Don't Be Fooled By eBay's Suggested Promoted Listing Rates
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- In this video I discuss how eBay has been manipulating the selling community into promoting at higher rates so they can make higher profits off of fewer sales while offering less to the seller in fees we are paying. The increasing promoted listing standard suggested rates are not going up because of sellers, the math just isn't there based on the number of sellers who are promoting at 2-3% max. I want to know what you currently promote down below and what is the highest you will go. Are you influenced by what eBay suggests vs what you are comfortable promoting? Comment down below...
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If eBay would fix the search and show people what they search for, there would be no need for promoting anything. Sales would skyrocket. Instead of addressing the issues with the site they use smoke and mirrors.
I never promote anything.
Over half of my searches show the wrong items.Therefore costing someone a sale and making for a bad buyer experience.
Yep its 100% BULLSHIT
Did the same, searching for comps...after 2 or 3 listings, items came up without my search word. Last week, I had 3 days with 0 sales. Never happened before.
Totally agree..the days of being a good seller do not matter for anything in search 2023. promoted Listings is extortion. I doubt they would win a legal case it is not.
I've just started using promoted listings and for now I am sticking at 2%. I hope my sales go up!
I always laugh when I see my promoted listings getting zero views on eBay in a week, and then the same item getting a dozen views on mercari and then eventually selling there at my listed price with nothing promoted😂 then I go to end the item listing on eBay and I get the eBay message "sorry your item didn't sell"😂 no eBay, it sold. It just didn't sell on your convoluted site.
😂😂😂
I'm not going above 5%, period. I think I'd be better off dropping my prices by 10% instead, which would also reduce my final Ebay fees.
Brilliant!
The other funny thing I see is when I'm doing comps research, I see nothing but my own listings in the add areas! So I'm paying to show my own listings to myself. Awesome.
So, this is what I've been saying since late March. It was obvious what they were doing and me, as a reseller (I don't consider myself an eBayer because that would suggest I have no other choices, which is important), went about adjusting to the situation. Here's what I did and am doing, which is a way of thinking a little differently on how you use eBay, but it does take work. BTW, I deal mainly in records (the last 120 years of records) and Books (specializing in history, states, American expansion, and religious literature).
1. I'm maintaining my ebay account, which stands at just below 4400 items and $52,000 in value. Before March 23rd, I'd make $1500 a week off that consistently in sales. Right now, I'm at $600-$700 a week consistently, which sucks. Will I go up to 10% in promoted? No, I'm at 3.1% and I switch it back and forth between 3.1% and 2.1%. Do I see any difference in the two? No. You'll only see change if you throw them the suggested or higher rate. And even though 100% of everything in my store has been paid for many times over, I won't go up as eBay doesn't deserve it. With the constant glitches and everything else they have, why should I pay 10 to 15% MORE in fees for them to show my items. By their clocking my items, they and their stockholders lose money. Promoted fees are a gimmick to make up for all the sales and customers this CEO has pissed away. He's awful at his job and until he's fired, eBay will continue the downward descent. As I don't see him being fired this year, I've made plans to take as much as I can that would normally go to eBay and place it somewhere else OR list on eBay, but crosslist at a lower price elsewhere and drive customers who are buying from me off eBay to those other platforms, saving them money through lower prices.
I've created accounts on other platforms and have been crosslisting specific things to each. When I have an eBay sale, I send a sheet explaining how people can get things cheaper from me by going to other sites and I provide QR codes to those other sites. Crosslisting isn't illegal on the eBay platform AND I'm not promoting my other sites through eBay's messaging system. My goal is simply to diversify and give customers a better deal while lessening my dependence on eBay, who has become a shadow of what it could have been/was under this CEO's leadership (yes, I can't stand this guy, so you might hear me take some more jabs).
Before March 23rd, I was adding $300 to $500 in value per day to my store. I was seeing the results through sales as I have at various points in my 24 years on eBay. After March 23rd, it became play to play. No matter how much I list, if I ain't willing to pay, they will only give me so many views which I've been keeping track of. I've helped reporters with statistics, so keeping track and finding patterns in the algorithm hasn't been too difficult once you have a large set of statistics. And I don't like what I see. It is about paying to play, but so much more. The fact that eBay can't keep their site working is probably more of a problem to us than promoted listings, but combined with each other, it's going to be a death sentence for a LOT of small sellers, which eBay needs in order to replace older big sellers in the future. This CEO clearly can't see that. Also, under this system, he's never going to become Amazon as his rates will be too high for the new item sellers he's trying to cater to. So, I usually just replace in value or add a little bit more than that every day to my store so that I'm slowly going up and keeping the algorithm happy at a bare minimum. I put in 2-4 hours a day with eBay whereas before March 23rd, I was putting in 10 hours or more a day, seven days a week on eBay. I have obviously seen no increase with this lessening of the work I do on eBay, but I haven't seen it drop either from these new averages. Now, because of this change, I have 8-10 hours to work elsewhere.
So, create advertisements you can put in your eBay orders to send people elsewhere.
