What is an eBay product and how is it created?
In this podcast episode, we explore the question of what exactly a product is in the eBay world, how it comes about, and which decision-making processes play a role in it. Torben Schwanke, Senior Manager B2C Seller Experience Europe, and internal expert on these very questions, clearly explains the role legal requirements play in the creation of products and how crucial the feedback from sellers is for his day-to-day work.
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Isabell: Hello and welcome, dear listeners, to a new episode of our third podcast. We’re very happy that you’ve tuned in again. My esteemed podcast colleagues David, Tino, and I have once again prepared a very exciting topic for you today, and we’re delighted to welcome a guest from our internal ranks.
David: Hello from my side, today we’re diving into product development at eBay. And anyone now wondering, what exactly is a product anyway? What are we talking about here? will definitely know a lot more soon.
Isabell: Exactly. And so that we can approach this topic with the right expertise, we have Torben Schwanke with us today, Senior Manager B2C Seller Experience at eBay. Hello Torben!
Torben Schwanke: Yes, hello everyone, I’m happy to be here.
Tino: Yes hello Torben, great to have you here. I had to let your job title sink in for a moment first. Can you explain to our listeners what exactly you do at eBay?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, what do I do at eBay? I take care of seller experience, the seller experience, and B2C for our business sellers, meaning the new functionalities and features that we as a marketplace provide to our business sellers. I look at those in advance and talk a lot with different sellers. To check: Does this function fit? Does the function fit for the German market? Has everything been taken into account? And that’s where the title comes from.
Isabell: Thanks, Torben, you’ve actually been at eBay for quite a long time now. Maybe you could also tell us a thing or two about your career path at eBay?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, I think I’m already one of the older colleagues at eBay, at least in terms of length of service. I actually started on the hotline back in 2006 and supported technical support for business sellers, trying to clarify and answer all technical inquiries. And a year later I switched teams and moved into account management, working as an account manager for eBay for eight years. Both in Germany and worldwide. And after that I thought I’d also like to contribute the knowledge I’d acquired up to that point on the other side, namely before products are developed at all, in the so-called design phase, where we look at where the challenges are, where we want to support sellers, and what a product needs to be able to do. How does it have to be developed so that, in the end, it actually helps sellers?
Isabell: Yes, thank you for that. Of course, we’ve also prepared some questions for you today, and I’d say let’s start right at the beginning: the term product has come up several times already. So what exactly is a product in the eBay world?
Torben Schwanke: If you look at the eBay site as a whole, then for most members, sellers, it’s just a normal site. For us, every single small frame, every line of text, every image is an individual product, and the arrangement, those are all so-called products. Products are nothing more than small programs that are displayed in different places. If we look at the eBay Germany homepage, then we have a very clear structure and we see images, texts, banners, and so on from top to bottom. And all of that has to be developed and displayed in a certain order and, of course, work as well. And the same goes for business sellers in the Seller Cockpit Pro. Every single link, every button is a function or a product.
Tino: And how does such a new product come into being, or what plays a role in the decision-making processes for a new eBay product?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, it’s always very exciting to experience. At the beginning there’s always a lot, a lot of reading—reading feedback from sellers. Understanding where there is a problem, where things are stuck, what isn’t working? So there are a lot of customer emails that we actually read. Then we try to sketch out the problem, try to draw various designs, and then it goes into the next, the second iteration. That means we have certain customer panels where we ask business sellers: “Is what we’ve developed here intuitive? Can you work with it? Does it solve the problem?” And then it’s again about asking questions, asking questions, asking questions, and listening a lot, to infer from that: Is this complete? Does it fit? Does it make sense? Does it not make sense? What do we need to adjust? What do we need to change? And what can maybe stay as it is? And what is also good? What do we keep, even as we make further iterations over time?
David: Are there also legal requirements or guidelines that play a role in product development?
Torben Schwanke: There are, in fact, legal requirements. I think that’s a pain point, if you can say it like that, for many sellers, but of course also for us as a marketplace. In the last 24 months, many requirements have been added for business sellers and also for us as a marketplace. And of course we have to see: How do we get everything done? How do we make sure everything meets the legal requirements? But also the deadlines behind them. And that sometimes makes the whole thing quite difficult, especially when it comes to meeting certain deadlines. A development cycle isn’t something where you say, okay, now we’ll build something new and then we’ll have it on the site in four weeks. Rather, we’re sometimes talking about lead times of 6, 9, or even 12 months. Yes, that’s simply due to the complexity of the site, but also of the matter itself.
