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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

There was a question today on the ebay for business podcast about using "subtitle" in an ebay listing. I'll skip the details, but thought this quote was worth repeating, from long time ebay exec Brian Burke brian_burke@ebay 

 

"Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give  to us. ... if you can successfully sell your item without doing it. And that's why we encourage folks to test, because that will allow you to optimize the dollars you spend on eBay, which means you're gonna keep selling on eBay, which is good for eBay and good for you. And for some things like you sell , really unique items, rarely do you need something like some of the features that we offer."

 

I agree with this. There is a big difference between something ebay requires (for example, the required item specifics for a certain category) and the many optional features and tools ebay provides, which might or might not be useful for a particular seller. My own take on this:

 

For any optional feature/tool:

 

1. If you are convinced it won't help your business, ignore it.

2. If you think it MIGHT help your business, experiment with it.

3. If the experiment shows it doesn't help you, don't use it.

4. If the experiment shows it does help you, go ahead and use it.

 

Examples from my own business:

 

1. Promoted Listing Advanced: Ignore.

2. Coded Coupons: Experiment. 

 

ebay is huge, and there are a lot of different business models here, and ebay provides a lot of optional features and tools. The Vault?  I doubt I will ever use it. But , obviously, some sellers will benefit from it. Promoted Listings? Useful for some sellers, not a good fit for others. Much of the data provided by Seller Hub is much more useful for sellers of multi-quantity listings, but some is useful for sellers like me, with long tail one offs....

 

Use whatever you find works for you. 

 

 

 

 

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

While I agree, it often isn't a choice in certain categories unless you don't want to get enough sales to keep your store going.

 

In Motors, if you don't give at least 3-4% in promoted listings (not advanced) you're going to be losing ~75-80% of your impressions. 

 

If anyone is trying to sell in one of these categories without promoted listings? Not going to happen. So it's not really a choice here.  Especially considering without promoted listings, you're competing 100% on cheapest price, and only the few of us on top of the category can reach those prices. But even for those of us on top of the category, you can't compete without investing. 

 

Also in our own testing, it's shown that it's more beneficial to INCREASE price and then use promoted listings to compensate. That's where eBay's design becomes a problem. To see a minor increase, you have to invest a much bigger sum in eBay's promotions.

 

While that might sound like some easy math that pays off, it's all fun and games until you get a few cases open against you, and those investments become an even bigger loss.

 

Comparing to the old days (before promoted listings) we used to be able to get enough of a margin to survive AND provide better service to our customers. Now eBay is eating the margin that used to be invested in customer service, and our margins are even lower because of it. 

 

Key point here, with their promoted listings implementation, you're at a fraction of the impressions you used to get for free unless you invest. People who don't invest effectively got their numbers decreased, and to get them back you need to invest more. But now you're paying for what you used to get for free.

 

And the most frustrating part about it is the customer gets NOTHING out of this. They're actually just paying more than they used to since the prices increased from having to increase the price. If you do the math, putting the price up to compensate for impressions is the only way it makes sense financially.

 

I understand promoted listings might not fit everyone's use case. But for many of us, it's not a choice, unless you're choosing to go out of business. And it's a shame that customers have to deal with increasing prices just so we can keep the doors open - scratch that - just so eBay can inadvertently get more fees from all of our pockets. 

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

One more thing to add... We've also observed that our organic impressions increase or decrease based upon your promoted listings investment. So it's not as if both systems are mutually exclusive anymore. You're not only losing out on those promoted impressions, you're hurting your organic traffic.

 

I can only presume the search engine is factoring the overall amount of impressions your store gets and treats that as if it's "more interest in your items".

 

By definition, organic (unpaid) traffic isn't intended to be altered by promoted traffic.

 

But on eBay, it is.

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

"Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give  to us. ... if you can successfully sell your item without doing it. And that's why we encourage folks to test, because that will allow you to optimize the dollars you spend on eBay, which means you're gonna keep selling on eBay, which is good for eBay and good for you. And for some things like you sell , really unique items, rarely do you need something like some of the features that we offer."

 

"Use whatever you find works for you. "

Isn't all of this obvious?  
Say I list an item of fashion jewelry that I know on a good day would sell for maybe $35.00.   And that could be on a very good day.  

The subtitle field says right on it, essentially, "We will charge you X dollars if you type anything in this space."  So, why commit to spending that money?  It would just decrease my profit from my $35.00 item.

For the same reason, I never pay any attention to eBay's "suggestions" that I start auctions at 99 cents.  Isn't it apparent that the auction might actually end at 99 cents?  Or maybe, with a little luck, $1.25?   After Final Value Fees, I might be able to buy two drops of gasoline with those profits.  

Maybe I just think differently than some other sellers.  

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

@monroe67  

 

Isn't all of this obvious?  
Say I list an item of fashion jewelry that I know on a good day would sell for maybe $35.00.   And that could be on a very good day.  

The subtitle field says right on it, essentially, "We will charge you X dollars if you type anything in this space."  So, why commit to spending that money?  It would just decrease my profit from my $35.00 item.

