Everyone wants to lower bids—especially when DRR is rising, advertising costs are increasing, and profits begin to dwindle. However, a sudden “let's cut bids” often ends the same way: impressions drop, positions fall, and sales plummet.
The good news: you can lower bids carefully and systematically while maintaining sales. To do this, you need to avoid “cutting everything” and instead:
- separate traffic that actually sells from “junk”;
- strengthen the conversion of the listing;
- lower bids according to rules and observe the effect in the right timeframe.
Below is a practical scheme that I use with Mercado Libre sellers.
Why Sales Usually Drop When Lowering Bids
Because a bid is not just a “cost per click.” On marketplaces, a bid affects:
- impressions and position in search results/catalog;
- the share of traffic you receive for key queries;
- sales velocity (and thus, organic traffic).
If you lower bids without preparation, you lose the very traffic that was generating sales.
Main Principle: You Can Lower Bids If You Have Conversion Buffer
Before cutting bids, check the fundamentals:
- Has the CR (conversion rate of the listing) dropped?
- Is the price competitive?
- Is the delivery acceptable?
- Are there enough stocks?
If the listing is weak, lowering bids will only accelerate the decline: you were already buying sales at a high cost, and now you will buy them at a low volume.
Preparation (10 Minutes): What to Check Before Lowering Bids
1) Segment Campaigns by Meaning
You need at least 2 baskets:
- exact/selling (keywords with orders and clear profitability)
- broad/testing (where there are many clicks, few orders, or instability)
Bids are lowered differently in these baskets.
2) Identify “Budget Eaters”
Sort by:
- campaigns by spending
- SKUs by spending
Often, 20% of campaigns consume 80% of the budget and yield weak results. This is usually where “pain-free reductions” begin.
3) Fix the Baseline
Record for 7 days (or at least 3):
- revenue/orders
- expenses
- DRR
- CR of listings for key SKUs
Without a “baseline,” you won't understand what changed due to bids and what changed due to seasonality/stocks.
7 Ways to Lower Bids Without Sales Drop
Method 1. First, Remove Junk Traffic—Then Cut Bids
This is the safest approach.
What to do:
- cut/stop combinations where there are expenses but no orders;
- switch broad campaigns to test mode with limits;
- keep the budget for exact queries and best SKUs.
Result: DRR drops due to “cleaning,” while sales often remain stable.
Method 2. Lower Bids Not on Campaigns, But on “Weak Segments”
If you can manage segments (by queries/platforms/SKUs)—lower them specifically.
Logic:
- maintain bids on “winners”
- cut where it's expensive and unprofitable
Method 3. Make Gradual Reductions, Not a Single Cut
A rule from practice: reduce by 5-10%, no more, and take a pause.
Scheme:
- lower bids by 5-10%
- wait 24-72 hours (depending on sales volume)
- observe changes: impressions → clicks → orders → DRR
- repeat
Why this way: the marketplace auction and results do not react instantly, plus day-to-day noise.
Method 4. First Lower Bids on “Overpriced” SKUs
You almost always have products where:
- clicks are expensive,
- margin is low,
- conversion is average,
- and advertising relies on “good faith.”
These are ideal candidates for bid reductions or moving to organic.
Segmentation:
- Hero SKUs (maintain turnover and profit) — carefully, minimal changes
- Growth SKUs (can tolerate) — tests
- Low margin SKUs — cut first
Method 5. Lower Bids Where There Is Organic Cannibalization
If you are buying sales that would have happened anyway, then lowering bids often does not kill overall turnover but simply returns some sales to organic.
How to Suspect Cannibalization:
- advertising sales are growing, but overall turnover is almost flat
- organic traffic is falling, advertising is rising
- brand/listing campaigns are consuming the budget
What to do:
- lower bids on “protective” campaigns by 5-10%
- observe overall turnover, not just advertising attribution
Method 6. Increase Listing Conversion—Then You Can Lower Bids More Aggressively
This is the main “cheat code.”
If CR has increased, you are getting more orders from the same traffic. This means:
- you can buy fewer clicks,
- you can maintain sales at lower bids.
Mini-plan for Improving CR:
- first screen: cover + benefit + variation/set
- price in search results (competitiveness)
- reviews/rating
- delivery (warehouse, timing)
- honesty of expectations (fewer returns)
Method 7. Reallocate Budget Instead of “General Cutting”
Often, you can lower bids and maintain sales if:
- you reduce bids/budget on weak campaigns,
- and the freed-up budget is kept for exact queries and best SKUs.
This is “reallocation” instead of “cutting.”
Practical Algorithm: How to Lower Bids in a Week Without Dropping Sales
Day 1: Cleaning
- stop campaigns/segments with “spending → 0 orders”
- limit budget on broad campaigns
- fix the baseline (orders/DRR/CR)
Days 2-3: First Reduction
- reduce bids by 5-10% on test and weak segments
- on Hero SKUs — do not touch or reduce by -3-5%
Day 4: Check
- observe not only DRR but also: impressions → clicks → orders
- if impressions drop but orders hold steady — okay, continue
- if orders drop — roll back some changes and check CR/price/delivery
Days 5-7: Second Step
- repeat -5-10% where sales have not dropped
- reallocate budget in favor of “winners”
How to Understand That You Lowered Bids Correctly
Signs of Success:
- DRR is falling or stabilizing
- orders are holding (or dropping less than expenses)
- the share of “junk” clicks has decreased
- profit per order is increasing
Signs of Error:
- impressions sharply dropped, and sales fell with them
- Hero SKUs specifically dropped
- bid reductions coincided with a drop in CR (listing/price/delivery)
Common Mistakes When Lowering Bids
- Lowering bids uniformly everywhere
- Making a large step (-20-40%) in one day
- Cutting bids when the listing is losing conversion
- Evaluating the effect based on 1 day
- Only looking at advertising attribution while ignoring overall turnover and organic traffic
FAQ
Can I lower bids if DRR is high?
Yes, but first clean up junk traffic and check the conversion of the listing. High DRR is often not in the bids but in CR/price/delivery.
What percentage is safe to lower bids?
Usually 5-10% in steps with a pause of 24-72 hours. For high-volume SKUs, you can do it more frequently; for low-volume ones, less often.
Why did sales drop after lowering bids, and DRR did not improve?
Because revenue fell faster than expenses. This often happens with a sharp reduction on key queries or when the conversion of the listing drops.
Conclusion
Lowering bids without a drop in sales is possible if you act like an engineer rather than a firefighter:
- first, clean up junk and cannibalization,
- lower bids in steps,
- protect Hero SKUs,
- simultaneously enhance the conversion of the listing,
- and evaluate the effect in the right timeframe.