David: You’ve already mentioned that a lot is read, legal requirements play a role. But what else is needed overall for a product to actually go live?
Torben Schwanke: What is needed? It’s very, very extensive. Different teams that ultimately come together like an orchestra so that everything works. We can talk about it using an example. Last year we had a change that meant we had to display a so-called energy label for tires on the marketplace, and we still do. And then you first have to look at: Okay, an energy label for tires. What should this label look like? What are the legal requirements? Where do we get this label from? Do we make it ourselves? Do we not make it ourselves? If we don’t make it ourselves, as in this case, we have an external partner. That means you first have to look at the market: Are there service providers that supply the relevant data for the different tires? Then you have to look at: Okay, once you’ve found the service provider, then it goes into contract negotiations. At the same time, there are also questions about how do I transfer the data from the service provider to us as a marketplace? Do I do that daily? Do I do it hourly? A lot of collaboration with our development team, which is distributed around the world and based in different places. And then there’s a lot of interaction with the legal department, where the size, font, font color, and color as such are defined. You do various tests. How can it be integrated? Where does it need to be integrated? Customer support has to be prepared. That means the colleagues in customer support need to get training, or at least a summary. What changes? When does it change? And if a seller contacts us and, for their product, there may be no energy label for the tire, who can the colleague then contact? The service provider also wants to be paid. That means we also have to look at budgeting. We need a help page. We have to, especially in the tire area, have a lot of products on the marketplace that come from sellers who use third-party software. That means it’s not just development that we have to do on our marketplace, developing the product in our code; we also have to speak to the third-party providers in good time so they know what’s coming. What is required for that? What new specifics do I need to build in so that I can actually display it to the seller? Just because we make something available on our interface doesn’t automatically mean it’s available in the user experience at the third-party provider. So it’s an interplay of many, many departments, both internal to eBay and external service providers, software developers, the legal department, where feedback is gathered. How is that meant? Can it be interpreted this way or that way? And when all that comes together, after various iterations, ideally you have a product ready on time.
Isabell: Torben, you’ve used the word third-party a few times now. Not all of our listeners are already experienced eBay sellers. Maybe you could briefly explain again what you mean by third-party?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, thanks for the note, Isabell. Of course, gladly. So by third-party we mean service providers who offer their software as a service, to be used to list the products that I, as a seller, have and want to offer, including on eBay, and, if necessary, also to handle my entire order management, meaning my order processing, so that I have a user interface. I manage my inventory, my data records, my entire item descriptions, everything in this third-party software, and then use it to manage my eBay business, so to speak.
Isabell: Thanks. And you’ve already mentioned a few times that sellers can give feedback and that this is also a very, very important factor in the creation of a product, especially at the beginning. Could you tell us a bit more about how that works?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, so at the beginning we often have a blank sheet of paper and look at where we want to go, where we want to further develop the marketplace. Or alternatively, we look very specifically at the feedback and see what are the 10 or 15 biggest drivers in terms of volume, where is the pain of the sellers greatest? What do we need to develop? What needs to be changed? And those are also things where we have so-called seller councils, where we have worked with sellers for a very long time simply to stay close to the market. What needs to change? What do we as a marketplace need to change? Which function needs to be expanded further? Which function doesn’t fit the German or European market at all? And it’s always about questioning ourselves again and again. It’s not that I build a product, put it on the market, and then it’s finished. Rather, after I’ve switched on a product, the second phase begins, namely really keeping an ear to the market, to the sellers, but also to customer service. To see what feedback is coming in? What kind of feedback is coming in? What else do we need to change?
Tino: Torben, then let’s stay on the topic of feedback for a moment longer. How can sellers actually give feedback?
