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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 0:09:45 GMT
And no. He didn't say anything about RSS feeds.
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Post by chapeaunoir on May 6, 2018 1:41:12 GMT
I'm not crazy about Griff - he annoys me (though I think he's toned things down a bit), but he does have to go by a script and playbook and I really don't think he's going to be given completely wrong information. Also, they host quite a few people on the show who do know their business and are very worthwhile listening to, so, seriously, even if he is just a talking head, the radio show does have good info.
The RSS feed was in that cited article - I did have a laugh when they said "watch the sales come rolling in". In actuality, it may publish to Google but Google doesn't love eBay so who knows what happens. It won't do anything bad, though.
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 1:59:27 GMT
Right. I like it when they have eBay employees on there. And it seems like they've had quite a few on lately. And I agree he's toned it down a little. Actually, Thurs show seemed to have some pretty good info in it.
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Post by chapeaunoir on May 6, 2018 2:32:28 GMT
I just listened to the one you posted - it's interesting to know that my experience with having to keep listing is nothing unusual and it HAS been only in the last two years, as was cited! I felt it was informative and, no, Cassini isn't the same as Google's search engine, I agree. Here's an intro to Google's infographic on their search (relevant links included): searchengineland.com/google-releases-interactive-infographic-how-search-works-150113I didn't agree with Griff at all about refreshing listings not working - I think he's working on the premise that if it hasn't sold, it probably won't. I work on the premise that if it hasn't sold, it may simply be not presented well. Of course, it has to be worth it - if my White Stag thing hasn't sold, it's because there's so much White Stag selling for 2 cents. If I have something else more unusual, or higher end, then it's worth rejigging it. I've probably sold half the stuff I've rejigged from last summer already. Also, the business about 'sell similar' sometimes every day or three? I remember that during those huge listing promos eBay had some years back people would keep churning their same old stuff every.single.day (before that and 3 day listings were charged for) - it was a nightmare on the buyer side of things. I guess this dovetails with the GTC (or 30 day, which I'm considering if GTC leaves me with too much stuff) idea that we've been bouncing around. I have 216 followers and all of those people get notifications if I've listed something new (I'm assuming, at any rate) - if they keep getting the same notifications, I can see where that's a turn-off - fresh stuff. I only have 24 people who take my email, though. So, dunno about that. I just do think the beast needs fresh meat, though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2018 7:55:04 GMT
I believe in fresh new listings daily. A mix of auctions as well. Wenig talks about brands and I do believe they are focusing on that. Today i spent some time on the mobile app searching handbags by typing my search term and by drilling down into item specifics and it has changed big time. There is also a ton of advertising so if you select a handbag, they will also show you many competitors. Ebay also added and clumped handbags into different buckets, such as "value bags", "designer", "contemporary" etc. Sponsored items all over the place. I'm guessing their programming is using the Brand name to decide which bucket it goes in. As you can imagine, all the bags from China are on the value section.
I listen to Griff on that radio and he gives great advice on photos but lately he strikes me as grumpy.
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 13:27:00 GMT
I listen to Griff on that radio and he gives great advice on photos but lately he strikes me as grumpy. LOL - he's always given me that impression Speaking of sponsored (or promoted) listings - a seller can now select 100% promoted rate. Why anyone in the world would want to do that is beyond me (maybe some kind of loss leader item to sell/bundle large $$ items?)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2018 15:20:42 GMT
Promoted listings never helped me much. I'm not sure why anyone would choose 100% on promoted listings other than hoping customers will peak into their store and hoping for traffic
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 15:25:40 GMT
I hate spending extra $$, but I love seeing that the sales are coming in because of it. The thing is, there is no metric to see how much of a boost it gives your OTHER sold items. I don't know how many people were led to my listings because of a promoted listing but they ended up purchasing different items because of that. **The highest % I have right now is 5.5%
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 15:34:43 GMT
And here's the heartburn that I have with the original article that talks about social media sharing (or blasting twitter to up your views).
