eBay has a promotions manager for eBay stores. It's supposed to work, but it often doesn't work. I have heard that the promotions manager works great for high volume sellers but not for people like me.
I have sometimes had to edit and launch a promotion five or more times before I could actually get it to appear in my store. This has caused me to waste a large amount of time.
Sales are down. It's not just me. Many sellers are reporting lower sales, and some sellers believe that their items are being hidden. I actually think our hobby is dying, but that's a discussion for another day.
Today I tried to launch a promotion. The promotion was not visible, and I tried multiple times, changing the terms of each successive failed offer. I finally scrolled around far enough to see that the promotion actually was listed, but way at the bottom of the item page where nobody would ever see it. That's it. eBay has now made me angry. What is the point of a promotion that no one will ever see? The promotions used to show at the top of the page. Why move it to the bottom?
That aside, this would be salvageable if the offer were to actually show in eBay search like it always has in the past. Of course it doesn't!
I ran a search for the Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Wooden Lady, so that I could view one of my listings in the search results.
I have highlighted the visible promotion from the high volume seller. My listing is underneath with no visible promotion. Every previous promotion I have ever done has shown in search. This is unacceptable.
The "FAST 'N FREE" does show, but that is only because I am in the same zip code as my listing and would receive the item fast if it were to be shipped to me. eBay is so stupid.
The only reason I am messing with eBay this weekend is because I have a store subscription and need to use the rest of my allotted listings for the month. If I could get sales on Etsy to pick up more, then I would consider leaving eBay again like I did in 2009 when I went to Bonanza. I believe my eBay store subscription expires at the end of August, so I need to do some serious thinking about whether to continue.
I do have one funny story to tell about the mess from today. I have been in the "new" eBay store experience for quite some time, and I wanted to revert back to the old store awhile back but eBay wouldn't let me. I thought that the old storefront had been removed.
I decided to check again today, since I recalled that the old storefront was more compact. I have never understood why sites spread information further apart when they update, causing much less to show on the screen. So I went into my store settings and saw the link to revert to the old storefront. I decided to try again and was absolutely dumbfounded that it worked. I am speechless. Wow.
Here's the deal. Not only do I have my old storefront back, but I also have my old pages back that give links to this blog and my website. I thought that eBay was supposed to delete those. I don't think I am supposed to have them anymore, but they are still there and in the old storefront that eBay let me revert back to today. I am still speechless.
The promotion still shows at the very bottom of the listing pages. However, the old storefront is more compact, so buyers are somewhat more likely to see the promotion. I am going to keep the old storefront for now. I doubt that eBay will leave it that long, since they are getting rid of all the old storefronts.
My promotion, the third and final variant I tried today, is for buying one book and getting the second book at 20% off. I don't know how long I will leave the promotion, so take advantage of it while it lasts.
Jennifer's Series Books on eBay via the Old Storefront
I am putting much more effort into Etsy. Keep in mind that several other prominent series book collectors are also listing on Etsy. You should make it one of the places you check when you look for books.
Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy
I have recently listed many Cherry Ames and Rick Brant books. I have also listed many Nancy Drew international editions and will be listing more of them.
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