eBay ads for sellers: Promoted Listings and offsite ads

This guide is built from eBay's help pages: Promoted Listings overview, General campaign strategy, Priority campaign strategy, Promoted Stores and Promoted Offsite. If you also sell on Amazon, see our Amazon Ads guide.

The four eBay ad types at a glance

• Promoted Listings, general strategy: your listings get more visibility on eBay; you pay a percentage of the sale (the ad rate) only when a promoted item sells after an ad click.
• Promoted Listings, priority strategy: priority access to ad placements and keyword targeting; you pay per click.
• Promoted Stores: ads for your eBay Store as a whole, built around a category or a coupon; pay per click.
• Promoted Offsite: your listings shown on external channels such as Google; pay per click.

eBay's overview puts the choice simply: "A campaign strategy determines how your listing will be promoted and how you'll be charged."

Who can advertise

For both Promoted Listings strategies, eBay says: "Above Standard or Top Rated sellers with enough account activity can promote fixed price listings for most categories." So a new seller, or one with a below-standard rating, may not be able to promote yet.

Priority campaigns exclude auction listings (with or without Buy It Now) and some categories, including Wholesale & Job Lots, Events Tickets, Property, E-Cigarettes, Vapes & Accs and Everything Else. For Promoted Offsite, eBay says it shows "your eligible fixed price listings".

General strategy: pay a percentage when it sells

The general strategy is eBay's pay-per-sale option. eBay's help page says "you only pay when your item sells", and explains the fee:

• Ad rate: "the percentage of an item's total sale amount (including item price shipping, taxes, and any other applicable fees) that is charged when the promoted item sells within 30 days of a click on your ad."
• Whose click counts: the fee applies when a buyer purchases the item "from a general ad that any buyer clicked on in the most recent 30 days". The buyer does not have to be the person who clicked.
• Timing: "The item must be promoted at the time of click and the time of sale", and the fee uses the ad rate in effect at the time of sale.
• Dynamic or fixed rate: a dynamic ad rate updates daily to eBay's suggestion; a fixed rate stays as you set it.

Because the ad rate is charged on the total sale amount, including shipping and taxes, work out your margin on that total, not on the item price alone. eBay publishes no average ad rate; it suggests one for your listings.

You can add listings by hand, by item ID, by CSV, or with a rule (for example price range, condition and category) that adds and removes listings automatically each day. A listing can be in only one general campaign at a time.

Priority strategy: pay per click

The priority strategy gives "priority access to ad placements and advanced controls - like keyword targeting". It is cost per click, and eBay is explicit: "You will always be charged for valid clicks on listings promoted using a priority strategy, regardless of whether a sale is attributed to that click."

• Price of a click: set in a second-price auction, where the fee depends on "listing quality, keyword relevance, your bid amount, competition from other sellers, and a reserve price".
• Smart targeting: eBay targets buyers automatically; you set a target daily budget shared by all listings in the campaign.
• Manual targeting: you work with ad groups, keywords, negative keywords and bids, using dynamic bids (updated daily, with an optional cap) or fixed bids.

A listing can be in several priority campaigns at once. Rule-based priority campaigns also turn listings with videos into video ads automatically.

Running general and priority together

You can promote the same listing with both strategies. eBay attributes sales by last click, but the charges can stack: "If you have listings promoted via both the general and priority strategy, you will be charged for Attributed Sales from general clicks even if your ad received a subsequent priority click." In that case you may pay the priority click fee and the general ad rate on the same sale.

Promoted Stores

Promoted Stores advertises your eBay Store rather than single listings. eBay says these ads "spotlight a specific coupon or category within your store" with your store name, logo, a headline and several top listings. They "can appear in highly visible places across eBay such as the home page, top of search, or listings pages."

