ebay and AI --- It's not just about listing descriptions...
From a recent article:
https://www.semafor.com/article/10/09/2025/how-jamie-iannone-made-ebay-an-investor-collectible
“Our competitor was friction in the process,†he says, but AI has been “a real game-changer†in helping eBay reduce that friction. A user wondering whether to sell a trading card, for example, can now snap a picture with their phone, and eBay’s AI tools will identify the collectible, draft a description of it, suggest an attractive background for the image, and offer advice on how to price it.
“All of a sudden, you can unlock this stuff in seconds,†Iannone says, adding that about 10 million sellers have so far used such tools to list more than 200 million items. Chatbots’ ability to answer potential buyers’ questions about an item’s condition or shipping costs, meanwhile, can spare sellers from having to respond to time-consuming messages.
Behind the scenes, eBay is using AI to identify trends it can jump on, from clothing resembling Taylor Swift’s engagement dress to the vintage Oasis merchandise that became popular again when the band went on tour. It has also deployed the technology to improve the wording of the emails it sends to customers, prompting 40% more engagement through sharper subject lines.
Such initiatives have been propelled by a culture of spreading AI expertise through the company, and showcasing the best of its AI projects to employees so they understand what can be replicated, or adapted, by their own teams.
Iannone recently brought thousands of colleagues together on eBay’s San Jose campus for an “AI week†with speakers from the likes of OpenAI and presentations from two dozen of its own employees, selected from “hundreds†who had written white papers on AI use cases.
He also launched a program that places “AI ambassadors†in every corner of the business, from engineering to finance, who can help each area understand how best to use the latest open source and proprietary AI tools.
carip17
·10 months agoIt will blow up in his face anyway. Another person who has no clue of how anything works.
onlinecentral
·10 months agoWe attend for 13 years to graduate from high school. Degrees from universities require more years. What grade level is AI at right now?
Music, still photos and short animated video clips amaze me.
Composition is lagging behind. It is inflated with useless phrases such as "A must have for any Collection", or "Sure to be a conversation starter".
I acknowledge that a good description for an older item without the original package is more difficult to compose.
The description for an item that came in a retail package should contain all of the text on the 6 sides of the box. Picture a shopper in an aisle grabbing a box off a shelf, reading the text and rotating the box to read the next side. Our descriptions should contain the features and benefits in paragraphs and bullet points. The specifications and compatible makes/models should be in tables.
Years ago, I was hoping the eBay Catalog would get all of that text. It would be a time saver to enter your UPC code and the Catalog could provide all of that text that someone else had previously entered. Then add your condition and idiosyncrasies.
Does anyone remember why the Catalog was discontinued?
tobaccocardyahoo
·10 months agoI use the Microsoft Co-Pilot branded version of ChatGpt for some research on the historic context of items I list.
Usually after I have researched in a more traditional manner with a search engine. Usually when I have had little success.
Sometimes it gives me incorrect information which I had found myself, and can prove it is incorrect, The source is often a known source of incorrect information - wikipedia.
Often, it gives me inadequate information. Sometimes, I can guide it to provide more information and help it find context. For whatever reason, the search did not provide me with the information it found. Since Co-Pilot is likely to provide me with its source of information I can judge whether there is reason to disqualify the source.
I have many many years of experience doing research in libraries and online. Ai can help, but can't be relied upon to do the job on its own for the issues I need researched. When it might be relied upon, I cannot predict, perhaps never if it is not trained with the proper information.
It does not save me time, but it is a tool that has helped me find answers when I could not on my own or wrong answers when I had found the real answers.
broto_64
·10 months agoIannone says
That's where I stopped reading.
I can create ads that are being generated with AI with simple graphics program too.
It's not about AI being so wonderful, it's about knowing the platform you're working with.
So what is this, more dumbing down of the genpop?
We'll just get them to use AI for everything, instead of a program for this and another program for that...
Yeah, ok...
Whatever, and ultimately (and maybe I'm wrong here) but once everyone's onboard the tune changes to a paid model (Oh that's right I almost forgot, we already have to pay for most things we want AI to do).
tobaccocardyahoo
·11 months agoEbay is now generating multiple emails and messages to me about items I looked at and did not watch. Not one email per listing but several over a day or two.
I am going to program a bot killer to attack Ebay's bots if this keeps up.
