eBay

musicyouneed · ‎10-29-2023

How many of you use promoted listings?

1) Do you do it for all listings?

2) Only some, older ones or newer ones?

3) Do you do it for rare items that only a couple are listed or use it for ones that are a needle in a haystack (hundreds of the same)?

4) Do you promote for short periods of time, say for a month then no promoted listings?

5) Do you do the minium of 2% or do you do more?

I used to do promoted listings but when they changed it to 2% and also on the shipping amount I stopped. I see a lot of promoted listings and maybe I am missing the boat. I just wanted to know what you all were doing?

flipistics · ‎10-30-2023

I promote almost all listings immediately on creation (at greater than the minimum). I use dynamic %, but I set the cap at a level that I'm comfortable with. Sometimes I vary the cap % based on the category of the item.

rocketscollectibles · ‎10-30-2023

I do 2% on everything. I'm forced to do it. I did not test without it since a while, but my promoted sales are every month 50% to 65% of my sales. Ebay has my hands tied on that. Some listings i even should use dynamic rate to be able to sell correctly, but then i don't check and rate can increase as high as 20% without notice. And it's the rate we pay for whatever they buy on our ebay for a whole month. Happened past week. Had a 2% rate listing sold, checking fees, i paid 15% rate. The buyer clicked on another listing i had on dynamic rate, who knows when or which. Shady. Means a buyer could click on a $5 dynamic listing at 20%, go buy a $1000 item not promoted, and we would pay $200 for it, on top of FVF. Ebay would take close to $400 in fees on that sale, because buyer clicked on a $5 item with dynamic rate 3 weeks ago. This situation can happen. Promoted listing is truly a scam. People will say to put a cap, but you still will overpay. I did 1-month tests to see the difference between 2% and 5%, i had the same exact promoted views. Putting a cap makes you pay more for nothing in return. There's a huge lack of transparancy on dynamic rate. They also slipped an increase of 1% to 2% last year, making it looking small, but which is in facts a huge 100% increase. We pay $200 for each $100 now. And i could not sell without it. This is the kind of things making me slowly moving more and more sales outside ebay.

ricarmic · ‎10-30-2023

@rocketscollectibles just a correction to this:

"Ebay has my hands tied on that. Some listings i even should use dynamic rate to be able to sell correctly, but then i don't check and rate can increase as high as 20% without notice. And it's the rate we pay for whatever they buy on our ebay for a whole month. Happened past week. Had a 2% rate listing sold, checking fees, i paid 15% rate. The buyer clicked on another listing i had on dynamic rate, who knows when or which. Shady. Means a buyer could click on a $5 dynamic listing at 20%, go buy a $1000 item not promoted, and we would pay $200 for it, on top of FVF. Ebay would take close to $400 in fees on that sale, because buyer clicked on a $5 item with dynamic rate 3 weeks ago. "

You would ONLY pay a promoted rate on an item that is promoted within the 30 day window. So if they click on a $5 item that is promoted and subsequently purchase a $1,000 item that was NOT promoted, you do not pay any promoted rate. If the $1,000 item is promoted, you pay the promoted rate for that item, not the promoted rate for the "other item" they looked at.

This is why I do not promote recently listed items, it is a waste of the 2% or whatever rate one is picking for something that naturally gets higher visibility because of it's newness and would also naturally be more likely to be purchased by someone purchasing something "older" that is promoted. ie if one promotes ALL items 2%, everything one sells that comes from a promoted view will incur the promoted fees. This happens all the time where a buyer purchases something that is promoted and also something (newer) that is not promoted and I do not pay any fees on the non-promoted item.

ricarmic · ‎10-30-2023

I'm cramped for time so it's a quickie

1) Do you do it for all listings?

No "new" items naturally have higher visibility so I do not promote them (see my response to rocketscollectibles)

2) Only some, older ones or newer ones?

3) Do you do it for rare items that only a couple are listed or use it for ones that are a needle in a haystack (hundreds of the same)?

I group mine by age. I have items that have been running for 10 years straight now. Promoted rate tends to be higher for the older stuff.

4) Do you promote for short periods of time, say for a month then no promoted listings?

Have been experimenting with this with mixed results.

