To promote listings or not, what works for you? Are you increasing %, unchanged or switching off?

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

With the new changes coming in on promoted listings where you "pay if your promoted listing is clicked" and sells within 30 days, causing some debate, was interested to see if other sellers use promoted listings, what percentage do you set, what type of promotion you use and what works for  you?  Do you sell without any promotion?  Promoted v's not promoted?  Have you recently switched them off with this announcement, will remain unchanged or increase rate?  If you have increased or switched off what are your findings? Would be interested to see. Will you be switching off when this comes into practice or remain the same? With all the changes here and ever increasing fees it is hard to know what to do for the best and what will work, if anything.

On another community chat someone posted their stats where they had recently switched off which was quite interesting, obviously a lot depends on what you sell and the market for it.  Post what you do, how it works for you and maybe show us your promotion/not promoted stats and the type of products you sell.

[9150simon]

I think ebay may be watching my posts!! (not paranoid yet).   I have just received a message from them which reads:-

Bulk edit listings in minutes:-

Send Offers

Add Best Offer

Add Item Specifics

Promote Listings

Launch a Sale Event

Add Multi Buy

Spooky after my last post!

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

You might get a special offer invite next for promoted listings!

[twofourdeltasurplus]

Well, nearly a month in from turning the ebay cash cow PL off there is no visible difference in impressions for myself, nor has it slowed sales down or effected them one tiny little bit.

So read into that what you will

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Thanks for sharing your chart, it is very interesting to see how others are fairing without any promotions.  Let us know if anything changes as of 24/6/25 when this new "pay if your promoted item is clicked" comes into effect.  I am still finding sales dire, more or less everything I sell is still promoted. Oddly enough what I have sold since 9th June, even though all promoted none were charged for promotion?

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Just slightly off topic, I found the following below on AI chat (not sure how reliable or accurate it is?) about why, if like me, ending a listing with poor views and relisting again using selling similar suddenly has no impact when you are led to believe it is regarded as a new listing hence moving it up in the search:

 Why “End & Sell Similar” Might Not Be Working Anymore

• eBay’s algorithm has evolved: Krylov (their machine-learning engine) now recognizes reused photos, titles, and item specifics. If your “new” listing looks too much like the old one, it may not get a visibility boost.

• Minimal edits = minimal impact: If you’re not tweaking titles, photos, or item specifics meaningfully, the algorithm may treat it as a stale repeat.

• High-frequency relisting can backfire: Daily relisting might signal desperation or spammy

• behavior to the algorithm, especially if engagement stays low.

• 🔧 What to Try Instead

  1. Batch Refresh Weekly, Not Daily

  • End and sell similar in themed batches

  • This gives each group a chance to breathe and lets you track what’s working.

  2. Change More Than Just the Listing ID

  • Retitle with new keyword order or emotional hooks.

  • Swap the lead photo—even a slight crop or background change helps.

  • Add or adjust item specifics (e.g. “Style: Rustic” or “Theme: Industrial Heritage”).

  3. Run a 48-hour Sale Before Ending

  • Some sellers report better results when they run a markdown sale, then end and sell similar after it ends. It creates a sense of urgency and resets the price anchor.

  • 4. Use “Send Offers to Watchers” Before Ending

    • Even if you only have 1 watcher, send a small discount offer before ending. It might convert a sale or at least trigger algorithmic engagement.

    5. Test a Few Listings with New Photos

    • Try rephotographing 5–10 listings with a lifestyle setup or props (e.g. a vintage desk, plant, or ruler for scale). See if those get more views.

[twofourdeltasurplus]

I am keeping an eye on the chart to see what happens, however it seems to be dragging it's heals at updating, still stuck at yesterday, but slowly going up.

Few sales already this morning, may look at your ideas on refreshing poorer performing listings as well, but its finding the time to do this, on top of everything else a one man band has to contend with.

Off stock shopping today, so hope the gods are smiling on me and there are gems to be found.

[9150simon]

That's pretty interesting and may explain why the fact that I do "Sell Similar" most days doesn't have the effect that it used to.

Also item 5 - test a few listings with new photos, is a bit bemusing as ebay say you are better not to have props - just a blank background and nothing else in the photo - MMMM I may try something new then.

Does anyone else have much luck with the sending out offers to watchers, as although it used to generate good sales, I now think people are fairly jaded to receiving offers and when I send out up to a hundred offers with 10/15/20% off, I am lucky if I get 1 or 2% accepted.  Same with sales, the past few I have put on of up to 20% off have made very little difference to sales.

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

I think the AI advise got the "props in photos" slightly out of context.  Looking into that further ebay does advise plain background/white as main photo, I think the "props" advise is a possibility for additional photos.

Same here not many takers on offers, think it has become the norm for views/watchers to expect an offer that it is now having little impact as probably so many are sent out that it gives the buyer more choice/best prices to weigh up their options.

