Using the suggested ad rate when promoting your listings

When you promote your listings using a general strategy, you only pay when your promoted item sells within 30 days of a click on your ad. The fee you are charged is based on the ad rate you set, which is a percentage of an item's total sale amount (including postage and any other applicable fees or taxes). This rate helps determine when and where your listing appears in ad placements across eBay.

The suggested ad rate is a recommended percentage unique to your specific listing and current marketplace conditions. It's designed to help increase your listing's visibility while keeping your ad costs aligned with your goals. Because it's calculated for each listing, it can be a helpful starting point, especially in competitive categories.

How to use the suggested ad rate

When using a general campaign strategy, you can choose a dynamic or fixed ad rate.

A dynamic ad rate will automatically update your ad rates each day to the suggested ad rate. With this strategy, you don't need to make frequent, manual updates to keep your ad rates competitive in the marketplace.

With the fixed ad rate strategy, you can choose either your own rate, or the suggested rate that day. Once set, the rate will remain unchanged until you adjust it.

Here's how to choose your ad rate when creating your campaign from the Advertising or Listings tab in Seller Hub:

Advertising tab

1. Select Create new campaign and choose Promote your listings.
2. Select a General campaign strategy and add your listings.
3. Choose between Dynamic ad rate or Fixed ad rate.
   • If you select Fixed ad rate, choose Apply suggested ad rate for all listings in your campaign

Listings tab

1. Select Promote or Edit promoted listing from the Promoted Listings column.
2. With the General strategy toggled on, select your ad rate strategy: Dynamic ad rate or Fixed ad rate.
   • If you choose a Fixed ad rate, select Apply suggested ad rate

If you're using the eBay App:

1. Tap Selling at the bottom of the screen.
2. Under Selling tools, select Advertising.
3. Tap Select listings to boost and select one or multiple listings, then tap Next.
4. Confirm the suggested ad rate and tap Promote listing.

For more ways to set your ad rate, including from the advanced listing tool, My eBay Active, or listing in bulk, see our General campaign strategy help page.

Tip
If you're using the quick listing tool, you will only see the dynamic ad rate option.

How is the suggested ad rate calculated?

The suggested ad rate is calculated using a range of marketplace and listing signals:

• Competition:
  • Ad rates set by competitors
  • Number of listings in the item's category
  • Increases or decreases in traffic for the item or category (i.e. buyer demand)
• Listing attributes:
  • Price
  • Quantity available for sale
  • Item details (e.g., category, brand)
• Listing quality:
  • Variety and quality of photos
  • How clear and detailed the description is (e.g., item condition, postage)
• Past performance:
  • Seasonality (e.g., Black Friday, back-to-school)
  • Number of days listed
  • Quantity sold
  • Organic clicks and impressions
  • Ad clicks and impressions

These factors are taken into consideration each day for each listing to determine the optimal balance between performance and cost. However, changes to any one factor won't always result in a specific increase or decrease to the suggested rate.

Tip
When using dynamic ad rate, you can set an ad rate cap to fit your budget and goals. An ad rate cap is the maximum percentage you're willing to pay on a sale, ensuring your ad rate never exceeds that limit.

Getting the most out of suggested ad rate

Remember that applying the suggested ad rate is not a guarantee of stronger ad performance. You may also want to consider the following:

• Improve the quality of your listings. Suggested ad rate, like all AI-powered ad tools, gets better with more data. The more information you provide in your listing, the better eBay can match it with potential buyers
• Price competitively
• Write a helpful title with relevant keywords
• Write or generate an accurate and clear product description
• Populate as many product details as possible, including choosing the right category
• Add multiple, unique, high-quality photos. We recommend at least 4
• Consider allowing offers, offering free postage, and/or decreasing your handling time
• Use the dynamic ad rate which automatically sets the ad rate for your listing to the suggested ad rate, daily

Suggested ad rate FAQs