Clarification on sponsored listings
Summary: The discussion concerns clarifications on ad sponsorship. Several participants, including nerevarinez, sika700, vonbalden, heavenwelkin, and ortofantastico, exchange brief messages. It seems the topic is addressed through multiple comments, but the specific details of the clarifications remain unstated in the content provided.
Hello everyone and good morning.
As per the subject, I wanted to ask for some information about this (surely useful) tool for (maximizing) sales.
So far I’ve never used it (I should say I’m a non-professional seller), and I was wondering: is it better to use general promotion (and, in the case of the latter, dynamic or fixed?) or priority? How do you use these tools? Do you also base it on the value of the product being sold?
I also wanted to ask: when using the “dynamic” one, where it says that you only pay when a product is purchased after clicking on the ad, what does that amount to be paid actually come to? Does it correspond to the promotion percentage? For example, a little while ago, when I clicked promote listing on one of my products for sale, it showed me, as the “Today’s promotion percentage,” a percentage of 9%. Does that mean that, in the event of a sale, 9% of the final sale value will be deducted from me (does that include shipping too, or net of shipping?)?
That said, in any case, as I was saying, I mainly wanted to know which of the two campaigns you use and, in particular, also your opinions/experience on how it works for you, and whether it actually brings advantages in views/sales.
Thanks!
ortofantastico
·1 year agofor whatever my opinion is worth, I agree, do it this way.
nerevarinez
OP1 year agook, thanks ; )
ortofantastico
·1 year ago...from how I see it, I’d add: eBay suggests 9 to you, I think, because whoever sponsors similar items puts 8, so it tells you to put 9 so you end up at the top.. but even if you put just 2 it works, you have to see how many sponsored listings you have in front of you, although to be honest, as a buyer, at the same price and other conditions, feedback, etc.. I buy the first non-sponsored one -.-"
nerevarinez
OP1 year agoHi! Yes, this 2% percentage is the one I’ve (reading a bit of “guides”/advice from “expert” users of these things) often seen as the recommended percentage, meaning start with this and then, if needed, increase it. Obviously, as I said, since I’ve never used this advertising tool, I’m clueless about everything and so yes, I could start, as heaven recommended, by promoting my highest-value product (porcelain owl figurine) and then, as the specific % of the overall (dynamic) campaign, start with 2% and see how it goes.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoGood evening nerevarinez
In my humble opinion, from the items you sell the only one that could benefit from sponsorship would be the owl statuette, since the other items you sell are of specific interest rather than general interest, so you wouldn't benefit even if it appeared on the first page of search results; they are items that are easily found through targeted/specific search keywords and sponsorship would not lead to increased sales even considering the type of items.
Maybe the Buddha statuette could have some benefits from sponsorship, but for 10 euros shipping included, in my opinion it is not worth it, and then it would be an item of interest to whoever searches for Buddha among the search results.
If you want to increase the chances of selling the books, check whether you have competitors offering better prices, and also check other sales channels.
Best regards
nerevarinez
OP1 year agoHi heaven, thanks for your “analytical” reply!
Actually, you’ve hit the point! So far, in fact, I’ve had doubts about using the promotion tool precisely because I was telling myself, “in the end, when it comes to books, whoever wants to look for them, finds them” since they’re specific titles (and, moreover, being special editions sought after by collectors, etc., users of this kind certainly don’t stop at the products on the first page/pages but, precisely, “scan” really well through the whole list of the various products of that type for sale, until they also reach non-sponsored products and therefore not “at the top” of the list of products that appear after a search). Same thing, then, of course, for low-value products (the figurine, for example), where it absolutely doesn’t make sense to further reduce the profit you’d get by cutting it with a % promotion fee to then pay.
Finally, great that you mentioned the owl figurine! In fact, it’s exactly the first product that made me “want” to use the promotion tool. This is both because it has a certain value (by the way, I also lowered the current price; initially it was higher and I lowered it in the hope of seeing whether anything would change in terms of views and/or offers from potential buyers... but nothing...) and therefore promotion would make sense, and, above all, because I still haven’t understood why, after months of having it among my products for sale, it still has 0 views!
Obviously, needless to say, I had already thought about recreating the listing, maybe adding specifics etc. that could improve the product’s visibility. I know various users often recreate listings etc. and so get an improvement in that sense. I’ll see if it works and, if not, I could then “experiment” with promotion (overall strategy and, specifically, the dynamic one... would that be okay with you?) հենց with this product.