2. I created a Mercari account because I had heard they were working on expanding books, which I deal in. I'll be crosslisting all my books from eBay to Mercari and lowering the prices for my Mercari customers as again, I don't have the fees there that I have on eBay. Though I don't see my money as fast, that's okay because I HAVE SALES. For a site that's 10x smaller than eBay, they sure seem to give me as many or more views per day. Why is that I wonder? It's like eBay doesn't have our best mutual interests in mind. Crosslisting is easy. I just cut and paste my Mercari listings to eBay as I use the same templates. It takes maybe an extra 30 seconds but the increases in sales has been worth it.
3. I list some records on Discogs and again, all record buyers get a sheet with a QR code directing them to my Discogs listings. I only use Discogs for the very rarest of items, so it's not like I'm listing as much there as I am on eBay.
4. I have a database of records not anywhere other than the database as it takes too much time to list them elsewhere. If you buy a 78rpm record from me, you'll get on my mailing list and I'll send that out every two or four weeks to you along with everyone else, showing all the new items I've received. I can process 5-10 records this way faster than I can one on eBay. So, I maintain my listings on eBay while showing customers oh so much more through my database. Eventually, they quit buying from me off ebay and go direct.
5. I got an antique mall booth. I'm in my second month there and I will do more in profits this month there than I will off of ebay this month. I can process what I put in there much easier than I can on eBay and I can source a HELL of a lot more items for it than I can for eBay due to the fees. If you're selling things at a certain rate on eBay, it's not worth your time due to the fees. By the end of the year, I will be making more off my booth than I ever did in 24 years on eBay. Now, if things had remained the same, I would have been taking my eBay store up to $100,000+ in value this year and doing more, but that was then, this is now. I'm a reseller, not an eBayer. I'll sell where there are profits to be made and partnerships worth keeping. eBay is now an abusive relationship I won't put up with. Oh, and in my booth, I provide contact info where people can use the QR codes to go to my online sales that I don't put in the booth, like 78rpm records.
6. Facebook. I have record groups I've created where I can directly interact and show off new collections I've found with my customers. In many cases, I sell enough through my Facebook groups (that have no fees) in one or two weeks that the entire collection I sourced at 20 or 30x is paid for. I just bought 25,000 78rpm records, of which 10,000 will be sellable. I'll have the four digit price paid off in less than 30 days with inventory left over worth around $100,000 after it's paid for.
All this takes time, but not as much time trying to find a job at 55 years of age. I love what I do and will continue to do it. A lot of great people will as well, and this will mean less and less for eBay as the reality sets in. And I tell you, it'll take years for eBay to change, at which time they'll lose even more and more market share. Get on those other platforms and market to your eBay buyers, get them to move over. You'll thank yourself many times over if you do. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I do these things hoping ebay will eventually see them and figure it out that we have other options and that they're killing us and the platform.
Also, being proactive, I've been able to now make up for the losses eBay has given me and am actually a lot less stressed. AND, to be honest, because I was forced to take a look at my options, I won't be using eBay as much ever again. And other sites will get stronger and eventually replace the spiraling eBay. Sears used to be the top department store for 100 years or so. For some reason, I can't seem to find one these days. They didn't adapt and died. eBay isn't adapting.
And, no matter what you think of WhatNot, it serves a purpose. It's a great outlet for people to make a quick buck and replace funds that they may have tied up in items they can't sell in their area. I have an 80,000 vinyl collection I bought where I'll be happy to get $2 to $4 a record as it'll mean 20-40x on the items, especially when people are buying multiples during an auction, which doesn't happen for me on eBay as much. It will allow me to buy huge collections knowing I'll see a great return, even at a lower price. Just saying.
Keep picking and keep selling.
Great info! Thanks for sharing. It verified my concerns with time invested, fees and solds. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee ebay changing anything. Their head has got too big and at times it seems like juveniles are running it. Then there is the concern that most households have much less disposable income and sales on any platforms are going down fast. Local is the quickest and less costly way to sell at the moment.
Done quite a few of your suggestions (they work) and while I'm not making gajillions like That Other Guy my books are selling somewhat. My setup: I don't promote anything, end auctions within the hour of closing and SSI them (sell similar items), no free shipping (unless it's a major key book) and no returns (lots of pics so they know exactly what they're getting). Keep putting the word out, you two...This Old Man is listening!
If a person sells in a competitive category and 10,000 sellers promote each listing each seller is cancelling the other out. The first page of products doesn't hold 10,000 listings not the second or third. Promoted is a SCAM!
Then add in the people running $100 a month REPRICER software. On a platform now which is all about the lowest price. THAT is Ebays only real search point anymore.
@@johndough23First time ever hearing about a “reprieve software”, guess I’ve been living under a rock! Rhetorical question: so is THIS a/ the “silver bullet” hack that the big dogs are using to show us stacks of USPS boxes filled w/ items that “sold overnight” or “over the weekend” for $$$$$?
Which program are you using?
Exactly!
If you have good items at a fair price with 2500 watchers you don't need to promote that item . And repeat buyers are key.
I think that if no one promotes anything, then eBay might get the hint.
