August 18, 2025 • 43 mins
We are THRILLED to bring you some of our initial takes on the fantastic eBay Open 2025 experience, but more than that, we get to bring you some awesome interviews we did on the ground from the Seller Club Podcast booth - from fellow sellers and longtime listeners to eBay employees from all over the company, this is just the beginning of all the great conversations we get to share with you on this side of the best seller event of the year!
If you love podcast content created for eBay sellers, don’t forget to follow us @sellerclubpodcast and @ebayforsellers and @sellerledger on Instagram.
Check out the best bookkeeping software for sellers out there–Seller Ledger–for an entire QUARTER for free with this special eBay Open offer! https://sellerledger.com/ebay-open-2025/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_07 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 91 of the
Cellar Club podcast.
Let's drop that beat.
Long time no see, Ken.
SPEAKER_08 (00:14):
It's been a few tenths of hours, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (00:19):
Yeah.
Are you still as tired as I am?
SPEAKER_08 (00:23):
Um, I think I recovered pretty quick.
Um, this was probably the bestrecovery I've ever had.
I don't know if um because I'vekept up with my vitamins and I
really didn't want I ate junk,but I didn't eat a lot of it.
SPEAKER_07 (00:40):
Right.
Like a donut a day.
SPEAKER_08 (00:43):
I actually didn't get to eat a donut.
SPEAKER_07 (00:45):
You didn't eat one single donut?
Oh my gosh.
That was me eating a donut aday.
SPEAKER_08 (00:49):
See, that is the thing.
Like, that's why I'm recovering.
Uh I think I've mitigated allthe good for you.
Yeah, so uh, well, for foreverybody that's listening, um,
if I think we just went straightthrough it, I was like, what did
they do?
SPEAKER_07 (01:05):
And is uh he was not in an accident.
SPEAKER_08 (01:07):
Um no no no no no no we didn't go to uh camp or
something like that.
Um we just got back from eBayOpen 2025, which was in Las
Vegas.
SPEAKER_07 (01:21):
Live in person.
SPEAKER_08 (01:22):
In person, right?
So the first eBay l open, biglive gathering, because they did
some regionals um meetup uh orlike conferences, but it's it
wasn't really a conference, itwas more like a one-night
conference.
It's like a party kind of yeah.
This time it's been it was whatthree days, right?
Um so this was held in um theVenetian uh Las Vegas.
(01:47):
Um the last time they thishappened was in 2019, so long
time coming.
Um this is my third eBay openand Anna's first time.
So let's hear it from Anna andsee what she thought about it.
SPEAKER_07 (02:01):
Oh my gosh, it was so fun, the most fun, first of
all.
Um It was really it really didexceed my expectations in a lot
of ways.
And I tried to keep a reallyopen mind because I didn't I've
been to like big conferences forother things and other
industries, but I didn't reallyknow what to expect.
SPEAKER_08 (02:21):
And you've heard talks about it, um, you know,
the last three or four yearsthat you've been involved with
the virtual, because you know,there were talks like, oh, it's
different from the in-person, soI'm glad that it was.
SPEAKER_07 (02:33):
I definitely understand in a new way what the
virtual eBay opens were tryingto tap into.
And I think successfully did toa large extent.
I mean, as best you can in avirtual environment.
But I can now see like what whatwe were going for a little bit
more, and honestly, so much.
I said this a bunch of times,and spoiler alert, we recorded
(02:56):
so much content at eBay open,we're gonna be sharing.
SPEAKER_08 (02:59):
Way more than I thought.
SPEAKER_07 (03:01):
Yeah, way we did a ton.
We had people on the mic as muchas possible, all kinds of
different people.
It was so great.
We're gonna tell you all aboutit.
But one thing that you'llprobably hear me say in multiple
recordings along the way is thatI realized everything I loved so
much about participating in eBayOpen Seller Week, which for the
(03:22):
last like three years is whatI've I've done, you know, for
the virtual events, I've flownto San Jose, met up with a group
of other sellers, but like 20 or30, not like hundreds, right?
SPEAKER_08 (03:32):
Thousands.
SPEAKER_07 (03:33):
Right.
And, you know, recorded umcontent, filmed content that
would then be used at eBay open.
Um so what I now realize is thatthat was a microcosm of this,
but until now I didn't haveanything to compare it to.
So now like this was kind oflike everything I loved about
Seller Week, but on steroids.
(03:54):
Right.
And interestingly, I didn'treally have a big content role
at all this year.
I was just there with thepodcast, and then Ken and I did
do a really fun uh spot withRebecca on the news desk, which
was a actually totally livegame.
We ran a fact or fiction gamewith Rebecca, and it was super
fun.
We love working with her, andum, she made it really easy for
(04:16):
us to step in and goof aroundand play and have fun with the
game.
So that was great, but that waslike not something that was um
in any way really similar towhat I've done before for eBay
Open, which has usually involvedlike writing and practicing
panel and like a presentationthat has a slide deck and all
(04:37):
that stuff.
So there was nothing like thatthis year for me, which was kind
of fun because I really hadnothing to be super nervous
about.
So other than just you know,anticipating the entire thing
being like exciting and neverknowing what's gonna happen,
like that's the good side of youknow anxiety.
So I was just enjoying the goodstuff and I think that was like
(04:59):
kept really busy.
SPEAKER_08 (05:00):
That was 2018 for me.
Um, just really participated.
I did have like a small segmentin 2018, but that was more like
just an interview.
But but I think like that wasthe best possible scenario.
Actually, even now looking backat it, if we had I don't know
how it would have been possibleif you had other places to be
(05:24):
and stuff to do.
Because John and JC would havebeen would have been left there,
yeah, and that would have youknow like I think we would have
missed so much.
SPEAKER_07 (05:35):
I think so too.
Like, I mean, I was I I'm glad.
Like I love doing presentations,like I love being part of the
content, but I was glad for thesake of just how everything
worked together this time that Ididn't because I could kind of
be at the booth at times whereyou did have to go and do some
really fun panel stuff, which Iwould love for you to talk
about.
SPEAKER_08 (05:55):
Yeah, so uh uh one of the participations I did for
this year for eBay Open isunofficially the surprise guest,
or officially the surprise guestof um this eBay Seller Capital
team.
SPEAKER_07 (06:09):
Um you know, it wasn't Can we just say you are
the Backstreet Boys of the eBaySeller Capital team?
SPEAKER_08 (06:16):
Yes, yes.
I was the backstreet boys.
SPEAKER_07 (06:18):
Because we did get a surprise visit from three of the
backstreet boys.
SPEAKER_05 (06:21):
Correct, right?
SPEAKER_08 (06:22):
Three, not all of them.
Right.
Three, right, right.
SPEAKER_05 (06:24):
So uh my three favorites though.
SPEAKER_08 (06:26):
Oh, actually, there were three solid ones.
I don't even know who the othertwo is.
SPEAKER_07 (06:31):
AJ's my favorite.
SPEAKER_08 (06:32):
Always has been.
Um so yeah, so um basically Idid share my um experience, you
know, aka testimonial on theproduct that eBay Talic Capital
is launching, and we're gonnahave actually more interviews
about it that we're gonna umlaunch if you want to know more
about it.
But yeah, it was a quick, youknow, four to six minute segment
(06:56):
on just sharing on how you knowit kind of made a difference on
our business this year.
Because as you guys haveprobably heard us, this year is
kind of like our growth year andtrying to inject more inventory,
and when you inject moreinventory, you need more
capital.
So that's when eBay sellercapital kind of play uh rope
played the role on how it kindof like all came together.
(07:19):
So it it felt it felt like acircle, a full circle moment,
because um one of the thingsthat I actually thought of last
night, because I'm trying to,you know, how can I explain what
happened, you know.
Um I guess if you're notfollowing me, if you're not
connecting with me on LinkedIn,make sure you find me.
(07:39):
And Anna's there too now.
Um so I was trying to say, howcan I kind of share that story
on LinkedIn?
So actually going back to twoyears ago in 2023, I had a
conversation and JC f found aphoto of it with Avriti, which
yeah, sh I think she leads themanaged payments.
Um Yeah, and uh that was thequestion that she asked me, like
(08:03):
how how can eBay um help and youknow uh partner with sellers to
um build their business biggeror get to the next level.
And that was the request that Igave in and to actually emailing
Cynthia because you gave me herinfo that yeah that I missed and
(08:26):
to getting forward to Jitin andnow Jitin, you know, being my
appointment which actually is alead product manager for eBay
seller capital, um, to actuallymeeting the GM that we met that
we actually interviewed Ollie,the GM of Liberus US.
Um so that was kind of like thecool circle moment that you
know, like, yeah, you know, asmuch as sellers want the
(08:48):
features now, um, it does taketime, but when it is done
properly, um b with ourexperience with seller capital,
I think it was um smooth, prettysmooth for both of us because
you have used it as well.
So that was my involvement,yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (09:02):
It it's really cool too because there are so many
ways, like for whatever reason,seeing all this right before my
eyes in person did really bringit together for me.
All the different ways that eBaylike plugs in sellers, like like
that, right?
Like I know in the past there'sbeen panels, it's not like the
first time a seller's been partof a panel, but like I think
(09:23):
it's really cool how they findlike the real stories of things
at work, you know, and so thatwas really cool.
It it was it was reallyinteresting to see all like many
different ways that sellers werebeing like like plugged in,
right, to share, and it justunderscores how much we really
love to hear about each otherfrom each other, right?
SPEAKER_03 (09:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_07 (09:44):
But the other thing that I feel like and and now I
didn't even hardly get to go toany sessions myself because I
was literally in the podcastbooth recording almost the whole
time.
So I went to a couple like theopening and closing keynote.
I'm planning to do the um ondemand, like watching all the
sessions and taking notes andstuff, like I normally would
have for a virtual eBay open.
SPEAKER_08 (10:05):
So that was a really good part that all of it is
recorded and we get to re-watchit.
SPEAKER_07 (10:11):
I didn't feel like I was missing out at all, and
there were a lot of things thatwere happening at the same time,
so you had to choose anyway.
SPEAKER_08 (10:16):
So which also also um to give you uh perspective,
the last eBay opens that I didin 2018 and 19, there were no
recordings.
SPEAKER_07 (10:26):
Yeah.
That was it, right?
That was it.
SPEAKER_08 (10:28):
If you aren't there, you didn't hear it.
Yeah, yeah.
So I think that's what thevirtual factor brought in that
now everything gets recorded andthere's gonna be like things.
SPEAKER_07 (10:37):
And I love that it was um that it was, you know,
still accessible to everyone whocouldn't be there in Vegas for
whatever reason.
Um, but yeah, I so I didn't likehear a lot of stuff firsthand
yet, but I did hear from so manyother sellers, and it seems like
a theme of what people were likethrilled about when they would
(11:00):
go to all the sessions was thateBay was delivering on what we
asked for over and over and overagain.
I heard that a lot, and I alsoheard a lot of people saying,
you know, how how much the thewhole event did exceed their
expectations, too.
Like people who would come bythe booth and talk about it were
just thrilled.
(11:21):
So many people I talked to thatwere like, Oh yeah, I've been
selling for 25 years and this ismy first one.
So I thought that was reallyinteresting.
Just the mix of people who came.
I also met a couple of totallybrand new sellers.
We met people who've listened toevery single episode of this
podcast.
Shout out to Sue and Bill inparticular.
