Major bummer for the eBay seller community (filed under eBay Brain Drain).

I heard about this on my way out of the IMA conference and was majorly bummed about the latest eBay Brain Drain.

Matt Ledwidth, eBay's Director of Top Seller Development, is leaving eBay.

I first met Matt when he was at half.com way back in 99.  We got along great with those guys and started working with them to help sellers on Half.  After 2000 when eBay acquired Half, Matt moved over to the since disbanded category management team where he ran media for a long time.  3-4yrs ago when eBay started to focus on growing sellers with the TSAM program, Matt put 110% of his energy into that effort.

At eBay Lives for the past 3yrs Matt has run a series of panels around top seller best practices that are widely viewed by attendees as the best advanced content.

It's been a true honor to know Matt and work closely with him over the last 9yrs.  Never has he waivered in his passion and conviction for doing everything possible to make sellers successful (even before it was cool@eBay).  I can definitely say that everyone at ChannelAdvisor and the seller community is definitely going to miss him. 

Best of luck at your next gig Matt!

Comments

[Richard]

Ebay is mandating that some sellers accept paypal as a source of payment or they will not place the listing. Is this legal as Paypal is owned by Ebay?

[Kevin Harmon]

Matt Ledwith is a really great guy who you could always count on to champion the seller cause at eBay. I cannot tell you how much he helped me through all the eBay crises that we were presented with over the years. I will miss him more than anyone else who has come and gone over there.

Quick survey! Which call would you least like getting (and yes these are all completely true)

A. "We're raising your Store fees 150%. How do you feel about that?"
B. "Yes, you are being suspended for 3 days because you listed Pretty Baby. Yes, we know that it's in the Muze database. Yes, we know that other sellers have it up. No, we can't tell you which DVD's are banned for sale on eBay. Yes, I understand that it's kind of like just guessing which titles Trust and Safety will hit you for."
C. "Great news! We're lowering insertion fees to make it less risky to sell on eBay! Well, we're making up for that by raising FVF's. Well, you'll actually probably see an increase in fees. Hello?"
D. Hey Kevin, it's Matt. That thing you've been telling me for a year to do I'm doing. Next week is my last week"

(sigh)

Kevin

[vzaar Jamie]

That is really sad news. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Matt and his team on a number of occasions when I was at eBay UK and he has nothing but the seller in mind when it comes to eBay and how to improve things. Tough shoes to fill.