11-03-2020 07:37 AM - edited 11-03-2020 07:40 AM
I wanted to start a topic here as a reminder and way to keep tabs on this issue that was brought up by @my-cottage-books-and-antiques in the weekly chat on October 21st. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Community-Chat-October-21-1-00-pm-PT-Gener...
The eBay for Business Podcast transcript from October 20th seems to indicate the TRS Quarterly Promoted Listings Credit is going away at the end of 2020. eBay Head of North America Advertising Scott Kelliher said:
Many of us were alarmed when we saw this section of the Fall Seller Update that seemed to also indicate that Promoted Listings Credits were going away.
When we asked for clarification, we were told that was a "mistake" and should be disregarded.
It has been two weeks now since this was brought up in the chat and we still don't have a clear, direct, definitive answer as to whether or not the TRS Promoted Listings Quarterly Credits are being discontinued after Q4. It also leaves open the question as to whether he was speaking only of the TRS credit, or if the additional quarterly credits for Anchor & Enterprise level store subscribers are also "going to end."
tyler@ebay brian@ebay brittanie@ebay @podcast_team - What exactly did Mr. Kelliher mean and why are sellers being left in the dark here?
If it is eBay's intention to discontinue this benefit, that needs to be communicated to sellers clearly, directly and in a timely manner through official communications channels.
Changes like this are far too important to be the kind of thing you would only find out if you listened to the podcast or happened to be in the weekly chat when it was brought up.
We need answers now, as it may affect sellers' Promoted Listings strategies and decision making for Q4 and beyond.
If the additional credits for Anchor & Enterprise store subscribers are also ending, that needs to be made clear ASAP as well. That credit may be a factor sellers take into consideration when assessing the "value" of those store subscriptions and whether or not the benefits are worth the cost. If that credit is taken away, that would be a material change in the terms of those store subscriptions.
01-22-2021 11:45 AM
@coffeebean832 wrote:@valueaddedresource- Personally, I preferred ad fees staying on the invoice. It's too messy integrating it into the sale because the current reporting stinks. Credits, in particular, will make factoring it directly into payouts much messier since they're on a delay- credited the month after the sale.
@coffeebean832 I absolutely agree! I think a lot of sellers would have preferred that.
Honestly, I personally wouldn't care so much one way or another when/how the fees and credits happen *if* they did it in a way that didn't make even more of a mess out of bookkeeping and if the reporting was better.
Luckily I don't have to deal with it directly myself but I do have an accounting department that comes to me every time something changes and asks me what is eBay doing now? 🤣 I can only imagine the stress and confusion for all the individual sellers here.
01-23-2021 12:54 PM
@coffeebean832 - are the ad fees now showing in the transaction report from the Payments tab? If so, do they list them as a separate line item or are they clearly attributed to a specific sale?
If you are comfortable either posting here or sending me a PM with screenshots of what the ad fees and reports look like on that second account (with personal info blocked out), that would be helpful!
I asked one of my eBay contacts about this possible attribution delay issue and the challenges this could present for bookkeeping. He said "sellers should be able to look at the Listings Sales Report to see the PL fees associated with each transaction."
I don't think it is a great solution if sellers have to go look at a different report to see this info, plus the Listing Sales report doesn't have the full amount of data that the Payments transaction report has, so if it's not in the Payments report I want to make sure that gets addressed.
01-29-2021 10:04 AM
@valueaddedresource- I'm waiting for the Payments report to generate. Here's the view of the Transactions summary-
The regular fee shows the order number. The ad fee shows the item number. The line items are consecutive, however if you sell a lot of the same item I can see it getting confusing.
On my main account I sell new, fixed price and some of my items have a tendency to sell rapid-fire to multiple buyers just a few minutes apart. I can see the way this is set up becoming confusing with accounting since there's no reference to the order number- at least not on the transaction view. I'll let you know how the report turns out because that might include more info. If I forget to post an update later please tag me.
01-29-2021 10:23 AM - edited 01-29-2021 10:24 AM
Thank you @coffeebean832 !
That's very helpful and seems to line up with the idea that eBay currently thinks of ad fees on a listing level rather than a transaction level.
I think sellers may be more likely to be concerned with it on a transaction level, so hopefully we can get the reporting more in line with that if it isn't already.
Like you said, if they are consecutive on the page that does help, but still leaves room for things to be a little confusing.
Plus, since the fee applies if the sale is completed within 30 days of the click on the "Promoted" version of the listing, there is the possibility the seller may have been playing with ad rates during that time and not every sale for a particular listing will be at the same rate.