Um, but also people who werejust most people I think were
(11:44):
just finding out about us forthe first time.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
Yep.
SPEAKER_07 (11:46):
And honestly, our booth was hopping.
It was busy the whole time.
Talk about what we were actuallyended up doing in our booth
because we had plans for evenmore stuff, and we just didn't
even have time to do half.
SPEAKER_08 (11:58):
No, no.
I mean, you know, we when thisis my first time running a booth
uh for eBay Open, and I'vealways just seen it from afar,
right?
And looking at it, it's likesponsors, right?
So, like I've never reallygravitated to those booths
before because they were justkind of like vendors, right?
(12:18):
They're trying to sell yousomething.
And you know, I think in theback of my head, I was like, I
just want people to know thatwe're not trying to sell them
something, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (12:27):
One is like we just want raising awareness, exactly,
right?
But also the experience ofgetting on the podcast if you
want.
SPEAKER_08 (12:34):
So I I think that was the thing, you know.
We didn't kind of like market itas like, hey, hop in our
podcast, but it was just like ifit happens organically, right?
We want that organic connection.
But one of the things that wetalk about a lot in this podcast
is seller snacks, you know, whatare our favorite snacks?
So um I think you know, it wasjust right to have our favorite
(12:57):
snacks on the booth, and youknow, obviously Anna's, you
know, um wizardry with heraesthetic vision.
SPEAKER_07 (13:06):
Oh yeah, they were uh color sorted by eBay colors.
SPEAKER_08 (13:09):
Correct.
So we had we had a red, a blue,a green, and a yellow colored
snack, and um it was a hit.
SPEAKER_07 (13:17):
It was such a hit.
I was actually surprised.
No, we brought two fullsuitcases of snacks.
SPEAKER_08 (13:23):
And and these were like and they were all gone
top-notch branded snacks.
We had snacks for everybody,chocolate heads, um, cheesy
hairs, we had makeup roll-ups.
We had and then um um likeedumame, you know, something for
vegans, something for uh meatheads.
SPEAKER_05 (13:41):
Right.
SPEAKER_08 (13:42):
We had um we had some uh yeah, and to to cap it
all off, we even got some snacksfor our one of our favorite VPs
at eBay.
SPEAKER_07 (13:53):
Oh, that was the one of my favorite moments in the
whole conference.
SPEAKER_08 (13:57):
Yeah, so why don't we explain what happened there?
SPEAKER_07 (13:59):
Yeah.
Me or you?
SPEAKER_08 (14:01):
Yeah, explain it.
Explain it.
SPEAKER_07 (14:02):
Oh gosh.
Okay, this is so great.
So Adam Ireland, um, who if youhave been listening to the
podcast, we've interviewed himbefore.
He we met him when he was the VPof Seller Experience, right?
SPEAKER_08 (14:13):
And a GM at GM of US Markets.
GM of US markets.
SPEAKER_07 (14:16):
Sorry if I'm getting any of the titles wrong.
Yeah.
Anyway, though, um, he has movedover now, he's over
collectibles, right?
Correct, yes.
So anyway, still like greatperson in leadership at eBay.
We love talking to him.
And um, so he he came by, wekept telling him, we were
running into him around theconference, and we'd say, You
have to come buy our boothbecause we have a special
(14:38):
present for you, which I'm surewas a little off, but you know,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
He knows us, he knows we're justlike goofballs.
But anyway, we did have aspecial present for him, and
basically he is from the UK, andhis favorite snack is also from
the UK, and you really it'sreally hard to get here.
SPEAKER_08 (14:57):
Yeah, it's uh readily available in any of the
stuff.
Yeah, it's not just like at thegrocery store.
SPEAKER_07 (15:00):
Like you can order it, but it's you know, you can't
just go pick one up.
So, anyway, they're calledtwigglets if you've ever had
them.
They are flavored like marmiteor vegemite, if you know what
that is.
Um, it let's just say it's avery acquired taste.
SPEAKER_08 (15:13):
It is acquired taste.
I eat I eat all ranges ofsnacks, and I'm not picky with
my snacks.
Yeah, but this one stumped me.
Yeah.
Um, when people saw my reaction,they thought I was just goofy
now.
SPEAKER_07 (15:27):
I was teasing you because I'm like, this is how I
feel about durian.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can't.
SPEAKER_08 (15:33):
People were like, you know, like they can't be
that bad.
It can't be that bad.
Until all of them start liketrying it.
And I think Anna was the onlyone that could stomach the
taste.
SPEAKER_07 (15:44):
I liked it.
It's it's it's a weird flavor.
It's not like it's not like atface value delicious, but I I
don't know.
I like it.
I wonder if it's like that.
SPEAKER_08 (15:55):
Why the reason why they're called twiglets?
Because they look like they dolook twigs from a tree.
During winter.
SPEAKER_07 (16:00):
They're not they're like knobbly looking, like the
skinny twigs.
Think about like a pretzelstick, but they're not like
uniformly shaped, and they havelike uh marmite dust all over
them.
SPEAKER_08 (16:10):
It's just like the reject of pretzel sticks that
fell on the ground, got steppedover by somebody that had dirty
shoes, had oil in the floor.
SPEAKER_07 (16:22):
I was gonna say, but the flavor is much more potent
than dirt.
It doesn't taste like dirt.
SPEAKER_08 (16:26):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_07 (16:26):
This one is like marmite.
SPEAKER_08 (16:28):
It's so it because it's so potent, it becomes
bitter.
SPEAKER_07 (16:32):
Yeah, it is bitter.
SPEAKER_08 (16:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (16:34):
Um, so so anyway, it was great.
It was a great crescendo momentbecause he was so excited.
SPEAKER_08 (16:41):
He was so excited because basically at the end of
the last day, like he finallywas gonna be that excited about
how he like everything.
SPEAKER_07 (16:52):
I'm so glad we got it on a camera too.
But he was like thrilled.
He was a so excited, but hedidn't even realize.
So we we bought like on eBay avintage like tin, like a
twiglets tin from like probablythe 50s or 60s.
Um, but it was you know, itbefore all the snacks were in
(17:13):
like plastic bags, like theywere in tins.
That's how they were packaged.
So it was an old Twigglitz tin,and then we got some little like
personal size baggies ofTwiglets to because they'd fit
inside the tin, because it was asmall tin.
So we put a couple packs inthere, and then we had a whole
bunch of more that we gave him,but that's just what fit in the
tin.
So we presented that to him, andhe was over the moon because
(17:36):
it's basically a collectibletin, too, which is great.
Obviously, he's a collectiblesguy, but um, he was so thrilled,
and then he didn't even realizethere was something in it.
So like, open it.
SPEAKER_08 (17:48):
And then he got more even more excited and like
literally open it and I want toeat it right now kind of moment.
SPEAKER_07 (17:53):
And he made us all try it, and he was like, Oh my
gosh, I'm out of these at homeright now.
This is the best.
So he was really thrilled.
SPEAKER_08 (18:00):
Yeah, so so that was a cool moment.
SPEAKER_07 (18:02):
But that was that was such a small like gesture,
but that is something we talkedabout.
I mean, going back to what wewere saying in general about
snacks, since the beginning ofthis podcast, we've talked about
snacks when we did a lot ofinterviews at Cellar Week last
year.
I guess was it last year or twoyears?
Yeah, last year.
Um, we asked everyone what theirfavorite snack was, and so
that's how we knew.
(18:23):
And we thought this would besuch a fun surprise for the next
time we're all in persontogether.
So we just um, you know, hadthat little side quest, but it
was so satisfying and so fun.
SPEAKER_08 (18:35):
And one of the things that I pointed out too uh
from t uh talking with other,you know, leaders of eBay,
whether they were VP, director,execs, and stuff like that, that
what what you know looking backat kind of like our journey,
especially with my involvementwith eBay Open, this was
something that I didn't caughtthat I just got this event.
(18:56):
It was actually the communityand the interactions that eBay
employee have with each other.
Um because if you don't realizethis, there's eBay the eBay is
so big and they have so manyemployees that they don't even
see each other and they don'teven know each other until
(19:16):
somewhat, some shape of way theyget connected, whether it's on
in the line, falling in line forsomething, or a conversation
with us getting introduced.
Because we know them, yeah, weknow them and we know right.
Yeah.
So I think that was so coolbecause um when you talk about
community, there has to beconnection.
And when there's connectionthat's genuine, that's when you
(19:40):
really see like, oh, like thisis not stage, this is real thing
that's unfolding.
Um and you know, getting to knowpeople, uh moving from one
department to a differentdepartment, to now getting
introduced to other leaders fromthat department.
So that was awesome.
And I you know, one of thethings I called out was like,
yo, that the reason why eBay hasa really tight community in as
(20:02):
sellers is because within theircompany itself it is being
fostered.
So it kind of just like, yeah,it kind of just like bleeds out.
SPEAKER_07 (20:11):
Uh across like within a team or kind of like
what I think of as departments,there is such a strong sense of
like camaraderie and it's reallycool, but but at the same time,
like some of these departmentslike have no reason to work with
each other in their regular job,right?
So they are only encounteringeach other, like you said, for
other reasons.
(20:31):
Maybe we're the one bringingthem together at an event like
this where everyone's presentfor their own department's
purposes, right?
So it was really interesting tosee some of that.
And I mean, we definitely hadthe whole run of old and new
friends across the board,sellers, eBay employees, and you
know, even talking to some ofthe other sponsors was really
fun because we weren't a sponsorin the traditional sense, like
(20:54):
you said, like we weren'tselling anything per se.
Like obviously we want morepeople to listen to the podcast,
but um that was really funbecause we were surrounded by
this group of other, like manyof them were sellers who
developed something for sellers.
So that was kind of cool to talkto them in a different way where
(21:14):
we're not just another sellerthat might become their their
client or something passing by,but we were like in the same
section because we were alsosponsors, so we got to have some
interesting conversations.
Um, and it's just cool becauseyou know, eBay sellers are
they're scrappy, they'reinnovative.
Many of them run multiplebusinesses.
(21:35):
And it was kind of cool to hearabout the you know, software
development or kind ofengineering side of that where
they're a seller and they see aneed in the in the field and
they try to fill it themselves.
Like that's really cool andinnovative and brave, I think.
So um, as someone who just liketalks, you know, talks on a
(21:56):
podcast, I'm like, wow, youinvented that?
SPEAKER_06 (21:58):
That's so cool.
SPEAKER_08 (21:59):
But yeah, the in there's so many rollouts, and
you know, maybe uh we'll we'regonna do it on a different
episode where we talk about thetechnicalities of all the
product that they rolled out.
Um, because because you know,there's a few things that they
literally said on the stage, anda few hours later it appeared on
our apps.
It was live.
(22:20):
So that I I don't know.
I don't know, maybe I forgot thefeeling when they did a rollout
like that, that it was soinstant.
Yeah.
That you know, like I personallydidn't even hear that there were
rumors of it happening, and thenhearing from it that it's
happening now, yeah, and thenlooking at my phone and you
(22:40):
know, the feature was there.
Yeah.
I was like, yo, they heat likethey just talked about this
yesterday and it's alreadyrolling out.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (22:46):
Um somebody was ready to press the button.
SPEAKER_08 (22:49):
Yeah, so that was that was exciting.
And you know, we're we're gonnawe're gonna talk more about um
you know different features andstuff like that.
