eBay Open 2022 - the eBay event for sellers
It’s that time again: On September 7 and 8, Motorwerk will open its doors for the biggest eBay seller event of the year, eBay Open. For the fourth time already, the eBay team is presenting numerous interesting projects and innovations that help sellers sell even more successfully on eBay — this year finally live and in person again! In this episode, we take a look behind the scenes of eBay Open: What can attendees expect this year, what makes eBay Open special, and what does it mean to come together live in person again after two years of the pandemic?
**Important links**
eBay Open: https://cloud.forbusiness.ebay.de/ebayopen2022
eBay Open Tickets: https://cloud.forbusiness.ebay.de/ebayopen2022-tickets
Isabell: Hello dear listeners and welcome to our new podcast episode for our sellers and of course for everyone who wants to become one. I’m really happy you’re joining us again, and I’m equally happy that my esteemed podcast colleague David is back with us too.
David: Yes, hello dear Isabell and hello dear listeners, in today’s episode we want to share all the important information about this year’s eBay Open with you. We’re very excited that, for the first time since 2019, the event can once again take place live on site at Motorwerk Berlin. A lot of interesting workshops, talks, and discussions are definitely already on the agenda.
Isabell: Yes, and today we want to find out a bit more about that in order to give everyone interested a preview of what awaits us on site. And we also want to talk about what it’s actually like when events take place in person again after not happening that way for so long. For that, we’ve invited three great guests, and first I’d like to welcome Lisa Haak, Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Plentymarkets. Hi Lisa!
Lisa: Hello everyone and hello dear listeners, I’m very happy to be here today.
David: And I’m glad that today we also have another seller by our side who took part in an exciting Seller4Seller session at the last eBay Open, titled "Networking - What does exchanging with other sellers bring?" Namely Christian Droste from Hellweg Druckerei. Hello!
Christian: Hello everyone, thanks for the invitation.
Isabell: Yes, and last but not least I’d also like to warmly welcome Andreas Häntsch back to the eBay podcast. Andreas is Senior Director of Home & Garden, Collectibles and Toys, and Seller Initiatives at eBay. Hi Andreas!
Andreas: Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me back.
David: Lisa, your name is probably familiar to one or another eBay seller. Would you like to tell our listeners a bit more about yourself, your time at eBay, and your new role at Plentymarkets?
Lisa: Yes, of course, very gladly. The sellers who know my name most likely know me from my eight and a half years at eBay, during which I had a variety of roles that always involved contact with sellers. And in the last four years, contact with eBay partners, because I was responsible for Partner Management for Germany. And in my role, I always took on additional tasks too, simply because I really enjoyed them. Among other things, people sometimes saw me on YouTube, in the early days of this eBay podcast, or often at events as a speaker or moderator of webinars or similar. And about a year ago I decided to take on a new challenge and joined Plentymarkets. Plentymarkets is a company that offers a multichannel solution for sellers who want to be successful in eCommerce and sell on channels like eBay, among others. And Plentymarkets had a role for me. The title is Head of Business Development, Partnerships and Marketing. In addition, I also take care of a few product strategy areas that revolve around our community products, such as our website, our plugin marketplace, or our Plenty Shop. And I’m very happy that I can connect my old eBay world so well with my new role and that, among other things, I get to talk about eBay Open today — something I used to do long before, and now I’m also back as a sponsor through Plentymarkets.
Isabell: Thanks Lisa! Christian, could you also tell us a bit more about Hellweg Druckerei and what exactly your role in the company is?
Christian: Yes, so I’m the owner of Hellweg Druckerei. A small family business, founded in 2009 in the heart of Westphalia. We sell lots of different printed products, T-shirts, flyers, mugs, jute bags and so on and so forth. A little over a year ago we also started selling sugar sprinkles, and in future other projects and more food areas will be added, which we then want to sell online.
David: Very good! Andreas, for everyone who doesn’t know you from the last episode, could you briefly tell us about your job at eBay and, above all, your position and your task at eBay Open?
