eBay announced the Fall Seller Update today. We've already began to analyze how these changes will impact sellers, but we're eager to hear what readers think of the changes.
eBay classified the changes into several buckets. Some of the key changes involve Promoted Listing ads, which eBay has already indicated to Wall Street is an important source of revenue growth at a time of stagnant sales growth.
eBay CEO Devin Wenig had said in July (via
Seeking Alpha transcript): "Our revenue growth continues to outpace GMV in part due to acceleration in advertising and payments," adding that Promoted Listings revenue grew 130% in the second quarter (April, May, June) compared to the second quarter of 2018.
Wenig said his goal was to reach $1 billion in ad revenue over time - remember, that comes directly out of sellers' pockets.
It's also important to consider how Promoted Listings impact *buyers* - there's already indication that they're getting frustrated with search results being clogged with ads -
this is a MUST READ post about the issue.
Here are two of the key announcements about Promoted Listings from today's Seller Update - tell us, are these changes good for you, neutral, or bad (and why):
Removal of duplicated promoted and non-promoted listings in search
Starting in September 2019, we'll no longer show duplicate promoted and non-promoted listings on the search results page. If you are using Promoted Listings, only one of your listings, either promoted or non-promoted will appear in a given set of search results, giving buyers a cleaner, more relevant search experience. We will select which listing to display, based on factors such as listing quality, relevancy to the buyer's search, and ad rate.
Promoted listings will continue to appear outside search on other pages such as the Home page, product pages, and other prominent locations on eBay.
Increased visibility for Promoted Listings in search results
In our ongoing effort to optimize the visibility of Promoted Listings placements, we're shifting to a mix of promoted and non-promoted listings at the top of search results. Now a mixture of promoted and non-promoted listings will be eligible to appear in the top search rankings.
This is designed to balance visibility for both promoted and organic, non-promoted listings, depending on their relevance to a buyer's search and quality of a seller's listing.
Another area that got the
Seller Update treatment was Managed Payments.
However, we didn't see any candid discussion about how sellers will be impacted by Managed Payments at this stage. For example: Previously, signing up for Managed Payments was optional, but we recently wrote about reports that eBay is requiring some sellers to sign up for Managed Payments; however, nothing in the Seller Update addressed those reports.
While eBay did
include a FAQ with the question, "If I receive a notification to register for managed payments, what should I do," the answer it supplied didn't answer that question as far as we could determine:
"Managed payments in the US is now live with a select group of participating sellers. They now receive payouts directly to their specified bank accounts and don't need to manually transfer funds. The overall experience enables sellers to streamline their operations by having everything they need (reports, fees, protections, support, and payouts) to sell and get paid in one place on eBay. They can offer buyers more ways to pay, and have a single company to contact for service and support."
Those are just two areas that jumped out at us, but there are many other changes. What things do you see as positives in today's release, are there any negatives, and what questions do you have for eBay about the changes announced?
How Will eBay Fall Seller Update Impact Your Business?
by: RKTOYS