But Anna, why don't you umexplain to them and tell them uh
what's gonna happen after we endthis um our segment of this
podcast because we have some uhquestions?
We hear about a segment today.
(23:10):
Yep, exactly.
Multi-segment podcast today.
SPEAKER_07 (23:13):
Yeah, it it was really um challenging and fun
and like such a like drinkingfrom a fire hose experience, I
feel like talking to so manypeople at the conference, but
fortunately we had so manyamazing conversations on tape.
So and I know tape is like anoutdated term, but I it wasn't
(23:35):
exactly on air.
We didn't live stream theseconversations, but we wanted to
be able to bring the best backto you guys and hopefully um
help you experience the liveside of the conference, but also
just share all of the coolinsights and conversations that
we were able to have withpeople.
So we're gonna start that today.
We're gonna bring you several umkind of shorter interviews with
(24:00):
um some eBay employees and someother sellers, and we have so
much, so we're gonna be siftingthrough the the rest.
Like we've already pulled outthe first few that we want to
share on this episode, but we'regonna keep sharing them um
because it's really good contentand we feel like you guys will
really benefit from it.
Um and just get to know some ofthese wonderful people that we
(24:22):
got to interact with at theconference too.
So we're gonna drop the firstfew into this episode and then
just be on the lookout for thatover the next few weeks because
we want to use as much of thatas we can and um just share as
much of it as we can.
SPEAKER_08 (24:37):
Yep.
So make sure you follow eBay forsellers.
Uh eBay is our sponsor for thispodcast, and also follow Seller
Ledger on Instagram.
Those two are being our uh uhpretty cool sponsors for this um
podcast.
SPEAKER_07 (24:51):
And and we do still have an exclusive offer with
remember that?
SPEAKER_03 (24:56):
Oh, we do.
SPEAKER_07 (24:57):
With Seller Ledger, we were talking about it all
week at the conference, but itis actually good until the
beginning of September.
So if you've ever beeninterested in trying Seller
Ledger, DM us and we will showyou how to do it.
Yep, but it's it's additionalfree months of service.
So they've never offered itbefore.
SPEAKER_08 (25:13):
If you check the show notes, there might be some
surprise links there.
There we go.
So make sure you check this out.
SPEAKER_07 (25:18):
So what whatever way you need to, let us know, and
we'll get you connected withthat.
SPEAKER_08 (25:22):
All right, here you go.
Without further ado, let's havethem drop that beat.
Chris Agarpo, drop that beat.
unknown (25:30):
Yes!
SPEAKER_07 (25:32):
Chris, welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (25:33):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_07 (25:35):
Of course, thanks so much for stopping by here at the
booth at eBay Open25.
Um, and here we are with a veryspecial Chris, not just any
Chris.
Chris, can you tell us like whyyou're at eBay Open and who you
are?
SPEAKER_01 (25:47):
Uh so I was uh, believe it or not, eBay's first
employee.
I was hired by Pierre way backin '96.
He was the best man in mysister's wedding.
And my brother-in-law was hisboss way back in the day at
Claris.
So um Wow.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (26:03):
So, and you're still here.
SPEAKER_01 (26:04):
I'm still here.
That is incredible.
Yeah, so this is really amazingbeing being here at the uh eBay
Open 25 because um I think thelast one I went to was the open
eBay open 20th anniversary.
So it's been 10 years.
It's been 10 years for me.
SPEAKER_07 (26:20):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (26:21):
So I'm really happy to be here.
SPEAKER_07 (26:22):
How many eBay opens have you been to over all that
time?
SPEAKER_01 (26:25):
Uh some only two.
This is your second year.
So I want to thank Mike Briggellfor uh getting me on this.
SPEAKER_07 (26:31):
And the Academy and Allison Engels.
We should all be thankingAllison Engels.
She's been crushing it.
SPEAKER_01 (26:37):
Dina and Dina Friedman.
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_07 (26:41):
Well, what's it been like for you?
What's your kind of role beenhere?
SPEAKER_01 (26:45):
It's been really amazing.
So, you know, the sellers wouldcome up to me and I'd give them
uh me and Griff, we're one ofthe oldest employees here.
So I was employee number one.
He was employee uh 11.
So wow.
Yeah.
So we're one and one, one.
Yeah, we're we're like oldrelics.
So they wanted to be like in themuseum's place, being in uh uh
(27:06):
like human relics.
SPEAKER_06 (27:07):
So yeah, we human relics, yeah.
So we can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (27:11):
So it's just amazing.
SPEAKER_06 (27:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
Talking to all the sellers and how um they they're
telling us how they changedtheir lives.
So I was really amazed that Iwas really touched.
SPEAKER_07 (27:20):
That's awesome.
Were you like, did people saylike they didn't believe you?
No way, no, you're not.
SPEAKER_01 (27:25):
You were like looking at my button and they're
like, what is this?
They did you put that you'rejust saying that you were like
your number I'm the best numberone?
I go, No, I'm eBay's actuallynumber one employee.
SPEAKER_07 (27:35):
Literally, like chronologically first.
Yes.
Well they're arguably maybe alsothe best.
Like we can't confirm or deny.
SPEAKER_01 (27:43):
You're too nice.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (27:45):
Oh my gosh.
Well, it's so funny because I'vemet you a number of times on
campus in San Jose.
You're always walking aroundcampus.
Yeah, you have like a qualitycontrol kind of job, right?
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
Yeah, so that's my QA inspector for uh EMR and uh
enterprise management resources.
Yeah.
Some of my bosses, EileenAlvareem, and she makes me like
she's giving me all these umassignments to do, which keeps
me really busy the whole day.
Yeah I have to thank her forthat.
So yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and it's and it'sall about the bosses you have,
(28:17):
the higher bosses.
So I've got like Steven Wallaceand Eric Donovan, and then new
bosses who understand theculture of eBay.
So and uh that's what I enjoy myjob.
And if I still love it, I I Iwouldn't be there.
SPEAKER_07 (28:30):
And I mean that's incredible.
I don't know anybody, I don'tknow anybody better qualified to
really be able to speak on theculture of eBay.
You've been there through itall.
Yeah, which is really wild.
SPEAKER_01 (28:40):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_07 (28:40):
Will you ever retire?
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
Um well, we're thinking seven right now, seven
to be on 67.
Okay, okay.
I collect the whole socialsecurity network.
Oh, yeah, totally.
I know it's a whole equation,right?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (28:53):
But it's great that you've been able to navigate.
I'm sure you've had manydifferent roles over the years.
Yes.
Um, but you've been able tonavigate and kind of stay within
and really help create such anamazing culture.
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
Well, thank you for that.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it's just thepeople who are the the uh the
incredible people at eBay reallymake it happen.
SPEAKER_06 (29:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:11):
So I'm just there just as a witness.
SPEAKER_06 (29:14):
I don't believe that.
SPEAKER_07 (29:15):
I think you're totally part of it.
You're a co-creator.
I mean, seriously, not a lot ofsellers, I mean, relative to the
number of sellers on eBay,right?
Not a lot of us have had thatreally privilege to kind of
experience the culture of thecompany in that up close and
personal way, even like at aconference or going on campus
for various things, and it isremarkable.
(29:35):
Like it's totally not what Iexpected of any corporation, and
I'm constantly impressed by it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:41):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I it goes way back,
extends way back with thefounder of eBay and Jeff Skull,
um, our first um president,those two really made eBay
happen and how great thiscompany is.
And I I really am loyal to them,and uh yeah, if it wasn't for
them, I wouldn't be the person.
Than I am today.
I strive to be better every day,and they they always pushed me.
(30:04):
So it was great.
They were they're actually myage, but they were much further
old soul, and they were so wise,so wise in the future.
Yeah, I mean, this is way backin 96.
They had a future in mind ofeBay, how the growth it was
gonna be, how big it was gonnabe.
SPEAKER_07 (30:21):
Yeah, and now you and me are here living that
future.
I know, I love it.
So cool.
I love it too.
Well, this is like the lasthour, I think, that we're open
for the conference, so I don'twant to take up all of your
time, but thank you so much forstopping by.
SPEAKER_01 (30:34):
Thank you for having me.
It's been amazing.
I'll see you at the after party.
SPEAKER_07 (30:38):
Oh, yeah, we'll definitely be at the after
party.
Anything else you want to say?
SPEAKER_01 (30:41):
No, I just want to thank you for uh having me on.
SPEAKER_07 (30:43):
Of course.
We would love to have you onanytime.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
Damn, anytime.
When you're in San Jose, I'll bethere.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (30:49):
Okay, great.
We're gonna book your time.
Okay, good.
Thanks, Chris.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (30:54):
This is Bill Hunt.
Drop that beat.
SPEAKER_07 (30:58):
Bill, welcome to the show officially.
SPEAKER_08 (31:02):
In person, in person, in person, live in Las
Vegas, eBay Open 2025.
SPEAKER_07 (31:08):
Um, Bill is like a super special guest because he's
been listening to tons of sellerclub podcast episodes.
SPEAKER_02 (31:14):
Sure.
SPEAKER_07 (31:14):
And we finally got to meet him in real life.
SPEAKER_02 (31:16):
Yeah, it's uh it's a treat.
Thank you.
My bucket list.
SPEAKER_08 (31:21):
Oh, awesome.
So let me ask you this how longhave you been selling on eBay?
SPEAKER_02 (31:26):
I started on eBay way back in about 02.
SPEAKER_08 (31:29):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (31:29):
That was uh half.com at that time.
Oh, oh.
Yeah, then I well it wasn't itwas eBay, but they had acquired
half.
Right.
Okay.
And then I had a long break andgot got back into it 18, 19, but
really in earnest in 2022.
SPEAKER_08 (31:44):
Okay, okay.
That's a that's a cool time.
So you've you've experiencedeBay in multiple eras.
SPEAKER_02 (31:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_08 (31:51):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (31:51):
Uh I'm an old person, so that's what happened.
SPEAKER_06 (31:54):
No.
Have you been to an eBay Openbefore?
SPEAKER_02 (31:57):
Never have.
I did the virtual one last year.
SPEAKER_06 (31:59):
How was that?
SPEAKER_02 (32:00):
It was not as good as being in person.
SPEAKER_06 (32:02):
You're like, well, now that I'm here, honestly, I
kind of feel the same waybecause I've loved eBay open.
SPEAKER_07 (32:08):
I've been involved the last three years, but it was
always only virtual, so I didn'teven know what this was like in
real life, you know, in person.
Um, and I love it.
It's like so fun and just overthe top.
I really hope we get to keepdoing it this way.
SPEAKER_02 (32:21):
Yeah, me too.
I'll be here for sure.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (32:23):
So, Bill, what kind of stuff do you sell on eBay?
SPEAKER_02 (32:26):
I sell all kinds of things.
I sell everything from soup tonuts.
Oh, and I haven't sold it.
That's an interesting spectrum.
But I haven't, uh but I haven'tsold soup or nuts yet.
SPEAKER_08 (32:36):
So we have a saying we sell in the Philippines, we
sell toothpick two helicopters.
SPEAKER_02 (32:41):
Oh, yeah, there you go.
Something like that.
SPEAKER_08 (32:44):
Something like that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:44):
I have sold a helicopter.
So a whole helicopter?
Oh, yeah.
It's about this big.
Uh little toy.
It's still a helicopter.
Yeah, it's still a helicopter.
SPEAKER_07 (32:55):
That's funny.
Have you have you sold anythingsince you've been here at the
conference?