IMO these messages reduce the apparent value of the item by making the sellers appear to be desperate for a sale.
boomersbiz46
·10 months agowe are getting desperate for Sales! LOL
valueaddedresource
·11 months ago@gurlcat true - and I guess it would just be asking entirely too much for CEOs to run their companies well enough so that they actually deliver on the hype and earn honest positive coverage. 😂
gurlcat
·11 months agoI drool for the day when the shareholders of some corporation come to the realization that Chief Executive Officer is actually pretty high on the list of Jobs AI Could Be Doing. 🤣
valueaddedresource
·11 months agoOnce again I am begging journalists who interview tech company CEOs about AI tools to actually spend at least 5 minutes using said AI tools before conducting the interview so as to have something remotely intelligent or interesting to ask as follow ups and provide readers with actually useful information rather than just being a conduit or regurgitator of corporate pr spin. 🙄
gurlcat
·11 months agoProblem is, it's not too hard to picture a journalist being able to do that only ONE time and never again, because what corporation that just wants to regurgitate spin would agree to give an interview to that person, after they've shown an interest and capability to do honest journalism?
luckythewinner
·11 months agoThat article describes what almost every technology company is doing with AI right now.
gurlcat
·11 months agoI would totally be interested in watching someone (NOT an eBay employee) demonstrating these wonders "in the wild" like going into a Goodwill or whatever with their phone. You could already do comp-finding pretty easily that way, but if the AI is programmed to suggest pricing anything like that module to the right of the price box on the listing screen .... then it would definitely lean toward UNDER-pricing, based on so-called "similar" items while literally ignoring IDENTICAL items that sold for more.
eBay's interest is hosting a listing for as little time possible, even if hosting it longer would fetch a higher price (and a higher FVF take).
Oh, and I'd brace myself for a big giggle fit at the promotion rate it would surely suggest too.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP11 months ago@gurlcat The other day I was sourcing. I know little about Squishmallows. But there was a whole table of them. I took a photo of the entire table and asked ChatGPT to tell me if there was any item there worth $25 or more. It actually gave me pretty good answers, and asked me good questions.
But you do have to realize that it isn't always right.
gurlcat
·11 months agoBut that was independent of eBay right?
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP10 months ago@gurlcat "But that was independent of eBay right? "
Yes. AI, but not ebay's AI. I used ChatGPT.
Another example of ChatGPT. I'm running a sale this weekend. I realize probably only a small percentage of people actually view my store home page, which is why I don't like to spend a lot of time on it. The "marketing banner" ---with the guy in the sports coat---was created using ChatGPT. Took me only a few minutes (I have no artistic talent)
(So you don't need to go to my Homepage, here:
AI has multiple uses for ebay sellers. Unfortunately, ebays in- house AI is not as useful for most things.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP10 months agoJust wondering: does anyone here use AI sites like ChatGPT to help with their business? If so, in what way(s) do you use it?
jonathanbrightlight
·10 months agoI have attempted to use ChatGPT for several purposes, but it has ranged from being insufficient to be insufferably difficult to flat out lying to me. I will probably continue to attempt using it at times, but I have less than zero trust in it.
broto_64
·10 months agoThat has been my experience as well, it apparently takes a type of person that understands how this AI works? I don't know, but it didn't work for me either, and a few other platforms out there are just as bad.
chapeau-noir
·10 months agoI haven't found it can do anything I can't do just as well and as quickly, just because the applications I would us it for (being a humble clothing seller) are pretty darned basic. I can write little descriptions and throw together simple graphics required for here.
For my research job, I don't use it much because for aggregating any text that requires judgment or clarity, I have to double check everything.
ETA: The uses for AI in sales I think will be more fulfilled in search and operations.
pennpicker
·10 months agoGlad I'm not the only one to realize that. Why of late I've been hesitant to list anything.
Watching some sneakers a few weeks ago. Bought some locally before the auction ended so didn't bid. Created a dummy listing for this response. Note the eBay suggested price. What a joke. A race to the bottom.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/317199334452
gurlcat
·10 months agoOh but don't let that silly thing discourage you from listing. It only works if you let it, but you know better so consider that a strength on your part!
pennpicker
·10 months agoI would like to think that is true but from my experience, whenever I list something far out of whack with where eBay thinks my item should be priced at, I lose visibility. This has been going on since late 2023 when I first noticed it occurring. Got in the habit of not bothering to list certain more unique items until after the erroneous comparables would drop off the 90 day radar.
Examples would include an original painting being comped with a fake and an original antique frame being comped with a print by an artist of the same name with little value. Others, like the sneakers presented above, are simply flawed data ignoring what I was trained to do so long ago which is to throw out the highs and lows when conducting valuations for potential consignors to the auction house I worked at in my youth.
pennpicker
·10 months agoOn the other hand, if I notice something has sold recently for a great price, and I have something similar, it is the perfect opportunity to list my example(s).
gurlcat
·10 months agoWell it certainly appears the algorithm continues to 'judge' our pricing even after we list, as seen in these prompts at the top of Seller Hub that started springing up a while back.
