The Next presentation was the ‘eBay Townhall’. This was handled pretty well. They had microphones to run around the audience and allow folks to directly ask questions. My only frustration was similar to the one ColderIce expressed when he recorded his Wednesday 114 show with Dave White on the eBay and Beyond radio show live from the summit. The recording hasn’t been cleaned up and isn’t online yet but I do remember one line that I totally agreed with! “Who cares what you (the Seller) think about FREE SHIPPING - it isn’t about what YOU want – it’s about what your BUYERS want!” John, if I got that wrong – pop in and clear it up!

In my opinion all the questions about Free shipping just took away from the time we could have all been asking about other things to do with the Ebay portion of our business. I admit, several folks made good sense;  in particular I remember the one who talked about eBay revenues going up with beingn able to collect FVFs on the shipping

Image of eBay Motors CS

cost, and the one who sold very heavy items. However, eBay is folllowing the customers and all signs point to buyers demading this option. If you can, find a way to make it work for your business. If you can’t, sell somewhere else, or stop complaining about the benefits eBay is giving to Free shipping.  eBay offers lots of promotions – most of which dont aply to my items, but I take advantage of the ones that do and move on past the ones that don’t.

Image via CrunchBase

• mommytoaaj: RT @ebayinkblog Free shipping is dominating the eBay Q&A – 3 of the 5 questions so far have focused on it #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: Question came in asking why eBay Motors doesn’t have the same algorithms, etc. as the rest of marketplace #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: #ecom09 Brings me to a quick eBay Twitter tip: @askebaymotors and @ebaymotors are both on Twitter and are willing/able to help and inform
• mattledford: RT @philleahy: New functionality 2 reduce unpaid items 2 be released soon. eBay 2 issue the UPI process not the Seller #ecom09 gd thing!
• mattledford: @singlefeed #ecom09 : standing room only, “set it and forget it doesn’t work”
• mommytoaaj: RT @katskloset: #ecom09 question re: automatic UPIs – can sellers set preferences? answer – YES

Ebay got the honor of kicking off the summit, which seems fitting to me. Most of us at least got our start there, even those not actively selling there right now. Todd Luttwach, Senior Director of Seller Development, was the speaker and his presentation was titled ‘The Evolving Ebay Marketplace’.

He was introduced by Jonathan of Gotham City Online. This is the presentation where Todd got down on his knees. It was a surprising moment and really loosened everyone up. Todd was speaking and I remember that he started his speech saying the eBay wanted to apologize to the sellers for 2008. He said they realized they had tried to change too much too fast and they were truly sorry. There was absolutely no response, it was one of those ‘hushed’ moments. Then a lady sitting in the front row looked right up into Todd’s face and said ‘Get on your knees’ and he DID! The crowd roared and it truly lightened the mood.

• ebayinkblog: “eBay’s goal is to be the online marketplace of choice. We serve both buyers & sellers.” – Todd Lutwak #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: “We know that buyers, sellers and developers have choices. We’re not the only game in town. But we’ll compete for your biz.” #ecom09
• mommytoaaj: RT @katskloset: #ecom09Lutwak acknowledges eBay is NOT the only game in town and vows to COMPETE for sellers!
• gypsytrading: RT @colderICE: “We realize sellers have choice, we are here to compete and win sellers by competing and winning” Todd of eBay #ecom09 HMMM
• mommytoaaj: RT @colderICE: Cash back, coupons, free shipping, buyers expect and demand these when shopping on line –tod #ecom09
• mommytoaaj: RT @colderICE: 100 million listings on eBay, we (ebay) have the best selection – Todd #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: eBay is competing to win the seller with 1. Velocity 2. Efficiency and 3. Predictability (preferred online channel) #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: 3 years ago: “Everyone knows that there is a cliff at eBay but no one knows how close they’re standing to it.” – Jonathan Garriss #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: It was that statement that made the Seller Dashboard come into being. Todd publicly thanking Jonathan and @PESA for that. #ecom09
• philleahy: Strategy to increase seller efficiencies and limit the number of changes to the platform. #ecom09
• gypsytrading: RT @katskloset: Lutwak gets applause for getting on his knees to apologize sellers! for all the changes in 2008 #ecom09 AND??
• mommytoaaj: RT @colderICE: Predictability (account frozen)made excellent strides by us in last year thx 2 Jonathan & PeSA communicating 2 us-tod #ecom09
• @colderICEPredictably unpredictable? lol…tod #ecom09ebay slides
• ebayinkblog: #ecom09 Graph showing fixed price quantity sold (in millions)…Will see if I can get slides for blog http://yfrog.com/118i3j
• ebayinkblog: #ecom09“There is no such thing as free shipping. Someone has to pay for it.” – Todd Lutwak
• usherml: I love free shipping too #ecom09
• mommytoaaj: RT @colderICE: eBay wants you to test free shipping and they have giving powersellers incentives with double discounts to try it #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: #ecom09eBay paid out more than 3X as much in PowerSeller discounts in Jan ‘09 vs July ‘08
• ebayinkblog: #ecom0980% of eBay PowerSellers are getting discounts at some level
• usherml: Nerd Alert (and I’m 3 seats away): RT: ebayinkblog@colderICE I’m sitting next to you. Are we really tweeting this convo? #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: Eliminate scrolling from buyer experience in your listings. New view item page makes that possible. All info in one place. #ecom09
• philleahy: More detailed DSR reports for sellers including breakdown for local and international. #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: “The name of the game in DSRs is to avoid a 1 or a 2.” – Todd Lutwak, #ecom09
• mattledford: #EbayBucks seen as discount from buyer perspective #ecom09
• ebayinkblog: #ecom09 eBay planning on introducing FAQ tool for sellers to address common buyer questions publicly and upfront
• millionaire224: RT @colderICE: http://twitpic.com/6j46v – NEW First Call Resolution on eBay #ecom09

• philleahy: New functionality to reduce unpaid items to be released soon. eBay to issue the UPI process not the Seller
• #ecom09mattledford: Lutwak gets applause for “We at #ebay realize, there is no such thing as ‘free shipping’” #ecom09

• ebayinkblog: #ecom09 “But it is something that buyers are asking for all the time. ‘Free Shipping’ gives the perception of something for nothing.”
• philleahy: Buyers are now searching for Coupons. BIG TIP: Set up a coupon page on your website! #ecom09