Just because it's on twitter (or FB or Insta, etc) doesn't mean everyone will click on it. Do you click on everything you see? Maybe just those that catches your eye. Yes, I do have higher clicks because of social media. But my sales are decent too! If someone clicks on an item and doesn't buy it for whatever reason - I got them on my page. Where they can see the rest of my store and maybe click on some other of my items. Maybe purchase it. If not, when that item goes on sale, they'll be notified and reminded it's there.
I don't follow my impressions/click thru unless I'm having a rough week and want to figure out what's going on.
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Post by zoesam on May 6, 2018 17:36:52 GMT
I'm not crazy about Griff - he annoys me (though I think he's toned things down a bit), but he does have to go by a script and playbook and I really don't think he's going to be given completely wrong information. Also, they host quite a few people on the show who do know their business and are very worthwhile listening to, so, seriously, even if he is just a talking head, the radio show does have good info. The RSS feed was in that cited article - I did have a laugh when they said "watch the sales come rolling in". In actuality, it may publish to Google but Google doesn't love eBay so who knows what happens. It won't do anything bad, though. I don't have anything against Griff (or for him, for that matter), I was just referencing what that terminology means in silicon-valley speak from experience. It's often used as a perjorative, eg: "I just met Tony, what is he working on"? "He's employee #4" said with a wink. They are generally viewed with derision by other employees & are kept out of the way & out of the loop, so based on my experience, I have no trust that anything Griff says comes from a place of current knowledge of the business. You have more confidence in him than I do, b/c honestly I've seen him give completely wrong info many times - we all have, as he often used to put it in writing on the Ebay boards. I will say this for him tho', he usually corrects it, when he's called on it. I personally didn't care for the folksy style of the show, but that's a personal preference & I'm sure many people love it. I def agree that he can have guests which are knowledgable & ARE in the loop at Ebay. It seems most of his guests are current managers, so they s/b in the loop. I'm curious whether he broadcasts from his home or if they have a studio at Ebay? Does anyone know? Often those early # 'special project' employees are not even expected to come to the office.
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Post by zoesam on May 6, 2018 17:41:25 GMT
I hate spending extra $$, but I love seeing that the sales are coming in because of it. The thing is, there is no metric to see how much of a boost it gives your OTHER sold items. I don't know how many people were led to my listings because of a promoted listing but they ended up purchasing different items because of that. **The highest % I have right now is 5.5% I have not tried it yet, but I'm curious about your first sentence, particularly the words "because of it". Is there a way you are informed with certainty that they sold b/c they were promoted listings? Or in other words, how do you know they wouldn't have sold if they were just regular listings? Does Ebay somehow tell you? With your high STR, my logic is thinking they would have possibly sold anyway, but IDK if Ebay somehow tells you that it's the promoted that made it sell. I'm not even sure how they would know though.
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 22:16:10 GMT
He is normally broadcasting from in Studio (on the eBay campus). Lee broadcasts from her studio. Sometimes they'll broadcast together in person. Last week they were in San Diego together.
They have a pretty big booth with live viewing chairs at Open.
I'm not sure I'm quite understanding a way to inform certainty that they sold because of promoted? If a buyer clicks on the promoted listing and purchases it, you get charged a promoted listing fee. They break it down per item in another screen.
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Post by SA on May 6, 2018 22:18:26 GMT
My logic is that the promoted listings are helping my STR. When I wasn't promoting, my sales were down.
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Post by chapeaunoir on May 6, 2018 22:55:46 GMT
My whole point in promotion (which I don't do on eBay but I do for Etsy), tweeting, FB or whatever is to get people into the door - either through looking FOR that item or looking at it and then deciding to look around at more items I might be carrying. To me it's just a way to get more eyes on all of my items. It's why I use business cards, etc.
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Post by Desire on May 7, 2018 0:00:21 GMT
On the promoted listings does ebay put them up higher if you give ebay a higher fee? Such as 10%-15% fee over 5% fee? I frequently see my promoted stuff way under my non-promoted stuff. Was wondering if the promoted fee was higher that they would place it higher.
