eBay reduces support for Australia's largest eBay seller event

Australia's largest annual gathering of eBay sellers was held on Queensland's Gold Coast over the past few days. In it's 11th year, the 2017 Retail Global Conference was again a resounding success, thanks to the efficient and professional organising team. As in previous years, this year's conference delivered a unique opportunity for online retailers and eBay sellers to catch up on the latest trends, news and insights from leading experts.

Traditionally the biggest supporter and sponsor of this event across its 11 year history, the usual eBay stand and seller insights room was conspicuously missing this year. Although a handful of eBay staff attended, many eBay sellers expressed disappointment that they weren't able to find eBay staff to speak to about their business.

eBay expressed a view to PeSA Australia that they no longer regard the conference as an eBay focused event. eBay said that they were planning to launch some webinars to help provide sellers with information and insights that could help them grow and improve, and also tipped they may run some seminars in Sydney and Melbourne in the future.

Sellers who had come to the conference hoping to discuss their business with eBay staff were not left empty-handed though. An 'eBay Injection Room' was set up for eBay sellers to sit one-on-one with a range of eCommerce and eBay experts, including several former eBay managers.

Given the recent announcements of new marketplaces including Amazon.com and Catch.com.au launching in Australia in direct competition to eBay, the decision for eBay to scale back its engagement with sellers seems to be poorly timed.