't have time to go over this, but this is similar to the system eBay had when they first rolled out PL that led to problems. Some of the major ones being, this system is IMPOSSIBLE to balance. It is a poor design. It influences "price" to be less important, and the "promotion rate" to be more valuable. This only serves to give eBay more money, and bring prices up for customers. Think of what happens when someone throws 5-10% in to the Promoted Rates and raises their price to compensate? They have a HUGE advantage on visibility and based on conversion rate percentages, DO get more sales than those who are not paying. But think of the customers in this case?

There's no way to win with this type of design. You go in one direction, and those paying won't get their moneys worth. You go in the other direction, and prices go up for customers, in effect raising prices on eBay to be less competitive against competing marketplaces.

I thought they learned their lesson last time they tried this. But I guess there's likely new people in charge of this so they're making the same mistakes.

[skullandcircle]

Yes, since I joined MP, I am getting charged international fees even though the sale is in the USA. 

[mam98031]

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@skullandcircle wrote:

Yes, since I joined MP, I am getting charged international fees even though the sale is in the USA. 

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@skullandcircle 

You were charged it in PP too.  It isn't driven by where the item ships to, it is where the buyer's account is set up [what country].  This isn't a new fee.  We have always paid it.  You just may not have noticed it before.

[mam98031]

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@skullandcircle wrote:

Yes, since I joined MP, I am getting charged international fees even though the sale is in the USA. 

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@skullandcircle 

I don't know why this has become a sudden thing because of MP.  Maybe because it is a separate fee, IDK, but whether you or others recognized it before when you used PP, it was there.  Currently PP charges 2.9% money processing fee on US sales and 4.4% on international.  For international that is a 1.5% fee.  I have no answers as to why some never realized they were paying these fees when in PP.  They were always there.

When PP or MP charges the international fee, it is ALWAYS driven by where the buying account is set up.

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/what-are-the-cross-border-fees-when-selling-internationa...

[yuzuha]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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@bargainnation same, but MP told me that it's been this way but I couldn't argue as I don't have a previous example to say "no it wasn't" ...I only sell inside immediate US and while I have had prior sales where buyer was outside US and shipping was to mail forwarding service I don't remember ever seeing those additional fees in Paypal. They also told me that as long as the package is delivered to US address and scanned you are protected, but it does still raise some concern with me, unfortunately nothing can be done to prevent these kind of orders, as long they use a address inside the country you ship to ebay requires you to fulfill that sale. But you wind up paying more in fees, you'll pay additional international fee PER ITEM + the norm $0.30 Transaction Fee.  

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As someone who routinely purchases internationally and has done international shipping on sales for years, it has indeed always been that way in PayPal. I believe the fee for an international transaction (i.e., the person's PayPal account is in a non-US currency) is 4.4% rather than 2.9%-- I don't recall the exact amount but I do know that it is and has always been higher for international transactions.

[nuclearomen]

Just an update on the promoted listings... it IS NOT fixed, last night was a fluke, I have had a complete drop back down the chart today... and again sales have stopped, new views are none, new watchers are none. Called EB, did another round of complaining - same response - tech support - here I am again, dawn of another weekend sitting around wondering WTH is going on... Getting fed up, my listings/sales are suffering because of eb greed, sick of bending every which way to satisfy EB demands, my listings are completely filled out all specifications, high quality photos and not 1 stock photo like competitors use, repeat in description... competitors listings having nothing, no specs, 1 stock photo, near no description ...this is **bleep** - F - EB - as soon as my new website is done I'm gone, most got sick of it all and left already but I kept saying it will get "better" what a joke!