is it just me ???

[megan1512]

Are private sellers just advertising boards for sponsered items ?
-

so you list something .Go to view it 
before you get to your description your first met with  "

Similar Items ( sponsered items )
you then see

Related sponsored items
-
WONDER HOW MANY POTENTIAL BUYERS NEVER EVEN GET TO READ YOUR DESCRIPTION

[pegr-834437]

Private sellers and business sellers are, I'd guess around 25% of buyers read the item description and about 2% of people who click on your item do. Sadly eBay are way to far down the road to cut back on the advertising side now, instead of the best accounts and the item you actually want appearing its just whoever pays the most which in turn has turned many buyers away. Why waste time scrolling for the item you actually want through hundreds of totally different items or items that have 1cm of ribbon for 99p but when you select 10m its the most expensive just because they pay to advertise. 

I've said it numerous times if the search was working so the best match from the best performing accounts showed first then the site would be much better and eBay would probably make more, heck they could even charge 2% more to combat the lost revenue from promotions. Sadly eBay dont care.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

A few months ago, ebay started putting an icon on the seller's image which you thought was going to enlarge the image if you clicked it, but in fact it took you to a page of "similar" items which completely overwhelmed the original seller's listing.  I wasn't the only person to think that this was a truly unethical thing for ebay to do.  I haven't seen that icon lately so perhaps they've had second thoughts, or perhaps it wasn't bringing them the profit that they expected.

[department28]

Yes, it is ironic that the more sponsored & promoted items eBay squash in, the harder it has become to find the item/s you would like to buy, amidst all the distraction & clutter.

I think the final straw was when they inserted 2 rows of promoted items in between the listing photos & the item description. As the OP commented, It is likely many potential buyers will get distracted/won't bother scrolling all the way down to read the description.

I recently noticed there are promoted items appearing on the Order details page, right under your Payment info. It has reached a point where every bit of available space has to have a promoted item, or seller, shoved into it!