With the recent changes to eBay promoted listings, we’ve started noticing a few things that have us questioning how effective they really are right now. One of the biggest issues is the timing of promoted fees. We’ve now had multiple cases where an item sold one day and the promoted charge didn’t hit until the next day. That delay makes it harder to track true profit and manage cash flow accurately.
Because of that, we decided to step back and reassess how we’re spending money on eBay. In the past, we didn’t mind promoted listings because the cost was often offset by the discounts we were already willing to offer buyers. But with the new setup, it feels like more money going to eBay with less transparency, which pushed us to test a different approach.
instead of paying eBay more, why not give that value directly to the buyer?
We turned promotions off and started running eBay discounts instead — basically passing what would’ve been the promoted fee back to the customer.
What surprised us was the immediate response. We had a few solid sales yesterday after making the switch, and in two cases the items actually sold with more shipping charged than our flat rate. That wasn’t something we expected, but it helped reinforce the idea that buyers respond well to clear pricing and visible discounts.
This isn’t us saying promoted listings don’t work at all, but it definitely has us questioning whether they’re still the best option right now. For us, giving buyers a deal and keeping control over our margins feels like the better move — at least for the moment.
Curious what other sellers are seeing. Are you sticking with promoted listings, or experimenting with discounts instead?