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Ad blockers work by using some kind of “fuzzy matching.” Essentially you’re telling the ad blocker to look for specific tags in the HTML. Since promoted listings have text that says “Sponsored”, then somewhere in the page’s code there has to be a specific tag where that is the value. For example, here’s what a typical filter looks like:
twitter.com##.tweet[data-card2-type=”promo_website”]
If this filter were widely accepted by ad blockers, Twitter would eventually see the drop in engagement and then rename “promo_website” to something different, at which point ads would show up and the filter would need updated.
This is the case for promoted listings, which now show up 100% of the time compared to a week or two ago when my ad blocker caught them.
The number of results wouldn’t change. Ad blockers work “locally”, as in, eBay serves you the results, then your ad blocker filters through those results and strips out ones that are sponsored.
There have been ways to block sponsored listings in some ad blockers for a while now. You can openly find filters for uBlock Origin that will remove promoted listings from search. eBay clearly knows this is happening and has been changing the way promoted listings are shown to show off these ad blockers, but it doesn’t take long for them to update and block them again. Mine was blocking them a while back without me adding in any special filters.
Inevitable TBH. I didn’t realize how bad the backlash was over PLs, but doing some searches for “adblock ebay promoted listings” brought up posts from people calling PLs spam. I tend to agree, although I still use them for listings with a lot of competition.
I send them occasionally. Sorry. It’s not an indication of an item’s worth – I just want a good deal.
Right in their store description: “Welcome to thredUP.com’s eBay store! thredUP.com is just like a consignment shop, but all online. You’ll find quality women’s and children’s clothing, in practically new condition. Every item has been hand-selected and inspected by trained consignors. Visit http://www.thredup.com for more great items!”
See: https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/links-policy?id=4248
“Any permitted links cannot direct customers to pages that encourage people to view, search or purchase items off eBay.”
eBay remembers what items you look at via some kind of tracking code. It’s designed to remind regular buyers they’ve looked at an item and bring them back to eBay to buy it. Amazon and most major retailers do the same.
How are they able to link to their site in their store description? I thought it was against TOS to link to another place to buy your items?
Good to know!
Any reason you’re not shipping via FedEx for something this large? FedEx ground would have been cheaper for you and the buyer.
Good to hear about the Finances API. That’s something I’ve been wondering about since the launch of MP. Hopefully developers will be able to get the true cost of shipping now without authenticating with PayPal.
How does paying for shipping work under MP? Does it pull directly from your balance on eBay?
All but one of the above unsold items I mentioned sold. 2 sold at full price, while I took offers on the others or sold them during a sale. The last one has been on clearance a few times and fields a few lowball offers now and then with no bites – just a bad buy.
Overall the investment wasn’t worth it. I tied up too much money in each one expecting similar quick payouts in 24/48 hours like I’d seen with my first sale from this lot, which was just a fluke that made me feel overly confident.
On average these items sold in 28 days, and although I said I was happy with a 40 day average above, I take it back – too long for this much money on the line. If I’d got full price I’d think differently, of course.
For now on I’ll only buy this stuff if I can get them for <$20/unit.
Best change IMO is the removal of duplicated promoted and non-promoted listings in search. Looks way cleaner.
I have neither a truck or warehouse space, I just meant that there’s plenty of stuff that’s larger and logistically harder to ship going unsold for cheap that someone with an existing B&M space (pawn shop, etc) could swipe up and make bank on.
There are zero additional operating costs.
The opportunities for investments in high risk -> high reward items are there, you just need to be willing to accept that some will only break even or cost you time/money. Your bread-n-butter items can cover the loss, surely.
eBay parts/repair, online liquidation auctions, surplus, etc etc. In almost all these cases you’ll be gambling money on things that aren’t tested or photographed well. I frequently take these risks and only a couple of times felt disappointed with the items once I got them.
I also don’t mind lower margins if the item will sell faster, like a near-$100 item selling for $200 in a week. OK with me.
I’d be doing these investments more often if I had a truck and a small warehouse space. Sometimes really good items sell for extremely cheap just because the shipping logistics are nightmarish.
They’re for shipping, not for packing. The policy is in place for a reason and applies to everyone. If the question is “Will I get in trouble?”, then the answer is no, just don’t complain when these “free” materials are put behind the counter at the PO and cost $2/piece.
I think anyone would find it looks lazy. Just imagine ripping open a box and finding it full of perfectly usable padded flat rate mailers for void fill.
Go buy kraft paper at Staples. If weight matters, get tissue paper or newsprint. You’ll spend $10 at most. For “free” supplies you can dumpster dive your nearest recycling bin or talk to a store owner about getting some of their packing material that would normally be dumpster-bound.