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Post by zoesam on May 7, 2018 1:41:46 GMT
He is normally broadcasting from in Studio (on the eBay campus). Lee broadcasts from her studio. Sometimes they'll broadcast together in person. Last week they were in San Diego together. They have a pretty big booth with live viewing chairs at Open. I'm not sure I'm quite understanding a way to inform certainty that they sold because of promoted? If a buyer clicks on the promoted listing and purchases it, you get charged a promoted listing fee. They break it down per item in another screen. Thanks for the info on the studio, I'd been curious about that. Re; the promoted, I was just wondering if there was a way or if Ebay somehow told you if the buyer got to the listing BECAUSE it was a promoted listing? As opposed to their normal browsing or searching & they just happened to come across it, but didn't click on it b/c it was a promoted listing. That's why I said I'm not even sure if Ebay can tell. They obviously can't know what was in the buyer's mind. OTOH, if there's a way (& IDK if there is or not, as I never look at promoted listings) for a buyer to search specifically on promoted listings. What I'm getting at is could it/would it have sold just as quickly if it was NOT a promoted listing? Obviously the answer is yes, so then, is there some way Ebay lets you know that it was BECAUSE it was promoted that it sold? I honestly don't know if it's even possible, but hopefully that explains it a little better. Or not LOL.
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Post by SA on May 7, 2018 3:28:06 GMT
I don't think that's even possible, like you said.
I only know (or I guess eBay only knows) that the item was purchased via a sponsored listing.
The only gauge we have as sellers is to not run a promotion, then put your stuff on promoted listings and watch your #'s. You're really just paying to put your stuff up higher in best match search and in other areas where sponsored listings would show up that is relevant to the buyers search.
Like I said, when my sales were down I decided to turn on my promoted listings again. But selectively. Not everything in my store is being promoted.
If you're a TRS, you get $30/quarter to try it out.
If I had never done promoted listings and wanted to try it out, I'd take 15 of my oldest listings and promote them at 10%. Then give it 30 days and watch the numbers to see what happens.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2018 3:33:06 GMT
If you look at your promoted campaign it should tell you which listings sold because of promoted. If it's not there, it's def on your bill.
Also note that after your promotion ends, the fees could still apply for 30 days after your campaign ends. For example, if a buyer previously clicked on your listing during the promotion but didn't purchase at that time but decided to purchase after your promotion ends, ebay will charge you the promoted fee.
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Post by SA on May 7, 2018 3:44:56 GMT
If you look at your promoted campaign it should tell you which listings sold because of promoted. If it's not there, it's def on your bill. Also note that after your promotion ends, the fees could still apply for 30 days after your campaign ends. For example, if a buyer previously clicked on your listing during the promotion but didn't purchase at that time but decided to purchase after your promotion ends, ebay will charge you the promoted fee. I do have the detailed report that eBay started producing last month. HOORAY! Now it's easier to see which items sold on what day and what your % price was charged. What zoesam is getting at is would you item still have sold if it weren't promoted? I understand what she's asking. Say I sold a pair of Nike sneakers. There might be 1000 of those exact shoes in the exact size listed. If I promoted at 5%, my promoted listing may have shown up on the first page, but my actual listing may not have shown up until the 3rd page. Will the buyer have continued onto the 3rd page, or given up and just purchased off the first page? There is NO way to know.
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Post by zoesam on May 7, 2018 3:56:41 GMT
If you look at your promoted campaign it should tell you which listings sold because of promoted. If it's not there, it's def on your bill. Also note that after your promotion ends, the fees could still apply for 30 days after your campaign ends. For example, if a buyer previously clicked on your listing during the promotion but didn't purchase at that time but decided to purchase after your promotion ends, ebay will charge you the promoted fee. That's not telling you it sold BECAUSE it was promoted. Simply that it was promoted & sold. 2 different things. Not picking on you, I think you're new, so you may not know I'm a career programmer/analyst, so it's all about the details to me :-) Ebay knows the search criteria & path that was followed to get to a listing, so they'd have a good idea, but they don't have a history of sharing that kind of info with us. Though typing that out reminds me there is that 1 screen that we've looked at before, I know you've analyzed that screen Liz that shows the search criteria used for a sale, so that may give us a hint. Or not, since I guess the word "promoted" does not appear in the title. They really can't know 100%, since they don't know what the buyer's motivation was.
