Private listings are getting listing sort/order priority, even at 'lowest price' (excl. sponsored)

[strangestash]

I recently noticed across a lot of my business listings, private listings are getting listing sort/order priority, even in situations like sorting/filtering by 'lowest price' and them not actually having the lower price. This obviously excludes sponsored listings.

For example; Why is the purple listing below ordered 3rd below more expensive items when ordered by price?

Link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=+Niv-Mizzet%2C+Visionary&_sacat=183454&_from=R40&_trksid=p233...

[strangestash]

Assume it's a (bug?) with the price WITHOUT the 'buyer protection fee' being cheaper than the other listing, but ultimately it's a bit deceptive to the buyer, incorrect, and prioritising private over business users. I'm assuming it's a bug due to the mountain of other issues I'm facing since the buyer protection fees came in.

[moldosgifts]

This could be sponsored listings the more you pay the higher it features, They could have set a sponsored rate higher than yours.

Combine that with the BPF Higher price will feature higher. Because they spent more on sponsorship.

[4_bathrooms]

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@strangestash wrote:

Assume it's a (bug?) with the price WITHOUT the 'buyer protection fee' being cheaper than the other listing

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This appears to be the case; i.e. the sort order is determined by the selling price plus postage sans the BPF. 

[carrotdrusus2]

If you click on buy it now only it sorts it in the right order but without auctions obviously.

[4_bathrooms]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

This could be sponsored listings the more you pay the higher it features, They could have set a sponsored rate higher than yours.

Sponsored listings always show the word "Sponsored" in light grey. This is a legal requirement; whenever a search result position is influenced by an advertising fee rather than appearing where it would have appeared organically the influenced result must be identified as a paid-for-placement advert. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@carrotdrusus2 wrote:

If you click on buy it now only it sorts it in the right order but without auctions obviously.

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That leads me to believe it is an oversight rather than a deliberate act by eBay; especially given the first three results for that search are all (the same) BIN results.

[moldosgifts]

It does but not in the ops view he posted that looks to me like the ones under his listing you know where they show everyone else expect yours.

These are all sponsored listing but does tell you in grey anywhere

[4_bathrooms]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

It does but not in the ops view he posted that looks to me like the ones under his listing you know where they show everyone else expect yours.

The OP's screenshot shows the first three results from a search - they have posted a link to the actual search query used. They have organised the results using grid view rather than list view.

When you see sponsored results in a listing they are grouped together and it tells you you are looking at sponsored results slightly more prominently. The first row shows "Similar Items" the second row shows "Based on your search" - "Sponsored" is shown underneath both of those headings making it clear both rows contain paid-for advertisements. 

[strangestash]

I mentioned 'excluding sponsored' ... as discussed here already, they have 'sponsored' written under them when a listing is a sponsored post. The two being 'bumped up' in my example are NOT sponsored posts, either a bug, oversight or somthing deceptive from eBay to ensure they prioritise getting more fees (buyer fees in this case)

Full view below for transparency ... now see how my purple listing is getting bumped onto second line out of view, even though I'm cheaper than the other listings.

[strangestash]

UPDATE: Spoke to eBay support call centre Ireland and they said it 'is not a bug' ... and that it could be an 'oversight' and they will pass my comments on.

So now I can't get my listings on to the first few results of search results even though I'm one of the cheapest products, and eBay are prioritising private sellers where they make the most money on fees.

Super shady & frustrating for me ... I would advise any other business sellers to also ring eBay customer support and ask them to log their feedback and concerns if they want this changing. 

[moldosgifts]

i am not seeing any grey sponsored no matter where i look on any listing apart from the list view of searched item stick it in grid view sponsored ones appears

Also not in this op search no sponsored in grid view i get at least 5 in the list view

[strangestash]

This issue is NOT regarding SPONOSORED listings, just general search results.

This is issues with incorrect listing order on 'lowest price' sort filtering on ebay item search results. NOT sponsored items appearing in these search results. In all my examples no sponsored listings are shown, and none have an impact on the order.

[moldosgifts]

Could be the title as the 1st 4 words are relevant the one showing higher have a different title format than you. 

Again it is just a possibility nobody has ever tied down the magic eBay algorithm that is apparently dynamic. According to ebay.

[strangestash]

This is not just the general search order when you first search for the term, this is specifically for 'LOWEST PRICE + P&P' sorting - which should NOT be impacted by the algorithm. This has always been, and should always be, a sort order of the cheapest to the most expensive items (aside from if a sponsored listing pops into it). The order SHOULD NOT be mixed, it should be ascending or descending. The issue I've flagged here is causing more expensive listings to be put before lower priced listings, which is detrimental to the sellers who are trying to compete on price to be at the top.

[4_bathrooms]

It seems there's something else going on. If I add the £15.79 private listing to my basket the price drops to £15.57 including the BPF. I'm not using any sort of coupon; this is a guest checkout in a private browsing window:

According to that calculation the seller has set their selling price as £14.49 and the BPF is £1.08. According to my own calculation the BPF should be £1.30 (4% + 72p inc. VAT); i.e. the price that is shown in the search result. Weird.

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@strangestash wrote:

The two being 'bumped up' in my example are NOT sponsored posts, either a bug, oversight or somthing deceptive from eBay to ensure they prioritise getting more fees (buyer fees in this case)

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eBay would earn more in fees from your listing. Your fees are (10.9% + 30p) + VAT so eBay would take £2.42 in fees from you but only £1.08 (although it should be £1.30) in fees from the private seller's buyer.

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[strangestash]

Thanks for your exploration there ... appreciate it may not be malicious from eBay given that ... but it's still very detrimental to Business sellers who have private sellers bumped above them in lowest price sorting because of this oversight.

[moldosgifts]

Cheapest one on emy search using the exact same search as yourself is as you last photo shows cheapest £10.50 = 85p postage

But lower down the cheapest is £3.99 with few search words free postage

[strangestash]

Still ongoing ... really frustrating. Cheapest item (purple background) yet private sellers nudged ahead when sorted by lowest price.

[technthread]

This is guesswork but the ones at £3.79 allow best offer. I wonder if that edges them ahead as the final sale price could be agreed lower. Maybe that only happens if there is a 1p difference… I know it makes no sense but that’s the only thing that stands out.