ebay and Beyond : Basics to Business » Lorrie Norrington

eBay Releases On Location Dates And Locations

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:00:37 +0000

eBay On Location Events Scaled Back:

eBay has released the dates and locations for the eBayLive replacement events known as eBay On Location. Back in July of 2009 Lorrie Norrington announced that eBayLive was being replaced by the eBay On Location events, designed to be less costly for attendees by being held in major cities less than a day’s drive to as many members as possible. Originally I was under the impression there were supposed to be 10 of these events. Further research indicates eBay stated they would be conducting UP TO seven On Location events according to the Wall Street Journal.

The above image shows the areas covered by a 500 mile radius of the 3 chosen cities. It depicts the large portion of the country that is being left out of the “days drive” range eBay was initially striving for.

In yesterday’s announcement 3 cities. Atlanta GA, Dallas TX, and Chicago IL have been chosen along with a 4th event coinciding with eBay’s 15th anniversary in San Jose CA for September 1-2, 2010. This cuts the number of events to 4 instead of the possible 7 earlier reported. eBay previously announced the first On Location event was to be held in Orlando, however that event was canceled without explanation in December 2009.

One interesting note is that the 3 On Location events other than San Jose happen to be in cities that have recently established Ecommerce Merchants Trade Association local chapters. Purely coincidental? I don’t think so. I feel that eBay chose these locations recognizing that many ECMTA members are eBay sellers, and that by holding the On Location events in cities with local ECMTA chapters it may provide a built in base of promoters. This, if true makes perfect sense, go where you know you have supporters.

Just my thoughts.

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eBay Announces More Restructuring and Depatures

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:48:16 +0000

eBayInk blog is reporting today that John Donahoe, eBay President and CEO and Lorrie Norrington eBay President of Marketplaces have made several announcements to the company, though there is no announcement posted on the eBay announcement boards at the time of this writing.

First is the announcement that Stephanie Tilenius head of Global Marketplace North America for eBay has decided to seek other opportunities. She will remain as a consultant to John Donahoe for several months with an expected departure in early 2010.

Several other consolidations have also been announced. View the entire blog post here.

This seems to be the continuation of the exodus of top level management personnel since John Donahoe took over as President and CEO.

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I Hate It When I Have To Say I Told You So! eBayLive Was Terminal

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:49:17 +0000

eBayLive Suffers No More

Since 2007 eBayLive, the annual conference eBay held to bring their passionate and ardent supporters together has been in a death spiral. Early last year eBay announced that the 2009 event would be cancelled but assured anyone that would listen that the event would be revived and resurrected in Orlando FL in August of 2010.

After the 2008 eBayLive (many called this eBayDead) in Chicago, I have been telling my listeners that no matter what eBay was saying, eBayLive was on life support and the prognosis was grave. With less than half of the 10,000 expected attendees and a very empty vendor convention hall, the 2008 eBayLive saw angry attendees and confrontations between users and staff. Many of the eBay staffers at the event (nearly 700 eBay employees reportedly attended) seemed truly concerned about the attitude of attendees.

Lorrie Norrington Makes The Death Announcement

Yesterday Lorrie Norrington posted on the eBay announcement board what a few of us already knew was coming. eBayLive had in fact expired. In it’s place a new format called eBay: On Location, a more local or regional event to be held in locations that would allow the most attendees to be no more than one days drive away.

Interestingly enough, just 6 weeks ago eBay corporate spokesperson Usher Lieberman, while being interviewed on my radio program ebay & Beyond: Basics To Business live from the PESA/ECMTA Spring Summit in Atlanta, assured me and my listeners that eBayLive 2010 was still scheduled and would occur. How rapidly things change!

While the economy has hurt many ecommerce sellers and businesses, this demise of eBayLive is not a surprise to me. What is a surprise is that it took so long for others to see the handwritting on the wall.

I had some great times at previous eBayLive’s and will miss it terribly. The people I met and the networking were phenominal.

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eBay Continues The Management Shuffle

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:24:01 +0000

Rajiv Dutta To Retire

July 16th, 2008

eBay announced today that Rajiv Dutta President of eBay Global Marketplaces will retire in October of this year. Lorrie Norrington current President of eBay North America Marketplace will move into the position that Rajiv held.

Why Does The Management Shuffle Continue?

Frequently in the corporate world, when a new captain takes over the helm, we see changes in the team beneath. Many of the changes in the team seem to be those people with about 10 years of tenure with eBay. As the focus of eBay changes towards a retail experience, I can’t help but wonder if some to the changes are due to the fact that more emphasis seems to be toward that retail type business model and away from the auction format.

Rajiv Dutta will be missed. I had only one or two oppotunities to speak with Rajiv, but found him to be a honest and interesting person with a great grasp of the marketplace. I wish him well in his future endeavors as I have the same wishes of success for Lorrie Norrington in her ascent within the eBay hierarchy.