5) Do you do the minium of 2% or do you do more?

Graduated scale usually based on age. Have run 2% to 13% experiments.

My latest experiment that worked like a charm totally failed last weekend so it was a one shot wonder. I've some ideas to try a different style this weekend.

I think that the set it, relax and enjoy scenario is behind us for a while, it looks like the "promoting" process requires more time and effort to be succcessful, however as I mentioned in another thread it does not always have to be expensive.

Also note that what works for me might not work for others even in my own category and for sure less likely for folks in other categories. Experimentation is very very important.

dobo5250 · ‎10-30-2023

when i use promomlisting thats is when they let me use promo listings - i find the suggested rate is what i go for -- no use using 2 % or 5 % when the avg person is usin 15 or 17 %-- the bump i find comes about two three days after the promo listing kicks in -- i only use it when i relist something or change something in a listing after it been sitting a couple of months - my result have been very good a good increase in views and sales when iam allowed to use promo listing when iam not and in the boo box with ebay which seems to happen about every other month -- my sales slow down about two weeks into the month - so put sales on when that happens up to 30 % off when i can afford it on a listing- when i get back into good graces with ebay then i reverse and use promo listings and get rid of the sales for a while- mixing it up seems to work now for me -- but then again so much goes wrong here -- the rights don't always outway the wrongs

good luck all

mrdutch1001 · ‎10-30-2023

I do not use Promoted listings ...and NO seller is "forced" to use PL's> the use of PLs are a seller's "choice", not a necessary tool to achieve sales. The reality is PLs are a gimmick used by eBay and other selling sites whereby sellers become addicted to the process of using PLs and the thought that PLs must be a good thing, because of the temporary "high" during the process in a never-ending circle of sellers clamboring over each other in a race to get this so-called better search placement and so-called better visibility just to slide down to the bottom of the pile again. Pls benefit the site, not the seller. Pls are simply another method for a selling site to acquire more fees from sellers.

byto253 · ‎10-30-2023

Nope, but that is mainly a function of what I sell and in what categories.

I totally understand @rocketscollectibles selling in the crazy hyper card market. I did a few things in there and ended up dumping what I had cheap and just give cards I find to some local folks.... Black Orchid Magic card not included of course, if I ever find one!

regs43 · ‎10-30-2023

Sell in the card category, and I have never promoted. I have 19% growth over last year so PL isnt needed if you have stuff people want they will eventually find it I guess. I don't want to give ebay more money then necessary since I have low value items.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-30-2023

1) Do you do it for all listings?

No.

Slightly under a third of listings on both of my most active accounts.

2) Only some, older ones or newer ones?

Usually on older listings.
Most of my listings are unique collectibles.

3) Do you do it for rare items that only a couple are listed or use it for ones that are a needle in a haystack (hundreds of the same)?

Rare does not mean valuable.

I use it on long tail items that have been listed for months, even years, and which have a small collecting base.

4) Do you promote for short periods of time, say for a month then no promoted listings?

I tend to forget that I have used PL, but since I only pay when it sells, this doesn't bother me.

5) Do you do the minium of 2% or do you do more?

Minimum 2%.

I find that while I use PL on about a third of my listings, that my sales of PL items is still much lower than that. But again, the PL is being used on items that have not sold, possibly in years.

38e_avenue · ‎10-30-2023

@musicyouneed wrote:
How many of you use promoted listings?
1) Do you do it for all listings?
YES
2) Only some, older ones or newer ones?
ALL
3) Do you do it for rare items that only a couple are listed or use it for ones that are a needle in a haystack (hundreds of the same)?
ALL
4) Do you promote for short periods of time, say for a month then no promoted listings?
ALL THE TIME
5) Do you do the minium of 2% or do you do more?
NOW 9%

Some here say PL are not necessary at all. Well, not according to my experience. I am here to make money, not for pleasure. I experimented a lot and figured out, that I sell much more using PL. Here is my graph - compare October 2022 (no PL) with 2023 (PL). It's not my problem, it's agimmick, or not - fair or unfair - not my problem, either. If it allows me to earn more, I will do it. Yes, Ebay does want more money - no doubt. YOU DON'T?