What the paid boosts actually do

Seven ways to buy attention, and what each one changes on the page.

Paid about 2 minutes

Posting, editing and renewing an ad are free and stay free. A boost buys nothing but attention — it moves your ad, or marks it, so more people look at it.

The seven boosts, group by group

Step 1: Open the boost page from any of your ads, or from the Feature Ad Plan link. The boosts are grouped by what they do to your ad, not by price.
Step 2: Get seen first. Bump Up lifts your ad back to the top of the list as though you had just posted it — it is the cheapest boost and the one most sellers need. Top Ad pins your ad above the ordinary results for the whole period and gives it a highlighted edge.
Step 3: Add a badge. Urgent puts a red tag on your ad; Featured puts an amber one. Neither moves your ad — they make it stand out where it already is, so they work best on an ad that is already being seen.
Step 4: Bundles and premium slots. Sell Fast Pack is a bump, an urgent tag and a featured badge together for less than the three cost separately. Feed Spotlight and Car of the Week are reserved slots — only one ad holds each at a time, which is why they cost what they do.
Step 5: Check which tier you are looking at. Vehicles and property boosts are priced separately from everything else. The toggle at the top of the page switches between the two, and the prices change with it.
Step 6: Reach All 3 Languages sits on the same page but is not a boost. It translates your title and description so Sinhala and Tamil buyers can both read your ad and find it when they search.

What this cannot do

You cannot complete a purchase yet. Card payment is still in test mode and the bank transfer details on file are not the real ones — the prices and what you get are settled, the checkout is not.
A boost changes where and how your ad appears. It never changes your title, your photos or your price.
Bump Up and Urgent do not put your ad in a featured slot and do not draw a featured badge. Only Featured Badge, Top Ad, Feed Spotlight and Car of the Week do that.
Car of the Week only appears under the vehicles and property tier.

Watch out for

A boost on a weak ad is money spent showing more people the same bad first photo. Fix the photo and the title first — that part is free.
Do not start at the top of the price list. Bump Up is the cheapest and is the right answer far more often than the pinned and reserved slots.
Badges suit an ad that people already see. If nobody is finding your ad at all, a badge has nothing to make stand out.

See the boosts →

The seven boosts, group by group

Step 1: Open the boost page from any of your ads, or from the Feature Ad Plan link. The boosts are grouped by what they do to your ad, not by price.

Step 2: Get seen first. Bump Up lifts your ad back to the top of the list as though you had just posted it — it is the cheapest boost and the one most sellers need. Top Ad pins your ad above the ordinary results for the whole period and gives it a highlighted edge.

Get seen first. Bump Up lifts your ad back to the top of the list as though you had just posted it — it is the cheapest boost and the one most sellers need. Top Ad pins your ad above the ordinary results for the whole period and gives it a highlighted edge.

Step 3: Add a badge. Urgent puts a red tag on your ad; Featured puts an amber one. Neither moves your ad — they make it stand out where it already is, so they work best on an ad that is already being seen.

Add a badge. Urgent puts a red tag on your ad; Featured puts an amber one. Neither moves your ad — they make it stand out where it already is, so they work best on an ad that is already being seen.

Step 4: Bundles and premium slots. Sell Fast Pack is a bump, an urgent tag and a featured badge together for less than the three cost separately. Feed Spotlight and Car of the Week are reserved slots — only one ad holds each at a time, which is why they cost what they do.

Bundles and premium slots. Sell Fast Pack is a bump, an urgent tag and a featured badge together for less than the three cost separately. Feed Spotlight and Car of the Week are reserved slots — only one ad holds each at a time, which is why they cost what they do.

Step 5: Check which tier you are looking at. Vehicles and property boosts are priced separately from everything else. The toggle at the top of the page switches between the two, and the prices change with it.

Check which tier you are looking at. Vehicles and property boosts are priced separately from everything else. The toggle at the top of the page switches between the two, and the prices change with it.

Step 6: Reach All 3 Languages sits on the same page but is not a boost. It translates your title and description so Sinhala and Tamil buyers can both read your ad and find it when they search.