ebay fees are getting crazy and no promotion for the spend

[trevcald]

i sell low priced items which are made to order. It used to be equal splits between me, shipping and ebay. But now eBay take 46% plus at one point this month it was an eye watering 53% of my selling price in fees and you get no off-site advertising like you used to its all take and no give. Pay by click promotion doesn't work for low priced items, Pay by click promotion doesn't work for low priced items, Pay by click promotion doesn't work for low priced items I dont know how many time i have to say this for eBay to understand. Margins are tight to start with without Listings only being seen by the eBay community and no-one else. I dont want opay by click but i do expect for 53% in fees including my ad fee some external advertising not all internal. Am i alone or is this the new norm?

[style_wise · Accepted solution]

You are not alone. Currently UK promotions are testing charging for 'promoting' items that are not linked either to a direct sale or a halo sale. It is a rare business that will waste money on advertising where the efficacy cannot be measured.

I noticed that you went over 4-1/2 months without listing anything new, then listed a massive amount in one day. You would do better to list/relist a few each day as eBay often shows new items at the top of Best Match search results (like a free promotion). Also there is some data to support the theory that a consistent listing strategy leads to increased sales.

[pegr-834437]

I'd love to know which categories pay by click advertising works, I guess if you really know how to use it with the key words it might but I don't think I've seen anyone on the boards talk about how good it is.

I don't think you are alone, you basically have to pay to play now and I know people will say I don't promote and I still sell as there will always be outliers but the majority of users find sales die a death once they stop paying. I hope you are going to the Open event to voice your concerns as they are not seen on here or passed back sadly as if they were eBay would be a much better place.

[jonatjonatjonat]

I’d agree advertising is expensive.

you can appear in Google results but obviously we don’t quite know how what appears in Google shopping appears there.

that being said, there are things you could do to organically improve your listings.

Title - all lower case, if you review the competition you are seeing Title Case being used. That and eBay’s search prioritises the first four words in a title, so consider what is being used there

Images - again, look at what the competition are doing. They just show the number plates. You offer a free driving license toy on some listings, but you wouldn’t know it. In some cases the main image is the car itself (I get it’s to show what car it belongs to) but that could confuse customers who may just scroll past if they are specifically looking for a number plates

Process - there’s just too much choice on your listings. Having to pick size, colour, etc the average customer will be put off. You’d be better splitting out your listings and having one for each car type + colour combo. This would also give you the benefit of having MORE listings in that particular search.

Appreciate it’s your business, I’m only offering advice as what I would do if I was given those listings, please don’t take it the wrong way!

[jonatjonatjonat]

You really have to manage it with an iron fist.

check every day to see what is working and quickly eradicate any keywords that have a poor ACOS. Eventually you can build up some pretty strong campaigns. It’s tough to get campaigns that have a better ACOS than a general promotion, but it can be done.

[pegr-834437]

I imagine its one of those things where once you know how it works you can really make it work for you but its expensive to learn and who is willing to throw money at learning when you have no idea how much it will bring back especially when the site has so many bugs and one incorrectly press of a key from somebody within HQ can ruin all your hard work.

I understand why eBay do it, to get more money from its customers but just charging a sensible selling fee and make sure the best accounts offering a great service that best match the search are higher on the search.

[jonatjonatjonat]

I agree. my only experience is in the company I work for. But obviously with that brings the benefit of a known budget, a larger budget than most and data from other channels as to how to bid. Plus it’s not my money!

that being said at least with PPC you can to na extent control thd budget by setting a daily spend. No such luxury with general promotions anymore where you even pay for sales where they don’t click on your ad!

[pegr-834437]

See I dont mind the paying per sale, I'd rather not have it but I know at the end of the day that £100 item will cost me £10 in ebay costs if it sells so I can price accordingly, with price by click you're just throwing money into the air hoping somebody will buy when they click, especially when they click and are met with 16 other adverts for items.