Strike.D-day for ebay
I never have
There will ALWAYS be sheep. The only way to stop sheep is to tie them up so they don't run amuck on the rest of us! 🤣
I've never promoted
@@ToooSweet1 Then you have no reference point to know what is going on...When it started PL could double your sales easily for 7%. Now it is 12 and up and you have no assurance of anything. It is now a total loser this PL. The numbers they show you tell you that...POINTLESS. Now most are simply paying 12% for the same sale doing nothing would have done.
I miss my old days of reselling. I did mostly auctions and most things sold. Now, things take so much longer to sell. I am not even sure if promoted listings existed back them. If they did, I never used them. I do use some promoted listings now but I am not sure how much they really help my sales.
Thanks for working hard to keep us updated on the ever changing landscape of eBay.
At 7% with final value fees it is 20% of your sale. I had a sale recently that ebay made 3x what I did. Cant buy low enough to cover that gap. Not going any higher.
I've experimented over the years with promoted listings from 1% to 10% and never saw any difference in sales.
I usually don't do any ad rate. I just try to price near the lowest price. Very, very rarely use ad rates.
You are exactly right. It should be criminal that shipping and taxes are a part of the promotion rate. I forsee a large class action over this one. What jury is going to believe that they are justified by doing this?
Strike. D-day for ebay.
@@db5037 The response of someone who is happy to be a slave/itinerant worker for life.
At a minimum the promoted fee should not be on the sales tax. Ebay justified the regular category fee on the sales tax because they were performing a service - sending the sales tax to the state taxing authorities. To included it as part of the promoted rate fee is RIDICULOUS.
Ya I think it’s criminal that they include the sales tax in the total % amount they take! Absolutely mind blowing!
I do not know if it is criminal or not.I do not like it. However I do take some Solace knowing that they are taking care of the paperwork and accounting for the individual State Taxes and I dont have to worry about it.Finslly getting Above Standard rating back after five months of paying 19.1% on fees.I swear that I will send the wrong item before ever cancelling another sale.
If everyone stops drinking the koolaid and stops promoting at these ridiculous rates, ebay may stop their BS
Getting everyone to stop is the problem. If 20% of sellers stop, the other 80% who continue to promote will benefit.
@@FlippinAintEasy I disagree, most sellers on Ebay sell in multiple categories, or are 'everything sellers. Many categories including rare items have little competition and people are paying an ad rate for absolutely no reason . Great video anyway.
@@FlippinAintEasy The continuance of this logic will still lead to the same result. All small businesses forced out as they cant operate on small margins, and replaced eventually by large operations who can tolerate making pennies on each sale. It may be more efficient, but its no country for old men.
There needs to be an eBay union... eBay is a manipulative cult.
How would that happen? Ebay sellers aren’t employees.
@@danielleschoenlau7861What's that got to do with anything, a union is about sticking together to achieve a purpose.
100 %... It's really getting out of control.
@@danielleschoenlau7861 - but yet, we have Stores...
In the quarterly calls EBay has said repeatedly that their goal is to double eBay’s ad revenue in the future. They aren’t doing anything to make eBay more competitive to increase their customer base. It’s not even a stated goal to increase customer base and sales, they just keep talking about taking more ad revenue. They will continue to raise the suggested ad rates to meet these goals. It’s a company secret as to how the dynamic rates are figured for a reason. They want you to think it’s not just a money grab when it clearly is. The way I’m looking at it is I have to buy low and sell high and promote high so that the algorithm doesn’t hide my items from buyers. Ad rates will continue to rise until they reach the breaking point, driving up prices and driving sellers out of business due to loss of buyers and high prices. We need a new way of doing things or reselling will die due to high selling costs.
The typical goal of all these type of Monopolies is HALF. they use studies people fixate on "what is fair". To normies and newbies 50-50 LOOKS Fair. So imagine what 60 to 40 looks like to them? a bonanza.
I remember when the promoted program started I would get suggested rates under 5%. Now I am seeing rates over 10%. I think these rates are investor driven.
Yup, I haven’t seen a promoted rate below 10.8% in a few months… I’m not saying there aren’t any, but I haven’t seen any
@@db5037 No I don't. I don't have anything over 3%. I evaluate sell through rate, list to sold ratio, and profit margin to make my decision on promotion rate. For example, I don't promote if I am the only one listing a certain it or has a very high sell through rate. I promote item that have been listed for over 7 days, and have a lot of competition.
Strike.D-day for ebay.
I have also noticed the promoted and sponsored listings are shoved to the top of search results, even though the search criteria does not match that listing. I've searched for items and had promoted/sponsered listings appea higher in rank and the listing didn't even have the search keyword in the title. The ebay site is clearly hiding many listed items with more relevance to a particular search from potential buyers.
eBay is damaging the very people (small guy) whom built the company. I’m a full time seller and have seen a big drop in sales, and it’s not the product.
All the while giving FVF deals to the larger sellers.
I agree with this lady
This is one of your BEST videos. I think i will watch it twice. 🤔 eBay is riding the promotional listing train untils it derails, and small businesses fold. What is currently happening is a race to the bottom, and not a sustainable long term business model for small businesses, but excellent long term success for ebay. To add insult to injury...all the revenue they are reaping, ebay does not care enough to produce an operational and functional site. There are glitches on a daily basis...24/7, 365 days/year.
