Posts Tagged ‘ebay live’

My first eBay Live! experience was memorable. I’ve been to Chicago before, but this was different, like going on a trip and touching down on planet eBay.

The convention center was exciting and energetic, awash in eBay colors and more importantly, eBay buyers and sellers.

It was great to see so many real, “live” eBayers from all over the country and from around the world.

Of course, I was particularly interested in the style purveyors. Miuccia Prada and her tie dyes have nothing on Uncle Joe. Just in time for the hot tie-dye trend, Uncle Joe was giving away $5 gift cards good on his site that specializes in tie dye. He himself was wearing a most fabulously vivid T as he whizzed around eBay Live! in his wheelchair.

I loved the ShoeMetro guy, Phuoc Huynh; he picked up an award that included a donation from eBay to his favorite charity, for their stellar footwear sales.

Listened in on a fascinating talk by some of eBay’s top sellers on how to improve sales. Ann Wood shared tips on what had made her store Willow Wear such a success.

I’ve bought gorgeous African necklaces from Africa Direct and there was Elizabeth Bennett, the owner, in the flesh. We had a chat and compared notes on the beauty of glass beads which actually originated in Venice – not Ghana nor South Africa nor Nigeria. Funny how the world works.

I also learned about how her business on eBay, AfricaDirect benefits craftsmen and women in these countries providing them with a small but invaluable income.

So many of eBay’s users are involved in giving back to the community. Stacie Sefton told me how she and her husband/partner took time from their business, BH Factory Outlet, to help when the devastating floods hit their hometown of Cedar Rapids, IA.

Their business was affected too, but as of eBay Live! they were back on track and doing well as one of eBay’s top style sellers.

I just got back from eBay Live! and wanted to give you a quick overview of my experience. On my way there, I sat next to a woman who raved about how eBay has been an amazing resource for building her figurine collection. Her experience was one of many seller stories I heard that made me have a deep appreciation for the site that we all know and love.

I got to Chicago on Thursday night and walked around the showroom floor, learning about the seller tools that were being demonstrated at the show. An interesting tool you should check out is called zippi. It’s a service that makes it super easy for people to sell their stuff on eBay. You just call a number and someone will head over to your house, pick up the goods, and list them on eBay for you!

On Friday, the keynote rocked me when I heard about the no-limit PayPal protection plan and amazing PowerSeller discounts. In my opinion, those are pretty radical moves in the right direction.

That night, I went to the Top Member event, where I kicked it with folks that were rated well into the 60,000+ feedback range. Can you imagine? I felt like I was amongst royals. I met the #1 seller of iPods, a large computer refurbish dude, an RC car and boat seller, and an intense saw-and-drill bit chick. What a room that was!

All in all, I had a very informative time and can’t wait to go back in 2010!

During eBay Live, Chicago was my “Sweet Home” for the majority of last week. It was a great time of year to be in the Windy City—nice weather, a beautiful boat ride, even more beautiful deep dish pizza…mmmm. It was a great choice of city to hold our convention. As far as the actual event itself, “Live” was alive with energy. Our fantastic community was front and center, cruising the convention center floor, learning, and mingling with their fellow eBay compatriots. I met a lot of colorful people with colorful stories of their entrepreneurial success. I hung in the Community Lounge with my fellow Style Squad members (not to mention CEO, John Donahoe, and President of eBay Marketplace Operations, Lorrie Norrington [in the pic with us at right!]), collected ribbons for my eBay badge (pic below), and watched Chris Isaak put on a killer show at the closing gala. With my aching feet and full belly (pizza, natch), I got on the plane and winged back to California. Au revoir eBay Live, until we meet again….

Yesterday was the first offical day of eBay Live—eBay’s annual blowout buyer / seller event that attacts close to 10,000 community members! It’s my first eBay Live and I am over-the-moon excited about it. It’s wonderful to meet the people who power the eBay marketplace. So many interesting faces to see and stories to hear. It is fascinating to witness in person—the website has come to life before my very eyes—eBay user IDs are actually real people! I will be here for the remainder of the week, meeting and greeting, as well as milling about with my fellow Style Squad comrades. We have a big appearance in the Community Lounge today on the show floor which should be a blast. I will give you the lowdown on all of the goings on.