Time for a Sellers Union? Like other costs, Unfair ppc prices have doubled or more in 12 months
Hi All, I have noticed ALL my advertising keywords which used to cost on average per click around 45p last year and gain a good number of impressions including when I would launch a new product , they are now around £1 some are even higher to just get impressions! The problem isn’t only that this increase is ridiculously high, the problem is with the cost being so high it makes it financially impossible for me to bid on most keywords because all of my products are low value around £20!!!
Here is an example of one of the worst. I have been paying a mammoth £1 per click for a particular keyword for a item I am selling at £20 and barely getting any impressions. The suggested cost per click by Amazon is £1.54! It used to be around 50-60p. Then if I look at the top 10 products when I search this keyword on Amazon, the average sell price is around £9! How on earth can anyone pay £1.54 per click for an item that is being sold for £9 on average? Clearly I must be being unfairly charged higher PPC rates then the competitors?
Is anyone else having this type of issue? PPC is an absolute goldmine for Amazon why have they increased the costs 100/200% in a year or is it just a few accounts they are targeting?
Time for a Sellers Union? Like other costs, Unfair ppc prices have doubled or more in 12 months
Hi All, I have noticed ALL my advertising keywords which used to cost on average per click around 45p last year and gain a good number of impressions including when I would launch a new product , they are now around £1 some are even higher to just get impressions! The problem isn’t only that this increase is ridiculously high, the problem is with the cost being so high it makes it financially impossible for me to bid on most keywords because all of my products are low value around £20!!!
Here is an example of one of the worst. I have been paying a mammoth £1 per click for a particular keyword for a item I am selling at £20 and barely getting any impressions. The suggested cost per click by Amazon is £1.54! It used to be around 50-60p. Then if I look at the top 10 products when I search this keyword on Amazon, the average sell price is around £9! How on earth can anyone pay £1.54 per click for an item that is being sold for £9 on average? Clearly I must be being unfairly charged higher PPC rates then the competitors?
Is anyone else having this type of issue? PPC is an absolute goldmine for Amazon why have they increased the costs 100/200% in a year or is it just a few accounts they are targeting?
0 replies
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
Not 100% clear on how PPC works but one would assume prices would go up based on the number of bidders on a keyword. So if you are in a competitive keyword, you’ll need to bid more to have a chance of getting impressions.
I’d agree there will have been some increase in ad fees overall as amazon put their prices up on their services.
Seller_qqCKaiyZvp4Rc
Yes this isn’t an amazon problem this is across the board
In general bids don’t go down, i have seen the same with google ads, a lot more expensive now than it was 2 years ago
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
Welcome to the world of thousands of new sellers all buying generic stock from China and private labelling it
Thank you to all those youtubers promoting it and Amazon cashing in on ‘brand’ registry and PPC
Seller_tvSKAVDVwnvb5
Yes I must concur, Amazon is the smartest and greediest being on the planet. Possibly more so than the government. What will the price be next year? £3.54. Wll we just say ‘oh that’s just what Amazon does!’ Its absolutely unfair on us and consumers as it destroys our already minimal profits (smaller sellers) and falsely drives up inflation as we have to charge the consumers more to make the same minimal profit yet which drives higher commission to Amazon and HMRC because the sell price is higher! Genius! Ive been thinking perhaps there should be a SELLERS UNION set up?
Seller_tvSKAVDVwnvb5
Ive just found a Sellers Union online. Ive been working for businesses and with Unions for many years. I am fully aware some companies open Unions through their own contacts so they can control the Unions motives and keep the peace so that they can carry on doing what ever they want. I wonder if this is whats happening here because there is clearly no justice for Sellers and not once have I heard anything in the media about it. I have reduced my PPC spend by about 70% in the last 12 months because I cant afford it anymore. The more and more Amazon squeezes me by increasing the costs and reducing my sales, the more time I have on my hands. I will be looking into this as it will probably be a lot more enjoyable then selling on Amazon!
Seller_tvSKAVDVwnvb5
Wow, checked this morning and the suggested bid has increased from £1.54 to £2.09 
See attached!
What is also very strange is my topic is not showing in the list of topics. I had to use a reply email to find it!
Interesting.
Seller_tvSKAVDVwnvb5
Oh I found one online.
I wonder though, a lot of companies create a union through their own contacts or have under table agreements so they can control them.
Now that I cannot afford PPC so I will have a lot of time freed up which I would otherwise have used to manage PPC, and I happen to be living in the Himalayas where there is not a lot to do anyway I will look into this.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
As per others PPC is decided by the sellers who are bidding, its the opposite of the price wars that drive prices down.
You bid 2.09 so someone else bids 2.10, and someone else 2.11.
You can’t blame amazon for what other sellers are bidding.
Its like holding an auction company responsible for the price their items are bid to.
Seller_ZQyopdiwkUHOZ
Honestly, the problem is having paid advertising at all. The only people it’s good for are the people charging for the ads.
Buyer doesn’t get best item shown to them based on their search, they get the item the seller is most prepared to pay to try and sell (which drives prices up to cover ad costs)
Seller is forced to pay to try to get the same deal they were getting from an algorithm that didn’t charge for placement.
Company gets the ad spend money and higher fees from the sellers pushing prices up to cover the ad cost.
Seller_tvSKAVDVwnvb5
Thanks everyone for your input. I agree and don’t think this ppc issue would justify setting up a union, but there are many other reasons. I have a feeling a lot of actual sellers like me are in the same mind set 