I personally promote all listings @ 6.4%. I’ve been doing this since last year. Sales have stayed consistent for me with 50-75 sales a week. I have a smaller store with roughly 1k items. 6.4 is my cap as I’ve experimented with higher rates and lower sales. I did post some levi jeans today and noticed the suggested rate was 17.4%. I thought that was insane.
Thank you for the video. I’ve been hoping other people are noticing this and the issue would be addressed.
As long as people play the game, the 'Suggested Rate' will just continue to rise. Its like being an itinerant worker. There's work one day and none the next, and by the way, you have to pay the foreman to get any work at all, because he has his favorite's.
When promoted listings first started we ran the following experiment: We had purchased a pallet of identical coffee mugs (sold in sets of four). We created identical listings (slight difference in title A&B). We promoted "A" at 10% and created a 10% coupon for "B". Guess which sold better? The coupon by almost double! About a month later the coupon listing completely tanked and ONLY the promoted listing sold. We ran the same experiment later with a different product and the promoted listings out sold the coupon by nearly 50x. EBay figured it out pretty quick.
Market manipulation which is illegal. They need to be held accountable.
Looking forward to the internal "whistle blower" coming forward with how eBay lied about all this; it's going to happen.
I sell only vintage postcards in my eBay store. I have ALL of my 5,225 active listings set at 5% promoted listings rate and NO higher. Yesterday, I listed one of my higher end cards (post dated cir.1906) at $54.95 + 4.75 shipping. I got an offer from a buyer for $25. I was planning on countering that offer and while I was on my "offer page" I noticed that my ad rate of 5% had been changed to 13.2% without my knowledge or permission. If I had accepted that offer from that buyer, I would have been charged 13.2%. Fortunately, I was was able to edit that rate and change it back to 5% and save it before I countered the offer. It seems under this new "promoted listings standard" program that eBay implemented recently, even if you set a % that you decide, eBay reserves the right to change it to whatever THEY want and unless you catch it, you will be charged that amount. It's just crazy!
I stopped promoting 6 months ago and my sales never changed. Still consistently selling same average number of sales every day.
When they show other seller items in our stores or after a sale to a buyer we are actually promoting other seller items
I just put 2% everywhere and thats it. Never more. works perfectly for me.
Same. I do 2.3 to try to get that small edge over everyone else doing 2 2.1 and 2.2 but I thinks it's just BS and it's all the same really
@@adammonahan687 ok. then i will put 2.4 to all my listings to beat you
@@bypyhgyk 2.5 -- Ive got you both beat. 😈🤣
@@biffboffo Tripled my price and raised PL to 75%. Get on my level...
i give ebay 22% of all sales, the postman 15% and the rest is for my overheads, very sad but stuck in rut
Same here. Using Amazon, Posh and my own site. Anything but eBay where and when I can.
THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO!!!!! I went on hiatus from ebay for about a year. I came back to this sticker shock of suggested promo rates!! I was about to do the 12-15% suggested because I thought the old saying of you have to spend money to make money was in effect. My line was 10%... and I am in the same ballpark of low cost items... but now I am looking to reduce it to no more than 5%. I am contemplating 2% to keep skin in the game but not breaking my bank. LOL!! Thank you again for your amazing videos and for being a proponent for us common folk on ebay!!!!🥳
subscribed and liked video found you today with this video. ive found a couple niches with the promoted listing
Thank you for speaking out about this blatant profiteering by eBay. In a moment of madness a few weeks ago, I set the dynamic ad rate for all of my listings. Today I sold a $98 second hand watch that apparently had PL set at 20%!!! I couldn't belive it. I ran a sell similar listing immediately from it to find it again to be 20%..... but the suggested rate was 9%!!! I have not yet figured out how this occurs but in the meantime..... WTF? Well played eBay. Well played.
I am a new reseller - less than 2 months. I have turned on promoted listing at 5% on 1 of my high margin items. I have seen no change in views for that item since turning it on. What's the point? I mostly sell vintage and small treasures so the margins are typically not large enough to support a promo rate of 10% or more, especially with shipping prices today. Get real ebay!
Spunds like a high profit, long tail item. Try it with something that has more demand.
Same!!!
Thank you Flippin for this video. I just got my weekly payout and could not believe it. I’m about ready to quit EBay. Thank you for the insight on promoted listings
I have no way of really knowing the value of promotional listings. Not much different then back in the day when we took out newspaper ads, how do we know how well it does unless you ask the buyer, "how did you find me?" But as a seller, you better know your cost and price your items accordingly
I 100% agree with this. More resellers need to be vocal about what is going on. Thanks for bringing awareness on this subject.
Thank you for this video. You are so right. I experimented an raised my rate to 9% on several listings for about two months. What happened is the listings? I had no promotion on sold but the 9% listings did not sell at all. Not even one. So I hope that most people listen to what you’re saying right now. This is fabulous advice and very informative. I have 671 listings, slowly I’m ending them an sell similar, this is the only way to end the promotion, because if u change it while it’s listed i is still promoted for 30 days. I wonder if when the 30 day are up is it still being promoted. This is how much I don’t believe what Ebay says. Thank you so much Barbara Barbsbagsnbling.