 

Yes and no.  With your $35 piece of jewelry, it does seem pretty obvious.  But for a seller selling multi quantity listings, looking for a way to stand out, and for a way to increase his sales velocity for that listing, well, I think the cost for a subtitle for a fixed price listing is $2.00 ($6.00 if over $150 item price). 

 

So, with a $35 single quantity item, $2.00 is probably not worth it. But what if you have a multi quantity listing for a $35.00 item? If the subtitle increases your sales velocity so that you are selling 20 a month instead of 10, that's 20 x $35.00= $700.00.

 

So, just using my example, not saying it is or isn't realistic, just looking at the math, if you can add $350.00 per month in sales for a $2.00 fee, well, some would say it's obvious that it IS worth it.

 

And I think that's part of what Brian Burke is getting at. It is a feature some sellers might be very happy to use, it is also a feature that some sellers can wisely reject without having to give it a lot of thought. 

 

Same with Promoted Listings Advanced. When I first read about it, I realized I did not even have to experiment with it....it isn't for my business model (long tail one off items). But for some sellers, it is worth experimenting with. 

 

Each seller should decide for himself whether its worth it or not. There's no one size fits all. 

 

 

 

 

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

That’s what I like about Ebay—it is your choice to use whatever tools they have to assist you. There is no forced participation, unlike what happened to sellers at Etsy with their ad program.

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

Isn't all of this obvious?  

 

Going by many of the posts on this board - not to some, no

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

\

In my category and specific product, the promoted listing as usually at much higher prices. Total items in this category product are around 5,000.00 listings. The one’s who use promoted are actually helping me sell. LOL!

Message 8 of 53
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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

IF YOU ARE COMPETING WITH 20 TO 30 THOUSAND LISTINGS, you may need to use the promoted. To sell anything significantly, that is where it still might pay off as long as you can keep your prices at a reasonable range. This depending on your costs.

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."


@downunder-61 wrote:

Isn't all of this obvious?  

 

Going by many of the posts on this board - not to some, no


Common sense is not so common.   😉

Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
Message 10 of 53
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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."


@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

There was a question today on the ebay for business podcast about using "subtitle" in an ebay listing. I'll skip the details, but thought this quote was worth repeating, from long time ebay exec Brian Burke brian_burke@ebay 

 

"Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give  to us. ... if you can successfully sell your item without doing it. And that's why we encourage folks to test, because that will allow you to optimize the dollars you spend on eBay, which means you're gonna keep selling on eBay, which is good for eBay and good for you. And for some things like you sell , really unique items, rarely do you need something like some of the features that we offer."

 

I agree with this. There is a big difference between something ebay requires (for example, the required item specifics for a certain category) and the many optional features and tools ebay provides, which might or might not be useful for a particular seller. My own take on this:

 

For any optional feature/tool:

 

1. If you are convinced it won't help your business, ignore it.

2. If you think it MIGHT help your business, experiment with it.

3. If the experiment shows it doesn't help you, don't use it.

4. If the experiment shows it does help you, go ahead and use it.

 

Examples from my own business:

 

1. Promoted Listing Advanced: Ignore.

2. Coded Coupons: Experiment. 

 

ebay is huge, and there are a lot of different business models here, and ebay provides a lot of optional features and tools. The Vault?  I doubt I will ever use it. But , obviously, some sellers will benefit from it. Promoted Listings? Useful for some sellers, not a good fit for others. Much of the data provided by Seller Hub is much more useful for sellers of multi-quantity listings, but some is useful for sellers like me, with long tail one offs....

 

Use whatever you find works for you. 

 

 

 

 


An honest man!  WOOT!

 

With all the ways to add custom item specifics, why would anyone need subtitle now??


....... "The Ranger isn't gonna like it Yogi"......... Boo-Boo knew what he was talking about!


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Yes, I have no Bananas, only Flamethrowers.......
Message 11 of 53
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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

It’s not a choice when you sell on a marketplace that attracts so many sellers here that some categories are ultra saturated. So, ebay getting more fees for this is not entirely them doing a money grab. The promoted are there to assist in visibility. Paying more for visibility has to be factored in with cost of goods and realistic goals for profit. 

Message 12 of 53
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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

I like Brian, I really like him many years ago when he would pop up and tell us all that Ebay was doing a 5 percent  SITE WIDE coupon. Hey Brian do it again! LOL!

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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."


@vintagecraze50 wrote:

I like Brian, I really like him many years ago when he would pop up and tell us all that Ebay was doing a 5 percent  SITE WIDE coupon. Hey Brian do it again! LOL!


Coupon?  Oooooohhhhh, that would be nice.  LOL

brian_burke@ebay   

 


....... "The Ranger isn't gonna like it Yogi"......... Boo-Boo knew what he was talking about!


Posting ID Only.......
Yes, I have no Bananas, only Flamethrowers.......
Message 14 of 53
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ebay exec: "Don't give money to eBay that you don't have to give to us."

@katzrul15 

"With all the ways to add custom item specifics, why would anyone need subtitle now??"

 

Well, again, I think it depends on the seller and his product. While a subtitle isn't searchable, it does stand out on both the listing page and on search results page, so it could be something you want to call attention to, that differentiates you from your competitors: "Free (such and such) included!" or "Handmade in the USA" or...whatever. 

 

It all depends on the seller and his business model.

 

 

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