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eBay Announces Significant Changes To Feedback,, They Really Are Listening

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:11:03 +0000

Lorrie Norrington Announces Significant Improvements To Feedback System

Lorrie Norrington, President of eBay Global Marketplace Operations announced sweeping changes to the much discussed Feedback System on eBay. The announcement posted on the eBay announcment board basically says this:

Neutrals will no longer be counted as negatives when determining a sellers feedback rating. This apparently will be retroactive and will require re-calculation of the feedback ratings of all eBay Sellers. This will be effective in late August.

There will be a mechanism put in place to allow buyers to change their negative feedbacks left for sellers if the seller makes the dissatisfied buyer happy in a timely manner. What that mechanisim will be was not disclosed, but more information is coming!

eBay Is Really Listening!

One of the comments Lorrie made at eBayLive, and I am paraphrasing here is “Give Us A Chance”. I have to admit, I for one was skeptical. I have been selling on eBay for 11 years, and have not often been impressed with their response to the voices in the community. Though there will have to be much thought given as to the way extortion by the buyer is handled this is a MAJOR step forward by eBay.

I applaud Lorrie and the rest of the management of eBay in realizing that the recent changes to the Feedback Policy were ill advised, and making changes to it rapidly.

Though more information is to be forthcoming, I expect this announcement will be much appreciated by the rank and file sellers and will have them jumping for joy!

LORRIE, YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION, AND I WILL IN THE FUTURE BE MORE OPTIMISTIC WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL FIX IT!

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eBayLive 2008 Keynote Address Starting Soon!

admin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:53:58 +0000

I am going to try and keep up with this while the keynote is being conducted so stay tuned!

As we begin this event one thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a dramatic decline in attendance at eBayLive 2008.

There are certainly fewer vendors on the exhibit floor.

John Donahoe is opening the event with a time honored tradition of checking the feedback totals with over 20,000,000 feedbacks.

John is now introducing his family as he is originally from the Chicago area.

No major announcements from John Donahoe, as he gets ready to let Lorrie Norrington take the stage.

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Proof eBay Is Losing The Small Seller

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:40:41 +0000

For months (OK, I have been talking about this for years but only writing a blog for about a year) I have been writing about the lower volume sellers being pushed away from eBay. Many readers and listeners to our weekly live radio program ebay and Beyond: Basics to Business, as well as eBay exec’s have been saying show us the proof. In April, Lorrie Norrington, President of eBay Global Marketplace Operations said in her keynote address at the PESA/ECMTA conference in New Orleans that eBay embraces the smaller sellers, that small sellers provide the unique buying experience that is eBay.

Well low and behold I opened my local newspaper this morning while drinking my first cup of coffee and guess what I found? More proof that what I and many others have been saying for several years is happening in the real world.

In the Sunday June 8th edition of the Jamestown NY, Post Journal newspaper on the front page of the business section there is a story about two brothers that have opened a brick and mortar store because they were pushed away from eBay by higher fees and the lack of customer service.

Roy Walker, owner of the brick and mortar store The Bargain Cave in Jamestown NY is quoted in the article

“ We were selling antiques and collectibles on eBay “

, and when Roy talks about why he decided to open his B/M store he says

“ Another swaying factor in the decision to open a traditional store was the rising cost of doing business on eBay and the customer service. I was giving them a lot of money with the increased fees and they (eBay) weren’t very helpful when I needed it. I was just getting attitude from them (eBay) and started to question whether is was worth it anymore”

I have read 10’s of these articles from newspapers all around the country. This is not an isolated case as we all know. eBay is moving towards a retail buying experience, advantaging the big sellers and disadvantaging the small sellers.

When lower GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) sellers are disadvantaged on the site by being placed low in the Best Match searches, they have a much lower chance of selling their products. If they don’t sell their products they can not grow. This is simple economics.

Listen to our live ebay and Beyond: Basics to Business broadcasts from eBayLive 2008 in Chicago June 19-21, 2008

Ref: The Sunday Post Journal, Jamestown NY

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eBayLive As We Know It Takes A Break In 2009

admin — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:50:17 +0000

What has been rumored for months (eBay & Beyond had unofficial confirmation about a month ago) has finally been confirmed by Lorrie Norrington today in a post on the eBay Announcement Board.

Ms. Norrington states in the release that “In 2009 we are focusing our energy on smaller venues to facilitate more face-to-face interactions with our customers and community. While I can’t yet name all of the places we’ll be visiting in 2009, I can say that we intend to spend more quality time with more of you in 2009 than we have in recent memory.”

While this has been rumored for some time, and logically it makes sense from a business point of view, many loyal eBayLive attendees will certainly be disappointed. One rumor we have heard is that there may be several smaller events placed strategically around the country (world) to allow easier access by more users.

Though past eBayLive events have attracted as many as 10,000 community members this number is just a fraction of the total active registered users which according to eBay is above 80,000,000 worldwide.

We will be broadcasting live a total of 12 hours from this years eBayLive in Chicago, so if you can’t attend, you can hear all the latest news right here on www.basicstobusiness.com.

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