When eBay sellers advertise their listings, eBay displays suggested ad rates, which is a percentage of the total sale. On April 1st, the company published a guide explaining how it calculates those suggestions, revealing that it uses machine learning to help sellers find “the ideal balance between performance (like clicks and sales) and cost (ad fees).”
eBay takes into account the following factors when displaying the suggested ad rates to sellers:
Competition
Ad rates set by competitors, number of listings in the item’s category, increase or decrease in traffic for the item or category (i.e. buyer demand), and start or stop of other promoted listings. Most important factor
Listing attributes
Price, quantity available for sale, and item details (e.g. category, brand.)
Listing quality
Photos (e.g. multiple, unique) and description (e.g. condition, shipping.)
Past performance
Seasonality, days listed, quantity sold, organic impressions, ad impressions, organic clicks, and ad clicks.
eBay said suggested rates help sellers drive more sales. Citing data compiled from June-July 2024, it said sellers who increased their ad rate for high-potential listings experienced an average sales boost of 15%.
eBay recommended sellers experiment, adding, “Apply the suggested ad rate to higher-margin items, multi-quantity listings, or in competitive categories. These listings often benefit most from competitive ad rates.”
eBay published an announcement that includes a link for sellers to download the guide on the eBayAdvertising.com website.