Andreas: Yes, gladly. At eBay Germany I’m responsible for the Home & Garden area, so everything around the classic DIY and hardware assortment, tools, garden items, etc., and I’m also responsible for the Collectibles & Rare Finds area. So, as the name suggests, everything you can collect, everything rare, art and antiques, toys are included there too, model making, stamps, coins and so on and so forth. And then I also have a team called Seller Initiatives. That basically just means seller initiatives and seller initiatives. That’s about advisory topics, for example for new sellers who are about to get started on eBay, or also for existing sellers, keyword Pro Trader Program. It’s about topics like eBay, Your City, which we’ve already talked about here. And it’s also about topics like eBay Open, which we’re talking about here today.
Isabell: As you just said, today will mainly be about eBay Open. And we already said at the beginning that eBay Open can finally take place live and in person again this year. The whole thing is supposed to last two days. But let’s take one or two steps back. Andreas, since when has eBay Open actually existed, and why did eBay create this event for sellers?
Andreas: Yes, eBay Open has existed under that name for quite a while. For several years already. But in the US and in Germany, eBay Open has only existed since 2019. At the beginning of 2019, we thought that we’d really like to have such a cool event here in Germany as well, like the one they had in the US. Then in September 2019 we had the first eBay Open here in Germany, as a physical event in Berlin. In the last two years, that wasn’t possible with physical events because of the coronavirus pandemic. So for the last two years we had a digital eBay Open and are incredibly happy that in 2022 we can now be back in the same location, physical again, for two days in Berlin. And to your question, "Why do we do this?" There are essentially two reasons. One is that back then we simply thought we needed to, or should, exchange much more with our sellers. We have an incredible number of topics we’d love to talk about, but we also want exchange and to listen more, to hear more from sellers and learn from sellers. Then there was a second reason. We just really felt like putting on a proper seller event again. Sellers who’ve been around a little longer will remember. Around the mid-2000s, I’d say, there were some bigger events in Germany too. Over the years, that unfortunately faded a bit. And then in 2019 we said it was simply time again to put on such a nice seller event.
Isabell: Andreas, let’s assume that some of our listeners have never attended eBay Open — neither the digital event nor the live event in 2019. How should we picture eBay Open?
Andreas: eBay Open is a two-day event in a really, really great location, namely Motorwerk Berlin. Motorwerk is an old industrial building with lots of charm. That typical brick-and-industrial look you know from the early 20th century. At Motorwerk itself, we’ll have five stages, so one main stage and several smaller stages, plus plenty of room for networking. We’ll have an expo where partners can introduce themselves and present what they do. And we’ll create plenty of space for networking.
Isabell: Andreas, you just said that besides networking there will also be different formats and content people can take part in. What are some topics our listeners can look forward to? v Andreas: Yes, a wide variety of topics. Of course we’ll also talk about eBay-specific topics, such as eBay Shops, where a lot has happened in recent months and a lot more will happen in the coming months. There are great new features, and we’ll show how sellers can best use them for themselves. But of course there are also the classics. At events and also in webinars etc., we’ve repeatedly had high demand for topics like, "How do I optimize my listing?" Ideally for eBay’s search algorithm? So, how can I make my listing even more visible? And we’ll take a close look at that. We’ll look at the various seller programs, so both for new sellers and existing sellers, we’ll cover our logistics programs and many other topics. But we don’t just want to talk about eBay topics, we also want to talk about very operational topics, as I’d like to call them. So, topics that concern many sellers and aren’t necessarily tied just to eBay. Topics like, for example: "How do I find and keep good staff?", "How do I choose a good ERP system?", "Is there an ideal ERP?" or, as is often the case, it depends, "How can I use social channels for my business?" — Pinterest or Instagram, etc. We want to take a look at that. And then we’ll also see what regulations are coming our way. Next year a lot is coming at us, and you should be prepared for that, also in the years after. And we’ll also look at this with external experts, to see what you need to prepare for. Then we’ll look at a whole range of trends, and of course we’ll also look at the current situation around the supply chain crisis and what that means for all our businesses. Macroeconomic topics, such as inflation among others, and what that means, including in terms of consumer trends for example. So those will all be topics.
