← Friday Seller Tools

Seller guide

How do I set a margin-safe eBay Promoted Listings ad rate?

Calculate a seller-supplied contribution ceiling for an eBay Promoted Listings recommendation and turn rates above that ceiling into a review queue rather than an automatic campaign change.

Build contribution before promoted-listing fees

For each listing, start with its current seller-supplied price and subtract landed product cost, ordinary marketplace fees other than the promoted-listing fee, fulfillment or shipping cost, discounts, and other per-order variable cost. Keep currency and fee bases consistent. The remainder is modeled contribution before advertising, not accounting profit. Missing returns, taxes, packaging, or other real variable costs make the result too generous, so show every assumption beside the listing instead of hiding it in a universal rate.

Reserve the seller's post-ad contribution floor

Subtract the seller-chosen minimum contribution dollars from pre-ad contribution. The nonnegative remainder is the maximum affordable promoted-listing fee under those inputs. Divide it by price and express it on the same percentage basis as the supplied recommendation. Use exact decimal arithmetic, round displayed money to cents, and round the usable rate conservatively so the rounding step does not spend through the floor. A zero or negative remainder means there is no modeled ad-fee headroom at the current economics.

Compare each supplied recommendation basis separately

Preserve whether a recommended rate came from the seller-supplied item or trending basis, along with its observation time. Calculate projected fee dollars, remaining contribution, headroom below the ceiling, or shortfall above it for each basis. Separate listings where every supplied recommendation exceeds the ceiling from partial-exceed and within-guardrail rows. Do not average recommendation bases or replace them with a claimed optimal rate; they are observations to compare with the seller's own cost floor.

Review the offer and attribution context before bidding

Verify the live price, current fee rules, product cost, shipping, discounts, return allowance, inventory, and the campaign strategy in authorized sources. A listing with no modeled headroom may need an economics review, not simply a lower bid. A listing within the ceiling can still have weak relevance or conversion. Historical attributed sales do not establish incrementality, and a marketplace recommendation does not show that the recommended rate will produce profitable traffic.

Treat the rate as a scenario, not an instruction

Give an authorized seller the calculated ceiling, selected floor, supplied rates, projected fee dollars, and all cost assumptions. If the seller changes a campaign, record the reviewed choice and compare a later like-for-like reporting window with actual attributed fees and contribution. The calculation does not prove a promoted listing will convert, forecast auction outcomes, establish eBay policy compliance, or guarantee profit. Friday never creates, publishes, pauses, or modifies an eBay campaign, rate, budget, listing, or seller account.

Tools that help with this

Prices below are exact x402 per-call prices. Human card checkout uses fixed $3, $9, and $29 bundles; follow a tool page to see its applicable bundle.

Every paid output is a draft for your review before you publish, appeal, or activate anything. Friday does not access your seller account.

More seller guides

Browse all guides →