eBay have announced the formation of a new business development team to be led by Michael Jones (MJ) formerly of ChannelAdvisor. MJ becomes Vice President, North American business development for eBay, and brings a wealth of experience in helping businesses sell online.
Don’t get too excited though, the new team are unlikely to be talking to you unless you’re a big brand retailer or manufacturer. eBay are looking more and more towards the big names in retail and in particular clothes, shoes and accessories which in the US means the eBay Fashion Vault.
It’s not all bad news though, eBay’s aim is to drive new buyers to the site tempted by bargain prices for designer fashion items and these are probably buyers who wouldn’t traditionally purchase on eBay. If they can be tempted to purchase by the branded goods from trusted companies hopefully some will migrate to buying from the smaller independent sellers who have made eBay the success that it is today.
One thing that will be interesting to see is if with MJ’s past connections with ChannelAdvisor mean that they attract a new influx of retailers, or will they be directed through other third party support companies with a strong US presence such as Mercent, Infopia and Vendio?
Disclosure: ChannelAdvisor advertise with Tamebay
3 Responses
The issue is the ideas and mechanisms that such eBay teams introduce to accomodate big business don’t always suite small business.
What small businesses desperately need is an eBay small business team that is small business friendly and who understand the issues of starting up and operating a small business on eBay.
And a CEO at the top prepared to listen to this team!
There are only so many large retail businesses. There are an infinite number of small businesses!