I won't do promoted because, in the end, everyone will just cancel each other out and eBay will be the only one that wins. Sure, there might be some advantage if you're someone who jumped on board in the beginning but as the market is more and more saturated with promoted listings it will only level out the playing field, meanwhile everyone's throwing money at eBay, and for what? I might be wrong but I'm already giving eBay enough $$ with store & selling fees...they can bite me on the promoted listings.
Completely agree. Any seller would be better placed in putting the extra effort into another income stream. Yes, maybe another selling platform, but equally, another way of making money entirely.
Its a race for profit for Ebay Inc and a race to the bottom for sellers. The more you give away in ad rates, the more you are becoming an Itinerant/Indentured worker for Ebay.
We see the same model being rolled out across the developed world. Look at the business practices of Uber for example. Start off with reasonable prices for customers and decent pay for the drivers. Knock out all local competition, followed by a sqeeze on drivers, no pension entitlement/worker rights and higher prices for customers.
For those that make the 'Its a private company they can do what they want argument' , I agree with you, but only to the extent that the US has anti trust laws for a reason.
Its a monopoly in all but name.
I used to think the same, however, I started selling less and less promoting between 6 & 10, so to test it out I started a dynamic campaign & sales went back to normal, it sucks that we have to promote, but 80% of my sales are from promoted listings, I do mainly sell clothes so maybe in your categories what youre saying still stands
Im with you 100%. How do they expect to have long term consistent sellers if they are making it impossible to make money because of their high fees. They are shooting themselves in the foot by causing the sellers to not make money. If they were just honest we would both make a lot of money!
I’ve thought this for a long time. How convenient for them to tell all of us sellers that the “going promoted listing rate” is 10%+ in this item category and sadly yes.. I’ve then jacked up my promoted listing rate to the suggested.. hmmm 🤔 and I’m guessing so do many other sellers.., ok wait! Then we are all promoting at that rate:. Soo wtf? So we are all doing the same thing and it has not increased my sales.. it just increases eBay lining their damn pockets again! From our hard work and sometimes even at our loss! Or at least our meager “profit”.. thank you 🙏 for finally discussing this.. it’s much appreciated!
Yeah, They are putting the screws to us. I just posted my issue with dynamic rates of another video of yours.
I agree 110%. I used to promote all my listings. Decided to try not promoting any and see if there was a difference in sales. To my surprise there was a difference as I would get more sales without the promoted listings. What prompted me to try this is when they changed my promoted ad rate from 2.5 % to 8.5%. Might not sound like a lot to some sellers but if you are not expecting it, it does.
Thank you! Great advice!
How come there is nobody will looking into filing a class actions because eBay is actually misleading all sellers. Also, I am tired of dealing with eBay how inconstant with their updated information and links on our seller hub.
I reached out before and nobody would take the case.
I know for a fact they hide listings with organic demand and sales to force you back to promotions if you leave.
How you know this? Thanks
@@BraveCounsel just experience. And it’s happened several times.
Thank you for taking the time to research & explain this , I agree with everything you say. I thank goodness I have a very busy B&M of 20 years standing, a online is just the cherry on the icing
With the cost of sourcing shipping and fees I am constantly having to raise my prices therefore loosing customers and sales due to squeezing my customers so that I can make a profit. The egg collector is killing the Goose. The Emperor looks great.
I did one promoted listing and I have gotten ZERO traffic on the item. It's ridiculous. None of my items show traffic and nothing is selling. I've sold 5 items on Mercari in the last 18 hours compared to one item in two months or so on EBay. 140 listings. So yeah something is going on for real!!! Thanks again for the advice and help. Keep the videos coming 😊
With these promoted rates, things are going to accelerate to their natural conclusion within 12 months. By that time, everyone will be promoting at whatever rate they can afford, if they decide they need promoted listings at all. I mean, if you’re going to give eBay the keys to the cash register with “variable” rates, what do you expect?
I promoted 20% of my store at 10%- all very common items - just to explore the data. It didn’t help with sales. My promoted items don’t sell any better or worse than my non-promoted items. I started to see a decrease in organic traffic in that time, but I honestly don’t know if that was related.
I knew deep down that promoting in my niche wouldn’t have much effect, but as long as sales have been weak since April, I figured I might as well try everything.
Well, now I have tried everything, and now I’m trying other sites. eBay is definitely losing market share by the day - how many consecutive quarters have the numbers of sellers decreased? - and I believe they are starting a very slow death spiral, where they continue to squeeze sellers for more revenue, causing more sellers to go elsewhere. Instead, eBay needs to be acquiring new buyers, but they just don’t seem capable.
My prediction is that more and more specialty sites will continue to emerge. Since eBay has been around for about 25 years, it may take 25 years for them to die, but they’re heading in that direction.
Its a race for profit for Ebay Inc and a race to the bottom for sellers. The more you give away in ad rates, the more you are becoming an Itinerant/Indentured worker for Ebay.
We see the same model being rolled out across the developed world. Look at the business practices of Uber for example. Start off with reasonable prices for customers and decent pay for the drivers. Knock out all local competition, followed by a sqeeze on drivers, no pension entitlement/worker rights and higher prices for customers.
