I’m Done With This eBay Program…For Now
After months of frustration and disappointment, I have finally decided to put an end to my dealings with the eBay program. As a long-time eBay user and seller, I have always enjoyed the platform’s wide reach and user-friendly interface. However, recent changes in the program have left me feeling disillusioned and dissatisfied.
One of the main issues I have encountered is the constant changes in the eBay program’s policies and fee structures. It seems like every few months, eBay introduces a new set of rules and regulations, which have made it increasingly difficult for me to navigate the platform and conduct business efficiently. Not only have these changes created confusion and uncertainty for me as a seller, but they have also significantly impacted my bottom line.
Moreover, I have also been disheartened by the lack of support and communication from eBay’s customer service team. Whenever I have encountered a problem or had a question about a transaction, it has been a challenge to get a timely and satisfactory response from the eBay support staff. This lack of support has left me feeling frustrated and unappreciated as a seller.
In addition, I have also been dismayed by the increasing competition and saturation of the eBay marketplace. With thousands of sellers offering similar products, it has become harder for me to stand out and attract buyers to my listings. This has resulted in a decline in sales and profitability, further adding to my disillusionment with the eBay program.
After careful consideration and weighing the pros and cons, I have made the decision to step away from the eBay program, at least for the time being. I believe that taking a break from the platform will allow me to reassess my selling strategies and explore other avenues for selling my products. While eBay has been a valuable platform for me in the past, I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to take a break and reevaluate my business goals and priorities.
In conclusion, I want to stress that my decision to step away from the eBay program is not taken lightly. I have always valued the opportunities that eBay has provided me as a seller, and I am grateful for the support of the loyal customers I have gained through the platform. However, the recent challenges and frustrations I have faced have led me to reevaluate my relationship with eBay. While I may return to the program in the future, for now, I am done with eBay.
FIND: Turnkey Businesses
LEARN: How To Make Money Online
HOW TO: Work From Home
REVEALED: Online Business Ideas
You a good seller but this is easy to figure out
Off site ads is coming fast. I have seen a vlog from ebay about offsite ads coming to promote to google a few months ago. WOW using the app only can't really work with a lot of cross listings softwares. That will hurt Ebay greatly.
I quit that long time ago! complete scam.
As a web developer, I understand that some things can be divided between apps and sites, however, I can't reconcile the app instead of the site to add listings. I might figure it out in my head eventually but right now I can't.
I just can't come up with the reasons from a code point of view
The comment about eBay and Google having a spat, I suspected. This has happened in the past, it was a big time deal back then.
All kinds of stuff going on with both Ebay and Google. Both companies are going thru a lot of changes. Google just had a big layoff in their AI division.
What amazes me is when you see some accounts and they sell high-end tech there are so many damn negative reviews of people literally saying how they got scammed by the seller but yet the seller is able to completely go on with the business with overwhelming amount of negative feedback, but I’m hearing about people getting suspended accounts for selling something for thousand dollars the first time and that’s suspicious. The only thing suspicious is the accounts that are able to completely screw people over get the bad reviews and continue on no restrictions at all. Literally they’re in with the higher up on eBay. Of course they have to be because if not, then they won’t be able to operate and that’s why eBay kick the others or their competition crew allowing these scammers ramped, because the scammers are part of the chain of command
LIKE I SAID – SCAM – EBAY PROMOTED RIDICULOUS
Transparency is best. We're all trying to figure all this out
If resellers were smart, instead of paying ebay for off site ads, they'd be making a shopify or woocomerce store of their own and paying a reputable company for SEO, so that their own website can be found on google search results. Sure beats paying a company who was just fined $3,000,000 dollars for harassing people who say anything negative about them.
Tried The $100 They Offered Last Month Spent $79 Of it for One $44 Sale
I knew the offsite ads promotion would be garbage, so I didn't waste my time with it. Thanks for proving it is garbage.
Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Very helpful as a new reseller.
I can see why the box is behind you that you do a lot of resale of Amazon returns. How is the auction house in your state as far as those?. The main auction house in my city selling those has become so overcrowded with users it's becoming almost impossible to make decent money on those anymore. They get bit up too high and then you have to deal with the competition on eBay as well. From what I can see it's all going to come to an end soon at least for me. Any thoughts on your end?