David: So we can see a wide range of topics that will be waiting for us. Lisa, you’ve already been able to gather diverse experience with eBay Open, first on the eBay side and now of course on the Plentymarkets side. Would you like to tell us what this event means to you?
Lisa: Yes, gladly. I think a lot of what Andreas just said already included a lot of what makes eBay Open special. For me, it’s an event where eBay opens its doors and offers a face to sellers, makes itself approachable, makes itself accessible. And not just for topics that interest eBay, but especially for topics that help sellers move forward and also represent the ecosystem. With all the partners who get to present themselves at the expo that will take place at eBay Open. For me, it’s something very special that eBay is so, so approachable for sellers here. I’ve noticed that much less at other marketplaces so far, and I believe it gives sellers the chance to exchange ideas, network, and not feel quite so alone with their problems sometimes, but instead meet like-minded people at such events and get their own personal problems solved too, through the different formats that eBay and the partners are offering here together. And for me, the special thing about eBay Open is that it has a very relaxed, upbeat atmosphere, where I can make contacts while at the same time taking away a huge amount of content that drives my business forward.
David: Very nice. Now, for two years we couldn’t make a live in-person event happen because of the coronavirus pandemic. What have been your takeaways from these years, Lisa? Do we even still need events, or can everything be done digitally now, or what still can’t be done digitally?
Lisa: A super question that’s partly very hard to answer, because I think over the last two and a half years we’ve kept asking ourselves: "What works digitally, what doesn’t, what comes after Corona?" And that’s the question — does this "after Corona" even exist? What will have changed? What do we still need, what do we no longer need? In the last few weeks we had both OMR in Hamburg and K5 in Berlin. Two big trade fairs that, I think, were super, super hyped because it was possible to meet again. And for me, from all the posts you could read on LinkedIn, it became very, very clear how great the need was to exchange ideas in person again, meet up, see people you’ve worked with over the last few years again at last, and then possibly continue working together at a completely different level afterward. I think that’s something we can’t and won’t deny live events, which is why they definitely have a purpose. Out of necessity, over the past few years we all had to make knowledge transfer and exchange possible online too. And I think we’ve learned a lot from that. Realized that webinars or Zoom calls can cover a great deal. I think content delivery and learning knowledge works really well online, and it’s also something we take with us at Plentymarkets: we can provide digital content well, show our sellers steps, and encourage our sellers to acquire knowledge online. But getting knowledge from one another, networking, or speaking with the partner or contact person — that’s what live events are for. And I think eBay Open will also align itself this year in that direction, and I’m looking forward to that.
David: We are too. Andreas, we already heard at the beginning in the introductions that Christian took part in a Seller4Seller session last year. Could you briefly explain, for our listeners too, what a Seller4Seller session is?
Andreas: Yes, gladly. It’s basically exactly what the name says. It’s a session by sellers for sellers. So in other words, there isn’t an eBay person up on stage, but rather sellers on stage who are excellent in a specific area we’re discussing there and simply have something to say about it. And through this exchange, we’ll hopefully learn a whole lot from one another, and I hope there will be lots of tips and tricks for the audience to take away for their business.
Isabell: So basically a panel discussion in which the audience is also involved?
Andreas: Exactly, yes.
David: Very good. Christian, then please tell us how your participation in eBay Open 2021, so last year, and especially in the Seller4Seller session on the topic of "Networking" came about.
Christian: Yes, the direct connection to eBay came about through networking at the Multichannelday last year. I had one or two questions directly for eBay, approached you at the event, and it was actually a textbook example of networking. And because of that, I was then asked again whether I could say something about networking, yes.
David: Very nice. And to what extent did you and, of course, your company benefit from taking part in this? Was there some kind of outcome? Were there any follow-up effects that had a positive impact?
Christian: Yes, afterwards another seller a few kilometers away from us contacted us and asked whether we could just come by and exchange ideas about ERP and eBay. Yes, I did that, was a guest there a few weeks later, and afterwards I even took a print order home with me. I was also allowed to print mugs, and yes.