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Post by kat on May 7, 2018 4:02:33 GMT
A promoted listing is billed if it’s sold from the promoted listing. If it sells from the non promoted listing, you aren’t charged. The report and invoice tells you which ones were sold from the promoted listing. You’re correct that we have no way to know if that buyer would have found it anyway if it weren’t promoted.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2018 4:03:50 GMT
Oh i see. But You're right. How do they know. What if we have followers of our store that check out our items because they like our stuff and have us saved. How would they know. Great question. Btw, i just started a new campaign. I have another campaign that created a ton of watches on one item, but no sale yet. At this point, i'll do anything to shake them loose.
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on May 7, 2018 4:07:15 GMT
I hate spending extra $$, but I love seeing that the sales are coming in because of it. The thing is, there is no metric to see how much of a boost it gives your OTHER sold items. I don't know how many people were led to my listings because of a promoted listing but they ended up purchasing different items because of that. **The highest % I have right now is 5.5% eBay could provide that info if they wanted to. The technology is available.
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Post by SA on May 7, 2018 4:07:52 GMT
zoesam that screen you're talking about is GONE. We've been screaming for a robust traffic report for over a year. And I won't stop asking for it! At least I think that's the screen you're talking about. What KWs buyers used to find my item that made the purchase.
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Post by SA on May 7, 2018 4:09:05 GMT
I hate spending extra $$, but I love seeing that the sales are coming in because of it. The thing is, there is no metric to see how much of a boost it gives your OTHER sold items. I don't know how many people were led to my listings because of a promoted listing but they ended up purchasing different items because of that. **The highest % I have right now is 5.5% eBay could provide that info if they wanted to. The technology is available. But there is no way to tell if a buyer purchased the item BECAUSE it was promoted. Would they have purchased it anyways if it wasn't? Maybe. But since my item was promoted and the buyer clicked the promoted link vs the regular listing, we will never know. And neither will eBay.
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Post by SA on May 7, 2018 4:10:00 GMT
OH WAIT! I'm sorry.
Yes, you're correct. They should be able to provide that information. Just like they can provide decent traffic reports. But they don't.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2018 4:18:07 GMT
We really need better traffic reports. It's a guessing game where our buyers are coming from.
Another thing i noticed is i believe our conversion rates are incorrect on our Auction items. The way they calculate our conversion rates is by the last bidder. I really think it should calculated by the first bid. It looks like they calculate it by the last bid which doesn't seem right. Just my point of view
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Post by zoesam on May 7, 2018 4:26:55 GMT
zoesam that screen you're talking about is GONE. We've been screaming for a robust traffic report for over a year. And I won't stop asking for it! At least I think that's the screen you're talking about. What KWs buyers used to find my item that made the purchase. Yup, that's the screen I'm talking about & I had no idea it was gone. Oops. Thanks for the info. I rarely looked at that screen, as I didn't find it useful (it was so basic for my sales, as to be worthless), but it was fun to peek at once in awhile. It did help with some of what we're discussing with Kat kat on the other thread, as it told you whether they used top, shirt or blouse LOL. Not that one could extrapolate useful data from that, since which they use is each buyer's personal preference which one they use. Val is correct that they have a lot of the data, up to the point of catalyst. They can't know for sure what was in the buyer's mind, but they do have a lot of the info leading up to a purchase, such as where the search came from (what specific pages in ebay) or outside of ebay & if so where & how the user navigated there, plus what search criteria was used. They just can't know (as you & I & RCPB are saying) what made them press the BUY button. But Ebay has ALWAYS been stingy with that info, so I don't expect that to change. I was just curious about it. I like your idea Liz of trying to promote some of the oldest items & seeing what happens. I forgot we got a credit to try them monthly. I remember there were billing anomalies with that. Do you know if those have been straightened out for the freebies? Thanks for the reminder!
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Post by kat on May 7, 2018 4:31:29 GMT
The only billing issue I recall is that it wasn’t very clear that the credit is applied the next billing cycle. So you pay for them then the credit comes off the next cycle.
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on May 7, 2018 5:17:06 GMT
Sounds to me like sellers at eBay Open need to press eBay for better reports. I used to be able to project my sales based on prior year data. I could plan MM sales or other promotions by looking at last year same date and same day of the week (not the same thing). What eBay gives us now is totally useless.
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