I have been to several eBay events and hope I can answer some of your concerns and give you some feedback.
"Am contemplating going to the eBay open; can anyone who has attended tell me if they truly felt like it helped them enough to make it worthwhile from a financial perspective as registration airfare and room/board will probably run me $1200 or so not to even begin to mention all of the lost sales I would incur in that period. "
I believe that what you gain by going to one of these events will help you in your business. It is also tax deductible( consult your accountant for details) it is worth every penny.As for lost sales ... if you have a store you can put your store on vacation and increase your handling time, if you do not have a store then you can increase your handling time in all of your items and process the orders when you get back....
Not to mention how cool it is to hear a cha-ching and have tons of sellers and staff clap for you!!!
"One thing that I'm curious about is whether or not sellers feel like, after attending they see greater visibility for their items. There are many factors that eBay has that determine an item's visibility such as new listings, seller click thru rates, seller status, return rates, seller infractions to name a few. "
I agree that your items get greater visibility after an event like this and it is because you come back with fresh ideas and start implementing them , and these ideas might come from eBay staff or from sellers or from both!
"a seller who attends the eBay Open conferences is more inclined to drink eBay's metaphorical Kool-Aid."
I been to several events , (I been a seller since 1999) and I have never felt eBay feeding me the Kool-Aid. The staff that you meet at these event are top of the line. They truly care and the only way for you to see this is by being in contact with them eye to eye.. there is a lot to be said for human interaction... when you sit across someone and you voice your concerns , ideas or suggestions is much different than talking via email , phone or chat.
I been to several eBay events ( as mentioned above) and I always come out learning something that I can apply to my business to make me money.
I have a tip if you decide to go... make sure you take a picture of the ID bage of the person you are talking to ... it will be much easier when you are home if you need to contact them again... and guess what if you do need to contact them .... they will reply 🙂
If you have any questions, let me know I will love to help you decide 🙂