Isabell: Yes, very nice. Christian, you’ll be taking part in eBay Open again this year, and as we’ve just heard, eBay Open will once again take place as an in-person event in Berlin this year. What are you looking forward to most?
Christian: Definitely the many great talks there will be again. Definitely also the Seller4Seller sessions. Hearing the stories of other sellers somewhere is always very, very interesting. And then of course the networking afterwards.
Isabell: Andreas, I’d be interested in that for you too. What are you most looking forward to at eBay Open now?
Andreas: Ask me what I’m not looking forward to. I’m kind of looking forward to everything about eBay Open! What I really loved in 2019, which was the last physical event we had, was the commitment and passion the sellers had there. I still remember a talk I gave there. An hour later people were still talking to me, or almost surrounding me, because there were so many questions and so many — not just questions, but so many comments — that were still being discussed an hour later, and heatedly discussed at that, and we exchanged ideas, and it was great. It was the last session of the evening, and you could see how much passion everyone was bringing to it. And I’m definitely looking forward to that again this year too.
David: So already a tip for everyone coming to eBay Open: bring time so you can sort out those kinds of questions afterward too. Lisa, Plentymarkets is a sponsor of eBay Open this year. What have you learned as a company from your participation, and what’s especially important to you as a sponsor?
Lisa: I can’t really answer the question in terms of what Plentymarkets has learned from the last few years as a sponsor, because there hasn’t yet been an eBay Open where I was part of the Plenty crew. What I can say, though, is what we generally pay attention to and what we also paid attention to at eBay Open, whether this is fulfilled so that we become a sponsor of the event. Being represented in the "eBay ecosystem" and kind of seeing and being seen is of course one aspect. If there are sellers trading on eBay, then they’re definitely also relevant for Plentymarkets, and that makes it a super good fit. The two other reasons, or the things that are fulfilled for me at eBay Open, are first, the exchange and making yourself a bit more approachable to your own customers or potential customers is super important to me. And with the expo that eBay sets up there for partners, that is super, super well integrated into the whole event and simply offers partners the chance to meet many existing customers or potential new customers directly, exchange ideas, and also take a bit of feedback from the market back home again, of course, with regard to product requirements and such. And the third aspect that’s always especially important to me is that I want to get involved in events and win people over with content. eBay naturally offers many points of contact there — when it comes to listing optimization, for example, I would always try to get a speaking or workshop slot from Plentymarkets, where you then explain how this listing optimization can be implemented in Plentymarkets or how marketing tools can be used well via Plenty and so on and so forth. So basically trying to present your own content within the scope of the event and having the opportunity not just to make a pitch to sellers, but to win them over with content and substance. That’s important to me, and the opportunity has always been there in the past, which is why the decision was made to be part of it again this year.
Isabell: And what would you say, how can sellers benefit from this event?
Lisa: It almost feels like a bit of a buzzword of the day, "networking." But I would definitely encourage all sellers to familiarize themselves with the program in advance, create some kind of schedule or to-do list for the event, and think about: Which talks do I want to hear, which workshops do I want to attend? Which partners are there who might be able to take my selling to a new level? What questions do I have for eBay or these partners? Write the questions down beforehand. We already mentioned that one-on-one sessions can be booked with eBay, which I think is a great opportunity for sellers to get their own problems and needs solved. Everyone knows how valuable that is, how expensive consulting can be under certain circumstances. And having the opportunity here to get tips and tricks directly from experts is super, super valuable. So: prepare, engage with the program, with the partners. Think about which questions and problems you want solved, and network as much as you can! Connect with other sellers! That’s not easy for anyone after two and a half years without events, but do it! Talk to each other, learn from each other. You can only benefit.
David: Lisa, and what are you personally most looking forward to at this eBay Open?
Lisa: I know the eBay Open at Motorwerk from the first year, and I’m very, very, very much looking forward to having an event at this location again. For me, of course, it’s a bit of a flashback to my time at eBay and especially nice this year to combine that with my new role, to see many familiar faces, not just from eBay but also from partners, many sellers. And to get into conversation — I’m really looking forward to that.