Its a monopoly in all but name.
Hey, one positive thing regarding impressions and traffic. In our experiance, I've found that the more quality external traffic you bring to eBay the more impressions they give you. Consider and try.
And how you do that ?
SEO
I'm rethinking my buying to sell strategy too. I have a tendency to be the "bread & butter" seller, making money off of items less than $9.99. I know....not the fast track. But, I am trying to change that. Also, after watching your other video about setting your own personal limits, I went to my store and did just that. Never again will I list higher than my personal limit. Thanks again.
Well done. Develop/change your business rather than becoming a slave to ebay. Because thats exactly what we will all become, if we let it happen.
Thanks for the thought provoking video and information. I use promotions, but stay away from dynamic suggested rates and keep most of mine below 6%. My sales have been good, but I may try going lower after hearing this. Thanks.
Wait for it!!!!!.........Jon "Drops the Mic"..... nuff said 👏 👏 👏
We are new EBay sellers. 4 months. $6k in last 90 days. We have been doing everything "right". Listing daily...item specifics...fast shipping...good pricing...great photos...good titles. We got tired of being screwed on promoted listing "recommendations" and switched to flat 2.1% last month. We are now down 30% from last month. This kinda stuff is driving us crazy. We know things are kinda screwy with us being new sellers in a typical slow quarter...but wow. Kinda disheartening
Seeing it in my shop too. My sales have dropped off a cliff. Barely, if ever had a 'Zero' day. Now having several a month selling exactly the same type of things. But I wont be upping my percentage to ebay. If it comes to it, I will just develop a different type of business. I wont be treated as a slave by ebay and neither should anyone else.
I find the promoted listings to be annoying. As I always search cheapest to highest price. And there's been many times when I'm scrolling and I come across a really high price and go to click back to search something else. Then realizing that I'd only hit a promoted listing, and then I have to keep scrolling to get back to the regular prices.
If someone was smart they would do 100% for a few months because there aren't any disclosures about that then sue eBay for misleading statements.
@@db5037 LOL I don't have the time for that 🤣
Jon did a test with 100% a while back and not only did the items not sell but if I remember correctly they didn't even get the top spot in best match search, which is ridiculous.
@@michaelc2155 Why I don't promote and with the costs of shipping anything under 16 ounces is ridiculous. My sales with anything a pound and 5 pounds have dropped off drastically. Why I buy smartly now under 16 ounces unless just exceptional deal.
I agree promoted rates have gone up to 17% on some clothing .. I put 50% on mine for a week once and nothing happened! I use 5-6-7 % as I end sell similar and adjust each listing accordingly every 30 days! On unique items the rate is so high like 17% so basically they use commonly used searches which isn’t what eBay used to be about! eBay was all about unique … not anymore …eBay is trying to grift .. it isn’t enjoyable anymore when our selling partner is grifting off us! It’s a partnership with the same goal or we thought so🤷🏻♀️
If you continue to play the game, your 5-6-7% will be 7-8-9 by this time next year, and 9-10-11 the year after. Sad, but inevitable. Of course, every seller will have a break point; not because they are not working hard, but because they are simply not making a viable profit.
Excellent video man! I agree with you 150%!!!
I realized it was a scam when Ebay was telling me that I needed an add rate of 16.5 for a product that only I have.
Very suspicious that 100% promoted is even an option
I haven't tried this, but it seems like the visibility goes way up, but the click through rate goes down because people tend to ignore ads.
Thank you very much. Yes, all this taxes and fees are overwhelming. I am a beginner and I have only that resources for living. It’s tough.😢
Love your stuff j keep it up x
All the best to both of you buddy your both a real gem big love to you both x
You are too generous at 10%. I won't go higher than 5% because I already have to pay fees on my shipping costs and everything else. I am told to always have the lowest price and list constantly so my algorithm keeps my listings in front of people and now I am supposed to give an extra 10 to 20% or more? With glitches and usually ebay siding with the buyer it is already difficult enough being the step child. I am thankful for channel's like this that help navigate the selling world so we can all make a living without being robbed by corporate greed.
I sold a Christmas sweater last week with zero extra fees. Thank you for keeping us up to date
Thanks for getting it out there.................
I though they were taking the pee with bringing in dynamic ad rates, but at least they brought in a seller selected cap. They're really pushing dynamic in the UK but im not falling for it. I fell for promoted listings advanced and got a lot of clicks but no sales. Then the suggested rate kept going up and up. Its not worth my time any more
Great response. I would sooner change the business I am in than become a wage slave to ebay, who will continue to up the ad rate until they receive significant pushback. Its obvious really.
I currently am using max 11%. I have been playing with rates all year. I try the 2% and no rate from time to time. I have a spreadsheet to keep up with Ad fees. Last year I paid $5,500 in ad fees. I am at $2500 this year. I sure wish I had that money. Sales are slow now and I think I am going back to 2% right now.
