We had to start testing Promoted Listing Advanced... Now eBay wants us to pay for off site ad's??

[zamo-zuan]

Saw this pop up today when checking our campaigns:

Is eBay serious with this?! 

Part of the reason they gave for increasing fees and encouraging us to advertise was so they could invest in marketing... Now eBay wants us to pay for eBay's marketing??? Even though eBay will be getting the sale and FVF anyway...?

So we have to pay to even get traffic on eBay, and then must pay to bring traffic TO EBAY in order to get sales...?

The last paragraph was the most outrageous part:

"Once you've created an offsite ads campaign, your listings can only appear in Google Ads through that campaign. They won't be eligible to appear in Google Ads via your Promoted Listings Standard campaigns."

So our PLS investment will be shut down and we'll have to fully pay for our own off-site impressions?!?!

The amount of investment eBay is trying to suck from sellers is approaching the level of insanity. As I'd posted about in the past, first they take away impressions unless you pay in PLS. Then even our organic impressions drop unless we pay in PLS. Then they make the 2% requirement to get PLS impressions (which had been a "test" that eBay did to us since 2020) standard across the entire site. Then their changes are causing drastic reductions on impressions to a point where we have to start testing PLA... And now they're exploiting us more???

Why on earth should we be expected - or even encouraged - to pay to advertise EBAY on Google...? Especially when the PLA pay per-click rates are HIGHER than Googles! 

In other words, it seems eBay is now going to charge us MORE than Google does for clicks... Just to spend that ad money on advertising themselves on Google. Rather than the PLS payments being used to advertise us on Google as we were told it was designed for. And they will pocketing that extra "per click" money since their rates are higher than Googles...

This is insanity. Pay more, more, and more, just for less impressions and sales. EBay's GMV is falling, and the top sellers of our category are at a fraction of what they were a month ago, a quarter ago, and a year ago. Why is now the time they try to take MORE from us, without giving us anything more?

[evelyb30]

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@zamo-zuan wrote:

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

@zamo-zuan  Re-reading your first post: 

"Once you've created an offsite ads campaign, your listings can only appear in Google Ads through that campaign. They won't be eligible to appear in Google Ads via your Promoted Listings Standard campaigns."

So our PLS investment will be shut down and we'll have to fully pay for our own off-site impressions?!?!

@zamo-zuan I don't think this interferes in any way with your ebay onsite PLS campaign. That would presumably continue as usual.

As I recall, your PLS campaign can be set to work offsite with Google ads. If you are set to do that, carry on. If you are set to do that AND you create a PLA offsite campaign, the PLA campaign will effectively replace your offsite PLS campaign for the duration of the PLA campaign.

Google ultimately decides what is shown and where, and I believe ebay would still be submitting your listings to Google Shopping (for free). So, if Google chooses not to feature your PLA item in a Google Ad on the Google Shopping page, I don't think that means your item won't show at all....it just won't show in the paid ad section. It MIGHT show in the regular section, which is true of every Google Shopping submission....it might show on the first page of GS or it might not...that's in Google's hands. 

If you are giving the PLA off site campaign any serious thought at all, I'd suggest asking ebay for some clarification about this.

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Part of PLS investment is that you get the Google advertising as part of your investment. If you're deciding to invest in both PLS and this new beta, you're getting less for your money. Choosing this new ad beta, and cancelling your PLS investment, isn't really an option with how eBay works nowadays. PLS is a necessity - as mentioned in the past - even for ourselves to get organic impressions. This might not happen to you or everyone yet, but for some of us it's reality. 

We're certainly not giving this any thought, as if we're going to invest $300 off site we're going to do it ourselves. But if it's like any of their other offerings, it's only a matter of time until they push it and it becomes a necessity. And the simple fact that they're propositioning this reeks of desperation and is filled with red flags and warning signs. In the last 4 years, how often have you seen eBay cut their losses on a new feature that wasn't exactly accepted warmly?

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They just find a way to take the losses out of sellers' pockets.  As usual.  

[jupiter_collectibles]

I 100% agree it's borderline ridiculous. I tried and tested them out when they had a promotion for $500 off and then when the promotion ended I magically got zero sales and views. Like they were trying to force me to use promoted listing advance and promoted listing standard. I'm sorry but I'm not going to pay per click on an item that hasn't even sold. It's another money grab from eBay and I'm getting sick and tired of it. Looking to move elsewhere the fees are getting overly ridiculous and I'm paying 10% in promoted listing standard already. 

[zamo-zuan]

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@jupiter_collectibles wrote:

I 100% agree it's borderline ridiculous. I tried and tested them out when they had a promotion for $500 off and then when the promotion ended I magically got zero sales and views. Like they were trying to force me to use promoted listing advance and promoted listing standard. I'm sorry but I'm not going to pay per click on an item that hasn't even sold. It's another money grab from eBay and I'm getting sick and tired of it. Looking to move elsewhere the fees are getting overly ridiculous and I'm paying 10% in promoted listing standard already. 

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We've been trying PLA for a few months now and still 0 sales lol. And most annoying is the targeting seems really poor. We have to keep manually blacklisting keywords for boat parts!

[psfhobbies]

Did someone from Disney start working here?

[mam98031]

It is an optional TOOL.  Ebay offers all kinds of different tools for sellers.  We are not required to use any of them but they are there if we CHOOSE to use them.

Various tools work well for some sellers and not for others.  Options are a good thing since we are a site with a diverse group of sellers from all walks of life.  We are not all the same nor are our needs.

[kh-ornesh]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.