eBay

katou17 · ‎12-12-2013

Hi everyone! I just opened a store 3 weeks ago and since then I did not get any invitation for FREE listings. I know a seller friend without a store got one for fixed price first week of Dec and just got another one today good for 10 days Auction-style. Talk to eBay because was wondering if having a store prevented me from getting those promotions, they say it doesn`t.

Any of you with sore getting these offers to list free on ebay.ca?

Thanks!

pierrelebel · ‎12-12-2013

Sometimes store owners get invited, sometimes they don't. Sometimes sellers without a store get invited, sometimes they don't.

Not everyone gets invited to every sale.

Take a look at a discussion on the most recent promotion:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/New-Auction-Promo-Dec-12-to-Dec-24/m-p/176725#U176725

As you read the posts, you will notice that some sellers have an eBay store and some not. It appears that having or not having an eBay store was a criteria for that promotion.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-12-2013

There are a number of free listings that come automatically with your Store. Depends on which level you buy.

Occasionally there are promotions that include Store owners but think about why eBay has these promotions.

a)They want to encourage new and occasional sellers to list more often.

We Store operators are already vested in the site. We might list a bit more if we have more free listings, but most of us have enough work to keep up with our current listings.

b)The promotions are often around the times of their quarterly reports to stockholders.

EBay doesn't pay dividends. So the only way they can keep stockholders happy is for the stock to go up (and the stockholders sell it) and down (and the stockholders, gamblers all, buy it). This does the company no good at all, of course, since eBay doesn't see any of that money, but many of the senior staff get stock as part of their wages, so they love it.

And of course, since eBay doesn't want to lose money, the occasional seller pays more in Final Value Fees on his Free Listing sales than we Store sellers do.

Anonymous · ‎12-12-2013

I think it is because you are a "new" seller. When I was a seller for the first time, I didn't get the free listings promos for a long time which was very frustrating as I would love to take advantage of them that time when I need them, that was way before we get our 50 monthly free listings on eBay.ca and another free 50 monthly free listings on eBay.com, 100 free monthly listings.

Anonymous · ‎12-12-2013

Sorry it is for non-store sellers. But as a store seller, we get them from time to time, sometimes all the time, then nothing for a few times before getting them again. I just got them again 3 times in a row for the store seller. As non-store seller, I get them all the time without fail (knocking on wood 3 times!).

pierrelebel · ‎12-13-2013

"As non-store seller, I get them all the time without fail "

Good for you. As a non-store seller, I do not get them all the times. I would guess one out of two.

I have two selling ID, both non-store. Often they both receive the promotion offer; sometimes it is only one or the other.

Nobody has yet found a perfect system to determine how eBay decides who gets invited and who does not. eBay is not sharing the information.

anguscoinshop · ‎12-14-2013

i have a store and i only got four promo this year

they need to do away with them, promos no longer serve any purpose, they only clutter the net.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-15-2013

angus- They don't serve any purpose for buyers or sellers.

Buyers have to deal with "clutter" (good choice of words!) and amateur sellers.

Sellers have to deal with "race for the bottom" competitors.

And with low prices for sales, eBay gets lower fees than they would if sellers had to pay to list products, and therefore did not list stuff that would never sell.

But I argue that these sales benefit stock flippers. Since eBay does not pay dividends, even when it is awash with cash, the only way to make money on the stock is to sell it at a higher price than its purchase.

The promotions make eBay look like a lively marketplace. The stock goes up, just before the Quarterly Report, and the flippers are happy.

And for conspiracy theorists, many of those stockholders flipping are senior eBay executives who are partly paid in stock options.

CUI BONO?