I have.
You have your listing stillturned on?
I yeah, yeah.
What's been your best sale sinceyou've been here?
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
Since I've been here?
Uh little pelican figure,hand-carved wood,$35,$35.
Oh, wow.
That's it.
SPEAKER_06 (33:10):
We'll take a$35 sale any day.
SPEAKER_02 (33:12):
Sourced for two, sold for$35.
SPEAKER_08 (33:14):
Oh, I like that margin.
SPEAKER_06 (33:16):
That's how you do it, guys.
SPEAKER_08 (33:17):
Yeah.
At the end of the day, you know,people call me, oh, you're a
sneaker seller.
No, I'm a margin seller.
SPEAKER_07 (33:23):
Is there uh anything you've ever in listening to so
many episodes of our podcast?
Thank you for listening.
Um, is there ever anythingyou've wanted to like scream at
us in the moment while we weresaying talking about something?
SPEAKER_04 (33:34):
Like, you guys, it's this, or no, or yes, that's the
best thing ever.
No, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_07 (33:42):
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Nothing in particular thatreally like ground your gears.
Great.
SPEAKER_02 (33:47):
No, no, no.
Nothing that bugs me.
You guys are great.
SPEAKER_07 (33:50):
Thanks.
Well, we'll take it.
Um, what do you think has beenlike valuable about having like
other sellers in your ears inthe form of a podcast?
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
It's just good to always be thinking about what's
going on, what people are doing,how they're turning sales, how
they're a little bit ofcomparing notes.
Exactly.
Yeah, I mean, I don't have a lotwith I don't sell many shoes, so
I'm in a different worldcompletely on that.
Yeah.
But uh it's still just good tohear about the process, somebody
who's out there doing the grind,making the money.
(34:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (34:21):
So, Bill, have we hit um all the points?
Because one of our uh a main umkind of like goal for Seller
Club podcast is you know, likewe sell on multiple categories,
but most of what we discuss areapplicable to most categories.
So is that true as a listener?
SPEAKER_02 (34:40):
Yeah, I think you guys do a really good job when
you take your themes and startgoing through and processing.
I think those themes, you know,under that umbrella from a lot
of different sellers.
SPEAKER_08 (34:51):
Yeah, credit Soana, the one of the main writers of
Silicon Podcast.
SPEAKER_06 (34:57):
Uh, that's why you'll hear me sometimes trying
to keep them on track becauseI'm like, but I have the
outline.
SPEAKER_07 (35:03):
You guys, I shared it with you, but are you looking
at it?
No, you're not.
It's fine though.
Um, well, I'm just gonna put youall the way on the spot.
Do you have a favorite host?
SPEAKER_02 (35:14):
I think my favorite host is all three of you.
You guys are great.
SPEAKER_06 (35:21):
That was the best answer.
SPEAKER_07 (35:23):
You're the best.
Thank you.
I try.
Is there anything else you wantto leave sellers with from eBay
open or anything you would liketo share with them from your
experience here?
SPEAKER_02 (35:32):
You know, I I'd say a lot of what we do is just so,
I guess, elephant, you know, Idon't want to say elementary,
but yeah, there's fundamentals.
There's some fundamentals to it.
You hear it over and over.
So a lot of things they keephammering, but there's jewels to
be had here, whether you'regoing to the uh the cellar
clinic, looking at your at youruh shop, that's great.
(35:56):
Having a chance to interact withthe staff people, it's been
amazing.
The staff seems so friendly andsupportive.
SPEAKER_07 (36:02):
I know, it's amazing, isn't it?
Yes, that always just like blowsmy mind.
SPEAKER_08 (36:07):
That's so well.
Thank you so much, Bill, forhopping on.
Um this is super exciting tomeet you in person.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:14):
Yeah, it's been great.
It's uh meeting you know peoplelike you and some of the others
I've watched and listened to.
It's a it's a highlight.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_07 (36:21):
Well, it's our highlight to meet you in real
life.
So thanks so much for jumping onwith us.
You're so brave.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (36:26):
Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.
SPEAKER_06 (36:28):
Bye bye.
SPEAKER_00 (36:29):
Drop that beat.
SPEAKER_06 (36:34):
Oh my goodness, who dropped the beat just now?
Would you please introduceyourself?
That was an amazing beat drop.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
Well, I'll be a little bit disappointed if the
accent hasn't come through alittle bit to indicate this is
Adam Island here.
I thought that was.
So excited to be back with mygreat friends at Cellar Club.
SPEAKER_06 (36:50):
Yes, welcome.
Thank you so much for making itto our booth.
SPEAKER_07 (36:52):
It has been a totally breakneck pace whirlwind
of a conference, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (36:57):
It has been incredible.
Uh, I have been late toeverything, and it has been
entirely because I justconsistently um just bumping
into old friends, yeah, seeingfamiliar faces, and uh spending
way too long catching up, whichhas just been a ton of fun.
SPEAKER_07 (37:11):
Absolutely.
I think we're in the same boat.
The cool thing about having abooth is a lot of people come to
us, but then it's like there'sjust a flood of people at all
times at our booth, and we'retrying to make sure we get to
talk to everyone.
Um, but this is a great moment.
You made it, we were free, so itall worked out, the stars
aligned.
Um, this is so cool.
Have you had eBay opens inperson before for yourself?
SPEAKER_00 (37:31):
I was here in 2019.
Okay, cool.
So uh do you remember the lastone?
Uh but that was actually myfirst year supporting the North
America business.
I've been in corporate rolesbefore that.
So that was uh that was thefirst one that I made it to.
SPEAKER_07 (37:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (37:41):
And then obviously uh the virtual ones in between.
SPEAKER_07 (37:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
I've only been to the virtualones, so this is like I've been
I've been kind of saying this touh some of my other friends
who've been in the same boat,but you know, the last three
years I've been part of eBayopen filming content and stuff,
and everything I love so muchabout that experience is turns
out like are the same things Ilove about this, but that was
really just a microcosm of this.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
So I think micro is the right word.
I uh I got the privilegeobviously of going up on the
main stage, and uh when Istepped stuck my head out behind
the curtain and saw how big thatroom was, I was like, okay, this
isn't eBay Main Street anymore.
SPEAKER_06 (38:15):
We're not kids anymore.
I know, was that intimidating?
That's a really big stage.
SPEAKER_00 (38:20):
It is, but I'm lucky that like I got to be up there
and had kind of have the morefireside chat uh model and uh
with a couple of my colleaguesthat I know really, really well.
Perfect.
Obviously, I've worked with uhwith many years.
Exactly.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (38:32):
Well, have you had any?
I know you love talking tosellers.
Like we talk about this all thetime.
Um, that's like one of yourfavorite things about working
here.
And um, you've been in so manydifferent roles where you get to
talk to sellers, but has therebeen anything different or
anything that's been like aconsistent through line this
conference that you've heardfrom people?
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
Uh no, I think for me the the thing that's been
most fun has just been uh, youknow, I know that the community
gets a little frustrated,particularly in the world of
collectibles when all we talkabout is uh is trading cards.
Oh and so uh I won't mentionsneakers.
SPEAKER_07 (39:02):
I was gonna say we've heard this before.
Sneakers, sneakers, sneakers.
That's what Ken likes to say.
SPEAKER_00 (39:08):
Um, but uh, you know, so I was delighted that
like we were able to expand theaperture a little bit.
And we had uh, you know, for ourcollectibles panel, we had a
comic seller up there, we had atoys seller up though up there.
But perhaps, and and we arestarting to do more in those
spaces, but like I alsorecognize there is a massive
breadth to the collectiblescategory.
SPEAKER_04 (39:25):
Oh yeah, there is.
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
And whether that's China figurines, Disney pins,
you know, militaria, you nameit.
SPEAKER_04 (39:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:31):
And uh, and so like I, you know, I'm definitely not
making any promises at thispoint, but like it was just so
helpful to be able to, you know,had a great conversation with a
stamp seller, had a greatconversation with um a model
train seller, and just beingable to understand from those
sellers in those differentcategories that we've not been
spending a ton of time like todata on, you know, what are the
things they need, how can webetter support them?
SPEAKER_04 (39:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:52):
And then how do I find those common threads across
those categories where wealready have made investments
and we can then start to takethat out and across other
categories?
SPEAKER_07 (40:00):
That's awesome.
You have explained this uh to usbefore, just how when uh things
in a category are are modifiedor improved and then kind of it
trickles, but but you want tomake sure that it like works
really well in the categorybefore you blast it out to
everywhere else.
And I think we've seen a lot ofthat kind of stuff happening.
I mean, this eBay open, it juststrikes me how many things you
(40:22):
know have been talked about andannounced and and iterated upon
that we've asked for, you know,like it's been very clear like
sellers have asked for this andwe did it.
They asked for this and we didit.
And I think that's reallygratifying.
Like as a seller, that's like,yes, thank you.
That's exactly what we wanted.
And of course, it's alwaysevolving.
There's always, we're likealways wanting something else,
(40:44):
you know.
We were joking earlier, the nextthing we want is health
insurance.
So if you could please work onthat, we would be really
appreciative.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
That would definitely be a new vertical,
but um, but no, like that's beenthe same reaction for me.
And like, look, I in my categoryfocused role, like I actually
didn't know about a number ofthe announcements that were
coming out, but I think we're ina couple of things.
Surprised with the rest of us?
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (41:02):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (41:03):
But the but the thing that I feel really good
about is that we are getting toa place where there is a good
balance about being able to godeep into these categories and
we're still understanding someof those horizontal pain points.
And so, right, like when we gotwhen it got announced about Cox,
for example, right?
Like, I remember being at the umthe boss reseller event in Vegas
two, three years ago now, andlike that was something that was
consistently on people's minds.
(41:23):
And like, if you're only takinga category lens, you're not
necessarily gonna hear that,you're not gonna pick that up
just if you're doing thecollectible sellers.
And so the fact that we're ableto like continue to roll out
sort of the category-specificimprovements while finding those
things like that, or even likeyou know, the um uh the broken
parts uh changes as well, whichI know are a really big uh
impact for a lot of people inthe community.
SPEAKER_07 (41:45):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, thank you for yourservice.
We appreciate.
I mean, I know from knowing youand and your work, like how much
you do advocate for sellers too.
And uh, we just reallyappreciate it.
It's come to so much fruition.
And honestly, this has been suchan exciting week.
I can't wait to see what happensnext and what next year is gonna
be like.
I mean, I don't know, I haven'theard anything one way or the
(42:06):
other about you know if we'regonna be in person or when or
how often or whatever, but theenergy here has been undeniable.
And everybody that I've talkedto has been, and that's been
quite a lot of people, by theway.
But everybody we've talked tohas been like so happy with it
and just so refreshed, I think,by this experience.
SPEAKER_00 (42:23):
Oh, 100%.
And uh yeah, I guess I say,like, I get lots of surprises
now, so I don't know anythingabout future plans for uh for
open, but uh it's been afabulous few days.
And look, honestly, it's mypleasure.
Like, I know it sort of cansound a little bit cheesy, but
like we truly do only succeedwhen our sellers succeed, and so
it's just so important that weunderstand what we can be doing
to continuously like make lifebetter and easy for you all.
SPEAKER_07 (42:45):
It's not just a saying, guys, it's the business
plan.
So we appreciate that.
Um, well, thanks so much forjoining us for a minute.
