How about more Promotions that favour the Seller ?

[santlache_sales]

In my line of selling, in early December 2023 ebay offered certain sellers with so many higher ticket items over £250 a offer which lasted six months until May 2024.

After signing up, this basically meant any new item listed that was over £250, they gave you an average FVF of 10% and this worked on a scale, so the higher the ticket price the more discount you got off this average 10%.

Items didn't exactly fly out the door, but I sold quite a few of these higher ticket items over the six months and it helped a great deal, but it also felt a lot more FAIR. It wasn't as if eBay were sacrificing much as they still got a nice cut.

I'd like to see more or even another offer like this please, eBay ????

[cobwebcottage]

ANY offer for business sellers would be nice. Last one I remember was the Black Friday promo a couple of years ago. Shame they couldn't do this every year to support us.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

There are literally no incentives for business sellers hence why so many trade from private accounts.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I don't believe that at all.  Over the past month, I have participated in at least 3 different promotions, with another couple coming up over the next few weeks.

Basically, it's been varieties of 10% 15% off etc, with ebay sharing part of the cost.

I also have a 25% one coming up shortly, for the Ebay anniversary.

@santlache_sales Really not sure how them giving you a discount, makes it fairer?

Why do you getting a discount, make it fairer against all the other sellers that are not?

[cobwebcottage]

'Really not sure how them giving you a discount, makes it fairer?

Why do you getting a discount, make it fairer against all the other sellers that are not?'

If you have had 3 promo's in a month and another one coming soon, where's the fairness in that for the rest of us?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I didn't claim that it was.  But, I'm most definately not the only one getting those promotions.

As such, it disproves the fact that Ebay are not offering any promotions to business sellers.

The OP claimed that it was fairer, not me.  As per.....

Items didn't exactly fly out the door, but I sold quite a few of these higher ticket items over the six months and it helped a great deal, but it also felt a lot more FAIR. It wasn't as if eBay were sacrificing much as they still got a nice cut.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

I don't see the coupon offers as much of an incentive.

[cobwebcottage]

Let's hope some more business sellers reply to the post so we have an idea of how many promo's are out there and how many are being offered them.

Can you copy the title of one of them from your promotional offers summary so we can see the info?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

That's the current one.  At the top of every page on Ebay, though mine isn't active for a couple more days yet.  Before that was the shine10 last week.

A lot of this will be to do with what you are selling as much as anything else.  

And whatever it is that they want to promote.  They have of course been pushing the clothing lately, so it's not really that suprising to see those kind of promotions.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Why not?  They are providing a percentage discount on your items for free.

So as long as you have the margins, there really shouldn't be an issue with them.

With the Shine10 offer last week, Ebay were paying (I think, without checking) half of that discount.  And considering that my go to, is to provide a 10% discount to my customers, that is actually saving my 5%.

Obviously it depends on your sales model as to how well various offers will work.  But it's not to be sniffed at.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

My dad often said "In life,what you want and what you get are two very different things,life lesson number 1" 😑

[cobwebcottage]

I thought this one was for buyers to use on selected items not for business sellers to opt in to. Maybe it was for selected business sellers only like you say.

[the-nutwood-collection]

Back in 2020 or 2021, I had a few offers that were a discount on FVF.  It only applied to newly listed items so, if I wanted to take advantage of it, I would need to end existing listings and re-list which would lose the sales history.  I suppose it was attractive to sellers that regularly list new items, but I sell stock lines so the promotions were of no use to me.

Since then I've had a couple of the co-funded discount coupon offers - the ones where eBay takes FVF on the full price, pays the seller the discounted price, and then refunds 40% of the discount a couple of months later.  I did the math, and realised that I was funding most of the discount.  Didn't take the offers.

Other than that, zilch.  

On my private account, there is a never-ending procession of 80% off FVF offers - and no fees at all for a while in early 2024.  When that was on, I noticed a new private seller in one of my categories - undercutting my prices.  I recognised the images as those on a competitor's website.  Rumour is that they were including discount vouchers for their website with every sale.  If rumour is true, what a wizard idea.  Much cheaper than Google Ad Words. 

[btr.style]

It's hardly a promotion that favours the seller if the seller has to join the promo which is to give buyers x amount off their entire stock, then eBay cover the cost of some of it. It's nothing short of paying for promoting listings. 

The last time any sort of fee promo for business sellers was given was in September or October 2022 and that was 25% off fees. I think a few weeks before that they did 50% off fees for 100 clothing listings. 

Nothing since and we all know why...... Because eBay needed to cover the cost of bi weekly fee promos for private sellers, a month of 0 fees for private sellers earlier this year and of course the free to sell clothing for private sellers from April. 

So there's no chance of any selling fee promos for business sellers ever again. They value private business sellers too much to give anyone doing things legally on a business account any fee promo. 

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

You have to sell items for less, that isn't much of an incentive to me.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

1000 free listings a month as a private seller, what do business sellers get ?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I'm sorry, but why should business sellers get extra listings free or discounts on fees?

What exactly does Ebay gain from doing that?

That is ignoring the issue of "private" sellers, which is a separate issue.

The reason that they give ordinary private sellers free listings etc, is to encourage them to stay and purchase items on the site.  To do the same with business sellers, makes no real commercial sense, that I can see anyway.  After all, this is were Ebay makes it's money, as well advertising etc.

This really is the way you need to look at it.  What is the commercial sense of offering direct discounts to sellers as far as Ebay is concerned?

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Why are they offering private sellers 1000 free listings a month ?

I think it's a bit of an outdated view that these private sellers spend lots on Ebay, perhaps they did a decade ago when they used their Paypal balance however I see little evidence they do now.

You seem to have the view that Ebay is making commercially wise decisions, I don't believe they are and I think the fall out will come further down the line.

At the moment they are using coupons etc to keep sales levels above water, beyond promoted listings they seem to have little to offer. The platform is surviving because business sellers are paying more and more however there will clearly be a breaking point and many have hit that point.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Further to my last post, there is such a thing as goodwill and I don't mean in a charitable sense, a lot of business sellers have little to no goodwill towards Ebay now, commerically this isn't good for Ebay in the medium to long term however I very much doubt the existing Ebay CEO / board care about the long term.

[btr.style]

Various things there.

It keeps people happy. Especially during these times with cost of living stuff, free to sell clothing for private sellers and commercial, customer retention is the key. 

A boost with fee promos for businesses encourages listings and staying loyal. 

For me personally, it was the Xmas insult of no promo for businesses, combined with free to sell clothing and the month of 0 fees for private sellers that has me reducing my listings and selling elsewhere instead. Had there been a promo, I'd have done 100 more listings which I wouldn't have bothered taking down and would just let them rollover to full fees. 

Instead I have around 120 listings on eBay now and have no incentive to do more. I can earn more money elsewhere (although I prefer eBay's platform, but money talks). 

So I guess a fee promo for businesses gets them off their backsides to do 100 listings over 3 days, boosting items available to buyers on eBay and most won't end the listings once they roll to full fees. 

eBay are pretty clueless when it comes to making money though. Telling business sellers to just sell clothing on a private account when it was raised about private business sellers, not clamping down on private business sellers, etc