eBay Capsule - Minimum Value

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   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   A feature I would really like to see, which would increase my earnings, and your own, no end, would be a minor upgrade to the eBay module.
   
   I have had some major issues recently with eBay sellers placing products on eBay for 99 cents, but with $20- $30 shipping.  This lowers my click value, and reduces my overall revenue.
   
   I would really like to see either an inbuilt $2 price minimum, or the ability to specify a minimum value for ebay products.
   
   This wont be a quick fix, but I have spent some time looking at this, and it appears that this rather sketchy sales technique is harming my personal profits.
   
   If I am wrong please feel free to correct me, but if I am right I think a change like this would not only benefit me, but also Hubpages, and all it's ebay affiliate users!

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2. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I think that it has something to do with changes that ebay made to the fees they charge sellers.
   
   We don't really know what affects our click values. About 15% of my sales of been from that type of sale and my click value has continued to increase quite nicely.
   
   I would like the ability to tweak the ebay capsule myself, but I'm not in favor of others doing it for me. I don't want a minimum value because I'm not sure what it should be. (I would really love a search box.)
   
   I've just set up a new site dedicated to ebay products, where I can set minimum values and choose between BINS and auctions using the ebay widgets (I'm having a great deal of fun!). I've also set up a different campaign, so I will know the difference from HP and my own work.
   
   Probably take about six months and a Christmas season to see a clear trend. "We'll have a beer and talk then!"

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3. 60

   Sparhawkeposted 14 years ago

   The only clear way I can see to fix this is if Ebay take some affirmative action and delete those accounts that are purposely tricking the sytem in this way....For someone to have a BIN at 50p and charge £30 for posting and packaging is ridiculous...
   
   But saying that i cannot even become an affiliate since the sign up form does not work

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4. 77

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   As an ebay seller , Im pretty surprised to see the practice of charging high on S/h and low on item cost as being in any way new.
   
   Since ebay charges sellers a percentage on final value fee but not on the cost of shipping this practice is very old..and becomes more common every time ebay ups their seller fees.
   
   Officially, extravagant s/h fees are against TOS as a seller ..BUT - handling is a pretty lose term,we can rightfully use it to cover the not only the actual cost of shipping but also the time it takes for listing and related costs for storing, taking pictures the cost of tape, scales , internet access etc.
   
   What kind of volume gross product sales are you looking at? the occasional low item costs should do very little to effect your ePC - if your seeing an effect from that - you probably are in the need of a volume increase or a quality increase (quality =targeted/focused bids to traffic)
   
   
   oh - but more control over ebay settings at hubs would be awesome - including minimum cost settings..but considering that such a small minority of HP users are eligible and active members, I wonder if such a thing would ever be a priority

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree it's been around a long time, but it just seems to be getting more prevalent recently. 
      
      I'd also like to see a minimum value option.  Often, I'm featuring DVDs and the capsule throws up the 99c pirated version - if I could set a minimum value I could avoid that.  But you're right, it really depends how many eBay affiliates there are on HP now.

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5. 77

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   IDk - My ebay aff returns from HP increase incrementally every month.
   
   I have to say its not an issue of a few low cost items here and there - its about a proper match of initiating search terms and items bid on.
   
   We often see forum posts complaining about how the hP stats show oour own visits - the right answer is - If your own visits are noticable then HP Stats are the least of your worries.
   
   Although we are all way more advanced users in this thread - the same concept holds true - a few sellers having overly high shipping costs, low item costs, unfair, blah,blah... should not be effecting your sales much - if it is, then overall volume and/or targeted conversions are a much larger concern
   
   I think I remember Oli had some very narrow topics that perhaps didnt have a large selection of ebay sellers to pick from ..so the few that were flipping their costs/shipping around could be noticeable - but why not just push that traffic to amazon? by showing off the inappropriate costs at ebay for that specific product?
   
   Unless your talking triple digit clicks?

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   1. 80

      thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I do go quite narrow in some of my targetted hubs.
      
      The main reason I want to stick with Amazon righ tnow is because I have been doing some testing with swapping out Amazon adverts with Ebay adverts on some of my high traffic hubs, and to be honest I think the returns from eBay are higher than I expected.
      
      It would be nice to continue the experiment, but things like this end up giving me disappointing results.
      
      I could just use Amazon products, and if it comes to it I will, but if I could filter out these eBay products which are lowering my EPC on ebay, I believe it would be a better earning advertising solution than plain amazon adverts.

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6. 80

   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   I am not really saying the practice is new as such, it's just that I am selling products with values between $20 and $80 through eBay affiliates, however I am seeing more and more with the low value and high shipping, which is in turn affecting my earnings (I have been trying to find a good way to accumulate all this through the downloadable reports).
   
   If we did have an option to exclude results below a certain level it would overall improve these earnings in my opinion.
   
   Nelle, glad to hear you are still working on new things, you will have to keep us all informed!
   
   I have to admit though Nelle, for a woman who loves her notes and figures, I am surprised that you have not raised the question of how much more your profits would have risen had you not had 15% of your sales value artificially dropped to next to nothing.
   
   Likewise I am surprised Hubpages has not followed a similar train of thought!

