eBay

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-07-2023

Daily reminder to be careful with this scammy feature.

You agree to use it to be competitive, you don't look anymore, and by the time, you're at close to 20% fees added. Never seen the percentage this high. People using it just drive the number up for none more visibility. 17.6% for 16 views past 31-days, only 9 views from promoted.

Means with FVF that ebay takes close to 40% in fees on your sale. Totally insane.

ricarmic · ‎07-07-2023

Yes I can't see how it would ever be good (for the seller) if multiple people use it in the same category, the rate will just keep climbing. It is kind of like two people putting max bids on the same item with "no limit" (although here the limit would be 100%, although I believe you can put a "cap" on it cant you?).

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-07-2023

although I believe you can put a "cap" on it cant you?

I think i did read somewhere that we can, never seen where tho. So i'm not sure about that. The feature is also very broken. Since they added it i cannot edit my promoted percentage without getting errors and must refresh and refresh until it works

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-07-2023

@ricarmic wrote:
Yes I can't see how it would ever be good (for the seller) if multiple people use it in the same category, the rate will just keep climbing. It is kind of like two people putting max bids on the same item with "no limit" (although here the limit would be 100%, although I believe you can put a "cap" on it cant you?).

@ricarmic

@rocketscollectibles

Is it possible with the various types of promoted listings to accidentally or on purpose promote a listing twice? 2 different campaigns?

-Lotz

flipistics · ‎07-07-2023

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
@ricarmic wrote:
Yes I can't see how it would ever be good (for the seller) if multiple people use it in the same category, the rate will just keep climbing. It is kind of like two people putting max bids on the same item with "no limit" (although here the limit would be 100%, although I believe you can put a "cap" on it cant you?).
@ricarmic
@rocketscollectibles
Is it possible with the various types of promoted listings to accidentally or on purpose promote a listing twice? 2 different campaigns?

-Lotz

No (at least I don't think so). I know when you create the campaign items in another campaign don't show up as available.

recped · ‎07-07-2023

You can set a Cap for Dynamic, anyone who doesn't is in for a world of hurt because there are sellers who willingly (or not) seem willing to pay what I consider crazy amounts.

There are plenty of sellers who are hurting who (mistakenly in my opinion) think that use of PL will solve their issues when the truth is that they are selling stuff for which there is little demand and/or the price competition is fierce.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

flipistics · ‎07-07-2023

@ricarmic wrote:
Yes I can't see how it would ever be good (for the seller) if multiple people use it in the same category, the rate will just keep climbing. It is kind of like two people putting max bids on the same item with "no limit" (although here the limit would be 100%, although I believe you can put a "cap" on it cant you?).

Yes, you can put a cap on it (and I'd highly recommend doing so). There's still a chance the item sells under the cap, so it's really a better option than fixed rate imo.

flipistics · ‎07-07-2023

@recped wrote:
You can set a Cap for Dynamic, anyone who doesn't is in for a world of hurt because there are sellers who willingly (or not) seem willing to pay what I consider crazy amounts.

There are plenty of sellers who are hurting who (mistakenly in my opinion) think that use of PL will solve their issues when the truth is that they are selling stuff for which there is little demand and/or the price competition is fierce.

It could be more than that. I know some people have experimented with running something like a 20% promoted listing campaign instead of a 20% sale and actually gotten better results in limited tests. I hate the concept, but it's interesting all the same.

ricarmic · ‎07-07-2023

As far as I know, if you promote it once, it won't show in the "possible" list for other promotions. That is at least how it works for the ones that I've done. (I build all mine by "hand" based on the "age" of the item).

ricarmic · ‎07-07-2023

I have performed that experiment and yes frustrating as it is, the results with a high promoted rate generate WAYYYYY more response (sales) than a sale of the same % amount. Bad news for buyers, good news for eBay.

At least in my main sub-category, I'm competing against folks that (should) have very high margins on what they're selling, and they're using high promoted %s. There are a lot of them doing this. My stuff is (mostly) different but I have to exceed them to get anything noticed. I've conduced some experiments that lead me to believe I can achieve decent sales without having to spend exhorbitant amounts on average, but I'm about to shut down my store for the summer so the further experiments will resume in September.

ricarmic · ‎07-07-2023

Hmm addendum, I perhaps wasn't thinking outside (my) box enough. I just realized there are different kinds of promoted listings now, the pay per click and the standard ones. I'm assuming all show the same "sponsored" message. My competitors might just be using the pay per click ones the stuff they are selling lends itself to that kind of style and I suspect that it will trump the standard promoted rate stuff.

