Ebay Sellers - heads up, check your listings (especially powersellers :) )

[pinktoedannie]

Check your listings under a buying ID - NOT - your selling ID. 
On everyone of my best sellers, those buy-it-nows that sell the most and are therefore high ranking under best match, ebay is advertising other sellers items. Either similar or exactly the same items.  Not at the bottom of the page, but after title/price and Before the description.

 
I have double checked this on a few IDs. 

They do not show up when you look on the listing as a seller, but as a buyer they do.  I only checked as my sales were going up and down like a yo-yo on previously regular sellers. 

On auctions and on my slower moving items I don't have the advertising and sales remain roughly the same.

I have put in multiple complaints as a buyer finding the advertising annoying, as I figure ebay disregards sellers. 

I highly recommend checking all your listings as a guest or under a completely different ID, or even getting a friend to do it at their computer (no cookies or linked ip address), to get the true story of what could be behind the mysterious lights on/lights off ebay sales. 

The advertisements particularly favour chinese top rated sellers, and the unsavvy ebay buyer probably would click them without realising the difference in quality and the possibility the certifications do not meet Australia's standards (now required by law).  Or the fact they reach top rated seller status through pure quantity of extremely cheap, $1 items. 

Note to forum regulars:  I know ebay has always advertised but this is a little different as they are deliberately targeting best sellers and putting it before the description.  It is having a noticeable and definate effect on sales.

[pinktoedannie]

With so many sellers complaining their sales have dropped, it's doubly important for them to check their listings a few times during the day (under a different ID) and take note of which products from ebay sellers are being advertised on their listing. 
Complain to ebay about this new feature.....  it doesn't help Australian sellers and it's a terrible thing ebay is doing, they are ruining the market place and further eroding sellers businesses.

Why pay fees to have your things seen when buyers are being redirected to other sellers before they've even read your description.   Often to cheap chinese cp.  Putting aside the personal problems to my business, it's bad for Australia's economy.  

[dotcomdotayu]

With so many sellers complaining their sales have dropped, it's doubly important for them to check their listings a few times during the day (under a different ID) and take note of which products from ebay sellers are being advertised on their listing. 
Complain to ebay about this new feature.....  it doesn't help Australian sellers and it's a terrible thing ebay is doing, they are ruining the market place and further eroding sellers businesses.

Why pay fees to have your things seen when buyers are being redirected to other sellers before they've even read your description.   Often to cheap chinese cp.  Putting aside the personal problems to my business, it's bad for Australia's economy.  

It isn't bad for the buyer though.

(Am I'm a seller, so I sympathise) but from a buyers perspective, variety is important, especially in the current market.

I too, wish all sales would stay within the country so I'm not even commenting on the Chinese sellers, but it's good for buyers to see competitors items, and it's good for us sellers too. Competition is healthy and it goes with the territory unfortunately.

[foxette-in-sox]

:^O

Give it time. Soon your fridge will not only wash nappies, it'll cook you dinner too!

(coffee splatter on screen)

I've only noticed the people who viewed blah blah in between item title & description.Couldn't see the latest 'connection' ie I purchased little girls school tights,according to ebay,people also viewed sexy clubbing dresses ?:|

[digital*ghost]

If you think about it, it is a highly manipulable "feature". 😐

[pinktoedannie]

It isn't bad for the buyer though.

(Am I'm a seller, so I sympathise) but from a buyers perspective, variety is important, especially in the current market.

In the longterm the variety will peter out, as with sales drastically reduced people will stop listing on ebay. Also, it isn't necessarily good for ebay.  One product I sell the thing being advertised on my page is inferior quality chinese cp that looks similar.  The difference in price is only about $20, but the difference in quality is enormous.  Plus it's an electrical item .. with the new laws in place I wonder if buyers realise what they are importing my not meet Australian requirements.

 At the moment I run my own webstore ... initially I thought this was barely worth it.   Now I spend about the same on advertising as I do on ebay fees with better results. 

Nonetheless, I would prefer to be able to use ebay as a platform as well, but obviously if things go on as they are I will go the same way as other companies and devot most of the time to websales. 

Ebay wants to make sellers fight tooth and nail for sales and they've created a very negative selling environment.  By comparison, getting a website and climbing google search results is a slice of meringue topped fairy cake.   Ebay is blood pudding. Or spotteddick (yes, that's a real food).

[digital*ghost]

Honestly, even though I don't think it's the best idea ever, I also don't think it means the end of sales.

Buyers aren't stupid, most of them know that when they search for something, their options aren't limited to the first thing they see. I think they've known that for a while, now. 😉

They get to see a lot of different products in the search results as it is, and if they click on one, they're already more interested in that listing than others. Sure, having some other product pictures and links may serve as a distraction, in some cases enough of one for someone to leave the listing, but I think they click on a listing so that they can find out more about that particular item.

There are ways to combat these distractions - photos would be a primary one, detailed and succinct descriptions another. If you're wondering whether buyers understand the difference in quality between your items and the OS items, then educate them. 

[pinktoedannie]

Honestly, even though I don't think it's the best idea ever, I also don't think it means the end of sales. ..............

There are ways to combat these distractions - photos would be a primary one, detailed and succinct descriptions another. If you're wondering whether buyers understand the difference in quality between your items and the OS items, then educate them. 

Since the advertising comes before the description there is a high chance buyers are distracted before even reading the listing description, so there is a chance my description counts for nothing.   If I do say so myself, my pictures and description are excellent, but money talks and buyers are easily distracted. 
I don't think it's fair or right for ebay to do this - at the end of the listings I wouldn't have a problem with so much, but in the middle, before they've read my description, it really upsets me.  If I paid for an ad in a paper and they placed someone elses classified ad after my heading I'd expect my money back.

[digital*ghost]

Don't get me wrong; I do understand the frustration and I see your point entirely - I had a problem with eBay putting third party advertisements on listings back when they only had them on the free ones (which I wasn't using), and ever since then they've been loading all listings with more and more ads, which does actually affect the user experience (whether you're a buyer or seller). Nobody likes site pages laden with ads, even marketplace sites that basically exist to advertise.

But at the same time I also have a little faith in the fact that a buyer who has clicked on my listing will, most of the time, do so to read more information about it and even if they see something the like before getting to the description, they will probably still skim over the info they clicked to find, and quite frankly ads are so commonplace on internet sites most people tune them out when they visit a page.