eBay are asking US sellers what it would take to persuade them to become mentors for new sellers. They have said “We are piloting a free that matches new sellers to more experienced sellers that helps them through the selling process. This is a 1:1 relationship that will help new sellers ask questions, get tips and tricks for selling on the site“.
They went on to ask on the US seller forum “Are you interested in becoming a mentor in this program?” and if weekend or weekdays would be better along with AM, PM or Evenings.
Of course we know that there are already many experienced sellers who are happy to mentor new sellers but they generally want paying for their guidance. Rightly so, they’ve already been through the pain of learning eBay and if they’re going to help you grow your business it’s fair that they’re recompensed for their trouble.
The immediate responses from US sellers was to ask what was in it for them, for example would they be financially compensated, would they get priority access to eBay support and of course to wonder why eBay want them to do their job for them.
One interesting suggestion was for eBay mentors to receive a proportion of their mentee’s eBay fees – the more successful they become the more the mentor would earn.
eBay did of course once have a program where experienced sellers assisted new sellers, it was called the eBay Education Specialist. This program shut down five years ago. This sounds similar, although we have no idea of how eBay would assess mentors and ensure that not only do they know the ins and outs of eBay policies but are also expert sellers.
eBay sellers do of course have a rich history as a community and, whilst many new sellers don’t even realise they exist, eBay forums have long been a place where new sellers could learn from experienced sellers.
Would you mentor a new seller and what would you want to get out of it?
9 Responses
any other site, quite likely i would mentor, probably free at a casual (when i feel like it) level.
if i’m expected to be “on call” x hours a day, financial resitituion would be required.
but i’m just so used to getting shafted by ebay i’m not prepared to go out my way for their next gimmick.
for your hard mentoring ebay will likely return the favour with seller restrictions and a drop in sales for you, cos that’s their style.
my best advice for any new seller would be: invest your time and effort somewhere else, you’ll get a better return for it, and be treated like scum far less often than you will with ebay.
ebay have such contempt for sellers they even think their daft enough to train people to compete with them
18 years full time selling on ebay and the best and only advice I will give to a new seller , is dont trust ebay ever , you might then stand a chance of success
I actually helped 3 local businesses get on ebay; a pet shop, stationers and toy shop. My view was they have the stock, they have the staff and they have the product knowledge
It was a lot of work. None of them are still on ebay, although one does have thier own website, its poor. Its just too much hassle; ebay have created a rod for thier own backs, but its good to see they are turning back to thier roots , hopefully to make the site more interesting. too.
eBay have a place where you should be able to mentor people, it’s called eBay Community. Unfortunately it is so over-moderated as to make it unusable. I have been permanently banned, my last two heinous crimes
1. mentioning moderation.
2. Making two consecutive posts highlighting faults with the customer addresses eBay display. The first stated the address has been altered to hide identity, the next didn’t specifically say this (but it was) – result ..You’re banned, appeal result…We don’t want your type round here, you’re still banned, forever.
Given eBay are so worried about any level of criticism, even when constructive, I fear that there would be few people who they’d find acceptable to be mentors.
Half the people we know that used eBay have been suspended or banned for one reason or another. They would like to get back on and start selling again. Based on the way eBay as took, they no longer want to anymore.