So why does search for my store show 1329 listings but active in the seller hub shows 1509? How do I know which 180 arent showing up?
Jon thanks for being upfront and transparent with your account! one thing that came to mind when looking at your campaigns this is just a theory of mine but i would not put it past eBay maybe what they did in Dec when they gave everyone $100 for off site ads MAYBE to get them hooked (and eBay is from there past history NOTORIOUS for doing this. Getting sellers hooked to something they want them to do….since you were in retail its kind of like suggestive sales) i think eBay might have INCLUDED there own $100 so they gave sellers $100 of there own money but also kicked in another $100 of there own money as well on the backend (that sellers were not aware of) so Sellers on the back end were actually getting $200 toward Google Ads NOT $100 to make it look like it was BETTER then it really was and maybe this is why Jan 1st after that Promo ended MANY sellers saw a deduction in Sales again just my theory but again i have been reselling full time on eBay i have kind of got to know how they work pretty well. Yep Stick with PL standard till its not working then we all figure something else out again like i always say MAKE the PLATFORMS work for you NOT you work for the Platforms
this is probably the scariest video you've made, but I believe it. I just dont see how the ebay app is the answer
Let's see – When my item sells ebay makes money. If my item doesn't sell ebay does not make money. If I do not use promoted listings and soon off site ads my items won't sell. ebay does not make money.
The whole idea of promoted listings just makes no sense to me.
My opinion – If ebay would focus on methods to bring in more buyers instead of all this attention given to how can we make more money from the sellers, everyone would be happy and we would all be prosperous.
I know ebay has its issues we all have to deal with and work around and they like to always make us play the cups and hidden ball game to succeed with their algorithm constantly, but for f-sake, now the algorithm, & my traffic and sales are affected negatively because I chose to list and work from my PC instead of from their app on my phone? This is now really more than a sad joke of a way this company is being run if this true. No wonder why my sales have been down over 50% for the last 3-4 months, doing the same thing I always have been before.
Sometimes even part time sellers are afraid of being left behind and panic sets in to do it all correctly and quickly.
Theyve certainly got lot of work to do. I’ve been using it for two weeks now and according to statistics not one sale with the offsite ads. shame because i lost about $80 in clicks however, i did make alot of sales still throughout those two weeks and what do you know, all of my sales say organic . which tells me by switching to offsite ads i lost sales by taking items off of promoted listings .
Am I not going to use off-site ads now and probably for the foreseeable future. I've used Google ads before for my own website. If I'm going to use it for eBay I would want more control to be able to target my ads to specific customers. I actually really preferred advertising on Facebook/ Instagram.
It is so much easier just to list to other platforms which are running good offsite ads without charging sellers extra. So glad I had half a brain to list everything on 3 different platforms for the past 3 years.
Giving eBay extra money from my sold items through Promo Ads was the last straw with me. I know they do Not show my listings unless I use the Promo Ads; it is actually like blackmail. They are getting plenty of our money from the basic 15%; now Promo Ads? No wonder so many sellers have left. I refuse to use Promo Ads anymore.. and my eBay business shows it; it's stagnating. But it was stagnating even with the Promo Ads! So not sure they're showing my items at all. NO Trust! I'm going to go elsewhere to sell.
Sales slow this week but i dod make 2 big ones. And i think its due to the fact i have a return.. so we shall see. Been a good month otherwise so far. I dont do promoted listings. But i do the sale adds tho.
I tried it in November/December for the $100 promo. November was great on clicks. December was a lot different in clicks and sales. I did get sales that paid for the money spent but would I have the sales without the ads? I didnt see a big difference in sales overall but it did generate sales. I will not do the offsite ads until we hear/know they are not giving free ads on google and it is needed for exposure outside of eBay. My sales are fine without it so it is not a requirement for my success at the current time today.
So, since late December suggested categories that pop up once you filled out the title disappeared. At least on PC, because I only list on PC. I’ve seen a few other people reporting this. Seems like EBay is messing with the listing tool again. I read that they’re developing more AI now, for the rest of the listing process, this might be the reason. Not sure if reporting the problem gonna help.
Lately I've noticed incorrect pricing on some of my items.60.00 item priced at 25.00 for example.
