eBay Promoted Listings No Longer Displays Estimated Fee
I've seen several posts across the eBay community and social media popping up with sellers concerned about Promoted Listings no longer showing them the dollar amount estimated ad fee when creating listings or ad campaigns.
Just yesterday noticed that the amount one would pay for a Promoted Listing has disappeared.
The option to change the percentage is still there. There was always the flat rate amount you would pay (if the item sold for current Price) off to the right. That amount fluctuated as you chose different promoted percentages. Where did it go? Sure, I could figure it out on my own...but it was a tool/help I used daily. Why is it gone?
When you go to promote your item, was it not previously showing how much it costs? I noticed, no fee is being shown, and no matter what percentage rate you choose, it's not displaying how much you'll pay?
Was it not showing the costs of the promotion before, or am I just thinking it was? Has Ebay seriously hidden this feature now, so you have no idea what fees you will pay??
I have been using Standard Promoted Listings for a good while and am continuing to despite Ebay trying to change everything. I went to alter the ad rate percentage on one of my listings today and noticed that the value of fees charged if the item sells from the clickthrough has disappeared and now only a percentage is displayed.
Is this permanent? If so, may have to get the calculator out. Why do they always have to tamper with things that are working fine already?
So what's going on here? Back in the Winter 2022 Seller Update, eBay announced effective June 1st, ad fees would begin to be calculated on the total including shipping & sales tax.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
Change to Promoted Listings Standard ad fee calculation methodology
On June 1, 2022, the Promoted Listings Standard ad fee calculation will change to align more closely with how we calculate final value fees.Specifically, the ad fee will be calculated in all markets based on the total amount of the sale for each attributed sale, using the same basis we use to calculate final value fees (including applicable taxes, shipping and other applicable fees described here).
Currently, in certain markets including the US, the Promoted Listings Standard ad rate applies only to the final price of the item.
Since neither eBay nor sellers have a magic crystal ball at their disposal, there is no way to know in advance where the eventual buyer of an item is going to be located.
That means the total including shipping and sales tax is unknown and since ad rates are done as percentages, that makes it absolutely impossible to calculate in advance what the actual dollar amount will be for an given ad rate.
So yes, unfortunately this is a permanent change and not a positive one in my opinion - if eBay wishes to raise fees or increase their take rate, they should do so in transparent, easy to calculate ways so sellers can understand the impact to their bottom lines and adjust their pricing or business practices accordingly.
As one seller put it:
How is someone able to price an item if they dont know how much fees will be charged when the item sells?
Like getting a taxi with no meter and the taxi driver charging you whatever they want when you get to your destination.
