eBay Runs Free Listing Promo as Holiday Shopping Ramps

eBay is running a free-listing promotion to get more inventory on its site as holiday shopping ramps up. The invitation-only promo gives eligible sellers up to 500 free listings in auction or fixed-price format. (Insertion fees are waived, but sellers must still pay final value fees for items that end in a sale.)

Short-duration listings are excluded from the promotion, and sellers must proactively activate the offer:

“Invited sellers (“Sellers”) who activate the offer and then create a listing in the auction-style format, auction-style with Buy it Now format, or fixed price format, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth herein (“Qualifying Listing”), will pay no insertion fee per item (“Promotion”) for up to 500 listings during the Promotion Period (as defined below).”

An EcommerceBytes reader was more cynical about the timing of the promotion, writing “Had received 1 for a 20% off selling fees last week, and now today I get 1 for 500 free auction listings and free Buy-It-Now. 4th quarter just started. Is this an ominous sign for 4th quarter earnings?”

Interestingly eBay sent the promotion to many sellers who have Store subscriptions. Some sellers discussing the promotion on the eBay boards said they resented the fact eBay never offered them opportunities such as this week’s free listing promo. Another seller advised them to check their settings to ensure they had checked “Seller email promotions” and included instructions and a screenshot showing how to manage the settings.

The promotion kicked off today (October 22, 2018) and ends on Friday, October 26. More details are found on the eBay promotion landing page.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.