Thank you John , I do all e-Bay from my PC , so needless to say this is a bit stressing , but I appreciate the ' heads up ' !
This just tells me how much you pay attention to your comments like at all I told you over a month ago when you went into this pay per click advertising has been sued and lost by other companies for clicking on their own advertisements to generate revenue with click farms it’s case law, look it up eBay being ran in Pakistan. They implementing scams into the site and nobody seems to understand that. What’s that mean for the rest of us eBay could go under because of it scammers don’t last long.
Same as you. Only 1 sold in a week and ad fees is $21. Saw the figures and immediately end it few days ago. Not worth it.
I started Dec 28th and ended it 1/11 yesterday , not one click. Ebay told me to end it and re-start or open a ticket. My sales dropped after i added it .
Hi John, with standard promo my fees can be as much as 24% on a sale. Big competition on overstock apparel. I accepted this because eBay does Google AdWords. Our sales after 17 years are pretty bad. Barely making it. Now they want us to pay AdWords. What am I paying them for? I’ll pay for my own website that we have to show on Google and save 12% on eBay fees. eBay is running out of “screw the seller” rope and shareholder growth schemes. We are already being done dirty by the USPS and free shipping for China, as I’ve commented before to you. On top of the already high fees we tried display ads to make it. They don’t work. After an hour on the phone with eBay they got it to work for a day. If I turned it on, a PUMA ad would show for an underwear search and it would show sneakers and OUR account was being charged each time we clicked it. I kid you not. We tested it repeatedly. We turned it off after about 10 bucks in charges. We wrote to eBay. Crickets. Not good, dude. Cheers from Reno.
eBay itself is getting worse and worse every single year. 15 years I've been on the site. The last year has been a downward spiral.
I’m very happy with all information you give us always big help
HATE THE APP.
Thanks Jon
You must be reading my mind. I had 10 minutes to kill and you popped up on YouTube.
I was just looking at offsite ads and terms of use.
My sales have been very strong in 2024 so far, until…..
I haven't had a sale since Wednesday morning. Thats when I noticed something weird on the Promoted dashboard. On Wed the 10th, organic clicks shot up off the chart and Promoted dropped to next to nothing. A similar thing happened in December on the 11th.
Ebay broke something again.
Back to Google.
From a device not connected to my account, my listings are being found. Usually within the first 10-15.
I can usually pick them out easily because of the background. No white ones.
As for using the app, I am all in.
I no longer use that Condition below the title. I leave it blank.
Making a listing is so easy. We can go back and forth between app and desktop pretty seamlessly.
I do maintenance on desktop but daily routine proceedures are all on the app.
I’ve seen a few recent posts in my Ebay seller groups on FB about the seller having zero results with using off-site ads. One asked how long they were supposed to wait to see results. Thank you Jon for being our Guinea pig.
Do you think everyone running the free $100 worth of adds could be the reason I'm seeing way less traffic and sales
I'm still confused on what's going on. I've been selling decals on ebay since 2018 since my listings stay up and I just add quantity. It's very hard to keep listing since I'm close to my ebay selling limits. I'm ranked close to the top in my category. I normally get around 500 to 600 orders for the month of January. This year as of today I'm around 80% below my average sales. December 26th was a switch. I have no clue what's going on I have listing 30 new listings over the last 7 days with a small increase.
eBay runs this play for pay game because they can. eBay knows they have a ton of sellers over the barrel because sellers are given them too much information. They come on YouTube talking about how much they make, and they quit their jobs to be full-time sellers. Then eBay figures out ways to get more money from them.
Ebay always has a problem with new programs. They start things before it is worked out properly. It is nothing new. I am reluctant to change programs or start new ones unless it is settled. I will monitor eBay progress in the future. Thanks for your opinion.
Ha-Ha, I do take what You say (And whatever anyone else says) with a grain of salt. I do appreciate Your searching and trying to figure things out in an open way.
I only list with the PC. I'm not able to do so with my phone .
eBay dominated the on-line market “eco-system” for a long time. Now, instead of leading in the marketplace, it’s like they are scurrying to not only stay relevant, but to lead. And it ain’t working. There’s leaders and there’s followers. And eBay is no longer a leader. Sad.
This is why I listen to everyone and follow no one