Listings—Category Reserve Prices for Manual Bidding

We’ve enhanced manual bidding validation for sponsored listings to include category-level reserve prices. The system now validates bids against both marketplace and category reserve prices, ensuring optimal revenue protection across all product categories.

Key Benefits

Category-Specific Protection

Different product categories can have tailored reserve prices based on their market value and performance

Flexible Validation Logic

Products in multiple categories only need to meet the reserve price of one category, not all

Clear Error Messaging

Advertisers receive specific feedback showing the minimum required bid for their target categories

Enhanced Revenue Control

Marketplaces can optimize pricing strategies at the category level for maximum monetization

How Validation Works

Reserve Price Hierarchy

When setting manual bids, the system validates against:

1. Marketplace Reserve Price - Global minimum threshold
2. Category Reserve Prices - Category-specific minimums

Multi-Category Logic

For products spanning multiple categories, the bid must meet at least one category’s reserve price requirement, providing flexibility while maintaining revenue protection.

Updated Validation Process

1. Advertiser sets a manual bid for their sponsored listings campaign

2. System retrieves reserve prices for the marketplace and all relevant product categories

3. Bid is validated against both marketplace and category minimums

4. If the bid falls below requirements, an error displays: “Min bid is $[category reserve price]”

5. Campaign cannot proceed until bid meets minimum threshold requirements

Error Messages

When bids don’t meet requirements, advertisers will see specific guidance:

• Below marketplace minimum: “Min bid is $[marketplace reserve price]”
• Below category minimum: “Min bid is $[category reserve price]”
• Below both: The higher of the two minimums is displayed

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Category reserve price validation for manual bidding is active now across all sponsored listings campaigns. Work with your Topsort representative to configure category-specific reserve prices that optimize both advertiser participation and marketplace revenue.