Ina Steiner EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com
Fri Jan 19 2018 23:07:24

eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

By: Ina Steiner

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Because it's not a retailer, eBay is limited to what items are for sale on its site. Today it kicked off a promotion giving sellers an incentive to list the items it wants to see for sale on its site at prices at or below its target prices.

"I just received an offer from eBay to save 25% on selling fees for listing in demand items," a seller told EcommerceBytes. "Not sure if you have ever seen this before, but it actually gave me lists of actual items (supposedly in demand) in various categories and suggested prices to sell them at."

The promotion is just the latest in eBay's recent efforts to get sellers to list what it wants. Last month, eBay sent an email to top sellers in the fashion category with the subject line "eBay Personalized Sourcing Opportunity," offering recipients specific suggestions on what to sell.

eBay's relatively new seller portal called Seller Hub offers advice on pricing, product popularity (for sourcing decisions), and restocking information, and we recently reported on eBay's Selling Guidance Delivery Platform that uses machine learning algorithms with the help of its "Sherpa" technology.

The current promotion kicked off today and requires sellers to list items included in the invitation email or on the promotion landing page, and they must list them in new condition in the fixed price format. The promotion runs through February 17, 2018. Sellers interested in participating should read their invitation carefully for details and restrictions.

As for the reader who wrote to us about the promotion, they were concerned with eBay sharing such information with potential competitors. "I would be so angry if I was a seller of any of these items; seems so dirty and unfair to me."

Comments (5) | Leave Comment | Permalink
Readers Comments

Perminate Link for eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products   eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

This user has validated their user name. by: Ming the Merciless

Sat Jan 20 03:13:51 2018

Who in their right mind would trust ebafia's pricing "guidance" and sourcing suggestions?

Perminate Link for eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products   eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

by: geoffreymason This user has validated their user name.

Sat Jan 20 09:12:54 2018

If one wants to succeed and make money, one doesn't try to sell what everybody else is trying to sell. Ebay is run by brain-dead six-year-olds.

Perminate Link for eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products   eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

by: I Must be Crazy This user has validated their user name.

Sat Jan 20 11:56:40 2018

I received the promotion. Sherpa clearly isn't very smart. I sell USED auto parts. I have never listed even ONE item as new. All of the items on their list are cheap, garbage aftermarket parts made in China. If I come across anything made in China I throw it away. I deal in factory items only.

Besides that, the price point of every one of their ''suggested'' items for my category are not worth the trouble. Not enough profit for me.

Ebay looks dumb when they send these things. I am curious how many sellers  follow through and how they perform. My guess is a lot of sellers would be stuck with a bunch of inventory listed in saturated categories.

Perminate Link for eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products   eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

This user has validated their user name. by: Ming the Merciless

Sat Jan 20 16:18:40 2018

Ebafia is only interested in collecting FVFs and assorted other fees.

They DO NOT care about if sellers make money or go out of business. They DO NOT care if what you sell is junk because they make money on returns.

They DO NOT understand that it's this kind of shortsighted corporate-immediate- gratification-think that's ruining both the long term viability of the site and seller profitability.

Another nefarious reason why Seller Flub was created.

It's ALWAYS about the money.Theirs.

Perminate Link for eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products   eBay Runs Promotion Tied to In Demand Products

by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Sun Jan 21 09:17:40 2018

Sherpa ... "well its winter time .. so coats must be hot"
Sherpa ... "well iPhone X is out .. so it must be hot"

Thats not machine learning - thats machine stupidity.

eBay MANIPULATES the platform by claiming they do nothing, but then on the sly - play favorites, hides people they dont like, promotes those who kick back funds, make secret deals and more.

ANYONE who thinks that eBay is "just a venue" aka an even platform is on crack.

Well (as said before), one of thier "big boys" just went bust - goo going there SHERPA.

As for its "sourcing" ... you can do better searching GOOGLE or using your own brain.

You have to always remember that a dead cat run over in the street (poor cat - for him/her I feel bad that it died for no reason) on this planet - is STILL smarter then eBay .....  



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