There's more stuff happening allaround us, so I don't want to
hold you up for too long, butum, we just always love to have
you come drop the beat with us,Adam.
SPEAKER_00 (42:59):
Always a pleasure.
Great to see you both.
SPEAKER_07 (43:01):
Thanks so much.
See you later.
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 91 of the
Cellar Club podcast.
Let's drop that beat.
Long time no see, Ken.
SPEAKER_08 (00:14):
It's been a few tenths of hours, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (00:19):
Yeah.
Are you still as tired as I am?
SPEAKER_08 (00:23):
Um, I think I recovered pretty quick.
Um, this was probably the bestrecovery I've ever had.
I don't know if um because I'vekept up with my vitamins and I
really didn't want I ate junk,but I didn't eat a lot of it.
SPEAKER_07 (00:40):
Right.
Like a donut a day.
SPEAKER_08 (00:43):
I actually didn't get to eat a donut.
SPEAKER_07 (00:45):
You didn't eat one single donut?
Oh my gosh.
That was me eating a donut aday.
SPEAKER_08 (00:49):
See, that is the thing.
Like, that's why I'm recovering.
Uh I think I've mitigated allthe good for you.
Yeah, so uh, well, for foreverybody that's listening, um,
if I think we just went straightthrough it, I was like, what did
they do?
SPEAKER_07 (01:05):
And is uh he was not in an accident.
SPEAKER_08 (01:07):
Um no no no no no no we didn't go to uh camp or
something like that.
Um we just got back from eBayOpen 2025, which was in Las
Vegas.
SPEAKER_07 (01:21):
Live in person.
SPEAKER_08 (01:22):
In person, right?
So the first eBay l open, biglive gathering, because they did
some regionals um meetup uh orlike conferences, but it's it
wasn't really a conference, itwas more like a one-night
conference.
It's like a party kind of yeah.
This time it's been it was whatthree days, right?
Um so this was held in um theVenetian uh Las Vegas.
(01:47):
Um the last time they thishappened was in 2019, so long
time coming.
Um this is my third eBay openand Anna's first time.
So let's hear it from Anna andsee what she thought about it.
SPEAKER_07 (02:01):
Oh my gosh, it was so fun, the most fun, first of
all.
Um It was really it really didexceed my expectations in a lot
of ways.
And I tried to keep a reallyopen mind because I didn't I've
been to like big conferences forother things and other
industries, but I didn't reallyknow what to expect.
SPEAKER_08 (02:21):
And you've heard talks about it, um, you know,
the last three or four yearsthat you've been involved with
the virtual, because you know,there were talks like, oh, it's
different from the in-person, soI'm glad that it was.
SPEAKER_07 (02:33):
I definitely understand in a new way what the
virtual eBay opens were tryingto tap into.
And I think successfully did toa large extent.
I mean, as best you can in avirtual environment.
But I can now see like what whatwe were going for a little bit
more, and honestly, so much.
I said this a bunch of times,and spoiler alert, we recorded
(02:56):
so much content at eBay open,we're gonna be sharing.
SPEAKER_08 (02:59):
Way more than I thought.
SPEAKER_07 (03:01):
Yeah, way we did a ton.
We had people on the mic as muchas possible, all kinds of
different people.
It was so great.
We're gonna tell you all aboutit.
But one thing that you'llprobably hear me say in multiple
recordings along the way is thatI realized everything I loved so
much about participating in eBayOpen Seller Week, which for the
(03:22):
last like three years is whatI've I've done, you know, for
the virtual events, I've flownto San Jose, met up with a group
of other sellers, but like 20 or30, not like hundreds, right?
SPEAKER_08 (03:32):
Thousands.
SPEAKER_07 (03:33):
Right.
And, you know, recorded umcontent, filmed content that
would then be used at eBay open.
Um so what I now realize is thatthat was a microcosm of this,
but until now I didn't haveanything to compare it to.
So now like this was kind oflike everything I loved about
Seller Week, but on steroids.
(03:54):
Right.
And interestingly, I didn'treally have a big content role
at all this year.
I was just there with thepodcast, and then Ken and I did
do a really fun uh spot withRebecca on the news desk, which
was a actually totally livegame.
We ran a fact or fiction gamewith Rebecca, and it was super
fun.
We love working with her, andum, she made it really easy for
(04:16):
us to step in and goof aroundand play and have fun with the
game.
So that was great, but that waslike not something that was um
in any way really similar towhat I've done before for eBay
Open, which has usually involvedlike writing and practicing
panel and like a presentationthat has a slide deck and all
(04:37):
that stuff.
So there was nothing like thatthis year for me, which was kind
of fun because I really hadnothing to be super nervous
about.
So other than just you know,anticipating the entire thing
being like exciting and neverknowing what's gonna happen,
like that's the good side of youknow anxiety.
So I was just enjoying the goodstuff and I think that was like
(04:59):
kept really busy.
SPEAKER_08 (05:00):
That was 2018 for me.
Um, just really participated.
I did have like a small segmentin 2018, but that was more like
just an interview.
But but I think like that wasthe best possible scenario.
Actually, even now looking backat it, if we had I don't know
how it would have been possibleif you had other places to be
(05:24):
and stuff to do.
Because John and JC would havebeen would have been left there,
yeah, and that would have youknow like I think we would have
missed so much.
SPEAKER_07 (05:35):
I think so too.
Like, I mean, I was I I'm glad.
Like I love doing presentations,like I love being part of the
content, but I was glad for thesake of just how everything
worked together this time that Ididn't because I could kind of
be at the booth at times whereyou did have to go and do some
really fun panel stuff, which Iwould love for you to talk
about.
SPEAKER_08 (05:55):
Yeah, so uh uh one of the participations I did for
this year for eBay Open isunofficially the surprise guest,
or officially the surprise guestof um this eBay Seller Capital
team.
SPEAKER_07 (06:09):
Um you know, it wasn't Can we just say you are
the Backstreet Boys of the eBaySeller Capital team?
SPEAKER_08 (06:16):
Yes, yes.
I was the backstreet boys.
SPEAKER_07 (06:18):
Because we did get a surprise visit from three of the
backstreet boys.
SPEAKER_05 (06:21):
Correct, right?
SPEAKER_08 (06:22):
Three, not all of them.
Right.
Three, right, right.
SPEAKER_05 (06:24):
So uh my three favorites though.
SPEAKER_08 (06:26):
Oh, actually, there were three solid ones.
I don't even know who the othertwo is.
SPEAKER_07 (06:31):
AJ's my favorite.
SPEAKER_08 (06:32):
Always has been.
Um so yeah, so um basically Idid share my um experience, you
know, aka testimonial on theproduct that eBay Talic Capital
is launching, and we're gonnahave actually more interviews
about it that we're gonna umlaunch if you want to know more
about it.
But yeah, it was a quick, youknow, four to six minute segment
(06:56):
on just sharing on how you knowit kind of made a difference on
our business this year.
Because as you guys haveprobably heard us, this year is
kind of like our growth year andtrying to inject more inventory,
and when you inject moreinventory, you need more
capital.
So that's when eBay sellercapital kind of play uh rope
played the role on how it kindof like all came together.
(07:19):
So it it felt it felt like acircle, a full circle moment,
because um one of the thingsthat I actually thought of last
night, because I'm trying to,you know, how can I explain what
happened, you know.
Um I guess if you're notfollowing me, if you're not
connecting with me on LinkedIn,make sure you find me.
(07:39):
And Anna's there too now.
Um so I was trying to say, howcan I kind of share that story
on LinkedIn?
So actually going back to twoyears ago in 2023, I had a
conversation and JC f found aphoto of it with Avriti, which
yeah, sh I think she leads themanaged payments.
Um Yeah, and uh that was thequestion that she asked me, like
(08:03):
how how can eBay um help and youknow uh partner with sellers to
um build their business biggeror get to the next level.
And that was the request that Igave in and to actually emailing
Cynthia because you gave me herinfo that yeah that I missed and
(08:26):
to getting forward to Jitin andnow Jitin, you know, being my
appointment which actually is alead product manager for eBay
seller capital, um, to actuallymeeting the GM that we met that
we actually interviewed Ollie,the GM of Liberus US.
Um so that was kind of like thecool circle moment that you
know, like, yeah, you know, asmuch as sellers want the
(08:48):
features now, um, it does taketime, but when it is done
properly, um b with ourexperience with seller capital,
I think it was um smooth, prettysmooth for both of us because
you have used it as well.
So that was my involvement,yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (09:02):
It it's really cool too because there are so many
ways, like for whatever reason,seeing all this right before my
eyes in person did really bringit together for me.
All the different ways that eBaylike plugs in sellers, like like
that, right?
Like I know in the past there'sbeen panels, it's not like the
first time a seller's been partof a panel, but like I think
(09:23):
it's really cool how they findlike the real stories of things
at work, you know, and so thatwas really cool.
It it was it was reallyinteresting to see all like many
different ways that sellers werebeing like like plugged in,
right, to share, and it justunderscores how much we really
love to hear about each otherfrom each other, right?
SPEAKER_03 (09:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_07 (09:44):
But the other thing that I feel like and and now I
didn't even hardly get to go toany sessions myself because I
was literally in the podcastbooth recording almost the whole
time.
So I went to a couple like theopening and closing keynote.
I'm planning to do the um ondemand, like watching all the
sessions and taking notes andstuff, like I normally would
have for a virtual eBay open.
SPEAKER_08 (10:05):
So that was a really good part that all of it is
recorded and we get to re-watchit.
SPEAKER_07 (10:11):
I didn't feel like I was missing out at all, and
there were a lot of things thatwere happening at the same time,
so you had to choose anyway.
SPEAKER_08 (10:16):
So which also also um to give you uh perspective,
the last eBay opens that I didin 2018 and 19, there were no
recordings.
SPEAKER_07 (10:26):
Yeah.
That was it, right?
That was it.
SPEAKER_08 (10:28):
If you aren't there, you didn't hear it.
Yeah, yeah.
So I think that's what thevirtual factor brought in that
now everything gets recorded andthere's gonna be like things.
SPEAKER_07 (10:37):
And I love that it was um that it was, you know,
still accessible to everyone whocouldn't be there in Vegas for
whatever reason.
Um, but yeah, I so I didn't likehear a lot of stuff firsthand
yet, but I did hear from so manyother sellers, and it seems like
a theme of what people were likethrilled about when they would
(11:00):
go to all the sessions was thateBay was delivering on what we
asked for over and over and overagain.
I heard that a lot, and I alsoheard a lot of people saying,
you know, how how much the thewhole event did exceed their
expectations, too.
Like people who would come bythe booth and talk about it were
just thrilled.
(11:21):
So many people I talked to thatwere like, Oh yeah, I've been
selling for 25 years and this ismy first one.
So I thought that was reallyinteresting.
Just the mix of people who came.
I also met a couple of totallybrand new sellers.
We met people who've listened toevery single episode of this
podcast.
Shout out to Sue and Bill inparticular.
Um, but also people who werejust most people I think were
(11:44):
just finding out about us forthe first time.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
Yep.
SPEAKER_07 (11:46):
And honestly, our booth was hopping.
It was busy the whole time.
Talk about what we were actuallyended up doing in our booth
because we had plans for evenmore stuff, and we just didn't
even have time to do half.
SPEAKER_08 (11:58):
No, no.
I mean, you know, we when thisis my first time running a booth
uh for eBay Open, and I'vealways just seen it from afar,
right?