More things to perhaps experiment with this fall.

byto253 · ‎07-07-2023

Hmmm, what would drive sales more, paying 20% for promotion or reducing the price by 20%.

I have neve used promoted. How is the FVF charged? Is it before you pay the promo fee or on the balance after the promo fee?

ricarmic · ‎07-07-2023

@byto253 try the experiment yourself.

My experience with sales is poor.

My experience with a promoted listing at the same % as the sale would have been is many times better response (as in sales).

Having said this, different folks will have different results in different categories.

The best part is neither way costs you anything if nothing sells (as long as you use standard promoted).

mrdutch1001 · ‎07-07-2023

Never have to worry about it...I never use Promoted listings...PLs are just a ploy by selling venues that brainwashes its sellers into thinking they are geting better placement, when in fact it's just a race between sellers to see who can try to climb that imaginary hill to that imaginary top search placement by upping their percentages and in the process of spending more on PLs , the only winner in all of this is eBay>>the only one that makes money on PLs is the selling venue...

Sure, some sellers believe it works, but at what cost?

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-08-2023

@byto253 wrote:
Hmmm, what would drive sales more, paying 20% for promotion or reducing the price by 20%.

I have neve used promoted. How is the FVF charged? Is it before you pay the promo fee or on the balance after the promo fee?

@byto253

Promoted fees are based on the final sale total. Those fees are charged almost instantaneously.

If promoted fees were based only on original selling fees that "supposed bump in traffic to accidentally cause a sale" (a % of a %) those fees would have been a tad easier to stomach. Using the total sale including tax or VAT plus shipping does seem totally not kosher, but sadly this is what we are stuck with if you want to take the gamble. Dynamic to me would be like starting an auction at 1 penny or playing Russian roulette with all the chambers loaded. Both are extremely risky!!!

-Lotz

electronicifycanada · ‎07-08-2023

I suggest never paying for that and I even suggest not using regular eBay PL. I have been moving off it with my latest findings.

I have tested lots over the past couple years. I have tried listings that have sold 100+ quantity. I can promote them 30% and get 0 views in 30 days and some months I can go 3% and get way more views. The only difference I can find is promoting vs not promoting at all.

eBay PL is a scam and it will fail soon.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-08-2023

eBay PL is a scam and it will fail soon.

I think it works exactly as planned.

As a way to increase eBay's fees from sellers who are less likely to complain and quit.

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎07-09-2023

Promoted listings isn't a scam. It's pretty up front about what it is.

It has modified the way eBay works though. Which will be better for some people and worse for others. For any category that is saturated, you have to participate in promoted listings to get sales. Your average buyer searches via 'Best Match'.

I would say it's more anti-consumer than anti-seller. It creates a situation where it makes more sense to market an item at a higher price, with a higher promoted fee, than it does to offer the best possible price with no or a smaller promoted fee. In a market place like eBay where there is no added value for the placement of items for people already searching on the website, this might be a negative in the long term. For example, if I search for Austin Powers 2 on DVD, a listing being promoted doesn't add value to me as a buyer because I'm already here and there are 100's of already easy to find listings for that item.

If it draws lots of people to the site from Google or Facebook ads who otherwise would not think to look for an item on eBay, it might be good. I do notice in certain categories that I get a lot of guest or new buyers.

Ultimately, I guess you can argue that maybe it's better than eBay simply raising fees without providing an additional service.

rocketscollectibles · ‎07-10-2023

I did a sale today. I removed dynamic promoted many days ago and because the percentage stay applied for a time after click, i'm still getting charged the rate. This is what dynamic rate looks like: $18.94 selling fees on a $56.58 sale. On a listing that do not have this rate anymore. Tell me it's not scammy. This is a multi quantity listing i'm literally forced to end and relist to void this abusive rate. It's totally insane and unjustified

msau4301 · ‎07-10-2023

Yikes, 33% is quite a chunk to lose. If the only way to get rid of it is to end and re-list it would be worth it at that high rate. Maybe the reason it didn't go off after you removed it (and the super high rate) is it was a multi quantity listing? I've never had multi quantity items to know if they are maybe treated differently.