You created a Markdown Manager sale for a $49.99 item at 20% off. Marketing API confirms the promo is "RUNNING." Your Seller Hub shows it as active. But when you open the actual product page, there's no strike-through, no "SALE" chip, nothing — just the BIN price like it's a normal listing. If this sounds familiar, you're not doing anything wrong at the API level. The promo is running. eBay is silently choosing not to render the badge because one of three conditions triggered.
How the sale badge is supposed to render
When a Markdown Manager promotion is active on a listing, the eBay product page should show three visual elements: the original price crossed out with a strikethrough, the sale price highlighted in red, and a "SALE" or discount-percentage chip near the price. In search results, the listing should carry a red "SALE" badge on its thumbnail.
These are all rendered by eBay's frontend, not the API. The Marketing API only defines the promo — whether the badge displays is decided at render time by eBay's client-side logic. That's why you can have a technically-running promo that renders no badge.
Root cause 1: eBay's "genuine markdown" heuristic
This is the most common cause and the one eBay never documents publicly. The platform tracks BIN price history for every listing. If the current BIN was raised within the last 14 days before a markdown promo was created, eBay flags the promo as potentially non-genuine and hides the badge.
The logic makes sense from eBay's perspective: they don't want sellers gaming the badge by artificially inflating BIN just to create fake "discounts." So they check: was the BIN stable or falling before the promo, or did it jump up right before? If it jumped, the sale is suppressed.
The fix requires patience. Wait 14 days after any BIN raise before creating a markdown promo. If your repricer just adjusted prices upward across many listings (common in seasonal markets or after inventory-cost changes), don't stack a promo on top for two weeks. Let the BIN history settle first.
Root cause 2: Motors P&A category restrictions
eBay Motors Parts & Accessories categories run different display rules than the rest of eBay. Some sub-categories don't render the strike-through visualization at all on desktop product pages — instead they show only a small "Save $X" chip. Mobile view usually shows the full badge; desktop can hide it entirely.
This is category-specific and undocumented. If you're selling in Motors P&A, verify by opening your listing on mobile (via mobile web or the eBay app) and comparing to desktop. If mobile shows the badge but desktop doesn't, this is your issue — nothing to fix, it's an eBay UX inconsistency.
Root cause 3: Seller Hub display preferences
Buried in Seller Hub → Marketing → Preferences is a setting called "Display strike-through pricing." When unchecked, it disables strike-through rendering on all your listings, regardless of any active markdown promo.
Some sellers turned this off years ago and forgot. Some new sellers inherit the default (which varies by seller registration date). Check the setting first before diagnosing further — it's the fastest fix if it's the cause.
How to verify the promo is actually running
Before diving into root causes, confirm the promo is technically running via the Marketing API endpoint GET /sell/marketing/v1/item_price_markdown/{promotion_id}. Look for:
promotionStatus: "RUNNING"— sale is active on eBay's sidestartDatein the pastendDatein the future- Your item ID present in
selectedInventoryDiscounts[].inventoryCriterion.listingIds
If all four are true, the promo is active — the badge invisibility is a rendering issue, not an API issue.
The pre-sale price stabilization rule
Rule of thumb from observing thousands of promotions: BIN needs to be stable or declining for at least 14 days before a markdown promo to reliably show the badge. Some sellers report a 30-day threshold in Motors P&A specifically. Set your promo strategy around this — don't stack a "20% off SALE" on top of a fresh price hike.
When to just drop BIN directly
If you've verified the promo is running, checked preferences, and still no badge — sometimes the pragmatic move is to skip the markdown pattern entirely and just drop BIN by the equivalent percentage. Buyer gets the same price. You lose the "SALE" psychology trigger, but you also don't waste a Markdown Manager slot on an invisible promo.
Profitio's repricer automatically skips sale enrollment when BIN rose in the last 7 days — the badge always shows on our-managed sales because the pre-condition is checked before enrollment. Try free for 14 days.