eBay

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

I was a bit confused yesterday when I saw that CEO Jamie Iannone, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia conference, said he had brought in a new Head of Selling - that was the first I had heard of a possible new hire for the position and as far as I know, no big announcement has been made.

So I dug around a bit and found the answer buried at the very bottom of the eBay Open speakers list, Xiaodi Zhang is the new VP Seller Experience.

Xiaodi Zhang has recently rejoined eBay as VP of Seller Experience, which includes seller inventory management tools, shipping, messages, stores and feedback.

During her career, Xiaodi has built a reputation for positioning startups and established companies to innovate, evolve, and thrive in competitive global markets. Previously, at eBay, she was a Director in Buyer Experience, where she created a Product Management and Design organization at eBay’s Development Center in Shanghai.

Xiaodi is the latest boomerang rehire, returning to eBay after a 10 year stint as Chief Product Officer at 1stDibs. In her previous time at eBay, she filled various product management roles starting in 2004 and was Director of Buyer experience from 2007-2010.

I'm sure we can all agree *a lot* has changed around here since 2010. It will be interesting to hear what Xiaodi thinks of all those changes and what her plans are to improve the selling experience going forward.

Can't wait to hear from her at eBay Open next week!

t-bone543 · ‎09-13-2022

Who does she replace in that role?

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@t-bone543 wrote:
Who does she replace in that role?

@t-bone543 that's a great question! Unfortunately like a lot of things with eBay it's not an easy or direct answer lol.

Harry Temkin was previously VP Seller Experience, but left the company in June 2021.

They didn't hire an official replacement for that role after he left, but at the Spring Seller Check In in March 2022, CMO Andrea Stairs said that then VP Product Engineering Mark Weinberg would be "leading seller experience" going forward, which sounded like he was finally going to be filling Harry's shoes after so long with no one really in charge of things.

Time stamped video: https://youtu.be/LpqPDql8nrY?t=1595

However, just one month after that, in April 2022, Mark quietly slipped out the back door and left eBay altogether without any indication he had ever actually taken over the seller experience role.

So technically it's been over a year since eBay officially had a VP Seller Experience, as far as I know, but who knows what's been going on behind the scenes?

sextons-sweet-deals · ‎09-13-2022

I have to question why there has been so many who either left on their own or was forced and then return. Is that really a normal practice in the corporate management world?

O.P. comment: boomerang rehire

I remember an older post in the past calling it a revolving door for previous employees.

Just very interesting to me!

greatstuff80 · ‎09-13-2022

Those who have been holding their breath waiting for wonderful changes that will actually help sellers expired a long time ago.

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:
I have to question why there has been so many who either left on their own or was forced and then return. Is that really a normal practice in the corporate management world?

O.P. comment: boomerang rehire

I remember an older post in the past calling it a revolving door for previous employees.

Just very interesting to me!

@sextons-sweet-deals there has been a lot of high level turnover just in the last 6 months and while yes a certain amount of it is to be expected in the corporate world, it definitely makes you wonder.

Just a few examples:

Chief Product Officer Pete Thompson left in April, replaced by Eddie Garcia, another boomerang rehire.

VP Buyer Experience Product & Engineering Mohan Patt left in April to become VP, Engineering, Commerce at Meta/Facebook - no replacement announced.

VP Buyer Experience Bradford Shellhammer left in June to become Chief Product Officer at Etsy owned musical instrument marketplace Reverb - no replacement announced.

VP Engineering Seller Experience Scot Hamilton left in July to take a role at Amazon as VP Planning and Routing Technology - no replacement announced.

VP Stores Tom Pinckney left in July - no replacement announced.

Head of Europe Rob Hattrell and SVP International Joo Man Park both also left in July. Instead of replacing them, eBay has opted to consolidate all domestic and international operations under Jordan Sweetnam, previously SVP GM Americas, now SVP Global Markets.

Several of those who've left and gone to competitors had been at eBay 16+ years, which begs the question why they'd leave after all that time.

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@greatstuff80 wrote:
Those who have been holding their breath waiting for wonderful changes that will actually help sellers expired a long time ago.

@greatstuff80 definitely understand the sentiment and don't disagree - there's a lot of work to be done to improve seller relations, for sure.

Not holding my breath at all, but at the same time, willing to give the new (re)hire a fair shot at least.

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎09-13-2022

LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT THE 4(OR MORE) EBAY EXECUTIVES THAT ARE EITHER IN JAIL OR ON PROBATION FOR TERRORIZING PEOPLE.

hartungcards · ‎09-13-2022

I hope she's up-to-date on the current FVF's. She better sign up for Managed Payments too.

wrong66 · ‎09-13-2022

The time to bury that is long overdue. Let it go. That was years ago.

wrong66 · ‎09-13-2022

Maybe Mark took a look at the "actual" seller experience and "ran" out the back door.

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@the-hook-and-the-loop wrote:
LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT THE 4(OR MORE) EBAY EXECUTIVES THAT ARE EITHER IN JAIL OR ON PROBATION FOR TERRORIZING PEOPLE.

@the-hook-and-the-loop technically only one has gone to prison so far. 😉

2 more set for sentencing at the end of this month and the fate of the others to be determined after that.

My understanding is the ones who cooperated with the authorities and assisted in the investigation have all had sentencing held, pending the outcome for the ones who did not cooperate, so we'll have to wait and see if they get lighter sentences or perhaps only probation or home confinement.

hartungcards · ‎09-13-2022

Don't poke the bear.

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@hartungcards wrote:
I hope she's up-to-date on the current FVF's. She better sign up for Managed Payments too.

@hartungcards exactly! So many things I can think of that have changed since 2010. In a lot of ways, it really is a completely different marketplace than the one she left.

I think it would be fascinating to have her stop by the community for a chat and share her thoughts on how things have changed and what her plans are for the future, but I know better than to hold my breath for that. 🤣

valueaddedresource · ‎09-13-2022

@wrong66 wrote:
Maybe Mark took a look at the "actual" seller experience and "ran" out the back door.

@wrong66 that's entirely possible. 🤣

He lasted about 18 months at eBay after 18 years at Microsoft. Perhaps he decided the tech led reimagination was simply too much for even a man of his experience to handle.