And looking at it, it's likesponsors, right?
So, like I've never reallygravitated to those booths
before because they were justkind of like vendors, right?
(12:18):
They're trying to sell yousomething.
And you know, I think in theback of my head, I was like, I
just want people to know thatwe're not trying to sell them
something, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (12:27):
One is like we just want raising awareness, exactly,
right?
But also the experience ofgetting on the podcast if you
want.
SPEAKER_08 (12:34):
So I I think that was the thing, you know.
We didn't kind of like market itas like, hey, hop in our
podcast, but it was just like ifit happens organically, right?
We want that organic connection.
But one of the things that wetalk about a lot in this podcast
is seller snacks, you know, whatare our favorite snacks?
So um I think you know, it wasjust right to have our favorite
(12:57):
snacks on the booth, and youknow, obviously Anna's, you
know, um wizardry with heraesthetic vision.
SPEAKER_07 (13:06):
Oh yeah, they were uh color sorted by eBay colors.
SPEAKER_08 (13:09):
Correct.
So we had we had a red, a blue,a green, and a yellow colored
snack, and um it was a hit.
SPEAKER_07 (13:17):
It was such a hit.
I was actually surprised.
No, we brought two fullsuitcases of snacks.
SPEAKER_08 (13:23):
And and these were like and they were all gone
top-notch branded snacks.
We had snacks for everybody,chocolate heads, um, cheesy
hairs, we had makeup roll-ups.
We had and then um um likeedumame, you know, something for
vegans, something for uh meatheads.
SPEAKER_05 (13:41):
Right.
SPEAKER_08 (13:42):
We had um we had some uh yeah, and to to cap it
all off, we even got some snacksfor our one of our favorite VPs
at eBay.
SPEAKER_07 (13:53):
Oh, that was the one of my favorite moments in the
whole conference.
SPEAKER_08 (13:57):
Yeah, so why don't we explain what happened there?
SPEAKER_07 (13:59):
Yeah.
Me or you?
SPEAKER_08 (14:01):
Yeah, explain it.
Explain it.
SPEAKER_07 (14:02):
Oh gosh.
Okay, this is so great.
So Adam Ireland, um, who if youhave been listening to the
podcast, we've interviewed himbefore.
He we met him when he was the VPof Seller Experience, right?
SPEAKER_08 (14:13):
And a GM at GM of US Markets.
GM of US markets.
SPEAKER_07 (14:16):
Sorry if I'm getting any of the titles wrong.
Yeah.
Anyway, though, um, he has movedover now, he's over
collectibles, right?
Correct, yes.
So anyway, still like greatperson in leadership at eBay.
We love talking to him.
And um, so he he came by, wekept telling him, we were
running into him around theconference, and we'd say, You
have to come buy our boothbecause we have a special
(14:38):
present for you, which I'm surewas a little off, but you know,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
He knows us, he knows we're justlike goofballs.
But anyway, we did have aspecial present for him, and
basically he is from the UK, andhis favorite snack is also from
the UK, and you really it'sreally hard to get here.
SPEAKER_08 (14:57):
Yeah, it's uh readily available in any of the
stuff.
Yeah, it's not just like at thegrocery store.
SPEAKER_07 (15:00):
Like you can order it, but it's you know, you can't
just go pick one up.
So, anyway, they're calledtwigglets if you've ever had
them.
They are flavored like marmiteor vegemite, if you know what
that is.
Um, it let's just say it's avery acquired taste.
SPEAKER_08 (15:13):
It is acquired taste.
I eat I eat all ranges ofsnacks, and I'm not picky with
my snacks.
Yeah, but this one stumped me.
Yeah.
Um, when people saw my reaction,they thought I was just goofy
now.
SPEAKER_07 (15:27):
I was teasing you because I'm like, this is how I
feel about durian.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I can't.
SPEAKER_08 (15:33):
People were like, you know, like they can't be
that bad.
It can't be that bad.
Until all of them start liketrying it.
And I think Anna was the onlyone that could stomach the
taste.
SPEAKER_07 (15:44):
I liked it.
It's it's it's a weird flavor.
It's not like it's not like atface value delicious, but I I
don't know.
I like it.
I wonder if it's like that.
SPEAKER_08 (15:55):
Why the reason why they're called twiglets?
Because they look like they dolook twigs from a tree.
During winter.
SPEAKER_07 (16:00):
They're not they're like knobbly looking, like the
skinny twigs.
Think about like a pretzelstick, but they're not like
uniformly shaped, and they havelike uh marmite dust all over
them.
SPEAKER_08 (16:10):
It's just like the reject of pretzel sticks that
fell on the ground, got steppedover by somebody that had dirty
shoes, had oil in the floor.
SPEAKER_07 (16:22):
I was gonna say, but the flavor is much more potent
than dirt.
It doesn't taste like dirt.
SPEAKER_08 (16:26):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_07 (16:26):
This one is like marmite.
SPEAKER_08 (16:28):
It's so it because it's so potent, it becomes
bitter.
SPEAKER_07 (16:32):
Yeah, it is bitter.
SPEAKER_08 (16:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (16:34):
Um, so so anyway, it was great.
It was a great crescendo momentbecause he was so excited.
SPEAKER_08 (16:41):
He was so excited because basically at the end of
the last day, like he finallywas gonna be that excited about
how he like everything.
SPEAKER_07 (16:52):
I'm so glad we got it on a camera too.
But he was like thrilled.
He was a so excited, but hedidn't even realize.
So we we bought like on eBay avintage like tin, like a
twiglets tin from like probablythe 50s or 60s.
Um, but it was you know, itbefore all the snacks were in
(17:13):
like plastic bags, like theywere in tins.
That's how they were packaged.
So it was an old Twigglitz tin,and then we got some little like
personal size baggies ofTwiglets to because they'd fit
inside the tin, because it was asmall tin.
So we put a couple packs inthere, and then we had a whole
bunch of more that we gave him,but that's just what fit in the
tin.
So we presented that to him, andhe was over the moon because
(17:36):
it's basically a collectibletin, too, which is great.
Obviously, he's a collectiblesguy, but um, he was so thrilled,
and then he didn't even realizethere was something in it.
So like, open it.
SPEAKER_08 (17:48):
And then he got more even more excited and like
literally open it and I want toeat it right now kind of moment.
SPEAKER_07 (17:53):
And he made us all try it, and he was like, Oh my
gosh, I'm out of these at homeright now.
This is the best.
So he was really thrilled.
SPEAKER_08 (18:00):
Yeah, so so that was a cool moment.
SPEAKER_07 (18:02):
But that was that was such a small like gesture,
but that is something we talkedabout.
I mean, going back to what wewere saying in general about
snacks, since the beginning ofthis podcast, we've talked about
snacks when we did a lot ofinterviews at Cellar Week last
year.
I guess was it last year or twoyears?
Yeah, last year.
Um, we asked everyone what theirfavorite snack was, and so
that's how we knew.
(18:23):
And we thought this would besuch a fun surprise for the next
time we're all in persontogether.
So we just um, you know, hadthat little side quest, but it
was so satisfying and so fun.
SPEAKER_08 (18:35):
And one of the things that I pointed out too uh
from t uh talking with other,you know, leaders of eBay,
whether they were VP, director,execs, and stuff like that, that
what what you know looking backat kind of like our journey,
especially with my involvementwith eBay Open, this was
something that I didn't caughtthat I just got this event.
(18:56):
It was actually the communityand the interactions that eBay
employee have with each other.
Um because if you don't realizethis, there's eBay the eBay is
so big and they have so manyemployees that they don't even
see each other and they don'teven know each other until
(19:16):
somewhat, some shape of way theyget connected, whether it's on
in the line, falling in line forsomething, or a conversation
with us getting introduced.
Because we know them, yeah, weknow them and we know right.
Yeah.
So I think that was so coolbecause um when you talk about
community, there has to beconnection.
And when there's connectionthat's genuine, that's when you
(19:40):
really see like, oh, like thisis not stage, this is real thing
that's unfolding.
Um and you know, getting to knowpeople, uh moving from one
department to a differentdepartment, to now getting
introduced to other leaders fromthat department.
So that was awesome.
And I you know, one of thethings I called out was like,
yo, that the reason why eBay hasa really tight community in as
(20:02):
sellers is because within theircompany itself it is being
fostered.
So it kind of just like, yeah,it kind of just like bleeds out.
SPEAKER_07 (20:11):
Uh across like within a team or kind of like
what I think of as departments,there is such a strong sense of
like camaraderie and it's reallycool, but but at the same time,
like some of these departmentslike have no reason to work with
each other in their regular job,right?
So they are only encounteringeach other, like you said, for
other reasons.
(20:31):
Maybe we're the one bringingthem together at an event like
this where everyone's presentfor their own department's
purposes, right?
So it was really interesting tosee some of that.
And I mean, we definitely hadthe whole run of old and new
friends across the board,sellers, eBay employees, and you
know, even talking to some ofthe other sponsors was really
fun because we weren't a sponsorin the traditional sense, like
(20:54):
you said, like we weren'tselling anything per se.
Like obviously we want morepeople to listen to the podcast,
but um that was really funbecause we were surrounded by
this group of other, like manyof them were sellers who
developed something for sellers.
So that was kind of cool to talkto them in a different way where
(21:14):
we're not just another sellerthat might become their their
client or something passing by,but we were like in the same
section because we were alsosponsors, so we got to have some
interesting conversations.
Um, and it's just cool becauseyou know, eBay sellers are
they're scrappy, they'reinnovative.
Many of them run multiplebusinesses.
(21:35):
And it was kind of cool to hearabout the you know, software
development or kind ofengineering side of that where
they're a seller and they see aneed in the in the field and
they try to fill it themselves.
Like that's really cool andinnovative and brave, I think.
So um, as someone who just liketalks, you know, talks on a
(21:56):
podcast, I'm like, wow, youinvented that?
SPEAKER_06 (21:58):
That's so cool.
SPEAKER_08 (21:59):
But yeah, the in there's so many rollouts, and
you know, maybe uh we'll we'regonna do it on a different
episode where we talk about thetechnicalities of all the
product that they rolled out.
Um, because because you know,there's a few things that they
literally said on the stage, anda few hours later it appeared on
our apps.
It was live.
(22:20):
So that I I don't know.
I don't know, maybe I forgot thefeeling when they did a rollout
like that, that it was soinstant.
Yeah.
That you know, like I personallydidn't even hear that there were
rumors of it happening, and thenhearing from it that it's
happening now, yeah, and thenlooking at my phone and you
(22:40):
know, the feature was there.
Yeah.
I was like, yo, they heat likethey just talked about this
yesterday and it's alreadyrolling out.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (22:46):
Um somebody was ready to press the button.
SPEAKER_08 (22:49):
Yeah, so that was that was exciting.
And you know, we're we're gonnawe're gonna talk more about um
you know different features andstuff like that.
But Anna, why don't you umexplain to them and tell them uh
what's gonna happen after we endthis um our segment of this
podcast because we have some uhquestions?
We hear about a segment today.
(23:10):
Yep, exactly.
Multi-segment podcast today.
SPEAKER_07 (23:13):
Yeah, it it was really um challenging and fun
and like such a like drinkingfrom a fire hose experience, I
feel like talking to so manypeople at the conference, but
fortunately we had so manyamazing conversations on tape.