If we have Promoted Listing Fee as a column in the transaction report so that the specific fee can be tied to the specific transaction easily, that will make it much easier to keep track of total costs per sale.
That might also give us a way to easily see if more sales were made with the ad rate set at a particular place. With more data in front of us, sellers can dial in better on a strategy for PL usage, which might increase PL usage and sales even more - so it could be a win for eBay too. 😊
01-29-2021 10:42 AM
Well so much for the payments report @valueaddedresource! Take a look at what was generated-
That's from my baby account. On my main account I'm seeing a different Payment issue. I have a fee credit with no way to click through to see what the heck it's for. There's nothing in the surrounding transactions that pairs with it. I hate how impossible accounting is with MP.
When I try to get a call back at 10:30 am to ask the Payments team I get this-
No chat option, either- the chat option early on was so great for questions like this because I could get an answer in under 3 min and let the rep move on to the next person.
It's Friday and there's no weekend support. It's never possible to get through on Monday because of built-up weekend issues. So I guess I need to wait until mid next week to find out how to account for this- unless it shows up in my report. At this point I don't even know if a report will generate based on what my other account got.
Ever since Payments was opened up to the masses the great Payments CS has really gone to non-existent. It's so frustrating. What if this was a time-sensitive high-dollar issue? Thank goodness it isn't.
01-29-2021 10:53 AM
@coffeebean832 - the error with the report not loading is being reported by a lot of sellers today. Blues have been tagged, but I haven't seen anything directly from eBay addressing that reporting issue yet.
As far as trying to get Managed Payments support right now, I agree with you 100%. It is disheartening to see so many sellers struggling to get even a basic level of support with this, especially like you said if it is time-sensitive or business impacting. ☹️
01-30-2021 03:55 AM
@coffeebean832 it looks like reports may be working again today, if you can update whenever you get a chance. 😊 Thanks!
02-01-2021 10:15 AM
@coffeebean832 wrote:
Well so much for the payments report @valueaddedresource! Take a look at what was generated-
That's from my baby account. On my main account I'm seeing a different Payment issue. I have a fee credit with no way to click through to see what the heck it's for. There's nothing in the surrounding transactions that pairs with it. I hate how impossible accounting is with MP.
When I try to get a call back at 10:30 am to ask the Payments team I get this-
No chat option, either- the chat option early on was so great for questions like this because I could get an answer in under 3 min and let the rep move on to the next person.
It's Friday and there's no weekend support. It's never possible to get through on Monday because of built-up weekend issues. So I guess I need to wait until mid next week to find out how to account for this- unless it shows up in my report. At this point I don't even know if a report will generate based on what my other account got.
Ever since Payments was opened up to the masses the great Payments CS has really gone to non-existent. It's so frustrating. What if this was a time-sensitive high-dollar issue? Thank goodness it isn't.
@coffeebean832 this report should be available now. We have provided more information here.
02-03-2021 11:56 AM
@valueaddedresource wrote:@coffeebean832 it looks like reports may be working again today, if you can update whenever you get a chance. 😊 Thanks!
@valueaddedresource- The report shows fewer details about the ad fee than the transaction page (because the transaction page has a time stamp). The only thing the report shows is date, item number and dollar amount.
It really needs to show the order number so any later ad fee credits for returns, order cancellations, etc, can be tied back to the appropriate transaction.
02-03-2021 12:16 PM
Thank you @coffeebean832 ! That's what I was afraid of, but it's good to know what we are in for any way at least.
I'll circle back on this and see if I can't convince someone at eBay that sellers really need to be able to see these fees on a transaction level, not a listing level, for all of the reasons you pointed out.
02-03-2021 12:20 PM
Thanks! Let me know if you need my help at all.
02-15-2021 09:58 AM
I eagerly (anxiously) await to see if there are any relevant announcements in the upcoming Spring Seller Update (aka "February Seller Check-In") on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.
02-24-2021 02:18 PM
Did anyone attend the February Seller Check-In held today (February 24, 2021)? Was there any mention of or update to the Top-Rated-Seller promoted-listings credit?
02-24-2021 04:56 PM
@blue_skies150 I responded to your other post too, but just to answer this question specifically - as of now the most recent info we have about the TRS Promoted Listing credit is that it is still available and in Managed Payments it will be applied to your available balance.
This of course may change once they release the details of the Spring Seller Update later this week.
02-28-2021 09:57 AM
@blue_skies150 @coffeebean832 @mcdougle4248 - I have no earthly idea why they published these pages half finished 🤣 but it looks like we finally have an answer on this one - unfortunately. ☹️
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Promoted-Listing-Credit-Removal/td-p/31653993