Incidentally, that statement about "Your prices" makes it sound like your whole store is overpriced 🙄 but if you click on that 'Adjust prices' thing, it turns out that only some (in this case only TWO) items are "guilty".
And of course, even if you cow to the pressure to reduce those items' prices, it's not like you won't see that prompt on the screen next time you log in; it will just be another one, for X number of other items that are allegedly X% higher than "similar" items. It's never enough; it never stops making these suggestions.
But as for whether you get reduced visibility for "overpriced" items ..... if that's true (and I wouldn't doubt it) I would still assert that it's not that simple. Remember, by definition an algorithm is an equation of multiple variables with multiple 'weights' of importance.
I recently helped someone here with identifying and listing a pretty important (to collectors) costume jewelry piece, literally worth thousands. Since it was in flawless condition and I knew she had better photography skills and seller reputation than historic sales, also that there was only one other specimen currently listed anywhere online (and in lesser condition than hers), I suggested she price it a little bit above any sales in the 2-year research records, but with 'make offer' enabled. I even looked up the time difference between U.S. Central and Beijing time zones, since American and Chinese buyers are the most frequent buyers of these highly prized pieces, and recommended starting the listing at a time that straddled American supper time and Chinese breakfast time, LOL. -That way neither market would be asleep the moment the listing dropped. One of the biggest algorithmic factors is buyer interest early after listing; the "hotter" it appears from the start, the more visibility it gets .... and keeps.
And sure enough, this thing started getting views and watchers out the wazoo immediately (24 watchers in 48 hours, if I recall), so it stayed on Page 1 of 'Best Match' results for days -not for detailed searches of this exact piece, but of the whole brand and jewelry type (Trifari brooch) -even with dozens if not hundreds of other Trifari brooches being listed in that time. This one was special, and the algorithm could tell from buyer interest, so that overrode it being "overpriced" big time.
Sneakers are too far outside my wheelhouse to say anything about, but I suspect if you listed an authentic painting priced appropriately, the historic prices of fakes wouldn't have too big of a deleterious visibility effect, assuming you do everything else well when creating the listing.
sreu3058
·11 months agoMy problem is: I don’t want a computer to show me what ‘it’ thinks I want.
I know what I want.
I know how to type and communicate.
I do not need psychological assistance from a machine guessing.
tortuga_trading
·11 months ago"If I would have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford.
(I'm with you, AI sucks. It's getting harder and harder to watch YouTube.)
valueaddedresource
·11 months ago@tortuga_trading funny you should pick that quote - I actually found this part of the article even more laughable than the AI stuff:
Courting customers for their ideas
“If your employees really understand what you’re going after, and you give them the freedom, they will really create amazing things for you,†Iannone says, but he sees eBay’s customers as its other greatest source of inspiration. “They’re on the site 24/7, and they have the best ideas about what could help them.â€
Word of mouth recommendations are eBay’s biggest source of new business, so Iannone puts a premium on engaging the site’s most ardent users. In August, he held the first in-person “eBay Open†event since the pandemic, gathering thousands of its biggest US sellers in Las Vegas for two days of workshops.
The sellers entered through a “clapping tunnel†of applauding eBay staff, with Iannone at the end, offering high fives and selfies. (“We all know that we have jobs because of them,†he explains.) The agenda included several feedback sessions, in which eBay’s most active users were invited to tell the company what it could improve.
Iannone says his own conversations with eBay users have prompted changes, such as raising the limit on the number of photographs featured in each handbag listing, and alerts that advise sellers when a buyer is loyal enough to merit a special offer or a personalized note.
“When the CEO is talking to sellers and buyers all the time, and then the whole organization starts doing that, you can massively improve the pace of innovation,†he says. For the same reason, he encourages staff to buy and sell on the site regularly. His own recent purchases include a pair of refurbished headphones for his daughter. (“She gets a two-year warranty. A new product comes with, like, 90 days or a year,†he raves.)
Because you know if someone actually spent 5 minutes talking to say the average user in this forum....more pictures for handbag listings and repeat buyer badges have totally been a top request/priority from buyers and sellers on the site. 😂
Also, considering all the stock that Jamie has cashed in recently (not to mention his annual regular comp package), pretty sure his daughter is not going to have to be jumping through the nightmare hoops of the Allstate warranty process if those refurbished headphones crap out early.