David: Andreas, Lisa already has some tips for sellers. As an expert, do you have anything else to add, or is it basically: yes, what Lisa says!
Andreas: Yes, what Lisa says! No, really. Lisa just summed up perfectly what matters. As an addition, really only this: take the full two days. There’s a lot of content, definitely. But take the full two days too, to really — and here we are again with the buzzword "networking" — use it to the fullest. On day 2 as well, you’ll still be able to meet great people and have great conversations. And if I may make one selfish remark, then visit us at the eBay stands. We have experts for every area there. Come by, talk to us, and yes, otherwise I’m simply looking forward to an incredibly great event.
Isabell: So are we! Christian, do you have one final tip from the seller perspective for your colleagues, and maybe especially for those going to an eBay live event for the first time?
Christian: Definitely. So first make your way to Berlin, come to eBay Open, exchange ideas, nobody bites. So feel free to just chat with other sellers, you always take something home with you that helps you later on.
Isabell: Great, a very nice closing remark! Thank you so much to the three of you for the exciting insights into the past, but also into this year’s upcoming eBay Open. Today we talked about the colorful range of content awaiting us at eBay Open. We’ll have many partners on site. There will be the opportunity to book personal advice in advance. And above all, the exchange and, to come back to today’s buzzword, networking, will of course be in the foreground. I’m definitely really looking forward to it, and before we get to our last question now, one more note for our listeners: In the show notes for this episode you’ll find all the information about eBay Open again, as well as the link to the ticket shop. This year, tickets can be purchased for 99 euros and you can be there on site. And anyone who wants to benefit from the individual consultation can also book the exclusive consultation session with an eBay expert for 29 €. But now to our last question, which our loyal listeners are probably already waiting for: Dear Lisa, what was the last thing you bought on eBay?
Lisa: Luckily I just checked again. I celebrated my birthday a few weeks ago with my best friends. And June is Pride Month. That means we also gave our birthday the motto "rainbow" and I ordered rainbow-colored tattoos, several sheets, so that all the party guests could be equipped with as much rainbow as possible.
Isabell: Very nice. That was certainly a lovely celebration. Andreas, what was the last thing you bought?
Andreas: Unfortunately I don’t have such a cool product as Lisa with the rainbow tattoos. Mine’s a bit more mundane. I was also working in the garden yesterday and used up some fertilizer, and I reordered that yesterday.
David: But also very important! And that’s available on eBay too, which I think is great. Christian, then of course the question for you: what was the last thing you bought on eBay? And for you as a seller, even more interesting for us, what was the last thing you sold?
Christian: Yes, the last thing I bought was a "fun gift." It was a vinyl record by Mike Krüger, "Der Nippel." It was a gift for one of our employees. And sold — I just checked — it’s the sugar sprinkles again, the "Hey Sommer Mix," those are right in season.
David: Very nice. Thanks a lot to all of you for your time. Now it’s time again for my closing words. We’re very happy about your feedback on our podcast. Feel free to write to us in the eBay Community about your experience. Also if you’ve already been to an eBay Open before. Whether digital or offline in 2019. Or if you’re planning to come to eBay Open, always feel free to leave a comment. Otherwise, of course, we’d also be very happy if you leave us a subscription or a like where you’re listening to us, depending on what’s possible. And in the end, all that’s left for me to say is: thank you to all three of you, Christian, Lisa and Andreas for your time and of course Isabell. I say goodbye and until next time!
Isabell: Bye!
Christian: Bye!
Andreas: It was fun. Bye!
Lisa: Bye. I’m looking forward to eBay Open!
1 comment
gismo-gremlin
·4 years agoThe eBay operators will be patting themselves on the back, but they apparently don’t notice how **bleep** both buyers and sellers now find the platform.
Do they never look at review sites like Trustpilot, for example? 1.2 out of 5 stars, that’s almost the worst possible rating. There are plenty of reasons listed there.
And they don’t care if customers run off on them.
Too bad, eBay, it used to be fun with you. Today it’s just ripping people off... sorry, profit maximization, harassment, miserable customer service.
And there isn’t even the option to give feedback to the big shots. Shameless.