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7. 77

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   of course, further controls would be great.
   
   im just saying you would hardly notice if your sales volume was higher.
   
   i have a site where ALL the items are under $10 yet monthly returns for me are still just a little under 1k. I dont use any filters for item cost ..i just make sure my viewers head on over to ebay and make a bid. Traffic on that site is no greater than my HP traffic..although is far more targeted.
   
   I have days with no sale ( seems like often mid-week - the bids are in but the items dont close til weekedn) and still clear 15-30 dollars
   
   Play and fix the factors you do have control of - FVF is not the only metric in account with your earnings per click w/ ebay
   
   ..I am supportive of your suggestion..but Im more supportive of letting you know that high returns are possible w/ the present system. Change what you have control of and all that...
   
   Im still betting that HP doesnt get a huge chunk of ebay income in relation to everything else..so the priority is lower

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8. 77

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   I find ebay averages around 9% ..on amazon Im happy at 6.5-7%
   
   But as ana ffilaite of both - in some cases I choose to push the traffic one way or the other - if i found that a certain field had disappointing ebay returns i would see what amazon could do for me instead ..rather than a black and white ebay/amazon switch.
   
   I find that a certain crowd (mostly older, non-techie) still doesnt trust ebay anyway.

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   1. 80

      thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I kind of go the same way, if you look at most of my product hubs you will find I use both Amazon and eBay capsules, it gives people a choice which is always good!

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   2. 80

      thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Have I emailed you about this is freelance yet by the way?
      
      kinda losing track right now trying to get all my work and immigration stuff sorted at the same time!

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9. 77

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   i havent dissected your product hubs ..it might be best if I dont
   
   <evil laugh>
   
   On amore serious note- I fI saw the ebay returns were for uneven s/h items I woul discuss that in my copy and point out how amazon has a conssitent price, solid return policy and with the purchase of x items may receive free shipping

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10. 77

    sunforgedposted 14 years ago

    ab rznvyf..ohg V abgvprq fbzr bs lbhe arj cebwrpgf - vf GVS gur Nqerifuner fvgr?

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11. 77

    sunforgedposted 14 years ago

    no email - but i noticed - let me know more

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12. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    Thisisoli, I'm really quite pleased with my ebay profits right now. I'm not as sure that the click value is affected by small purchases as you are that's all. I can't say that the 15% has pulled me down, because we don't know the algo that ebay uses to calculate it.
    
    All I know from what ebay has told us is that they want users to click through and quickly buy in the category that we've sent them in. That they give more credence to purchases made early in the 7 day window. But they also understand the difference between BIN and auctions and don't penalize auction activity. That they like it when our shoppers use paypal. And sign up for CRUs and ACRUs. Other than that I haven't read anything from ebay that small purchases are bad. That shoppers are tracked much longer than one purchase and that contributes to our over-all click value.
    
    So I have just been working on sending very targeted and motivated shoppers and have been really amazed at the growth in my ebay revenue. Hence an entire site of my own dedicated to ebay.
    
    - and I just love the ebay widgets, just love them!

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    1. 80

       thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Ahh okay, I have read in a few places that a large portion of the click value is based on a percentage of profit value, I will look in to it some more tomorrow!

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13. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    Wow, did I miss an ebay blog post? Could happen. Yeah let me know where your reading. Ebay is almost as much fun to black box as G.
    
    But I think we have to be careful not to get mired down in details. Just concentrate on getting high quality traffic and it should be fine.

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14. 77

    sunforgedposted 14 years ago

    LOL, there blog posts are never enlightening ..but my last couple of paypal payments have been!
    
    Bid volume beats gross sales - Ive had many days where my cut is more than ebays cut

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15. 80

    thisisoliposted 14 years ago

    https://www.ebaypartnernetwork.com/file … S/qcp.html
    
    The first paragraph inncludes revenue as one of the factors which affects it!
    
    It is by no means the only factor though.

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16. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

    Thanks Thisisoli! But even if I set a minimum value to display in my widgets, there's nothing that's going to stop a shopper from browsing and selecting the .99-cent item.
    
    I don't know. I guess I'm just happy with the way ebay has been performing for me so far. And I'm with sunforged, I've been happy with my payments, which as with him have been bigger than ebay's cut on days.
    
    My biggest fear, is that they mysteriously terminate me on false grounds. But I've decided that I can't let that keep me from promoting a program that's working.

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    1. 80

       thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Haha fair enough!
       
       It's fine if it's working for you!
       
       I guess it's just my mind automatically converting that 15% in to it's relative traffic value!

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17. 59

    Mrvoodooposted 14 years ago

    A few more options within the eBay capsule would be nice. 
    
    Personally I'd like to be able to block items without a photo.  If you use eBay capsules in place of pics within hubs the 'no photo' listings can really make hubs look below par.  I have one product type hub getting decent traffic today but all the listings are essentially blank, and I suspect far less than normal (if any) visitors are clicking those links.  Money down the drain.

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18. 64

    lakeerieartistsposted 14 years ago

    I haven't read every comment in this discussion, but I am very happy with how ebay is paying out for me.  I don't know for sure yet, but this month I look to earn half again as much as last month, and it keeps increasing each month.

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    1. 0

       Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Wow, I'm so glad to hear that. I'm pulling for the gallery and jewelry biz!

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