March 27th, 2009 by Skip McGrath

First Long Beach and Now Miami. What is behind The eBay seller meetings?

Are these the "series of events" eBay promised when they cancelled eBay  Live?

Last month eBay held a meeting in Long Beach, CA for selected sellers (mostly large sellers) and last week they held another one in Miami.  All sellers who attended the meeting were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  eBay told one seller this was so everyone could talk freely and not worry about misinformation leaking out.

Actually i get that. But what I don’t understand is why the meetings are limited to very large sellers.  When eBay cancelled eBay Live this year, they promised to replace it with a series of events around the country.  Is this the "series of events?" If it is, I am not impressed.

eBay continues to suffer bad PR from the larger community of smaller sellers (Bronze, Silver and Gold). The Platinum and Titanium Power Sellers see eBay as just another venue along with their own websites, Amazon, Overstock and the major shopping engines. But smaller sellers are mostly eBay-only.  It is these thousands of small sellers who bring the product diversity, uniqueness and consumer interest to eBay. And, it is these same small to medium-sized sellers eBay keeps ignoring.  The recent annual meeting was another example of this. eBay dealt solely with plans and issues for mega sellers –ignoring small sellers altogether.

I happen to know that eBay knows how important the thousands of small and medium sellers are to their success –they just seem to be incapable of letting them know and of introducing programs, policies and promotions targeted at them.

I have objected to some of eBay’s policies and supported others –but I have consistently supported the long-term success of the eBay platform.  The large sellers have a voice with groups like PESA, IMA and ECMTA, but the only voice for small sellers has blogs like this.  About all small sellers can do is vote with their feet as many have.  So far its a trickle but unless eBay starts paying some attention, it could become a river (pun intended).

Come on eBay –Reach out!  We are eager and willing to help you grow the platform and bring some of the fun back to eBay.

See Also

• Learn How To Make Extra Money Selling Used Books on eBay, Amazon and The Internet
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