[9150simon]

Yes I did read somewhere that buyers who watch were getting "offer overload", but if they don't want offers being sent, they shouldn't watch.  We keep looking for the magic pill that will give us our sales back, but don't think it exists. 🤔

[twofourdeltasurplus · Accepted solution]

Little update, things are still ticking along without PL, interesting to see the last few days impressions, I have done nothing extra, just listed at least 3-5 if not more per day. Anyone else seeing a massive increase ?  Also it seems to be still very slow at updating the data for the last 24 hours.

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Is your chart still on the increase since posting this?  I have done a mix of things, taken some off promotion, left some on at a reduced rate and increased the rate on some but nothing much noticeable has happened with impressions other than decreased slightly but external views higher, have no idea why that is?  As for sales they have just completely nosedived since 24/6/25 when the changes came in, I only use promoted standard when I do use promotions but these seem to have no effect now and probably not worth bothering with.  I would imagine the only way to get visibility is using ppc but for me that would probably cost more than it would bring in.

[craftsupplieseastmids]

Before the 'promoted listing ' days, i kept a close eye on products quality, listing quality, fotos etc. shipping time, buyer feedback, and all that kind of stuff, nowadays, it seems whatever you do or do not, you can make it up by just pay ebay to put your stuff on the front page, then you find though your sales have gone up, your earnings are the same, as ebay has taken the big chunck! 

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Even the standard promotions don't seem to be working as well as they use to!  I have even begrudgingly put a few of the slow sellers at the "recommended rates" which are quite high but even that makes little difference so I definitely think the ppc gets priority.

[twofourdeltasurplus]

Its a little strange as the chart has reset, and is still behind, and resetting at the same time, so not sure. Keeping an eye on things, sales have slowed down, but putting that down to the weather, however they are still "average".

Beginning to think the chart is broken, like most things

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Sales have been well down more or less since 24/6/25 when they introduced the new promotional changes on clicking on a promoted item, in a desperate attempt to get things moving I have been updating a large amount of listings which is probably well overdue.  Looking at my traffic yesterday for listing views (which I am guessing is still updating?) my organic views for yesterday are up 11.2%, promoted down 61.5% (I have been removing some of the promotions) and external up 20,500% showing so far I had 206 external views? I actually  had a couple of fairly decent sales this morning, a first in a long while.  Anyone else notice yesterday a massive increase in external views? Don't know what that is all about or if it is a system error? Or if something has changed and for a moment I was getting some sort of visibility?  If it continues great, but not holding my breath.

[9150simon]

I wondered how you were getting on with your sales and if you are still promoting?  I have noticed that there are lots of messages from ebay pushing their promotions, it's getting a bit annoying to be honest.

I have noticed that my business account has picked up a bit over the last week or so, but my private account where I sell bits and bobs of my own has really died a death and this was always the more steady one with regards to sales, so it does show that the BPF has had a drastic effect.

I'm still not promoting, just reducing my prices bit by bit, as I would rather pass any reductions on to the buyer.

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

I have been slowly removing promotions over the past few weeks and they are all, more or less off apart from a few where I will update listings then remove.  Sales had gotten so bad and it seemed nothing made any difference, couldn't get any worse, so I had nothing to lose by removing them.

Since gradually ending promotions starting from 24/6/25 , things have picked up which is a positive, coincidence???  I am happy with better sales, not quite where they should be but definitely an improvement.  It does seem true what I have heard from others who have removed promotions, initially sales drop off a cliff then the organic views kick in.  Over the years I have attempted to remove the promotions but panicked by the sudden drop, followed by a few weeks with nothing, then lost my nerve and switched them back on, but as nothing else was working this time and then having to pay if someone clicked on your promoted listing, thought I would just bite the bullet and go for it.  If it carries on increasing, and like you pass this saving onto buyers, I am happy and just kicking myself I didn't do it sooner!

[9150simon]

Glad that is working for you, it would be good if everyone stopped promoting and it would put things back on a level playing field and save everyone money.

[oceanartsnorthdevon]

Quite agree, the promotional fees are starting to get ridiculous and the pressure to promote or feel like you will lose out on sales lulls you into a false sense of security.  Sales have definitely picked up since switching off but does take a few weeks in the abyss before you notice the steady increase.  Could be better but not complaining, I have had a couple of sales this morning and a couple of enquiries, I still get the odd day or two with nothing which could be improved on but before was starting to have gaps of around four days with nothing which were becoming more frequent.

I have also stopped signing up to the promotional coupon that comes round every few weeks which is advertised across the site (you have to sign up and agree to their contract and I think part of the promotional discount is paid for), as strangely enough every time this promotion was running, sales were even worse and everything went quiet!  Maybe just a coincidence but cant help but think, if this site promotion is running, plus each item is already promoted, I also have a discount code in shop for multi buy - can all of these cope and run in conjunction with one another? Is this what is making sales worse? Were they all conflicting with one another? I don't know?  Maybe I am just looking for a logical reason why sales got so bad.

[akemp1]

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@9150simon wrote:

Glad that is working for you, it would be good if everyone stopped promoting and it would put things back on a level playing field and save everyone money.

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Ebay would just put the general fees up to compensate as they wouldn't accept just losing that much ongoing revenue it's part of their business plan that enough people pay it. Just not us thankfully.