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.

[belindabargainhunter]

Do u mean the bit down the bottom that shows what other buyers are looking at

[digital*ghost]

I see it on some listings (between the photos and the description). The one underneath is 'See what others are watching, but the one at the top is 'people who viewed this item also viewed...". On some it's a variety of other seller's listings, on others it's all just more stuff from the same seller. I noticed some of my stuff on other seller's listings, so I guess I can't complain about it much. :8}

[tonalidesigns]

i just noticed this tonight also when looking for something else - and yes, it is appearing on some of our items also - major game changer that gets in between the item title and your own listings 

If eBay HAVE to do this it really should be at the end of the listings.

Absolutely dreadful.

[belindabargainhunter]

I wouldn't think it should effect your sales to much as you would also get the benefits of this when someone is looking at another sellers item and they see yours.

Most buyers check out other listings anyway before buying.

[putney32]

yep I checked a few competitors listings, and BINGO, there were mine!!!!

2-way street that one

[tonalidesigns]

To give you an example we were looking tonight for a washing machine for our daughter - hers carked it today. The search criteria were very geographically specific and we went through the search results and specifically chose one item.

This "new" feature threw up a couple of machines that were thousands of kilometers away, plus two fridges.

We wanted something that can be delivered quickly, and last time I checked fridges were not all that useful for washing nappies.

I'm really not sure just how that helped anybody.

We also checked a few of our own listings - on one 4 of the 5 were actually other items of ours but on the others they were all low cost imports.

I'm not sure how this will impact us as sellers - it may help, it may not. But I just wish that eBay would explain changes like this instead of introducing them without warning.I also think they are trying to cram too much into each page.  

[bigbrickshop]

It's been on auction and BIN listings for the past week or so. I don't like it. I click on a listing because I want to read the seller's description for their item, not be lured off to another listing.

[dotcomdotayu]

 and last time I checked fridges were not all that useful for washing nappies.

:^O

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

[pinktoedannie]

I continued to experiment with checking on my listings via buyer ID's and discovered that during the time these advertisements were not showing (they come and go) were the only time I gained watchers. 

It's annoying - you work hard as a seller to gain a high best match, only to have anyone who click on your listings possibily drawn away to another seller.  After gaining the person's interest via the title and gallery, to the degree they felt compelled to actually click your listing, it's very disappointing they can be drawn away again before even looking through the description.  

I don't really care if my listings are on other sellers items. Given the choice I would refuse that option, as it is clear this has a negative affect on the sales of some of my products.  At the end of the day I'm here to do the best I can selling to earn an income, and ebay is making it harder and harder to do this.