Why does eBay promote Higher Priced identical Listings?

Why does eBay promote Higher Priced identical Listings?

 

You would think that it would be logical for ebay to promote lower priced similar or same items to their buyers. However, in their constant quest to increase fees and revenue, they came up with the idea that sellers of Fixed Price items could gain extra exposure for their merchandise by offering "Promoted Listings".

 

The way it works is that sellers agree to pay a higher percentage commission in exchange for the promotion of their listings to the top of searches and to various other pages making them far more visible to buyers.

 

So, here is what some sellers have been doing.

  • Significantly increasing the price of their merchandise factoring in the promotion fee.
  • Select a percentage rate for ebay's commission that they are prepared to pay based on the increased price orf their items.
  • eBay will then promote their listing irrespective of whether there are other identical items that are much cheaper.

Here is an example:

 

A search on eBay Australia for a He's My Girl poster and here is what you get in order of "Best Match".

 

HE'S MY GIRL – Rare and Collectable – Day Bill Movie Poster $99.99 (This is a promoted listing) Item number 271359889123

 

HE'S MY GIRL – Rare and Collectable – Day Bill Movie Poster $99.99 (The same promoted listing appears twice at the top of the page) Item number 271359889123
 
DAYBILL MOVIE POSTER – ORIGINAL – HE'S MY GIRL – T.K. Carter, David Hallyday $6.95 Item number 273565376889
 
HE'S MY GIRL Original Daybill Movie poster T.K.CARTER David Hallyday Misha McK $5.99 Item number 372620697735
 
The promoted listing appears at the top of the page and elsewhere in promoted areas but the cheaper priced items which are pretty much identical or in better condition are lowered in searches. It the promoted listing sells, ebay makes a higher commission and the seller wont mind because the price is inflated anyway.
 
If you are using a mobile phone, listings that are not promoted will be even harder to find. There are plenty of similar examples. You would think that eBay would be promoting the lower priced items 
 
Note that completed listings are removed from ebay after a short period of time unlike other major auctions where the listings remain so that customers can go back and check prices, etc.

 

 

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