I only sell $50 one week the next week $100 approximately $200 per month, I pay 2% promoted listing, plus the monthly fee of $28 for basic store and the other fees you mentioned, until eBay don’t proof to me that I can make more money, I won’t increase my promoted listings, I don’t have to pay more than that for them to give me more views, they need to proof to me that I can make more, than I’ll pay them more, I see more commercials on TV about Etsy, Mercari and Poshmark than EBay. They need to put commercials out there for people to buy from their website. They are working against us so a lot of us quit. I won’t, I still have faith we can make it.
I had 17% for the last month. After this video I'm gonna lower it to 5%. My fees after the currency conversion (im from PL) were about 42% (!)
I started selling on eBay back in the early 2000's off and on. It was great! Easy, straightforward, and none of the deception that plagues it now. After recently coming back as a seller, I have to wonder about the competency of eBay leadership these days. Any smart business that makes a policy decision that hurts sales or participation on their platform, you would think they would reverse course to correction. Not eBay..they plow full steam ahead No Matter What the cost to their platform, their sellers, or their future as a business. I believe once "shareholders" became the only thing that matters to these big corps, it was all downhill from there. eBay is a shell of its former self and is definitely not fun anymore. Very disappointing.
I know that everyone thinks I am crazy, but I don't use promoted listings. My belief is that if I have good items to sell at a fair price the buyers will come. Example - I bought a large assortment of lawn mower and weedeater parts in April. Every item has sold! None of it was promoted. Another example - I bought 3 cases of Post-It notes in May and have sold all of it. Not promoted.
Sure I have many items in my store that either sell slow or not at all - But that is because no one wants those items - Not because I did not promote them.
Good video for the ones that do promote, though. Thanks Jon!
Find promoted listings doesn’t help anyone other than eBay. As a reseller trying to grow their business, the constant listen, eBay is a business just like we are business. They are out to make money. If I could sell a pair of socks for $100 I would. If he can get all of the sellers to do promoted listings in order to stay competitive, they will. I truly think we need a Resellertom union to stop this crap. Just saying.
Eventually a better company will come along and ebay will suffer as a result, honestly I can't wait
I do a little bit on Bonanza. Nothing compared to ebay. But it is easy as they will import your listings from ebay. And I only pay final value fees. We need someone to lead a concentrated Strike on ebay. D-day for ebay.
Not sure, but I think charging the PL fee on the sales tax is illegal.
My listing are consistently the last item on the search query without promoted listings
Thanks
Sounds like Ebay is doing what the Casinos do to their customers. Trying to extract every last dollar they can from their customers by raising prices and charging for every last thing they can including hidden fees and changing the rules of the games to benefit the House edge even more. All the while advertising to come play have a good time with happy smiles and Win BIG!!!
All whilst you are effectively working for them to provide you with a platform that is failing and shrinking. With a 10% ad rate you would be handing 25% plus of every sale to ebay for doing jack.
Organize a strike. D-day for ebay. May the numbers be with us. Its more than just Promoted listing fees. I am paying 19% + for being Below Standard for the last five months. It is a Sand Trap that I am trying to dig out of. I think ebay likes keeping me there because it is so hard trying to dig out of it. Redemption seems Futile. I love ebay. I hate ebay......I am pissed off also.
Totally agree with everything you said Jon thank you
great breakdown..
Problem: Ebay is showing multiple similar/same items on your listing from other buyers...Might be better to make sure you have the lowest price instead of raising promo rate!
Not buyers - Sellers!!
What you have described is a race to the BOTTOM, which is not a sustainable business model.
I promote around 5% I love your ideas. You and wife are awesome!
I been using the promoted rate at 9 or 10 but don’t go any higher than that. If an item is in high demand I don’t go higher than 2 rate or no rate at all . At one point I was doing the EBay suggested rate , but not anymore cause it is just a waste of money even if I have slow sells.
I’ve been doing lots of testing. I ended and sold similar several items, priced for low-high search and set promoted at 2%. 2 of them sold overnight and BOTH from promoted listing. What are the odds? I wonder if someone searches low-high and you are already on top of page 1 would they really promote your own listing on that top “sponsored” row to compete with your own duplicate listing the row below it from the natural search???
I agree with you thanks
I'm utterly amazed that people use 'promoted listings'. I've sold over 50,000 items, and I've never used it once. Only use promoted listings if you are selling cheap common junk. And even if you are selling cheap common junk, don't use the promoted listings,...please RESIST, and protest. boycott.
What may be true for your situation and what you are selling isn't necessarily true for what others are selling. I have said many times on this channel, there are certain situations where you should NEVER promote. In most cases, you should promote and do so for only one reason, COMPETITION. Promoting allows you to be seen in a sea of sellers who are selling the same item. Now if you are selling one off items with very low competition, then you would do right in not promoting. I have gravitated away from common junk with much higher ASP than most and I would not be able to make $12k-$14k a month in sales if I didn't.
@@FlippinAintEasy Possibly,...but I don't even allow best offer or free shipping and no problems here,...I think that once you give in and do promoted listings then the eBay algorithm knows that you can be manipulated and will eff' with you more,....so it's like cigarettes...just don't start,...if you have items that 'need' to be promoted...I would suggest not selling those items anymore. If all eBay RUclipsrs got together and initiated a boycott of promoted listings, that would be great.
