Updates to eBay’s Promoted Listings programme

[vinylscot]

I'd love to see how eBay can justify this changed to "promoted listings". (In an email received a few minutes ago.)

In future, if anyone ever clicks on a promoted listing, the promoted fee will be charged, even if the actual buyer did not find it through "promoted listings". I'll certainly be ending all my promotions. Almost every listing gets clicks at some time - this is crazy.

As a user of eBay Advertising, we want to make you aware of an update to general strategy campaigns on ebay.co.uk, ebay.fr, ebay.it, ebay.es and ebay.com.au. Starting from 24 June, items promoted with a general strategy will use the following attribution definition when reporting sales and charging ad fees:

An attributed sale will be when any buyer purchases the promoted item within 30 days of any click on the ad, regardless of whether the buyer themselves clicked on the ad. The item must be promoted at the time of click and the time of sale. The seller will be charged the ad rate at the time of sale.

[the-nutwood-collection]

You're right, but there can come a time when the gravy train hits the buffers.

For a number of years, I showed my sheep at a major agricultural show that could have taught eBay a thing or two about financial greed.  All the machinery companies were there - not because they secured massive sales from the show, but because all the other machinery companies were there.

One year, the show's financial greed became too much, and a couple of the major companies dropped out.  That broke the spell.  Other companies dropped out in subsequent years.

Sometimes, it only takes a few dissenters to make everyone sit up and take notice - and follow their lead.

[pokeboxuk]

Exactly, what you are describing is very similar to the theory of a 'trust thermocline'. Once a user is inside your (in this case eBay's) ecosystem, almost nothing you can do to them will make them leave. Except for when you reach that tipping point, and then they'll all leave at once.

And the real kicker is that you can't just undo the latest change and expect them to come back. The amount they put up with before they chose to leave is roughly equal to the amount of changes you'd need to rollback to entice them back again.

eBay seems to be finding this out currently with buyers, and in it's blind panic has decided that the 'solution' is to launch this scam (and yes this new ad policy is a complete scam that the ASA will probably have something to say about). They don't seem to have realised that getting buyers back is difficult, but getting sellers who cross the 'trust thermocline' back will be virtually impossible. I shut my shop the other day and am selling off my last listings. Once they're gone, I'm not going to ever go to the effort of building everything back up here even if they undid every single change they've made. The risk is too high and there are plenty of other selling platforms that add value rather than trying to extract more of a seller's own value for themselves.

Well that turned into a rant, didn't it.

[technthread]

I couldn’t believe that email the other day either but having let it sink in, I have to applaud them for being so brazen. 

Ok so I don’t have a lot up for sale but I did a test a few days ago. I never promoted at more than 2% but I had a DVD that was unsold on here for a long time promoted at 2%. I dropped the price from £25 to as low as around £7, took it down, did sell similar, tried to sell it on other platforms and had no joy. A few days ago I listed it with 10% promoted listing fee and have just sold it on offer for £20. It is only 1 item but my days of reducing price continually are over, it doesn’t work for me I just end up selling items elsewhere and cursing eBay. I have caved in to be honest, next week I plan to list a lot and actually make some money on here, if eBay need 25% in fees to give me sales then for me, so be it I’m afraid.

[bluemakala]

I'd not heard of a 'trust thermocline' before but what @pokeboxuk is saying makes absolute sense, especially this: The amount they put up with before they chose to leave is roughly equal to the amount of changes you'd need to rollback to entice them back again.

I've had this eBay account for almost 21 years! And another account with an eBay shop for less time. So over the years, I've seen loads of changes. Some have been good, others have not been at all beneficial to me as a Seller - but I've rolled with them and stuck it out. 

This latest announcement about Promoted Listings, together with the issues I'm having on my other account with the Estimated Delivery Date glitches, and the serious decline in sales and what seems like the flight of Buyers makes me feel that I have at last reached my personal 'tipping point.'

I think the charity shops will benefit. 

[gjalp]

Similar feeling here. I too have been here for over 20 years and this latest announcement is a knife in the ribs, followed through with a twist to make sure it stays. Ebay has finally worn me down and Im actually very resilient usually.