• "Promoted Stores uses a cost-per-click (CPC) model, meaning you only pay for clicks on your ads, up to your set target daily budget."
• Clicks are priced in a second-price auction with a reserve price.
• Targeting can be smart, or manual by sub-category and keyword with dynamic or fixed bids.
• One category or one coupon per campaign; you can run as many campaigns as you like.
• eBay says results "may take up to 14 days to show more complete performance results" and recommends running at least two weeks before major changes.

Promoted Offsite

Promoted Offsite puts your listings on external channels: it "showcases your eligible fixed price listings on leading external channels like Google". Buyers who click land on your eBay listing. You set a budget, a name and dates, and eBay does the rest.

• Cost: cost per click, adjusted per listing each day. The price depends on the external channel, "What eBay's partners charge us for your ads", and historical click costs for similar listings.
• Titles: eBay may rewrite your listing titles with AI for external platforms such as Google Shopping. Your title on eBay does not change, and eBay says this "doesn't change how your ad fees are calculated or charged".
• Fees: "Ad fees are shown in your Payments tab in Seller Hub, or the transactions page in My eBay".

How daily budgets work

Priority campaigns, Promoted Stores and Promoted Offsite all use a target daily budget that is paced over the calendar month. The rules are much the same on each page:

• Monthly spend will not exceed 30.4 times the target daily budget.
• On busy days spend can reach up to twice the daily target; quieter days balance it out.
• Changing the budget mid-month recalculates the cap for the remaining days.
• eBay's Offsite example: "if your target daily budget is $10 for a continuous campaign, you won't be charged more than $304 per calendar month".
• Ending an Offsite campaign early can mean days at up to twice the daily budget, since spend has not averaged out yet.

General campaigns have no budget: cost depends only on how many promoted items sell and at what ad rate.

Attribution and reporting

eBay's attribution page uses a 30-day window for every ad type, with different definitions:

• General: an Attributed sale when a buyer purchases the same item that any buyer clicked in the last 30 days.
• Priority and Offsite: a Direct sale when the buyer purchases the item they clicked; a Halo sale when they buy a different item from you within 30 days. For halo sales, "the seller won't pay any additional ad fees for this subsequent sale".
• Promoted Stores: any purchase from your store within 30 days of a click on a Promoted Stores ad.

The Advertising dashboard in Seller Hub shows campaign results, and you can download a sales report that shows which attribution definition applied to each sale. eBay notes that attribution "is subject to change". Sellers who manage campaigns through software can use eBay's Marketing API.

How we start eBay advertising

This is our own practice, not eBay's guidance:

• We fix titles, photos and item specifics first, since every ad type sends buyers to the listing or store.
• We start with a general campaign at eBay's suggested ad rate on the best sellers, after checking the margin on the total sale amount.
• We add a priority campaign with smart targeting for a few high-margin items once we know which listings sell, and watch clicks against Direct sales.
• We try Promoted Offsite only for listings with strong titles and prices that compare well on Google Shopping.

If you want help with marketplace or ecommerce advertising, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

How much do eBay Promoted Listings cost?

With the general strategy you pay an ad rate, a percentage of the total sale amount, only when a promoted item sells within 30 days of an ad click. With the priority strategy you pay per click, set by auction, within a target daily budget. eBay publishes no standard rate.

Do I pay for eBay ads if the item does not sell?

Not with the general strategy. With priority, Promoted Stores and Promoted Offsite you pay for valid clicks whether or not anything sells.

What is eBay Promoted Offsite?

An eBay ad product that shows your eligible fixed price listings on external channels such as Google, charged per click within a target daily budget, with clicks landing on your eBay listing.

Can eBay spend more than my daily budget?

Yes, up to twice the target on busy days for priority, Promoted Stores and Offsite campaigns, but no more than 30.4 times the daily target in a calendar month.

Can I run general and priority campaigns on the same listing?

Yes. A listing can be in several priority campaigns and one general campaign. You may then pay both a click fee and the general ad rate on the same sale.

For other marketplace and retail ads, see Amazon Ads, Etsy Ads, Walmart Connect and Google Shopping campaigns. To plan a campaign with us, see our services.