So and I know tape is like anoutdated term, but I it wasn't
(23:35):
exactly on air.
We didn't live stream theseconversations, but we wanted to
be able to bring the best backto you guys and hopefully um
help you experience the liveside of the conference, but also
just share all of the coolinsights and conversations that
we were able to have withpeople.
So we're gonna start that today.
We're gonna bring you several umkind of shorter interviews with
(24:00):
um some eBay employees and someother sellers, and we have so
much, so we're gonna be siftingthrough the the rest.
Like we've already pulled outthe first few that we want to
share on this episode, but we'regonna keep sharing them um
because it's really good contentand we feel like you guys will
really benefit from it.
Um and just get to know some ofthese wonderful people that we
(24:22):
got to interact with at theconference too.
So we're gonna drop the firstfew into this episode and then
just be on the lookout for thatover the next few weeks because
we want to use as much of thatas we can and um just share as
much of it as we can.
SPEAKER_08 (24:37):
Yep.
So make sure you follow eBay forsellers.
Uh eBay is our sponsor for thispodcast, and also follow Seller
Ledger on Instagram.
Those two are being our uh uhpretty cool sponsors for this um
podcast.
SPEAKER_07 (24:51):
And and we do still have an exclusive offer with
remember that?
SPEAKER_03 (24:56):
Oh, we do.
SPEAKER_07 (24:57):
With Seller Ledger, we were talking about it all
week at the conference, but itis actually good until the
beginning of September.
So if you've ever beeninterested in trying Seller
Ledger, DM us and we will showyou how to do it.
Yep, but it's it's additionalfree months of service.
So they've never offered itbefore.
SPEAKER_08 (25:13):
If you check the show notes, there might be some
surprise links there.
There we go.
So make sure you check this out.
SPEAKER_07 (25:18):
So what whatever way you need to, let us know, and
we'll get you connected withthat.
SPEAKER_08 (25:22):
All right, here you go.
Without further ado, let's havethem drop that beat.
Chris Agarpo, drop that beat.
unknown (25:30):
Yes!
SPEAKER_07 (25:32):
Chris, welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (25:33):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_07 (25:35):
Of course, thanks so much for stopping by here at the
booth at eBay Open25.
Um, and here we are with a veryspecial Chris, not just any
Chris.
Chris, can you tell us like whyyou're at eBay Open and who you
are?
SPEAKER_01 (25:47):
Uh so I was uh, believe it or not, eBay's first
employee.
I was hired by Pierre way backin '96.
He was the best man in mysister's wedding.
And my brother-in-law was hisboss way back in the day at
Claris.
So um Wow.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (26:03):
So, and you're still here.
SPEAKER_01 (26:04):
I'm still here.
That is incredible.
Yeah, so this is really amazingbeing being here at the uh eBay
Open 25 because um I think thelast one I went to was the open
eBay open 20th anniversary.
So it's been 10 years.
It's been 10 years for me.
SPEAKER_07 (26:20):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (26:21):
So I'm really happy to be here.
SPEAKER_07 (26:22):
How many eBay opens have you been to over all that
time?
SPEAKER_01 (26:25):
Uh some only two.
This is your second year.
So I want to thank Mike Briggellfor uh getting me on this.
SPEAKER_07 (26:31):
And the Academy and Allison Engels.
We should all be thankingAllison Engels.
She's been crushing it.
SPEAKER_01 (26:37):
Dina and Dina Friedman.
So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_07 (26:41):
Well, what's it been like for you?
What's your kind of role beenhere?
SPEAKER_01 (26:45):
It's been really amazing.
So, you know, the sellers wouldcome up to me and I'd give them
uh me and Griff, we're one ofthe oldest employees here.
So I was employee number one.
He was employee uh 11.
So wow.
Yeah.
So we're one and one, one.
Yeah, we're we're like oldrelics.
So they wanted to be like in themuseum's place, being in uh uh
(27:06):
like human relics.
SPEAKER_06 (27:07):
So yeah, we human relics, yeah.
So we can do it.
SPEAKER_01 (27:11):
So it's just amazing.
SPEAKER_06 (27:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:13):
Talking to all the sellers and how um they they're
telling us how they changedtheir lives.
So I was really amazed that Iwas really touched.
SPEAKER_07 (27:20):
That's awesome.
Were you like, did people saylike they didn't believe you?
No way, no, you're not.
SPEAKER_01 (27:25):
You were like looking at my button and they're
like, what is this?
They did you put that you'rejust saying that you were like
your number I'm the best numberone?
I go, No, I'm eBay's actuallynumber one employee.
SPEAKER_07 (27:35):
Literally, like chronologically first.
Yes.
Well they're arguably maybe alsothe best.
Like we can't confirm or deny.
SPEAKER_01 (27:43):
You're too nice.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (27:45):
Oh my gosh.
Well, it's so funny because I'vemet you a number of times on
campus in San Jose.
You're always walking aroundcampus.
Yeah, you have like a qualitycontrol kind of job, right?
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
Yeah, so that's my QA inspector for uh EMR and uh
enterprise management resources.
Yeah.
Some of my bosses, EileenAlvareem, and she makes me like
she's giving me all these umassignments to do, which keeps
me really busy the whole day.
Yeah I have to thank her forthat.
So yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and it's and it'sall about the bosses you have,
(28:17):
the higher bosses.
So I've got like Steven Wallaceand Eric Donovan, and then new
bosses who understand theculture of eBay.
So and uh that's what I enjoy myjob.
And if I still love it, I I Iwouldn't be there.
SPEAKER_07 (28:30):
And I mean that's incredible.
I don't know anybody, I don'tknow anybody better qualified to
really be able to speak on theculture of eBay.
You've been there through itall.
Yeah, which is really wild.
SPEAKER_01 (28:40):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_07 (28:40):
Will you ever retire?
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
Um well, we're thinking seven right now, seven
to be on 67.
Okay, okay.
I collect the whole socialsecurity network.
Oh, yeah, totally.
I know it's a whole equation,right?
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (28:53):
But it's great that you've been able to navigate.
I'm sure you've had manydifferent roles over the years.
Yes.
Um, but you've been able tonavigate and kind of stay within
and really help create such anamazing culture.
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
Well, thank you for that.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it's just thepeople who are the the uh the
incredible people at eBay reallymake it happen.
SPEAKER_06 (29:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:11):
So I'm just there just as a witness.
SPEAKER_06 (29:14):
I don't believe that.
SPEAKER_07 (29:15):
I think you're totally part of it.
You're a co-creator.
I mean, seriously, not a lot ofsellers, I mean, relative to the
number of sellers on eBay,right?
Not a lot of us have had thatreally privilege to kind of
experience the culture of thecompany in that up close and
personal way, even like at aconference or going on campus
for various things, and it isremarkable.
(29:35):
Like it's totally not what Iexpected of any corporation, and
I'm constantly impressed by it.
SPEAKER_01 (29:41):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I it goes way back,
extends way back with thefounder of eBay and Jeff Skull,
um, our first um president,those two really made eBay
happen and how great thiscompany is.
And I I really am loyal to them,and uh yeah, if it wasn't for
them, I wouldn't be the person.
Than I am today.
I strive to be better every day,and they they always pushed me.
(30:04):
So it was great.
They were they're actually myage, but they were much further
old soul, and they were so wise,so wise in the future.
Yeah, I mean, this is way backin 96.
They had a future in mind ofeBay, how the growth it was
gonna be, how big it was gonnabe.
SPEAKER_07 (30:21):
Yeah, and now you and me are here living that
future.
I know, I love it.
So cool.
I love it too.
Well, this is like the lasthour, I think, that we're open
for the conference, so I don'twant to take up all of your
time, but thank you so much forstopping by.
SPEAKER_01 (30:34):
Thank you for having me.
It's been amazing.
I'll see you at the after party.
SPEAKER_07 (30:38):
Oh, yeah, we'll definitely be at the after
party.
Anything else you want to say?
SPEAKER_01 (30:41):
No, I just want to thank you for uh having me on.
SPEAKER_07 (30:43):
Of course.
We would love to have you onanytime.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
Damn, anytime.
When you're in San Jose, I'll bethere.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (30:49):
Okay, great.
We're gonna book your time.
Okay, good.
Thanks, Chris.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (30:54):
This is Bill Hunt.
Drop that beat.
SPEAKER_07 (30:58):
Bill, welcome to the show officially.
SPEAKER_08 (31:02):
In person, in person, in person, live in Las
Vegas, eBay Open 2025.
SPEAKER_07 (31:08):
Um, Bill is like a super special guest because he's
been listening to tons of sellerclub podcast episodes.
SPEAKER_02 (31:14):
Sure.
SPEAKER_07 (31:14):
And we finally got to meet him in real life.
SPEAKER_02 (31:16):
Yeah, it's uh it's a treat.
Thank you.
My bucket list.
SPEAKER_08 (31:21):
Oh, awesome.
So let me ask you this how longhave you been selling on eBay?
SPEAKER_02 (31:26):
I started on eBay way back in about 02.
SPEAKER_08 (31:29):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (31:29):
That was uh half.com at that time.
Oh, oh.
Yeah, then I well it wasn't itwas eBay, but they had acquired
half.
Right.
Okay.
And then I had a long break andgot got back into it 18, 19, but
really in earnest in 2022.
SPEAKER_08 (31:44):
Okay, okay.
That's a that's a cool time.
So you've you've experiencedeBay in multiple eras.
SPEAKER_02 (31:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_08 (31:51):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (31:51):
Uh I'm an old person, so that's what happened.
SPEAKER_06 (31:54):
No.
Have you been to an eBay Openbefore?
SPEAKER_02 (31:57):
Never have.
I did the virtual one last year.
SPEAKER_06 (31:59):
How was that?
SPEAKER_02 (32:00):
It was not as good as being in person.
SPEAKER_06 (32:02):
You're like, well, now that I'm here, honestly, I
kind of feel the same waybecause I've loved eBay open.
SPEAKER_07 (32:08):
I've been involved the last three years, but it was
always only virtual, so I didn'teven know what this was like in
real life, you know, in person.
Um, and I love it.
It's like so fun and just overthe top.
I really hope we get to keepdoing it this way.
SPEAKER_02 (32:21):
Yeah, me too.
I'll be here for sure.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (32:23):
So, Bill, what kind of stuff do you sell on eBay?
SPEAKER_02 (32:26):
I sell all kinds of things.
I sell everything from soup tonuts.
Oh, and I haven't sold it.
That's an interesting spectrum.
But I haven't, uh but I haven'tsold soup or nuts yet.
SPEAKER_08 (32:36):
So we have a saying we sell in the Philippines, we
sell toothpick two helicopters.
SPEAKER_02 (32:41):
Oh, yeah, there you go.
Something like that.
SPEAKER_08 (32:44):
Something like that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:44):
I have sold a helicopter.
So a whole helicopter?
Oh, yeah.
It's about this big.
Uh little toy.
It's still a helicopter.
Yeah, it's still a helicopter.
SPEAKER_07 (32:55):
That's funny.
Have you have you sold anythingsince you've been here at the
conference?
I have.
You have your listing stillturned on?
I yeah, yeah.
What's been your best sale sinceyou've been here?
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
Since I've been here?
Uh little pelican figure,hand-carved wood,$35,$35.
Oh, wow.
That's it.
SPEAKER_06 (33:10):
We'll take a$35 sale any day.
SPEAKER_02 (33:12):
Sourced for two, sold for$35.