Last year in eBay motors car parts the suggested rates where 3-8 percent on most things ever since there reports of loosing buyers and seller the suggested rate has been over 10% almost every time I list my max is 5% on car parts if there is a lot of competition on an item I might go to 7% but that is rare. If you just assume that eBay lies about everything. I would go somewhere else but it is the best place to sell in the vintage automotive world so I just put up with it. I feel your frustration we all do thanks for the video
I am working hard at figuring this ebay thing out.i found using the auction weekly helps sales. I have 2 thousand items. I promote 20 or under just 2 percent. Sales are consistent. Good luck everyone.
I only use standard promoted up to the minimum 2%. Competing with other sellers by jacking up promoting percentage is shooting yourself in the foot. Before using these new ways of promoting (advanced, etc.) I would rather get a 8-5 job.
Jon, I mentioned to you before, we as a community have to gather all together and stop selling for 1 day to show ebay our power. Get all the youtubers' audience together and show ebay that without sellers there is no buyers.
They know that...this is about manipulation and mind control.
I’ve given myself an ulcer trying to figure out standard, advanced, display and off site ads. I use to list it and forget it. No promo. Now, I’m paying 25% just to make a sale. I have a name brand product that has been totally knocked off in China. Even with promo I don’t show. Just them. They made a TEMU quality look a like that costs them nothing, list it with dynamic, offer free shipping and returns and can ship it cheaper from China than I can from Reno. I’m doing POSH that doesn’t have fraudulent returns and I’m hitting the streets to sell my product in person.
Thanks Jon. I’ve noticed much higher suggested rates. I’m capping at 10% but sales have been slow the last few days.
So you are paying over 25% total fees to ebay, plus postage for returns, plus you are taking on all the risk as a business holder. Doesnt seem worth it to be honest. As an entrepreneur surely you can use the same effort you are putting into ebay to make more money doing something else?
I listed a super unique Piece of Art 2 days ago by Borje Skohg. The suggested Ad Rate was over 11%. I did not promote it and it was sold after 20 minutes. Today I listed a Mauser Cartridge Belt and the suggested ad rate is again over 11.2% And there is only one other like this for sale. I did not promote it and after 12 hours it has 7 views and 3 watchers. So it will prob be sold within next week. Same with Kosta Boda Glass. I never need to promote that because it will get views, and watchers and sell as long as the price is fair. But last time I listed it I think ebay wanted me to promote it for over 13%
I laugh at the suggested rate. I am at 4.5 max and rarely get there. Its getting me sales and clicks. The most important thing that I learned from being in business 35 years is the average person wont spend money on advertising. I was donating to a charity and paypal is the easiest way for me to donate. I would have donated several hundred dollars through out the year as they needed it but the person in charge said they would not accept paypal because of the fees. So sad.
It sounds like sellers are being pitted against each other in a bidding war to get promoted and whoever pays the most gets promoted and whoever cannot afford the price, gets screwed over!
I have been at it over 12 years. I am not a Virgin or Blind either. Ebay is always trying new sneaky tricks.
Just going to post my question under a couple videos to see if i can grab your attention John.
Hey I just started listening to you!! Loving the content, like a wealth of knowledge you got here.
So I have a question if you promote an item and then you take it down and you made a deal with somebody that you would sell it but you obviously don't want to get hit with the promotional fee that they're going to tag you with, being eBay promo fees or even choosen promo rate, can't you just relist it and then avoid having to pay for the promotion all together but still catching buyers because the obviously we can't rewind time. And if i don't want to sell an item, it's my right or whatever to take it off the market. Hope you get my wisdom question. Thanks again, new follower.
Thanks for watching! If you are in communication with the buyer and both of you are on the same page, there isn’t anything to stop you from relisting the item without a promoted rate attached to the new listing. One scenario where you would have to do this is one where you have sent an offer to watchers and the buyer messages you asking about a lower offer. eBay won’t show you to send them another offer unless you end/relist that item and then you can just set the price so you can force immediate payment. In that new listing, nothing forces you to enable promoted listings.
Appears a dangerous high-risk model. Why? Simple! If sellers raise their prices to cover fees such as 17% for Levis jeans, buyers will purchase elsewhere, resulting in potential lost eBay customers. 🤔
Very good, Jon. Well said. This is the only strategy eBay has to report any revenue increases to its shareholders as their sales, sellers and buyers continue to tank.
Strike. D-day for ebay.
I have done a test with this promoted listing I have 2 accounts selling the same item first account I've set 6% and the item shows at the first page second account eBay is suggesting to promote 12% and the item doesn't exist when searching it feels eBay sends it to the black hole of non existent I do not recommend eBay suggestion.
I’m sitting on 5%. There was no way that dynamic wasn’t gonna be a massive run towards getting us all to promote at probably 30-50%! Maybe if you gave us more for our money, eBay, but it’s an absolute battle to even sell things on the platform these days
I also tried dynamic capped at 6.5% for a couple of weeks. The rate was low, I know lol but wanted to see what it was about. No sales increase, everything sold at 6.5% but my biggest problem was that absolutely everything I listed was automatically promoted. I like the option when I first list something if I want to promote straight away or give it a while to sell organically first