Torben Schwanke: Yes, great question. How does feedback get to us? So, of course, very clearly: we have very, very good ears with our colleagues in customer service. They are truly worth their weight in gold for us, because they are, you could really say, first in line. They have daily contact with sellers, whether by phone, chat, or email. We get a lot of feedback, information, ideas, input from them. But we also have a feature on the site itself, whether I’m logged in or not. In Seller Cockpit Pro, for example, on the various tabs, there’s a comment field in the upper right. I can also leave comments there. And these comments reach us and are read. In Germany that’s a little more difficult. We’re a bit smaller of a team there; if you do it in English, there are significantly more colleagues who can read it. But in the end it helps us develop as a marketplace.
David: You already said that once a product is there, it’s not yet finished, but then the next phase more or less starts again. How should I picture that? Are there fixed update cycles, or does it depend on how much feedback you get or whether you see the need for an update because legal requirements may have changed or something has changed at eBay overall? How does it basically work when a product is there and then maybe needs to be updated?
Torben Schwanke: So the sequence always depends, of course, on what product we’re talking about. And of course we always strive to update all products. But like all companies in the world, we only have limited capacity. So then we look at where the pressure is greatest? What are the priorities we as a company have? And then we prioritize accordingly. What do we tackle first? If we have a new product, for example, if we stay with the tire label, then we check: Are the legal requirements met? Does everything work as it should? We do various stress tests, look at the page from top to bottom, and then on all devices that exist, whether smartphones, tablets, computers. And if everything fits, then we say: okay, ticked off, next project.
Isabell: And how much does feedback from sellers play a role here in further development, in updates? You just described the stress tests, but those are more likely done by you yourselves, right?
Torben Schwanke: So we do the stress tests ourselves in advance. We actually test all functions, in all languages and also in different sizes, the most common browsers, on different devices. Internally there are always various test scenarios where colleagues are invited to participate, which is a super exciting thing. Of course, seller feedback is also important—I can’t say that often enough, because that’s ultimately what we live on. So if a new function doesn’t work or if something on our site should ever break, sellers, just like buyers, usually notice first and contact us. And then it’s important to really look: okay, what’s broken? First I need to understand it. Ideally I can trace it, reproduce it, and then it goes to email or to conversations with colleagues, mainly in the US, where our largest development department is located, to fix the issue and, if necessary, also switch off whatever new thing was turned on. It does happen that through new products, something older has either been damaged or broken. That can’t be ruled out at all given the size we have as a marketplace.
Tino: And what happens if, in such a further development or update, let’s say we have eBay internal metrics that look great. But the feedback from sellers is not good. For example, acceptance of a new product. Whether that’s good at first?
Torben Schwanke: Absolutely. For all functionalities, all products, all features that we switch on, we have metrics where we look very closely: How is the acceptance? How is the product being received? Does it lead to the success we envisioned? Do the numbers fit? And it can absolutely happen that the feedback from one side, for example from sellers, is extremely negative, while on the other side buyers totally welcome this change. If we look back a bit further—say, several years into the past—we introduced free shipping back then for many products, as a requirement. And that was a change that neither sellers liked. For us as a marketplace, this change, this mindset shift that had to happen because that was the buyer expectation, was extremely hard and brutal at the time. All metrics from sellers said stop it. Yes, we’re done, we’re not continuing. It doesn’t work. But demand from the buyer side proved exactly the opposite: that this is what the market wanted, and we stuck with it. So just because one metric or another says switch it off doesn’t mean that’s the answer; you really have to keep digging to understand what is driving this negative feedback, this metric. And it is actually harmful in the overall consensus that marketplace or is it, at first glance, just a change? Because every person is also resistant to change. And that’s exactly where we then say: I don’t want to do this. In the end, though, it may actually be something good after all.
David: You’ve already said what happens when we launch something and it isn’t received so well. What if we have to change something or bring something new, a new product, to market because of legal requirements? I can imagine we’re even less able to do anything if there’s a lot of negative feedback; how do we work here to bring sellers along in advance so that it might go better there too?