SPEAKER_08 (33:14):
Oh, I like that margin.
SPEAKER_06 (33:16):
That's how you do it, guys.
SPEAKER_08 (33:17):
Yeah.
At the end of the day, you know,people call me, oh, you're a
sneaker seller.
No, I'm a margin seller.
SPEAKER_07 (33:23):
Is there uh anything you've ever in listening to so
many episodes of our podcast?
Thank you for listening.
Um, is there ever anythingyou've wanted to like scream at
us in the moment while we weresaying talking about something?
SPEAKER_04 (33:34):
Like, you guys, it's this, or no, or yes, that's the
best thing ever.
No, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_07 (33:42):
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Nothing in particular thatreally like ground your gears.
Great.
SPEAKER_02 (33:47):
No, no, no.
Nothing that bugs me.
You guys are great.
SPEAKER_07 (33:50):
Thanks.
Well, we'll take it.
Um, what do you think has beenlike valuable about having like
other sellers in your ears inthe form of a podcast?
SPEAKER_02 (33:59):
It's just good to always be thinking about what's
going on, what people are doing,how they're turning sales, how
they're a little bit ofcomparing notes.
Exactly.
Yeah, I mean, I don't have a lotwith I don't sell many shoes, so
I'm in a different worldcompletely on that.
Yeah.
But uh it's still just good tohear about the process, somebody
who's out there doing the grind,making the money.
(34:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_08 (34:21):
So, Bill, have we hit um all the points?
Because one of our uh a main umkind of like goal for Seller
Club podcast is you know, likewe sell on multiple categories,
but most of what we discuss areapplicable to most categories.
So is that true as a listener?
SPEAKER_02 (34:40):
Yeah, I think you guys do a really good job when
you take your themes and startgoing through and processing.
I think those themes, you know,under that umbrella from a lot
of different sellers.
SPEAKER_08 (34:51):
Yeah, credit Soana, the one of the main writers of
Silicon Podcast.
SPEAKER_06 (34:57):
Uh, that's why you'll hear me sometimes trying
to keep them on track becauseI'm like, but I have the
outline.
SPEAKER_07 (35:03):
You guys, I shared it with you, but are you looking
at it?
No, you're not.
It's fine though.
Um, well, I'm just gonna put youall the way on the spot.
Do you have a favorite host?
SPEAKER_02 (35:14):
I think my favorite host is all three of you.
You guys are great.
SPEAKER_06 (35:21):
That was the best answer.
SPEAKER_07 (35:23):
You're the best.
Thank you.
I try.
Is there anything else you wantto leave sellers with from eBay
open or anything you would liketo share with them from your
experience here?
SPEAKER_02 (35:32):
You know, I I'd say a lot of what we do is just so,
I guess, elephant, you know, Idon't want to say elementary,
but yeah, there's fundamentals.
There's some fundamentals to it.
You hear it over and over.
So a lot of things they keephammering, but there's jewels to
be had here, whether you'regoing to the uh the cellar
clinic, looking at your at youruh shop, that's great.
(35:56):
Having a chance to interact withthe staff people, it's been
amazing.
The staff seems so friendly andsupportive.
SPEAKER_07 (36:02):
I know, it's amazing, isn't it?
Yes, that always just like blowsmy mind.
SPEAKER_08 (36:07):
That's so well.
Thank you so much, Bill, forhopping on.
Um this is super exciting tomeet you in person.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:14):
Yeah, it's been great.
It's uh meeting you know peoplelike you and some of the others
I've watched and listened to.
It's a it's a highlight.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_07 (36:21):
Well, it's our highlight to meet you in real
life.
So thanks so much for jumping onwith us.
You're so brave.
I appreciate it.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (36:26):
Thank you.
Thank you, Mike.
SPEAKER_06 (36:28):
Bye bye.
SPEAKER_00 (36:29):
Drop that beat.
SPEAKER_06 (36:34):
Oh my goodness, who dropped the beat just now?
Would you please introduceyourself?
That was an amazing beat drop.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
Well, I'll be a little bit disappointed if the
accent hasn't come through alittle bit to indicate this is
Adam Island here.
I thought that was.
So excited to be back with mygreat friends at Cellar Club.
SPEAKER_06 (36:50):
Yes, welcome.
Thank you so much for making itto our booth.
SPEAKER_07 (36:52):
It has been a totally breakneck pace whirlwind
of a conference, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_00 (36:57):
It has been incredible.
Uh, I have been late toeverything, and it has been
entirely because I justconsistently um just bumping
into old friends, yeah, seeingfamiliar faces, and uh spending
way too long catching up, whichhas just been a ton of fun.
SPEAKER_07 (37:11):
Absolutely.
I think we're in the same boat.
The cool thing about having abooth is a lot of people come to
us, but then it's like there'sjust a flood of people at all
times at our booth, and we'retrying to make sure we get to
talk to everyone.
Um, but this is a great moment.
You made it, we were free, so itall worked out, the stars
aligned.
Um, this is so cool.
Have you had eBay opens inperson before for yourself?
SPEAKER_00 (37:31):
I was here in 2019.
Okay, cool.
So uh do you remember the lastone?
Uh but that was actually myfirst year supporting the North
America business.
I've been in corporate rolesbefore that.
So that was uh that was thefirst one that I made it to.
SPEAKER_07 (37:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (37:41):
And then obviously uh the virtual ones in between.
SPEAKER_07 (37:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
I've only been to the virtualones, so this is like I've been
I've been kind of saying this touh some of my other friends
who've been in the same boat,but you know, the last three
years I've been part of eBayopen filming content and stuff,
and everything I love so muchabout that experience is turns
out like are the same things Ilove about this, but that was
really just a microcosm of this.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
So I think micro is the right word.
I uh I got the privilegeobviously of going up on the
main stage, and uh when Istepped stuck my head out behind
the curtain and saw how big thatroom was, I was like, okay, this
isn't eBay Main Street anymore.
SPEAKER_06 (38:15):
We're not kids anymore.
I know, was that intimidating?
That's a really big stage.
SPEAKER_00 (38:20):
It is, but I'm lucky that like I got to be up there
and had kind of have the morefireside chat uh model and uh
with a couple of my colleaguesthat I know really, really well.
Perfect.
Obviously, I've worked with uhwith many years.
Exactly.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (38:32):
Well, have you had any?
I know you love talking tosellers.
Like we talk about this all thetime.
Um, that's like one of yourfavorite things about working
here.
And um, you've been in so manydifferent roles where you get to
talk to sellers, but has therebeen anything different or
anything that's been like aconsistent through line this
conference that you've heardfrom people?
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
Uh no, I think for me the the thing that's been
most fun has just been uh, youknow, I know that the community
gets a little frustrated,particularly in the world of
collectibles when all we talkabout is uh is trading cards.
Oh and so uh I won't mentionsneakers.
SPEAKER_07 (39:02):
I was gonna say we've heard this before.
Sneakers, sneakers, sneakers.
That's what Ken likes to say.
SPEAKER_00 (39:08):
Um, but uh, you know, so I was delighted that
like we were able to expand theaperture a little bit.
And we had uh, you know, for ourcollectibles panel, we had a
comic seller up there, we had atoys seller up though up there.
But perhaps, and and we arestarting to do more in those
spaces, but like I alsorecognize there is a massive
breadth to the collectiblescategory.
SPEAKER_04 (39:25):
Oh yeah, there is.
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
And whether that's China figurines, Disney pins,
you know, militaria, you nameit.
SPEAKER_04 (39:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:31):
And uh, and so like I, you know, I'm definitely not
making any promises at thispoint, but like it was just so
helpful to be able to, you know,had a great conversation with a
stamp seller, had a greatconversation with um a model
train seller, and just beingable to understand from those
sellers in those differentcategories that we've not been
spending a ton of time like todata on, you know, what are the
things they need, how can webetter support them?
SPEAKER_04 (39:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:52):
And then how do I find those common threads across
those categories where wealready have made investments
and we can then start to takethat out and across other
categories?
SPEAKER_07 (40:00):
That's awesome.
You have explained this uh to usbefore, just how when uh things
in a category are are modifiedor improved and then kind of it
trickles, but but you want tomake sure that it like works
really well in the categorybefore you blast it out to
everywhere else.
And I think we've seen a lot ofthat kind of stuff happening.
I mean, this eBay open, it juststrikes me how many things you
(40:22):
know have been talked about andannounced and and iterated upon
that we've asked for, you know,like it's been very clear like
sellers have asked for this andwe did it.
They asked for this and we didit.
And I think that's reallygratifying.
Like as a seller, that's like,yes, thank you.
That's exactly what we wanted.
And of course, it's alwaysevolving.
There's always, we're likealways wanting something else,
(40:44):
you know.
We were joking earlier, the nextthing we want is health
insurance.
So if you could please work onthat, we would be really
appreciative.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
That would definitely be a new vertical,
but um, but no, like that's beenthe same reaction for me.
And like, look, I in my categoryfocused role, like I actually
didn't know about a number ofthe announcements that were
coming out, but I think we're ina couple of things.
Surprised with the rest of us?
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (41:02):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (41:03):
But the but the thing that I feel really good
about is that we are getting toa place where there is a good
balance about being able to godeep into these categories and
we're still understanding someof those horizontal pain points.
And so, right, like when we gotwhen it got announced about Cox,
for example, right?
Like, I remember being at the umthe boss reseller event in Vegas
two, three years ago now, andlike that was something that was
consistently on people's minds.
(41:23):
And like, if you're only takinga category lens, you're not
necessarily gonna hear that,you're not gonna pick that up
just if you're doing thecollectible sellers.
And so the fact that we're ableto like continue to roll out
sort of the category-specificimprovements while finding those
things like that, or even likeyou know, the um uh the broken
parts uh changes as well, whichI know are a really big uh
impact for a lot of people inthe community.
SPEAKER_07 (41:45):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, thank you for yourservice.
We appreciate.
I mean, I know from knowing youand and your work, like how much
you do advocate for sellers too.
And uh, we just reallyappreciate it.
It's come to so much fruition.
And honestly, this has been suchan exciting week.
I can't wait to see what happensnext and what next year is gonna
be like.
I mean, I don't know, I haven'theard anything one way or the
(42:06):
other about you know if we'regonna be in person or when or
how often or whatever, but theenergy here has been undeniable.
And everybody that I've talkedto has been, and that's been
quite a lot of people, by theway.
But everybody we've talked tohas been like so happy with it
and just so refreshed, I think,by this experience.
SPEAKER_00 (42:23):
Oh, 100%.
And uh yeah, I guess I say,like, I get lots of surprises
now, so I don't know anythingabout future plans for uh for
open, but uh it's been afabulous few days.
And look, honestly, it's mypleasure.
Like, I know it sort of cansound a little bit cheesy, but
like we truly do only succeedwhen our sellers succeed, and so
it's just so important that weunderstand what we can be doing
to continuously like make lifebetter and easy for you all.
SPEAKER_07 (42:45):
It's not just a saying, guys, it's the business
plan.
So we appreciate that.
Um, well, thanks so much forjoining us for a minute.
There's more stuff happening allaround us, so I don't want to
hold you up for too long, butum, we just always love to have
you come drop the beat with us,Adam.
SPEAKER_00 (42:59):
Always a pleasure.
Great to see you both.
SPEAKER_07 (43:01):
Thanks so much.
See you later.
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