Thanks again.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoI’m not sure how true this thing about recreating ads to improve visibility really is.
I know that some PROFESSIONAL sellers, when an item ends, instead of closing and relisting it, put an out-of-market price to prevent any user from making a purchase in the meantime.
So the opposite could be true........
vonbalden
·1 year agoIn the help and contacts section you’ll find all the information by typing general promotional campaigns and more.
It’s better to read these articles in person, as they’re about 10 minutes long and relatively complex in their writing. However, it should be pointed out that anyone who relies on sponsorship often believes that it’s the visibility action that drives sales. And the price too. That’s what’s called the 'local supermarket syndrome'. It’s like when you go to the big neighborhood supermarket to do your shopping. You look for breakfast biscuits and you’re buried in the aisle by that very mediocre brand (yes, the one you see in TV advertising with the little face of the ecstatic girl whispering: yummm !! There’s all our love and tradition inside it!) and then, as you go down the line, you see the others. Moms, grandmothers, housewives, follow the advice. The brand pays a fortune for visibility at the neighborhood supermarket and is in everyone’s sight. But it only takes a little to understand that the brand down low, hidden, that pays nothing for visibility, is much tastier and richer in natural ingredients. Of course, I must not be someone who has never seen a proper biscuit in his life, or who doesn’t want to spend more than 1 euro, 50 per pack. As I see it, it’s better to rely on other priorities. Like the thing itself, knowing about it, the photo, the removal of all sensationalistic verbs that hide the emptiness behind them, and addressing the category audience you’re interested in. Obviously it takes time. But it also takes time to get over a cold, right? Best regards, but not very sponsored.
nerevarinez
OP1 year agoHi, thanks for the reply! Anyway, okay, then I’ll read everything carefully later (in the meantime I was trying to find out more by reading a few articles about it on some sites/forums, I also asked for some info directly from eBay support) .
As for the rest, regarding the biscuit example, I totally agree with you, since I love discovering things like biscuits etc. that are a thousand times better (or at least on par) than things that, just because of the "name", are very successful but then, when all is said and done, are as good as the "unknown" ones if not even worse 😄
sika700
·1 year agoHello,
the answer to your questions can be summed up in another question: how much are you willing to spend to promote your listings?
- priority campaign where you pay for the simple click even if you don't sell
- general campaign where you only pay if you sell, at the percentage you set
That said, you have to decide... keeping in mind that the dynamic percentage is set by ebay daily and you only find out that percentage once the item is sold.
I also forgot to say that these percentages must be added to the selling fee, which as a private seller is 5%.
Kind regards.
nerevarinez
OP1 year agoHi! Thanks for the reply.
Anyway, let’s say that, since it’s something I’ve never used before (I’ve used Ebay for years and so far I’ve sold pretty well, meaning for what I needed it for, in the sense of reselling the occasional item I no longer used, etc.) the platform’s “functioning” has been more than good for me (obviously I haven’t just sold but also bought). So, I think the ideal thing is to approach this “tool” by starting with the general campaign (which, at least according to a few articles I read online, in relation to people who are just starting to use these tools, is actually recommended over the priority one).
Basically, as I was saying, for many items so far I haven’t used anything, meaning no sponsorship, and in the end the interested buyers, sooner or later, found my items and bought them. If I’ve now started asking myself about sponsorships, it’s because in recent times I’ve noticed (but apparently, at least from reading a bit of other users’ opinions too, it’s not something only I’ve noticed) a drop in views and, since at the same time I’m trying to sell products of a certain value (books I have extra copies of, items of a certain value, and so on), I wanted to try to “maximize” everything, meaning product visibility, etc.
As for the percentage, as you said, in the general campaign you set it if you choose the “fixed” one, right? Because I read that with the dynamic one the system sets it (based on various factors that are listed) and it varies from day to day (again, based on certain factors).
The example I gave, though, was correct, right? I mean, if, for example, an item, when it’s sold, had that day a sponsorship % of, say, 10%, does that mean that this 10% (along with the private seller fee) will be subtracted from the final sale value? Let’s assume, say, that I sell an item for €100 (should shipping costs be considered with or without? well, in the example let’s make it €100 shipping included), so will a total of €15 then be deducted from the final profit I’ll receive?
Thanks again.
sika700
·1 year agoYes, that’s correct... plus a fixed fee of 35 cents and 0.43% for regulatory adjustment.
Kind regards.
nerevarinez
OP1 year agoPerfect, thanks again.
Have a great day 🙂