Torben Schwanke: So what always is gets more and more challenging. It’s currently very challenging because more and more requirements are coming not only for sales in Germany, but also in Europe and worldwide. And that’s a very exciting question. We try very hard to prepare sellers in advance through communication. We have various channels, we have email communication, we have phone communication. That means we have multiple teams that contact sellers on different topics and inform them that a change is coming in the next x weeks and that they are affected by it and that one or another adjustment is required. We have so-called banners. That means when I log into my eBay member account, I may have a box above it with a notice that a change is coming soon and that I need to do something so that my listings remain visible on the eBay marketplace. We use our partners to distribute this information. We have a very broad spectrum of what we actually use and always look at: Does this fit the corresponding campaign? Does it fit the product? Is this the right thing? Or what mix do we use? Which individual component do I take? We also have influencers with whom we work. There are also regular seller updates, so-called seller updates. So it’s a very broad spectrum that we can and of course want to cover. And reaching all our sellers in time doesn’t always succeed. There we can certainly see where we can still improve. But the last few years have shown that we are on a pretty good path.
Isabell: And how can I, as a seller, make sure I don’t miss anything anymore?
Torben Schwanke: So at this point, very important: In my eBay member account, under notification settings, I can check a box, if it isn’t already checked, so that I receive information from eBay as the marketplace operator about product changes and new developments at eBay. And that’s the first step. We know that we have the challenge of sending a lot of emails as a marketplace, partly because we are legally required to and partly, of course, because a lot of new things simply come to the marketplace. And like in all areas today, there’s a certain flood of emails that you just have to figure out how to deal with. But the first channel is really to get the email and then read it whenever time allows, in order to process the information.
David: Unfortunately, we’re already at the end of our episode again. I think we could all have talked much, much longer about the whole topic. I found it especially interesting to see what eBay even understands by products and how eBay works on them. And for me, it was especially nice to see how important our sellers’ feedback is in this process. Torben, thank you very, very much for the exciting insights and for your time.
Isabell: From my side as well, a heartfelt thank you for taking the time for us today. As you know, there’s always one final question on our podcast that we always ask our guests. So I’d like to ask you now: what was the last thing you bought on eBay?
Torben Schwanke: Oh, I actually have to think about that a bit. It was a while ago. Two or three weeks ago, to be exact, I have to admit. And that was children’s movies: The NeverEnding Story 1 and 2 for our kids. And I actually managed, because I didn’t read carefully, to order not a DVD, but something that came in the size of a vinyl record. And then I thought: what is that? It was actually the predecessor to a DVD, as big as a vinyl record. And sad children’s eyes were looking at me. But we have a great selection. That means I was then allowed to buy it again, but this time actually as a DVD.
David: So it was a LaserDisc or what was that that arrived?
Torben Schwanke: Yes indeed, wow, it was actually a LaserDisc and I thought it was a vinyl record. I didn’t know it at all.
David: Then it would now be interesting whether you still went looking for a LaserDisc recorder or player.
Torben Schwanke: I actually didn’t after that. But I first had to figure out what even is that? I didn’t know it, even though I’m a few days older already, but I still didn’t know it. Indeed
Tino: That’s the small but subtle difference. From a nerd perspective I probably would have gone looking for the LaserDisc player just to try it out. Well, with that we’ll say goodbye for today and hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as we did. And dear Torben, thank you very, very much for your time.
Torben Schwanke: Yes, thank you all very much.
David: Otherwise, please feel free to leave us feedback in our community. We’re always happy when you subscribe to the podcast on the podcast platform of your choice or even rate it. And otherwise I’d say until next time.
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10 comments
aw-studio2000
·4 years agoReply to eBay podcast team employee
Colleagues are people who work with each other, not against each other. And you don’t need to pass anything on either; in our experience nobody reads it anyway, or in the relevant department nobody is intellectually capable of understanding what has been passed on. That’s the only way we can make sense of this disaster. The bureaucratic bloat built up over the years with a ´Head of go fetch water´, a ´Head of boiling water´, a ´Head of bringing coffee´ and various other ´Heads of whatever´ costs unnecessary money and is apparently more than ineffective. It might be helpful to buy a few nodding dogs instead of so many decision-makers; these could then be kept moving by a single employee, the ´Head of nodding dogs´, and thus rubber-stamp even the most absurd decision - effective and cost-efficient. It’s sad that one has to come to this view after a few years. Regards - Andreas
aw-studio2000
·4 years agoIt seems that a few developers from **bleep** already work at eBay, but are paid by **bleep**; you couldn’t sabotage a company from within any better. Unfortunately, nobody at eBay cares about that, or worse, nobody notices. It makes you wonder whether the board members aren’t embarrassed to still be collecting commissions for that.
geburtstagstassen
·4 years agoAs always with Ebay. Nothing is properly thought through. Take a few developers from **bleep**. Then you'll learn how a system can actually work. The only thing you took over from them were the seller fees.😜
podcast@ebay
Thanks @aw-studio2000, we'll pass the feedback on to our colleagues once again.
Best regards
Your eBay Podcast Team
aw-studio2000
·4 years agoThanks for the reply. 1. Under “Share your thoughts with us” we have by now pointed out about 30x that the adjustments unfortunately cannot be saved and therefore have to be made again and again in order to print consistent documents. 2. That is not correct, the consecutive invoice number is / should already be provided after selecting the desired document, at least occasionally, unfortunately in almost every 2nd printing attempt the error message "invoice number could not be generated" appears and you have to start over with the settings. 3. eBay removes product reviews - That is wishful thinking, especially in the category ´Beauty and Health´ many products are made unsellable by comments such as e.g.
" fake / counterfeit / not real / too green / too yellow / too red / and similar nonsense, reporting these pointless reviews is unfortunately pointless in our experience, it is hard to believe that this is being monitored there. We have already delisted products because nothing is done here even after several reports. 1.example out of thousands: Chanel 5 Eau de Parfum 35ml - review : " low weight and great functions
Works perfectly, tastes good with vanilla ice cream, but for chocolate ice cream I would rather recommend mustard
Verified purchase: No " . As I said, wishful thinking, unfortunately. And we could go on like this for days. With the very kindest regards that we are still capable of sending - AW-Studio2000 / Andreas Wirth
podcast@ebay
Hello @aw-studio2000! If you have suggestions regarding the new invoice documents and would like to give our product team feedback, please use the link: “Share your opinion with us”. It is important to us that we receive your concerns and suggestions. An invoice number is only assigned to an order when you click “Print” or save the document locally on your device.
eBay removes product reviews if they are inappropriate, false, or unsuitable, or if they do not relate to the product but instead, for example, assess the performance of the sellers. We monitor product reviews for violations, and members can report product reviews that violate these guidelines. For this purpose, the “Report violation” link is available with each review. eBay reviews the review and decides what happens to it.
We have taken on board the feedback regarding the delivery addresses submitted and the criticism of our customer service. We appreciate your honesty and thank you for listening to our podcast.
Best regards
Your eBay Podcast Team
aw-studio2000
·4 years agoLatest so-called “improvement”: invoice and packing slip printing
Without any real need, the old but well-functioning print option was changed into a new function that is very likely well-intentioned but amateurishly executed, where you can add adjustments like printing the item photo, etc. These adjustments cannot be saved and have to be selected and checked every time you print again. In addition, on almost every second print attempt no invoice number can be generated, so everything has to be canceled and then created again from scratch.
Product ratings / reviews: Very useful tool, the introduction was long overdue
Unfortunately so poorly done that the damage outweighs the benefit. From a business perspective, a disaster.
Furthermore, eBay still has not managed to provide sellers with delivery addresses in a controlled state, the way everyone else does. Example: My stored delivery address: "
Preferred delivery address
"eBay accepts everything without sending an error message, which costs a lot of time and nerves
because 50% of the addresses here are incorrect.
Germany
+49 111111111111111 "
This delivery address was accepted by eBay without any error message or checking, that doesn't happen anywhere else.
eBay customer service used to be one of the best things on the market, but since eBay took away all its powers, the still so-called “customer service” is little more than a bad joke.
And that's how it is with every change and new feature that has been sold here as an “improvement” in recent years. .....
mssportsandtoys
·4 years agoI don’t understand where the problem is; please just explain calmly what’s bothering you.
I really think all the eBay changes are good.
aw-studio2000
·4 years agoLots of blah blah, but there are worlds between the wishful thinking cited here and the sad reality. Not even the simplest ‘products’ are thought through to the end. One constantly gets the feeling that amateurs are working here, and unfortunately not particularly well. And that unfortunately runs like a red thread through almost everything that has appeared here in recent years as a so-called ‘improvement’.
mssportsandtoys
·4 years agoVery interesting conversation.
Small note: new Ebay products or changes should be displayed better.