eBay's Hairless Chris Tonsilitis takes his stubble to StubHub

[mandy]

Final Message from the inept Hairless Chris to eBay Stores sellers:

eBay Stores Evolution

Dear eBay Store sellers,

The Past

In April of 2003, I had the privilege and honor of joining eBay to manage the US eBay Stores business. At the time, there were many eBay sellers with an eBay Store but the Stores product was very basic. The only customization allowed was a choice of one of 16 colors and the ability to provide a logo which had to be hosted elsewhere. Store Inventory listings only appeared within a seller’s eBay Store and never appeared in the main search of eBay.com.

Since I started at eBay, the eBay Stores team has worked diligently to use feedback from you, our hard working seller Community, to improve eBay Stores. We added a ton of customization options and many tools to promote and track your eBay sales. We also added Store Inventory listings to search results when eBay's main search returns 30 or fewer Auction-style and Fixed Price results.

From 2005 onward, my responsibilities at eBay have increased to include other areas including ProStores, Trading Platforms, the eBay Developers Program, Shipping and parts of Seller Marketing. But for nearly 4 years the eBay Stores business has been my baby and main area of focus. I am very proud of how eBay Stores has evolved over the years and very thankful to all of you for your tremendous part in that evolution.

The Future

Given that brief recap of the past, I wanted to focus now on the future. While I have greatly enjoyed serving all of you and leading the eBay Stores team, it is now time for me to take on a new challenge. With our recent announcement of our intention to acquire StubHub, I have been asked to help manage StubHub and the overall eBay Tickets business. While I am very excited to do this, I am also saddened that my work with the eBay Stores Community will soon be ending.

New Management

I am happy to announce that my replacement is Lori Goler, the new Senior Director of Stores, with responsibility for both eBay Stores and ProStores. Lori is an eBay veteran. She started at eBay before me. She and I have been close colleagues my entire time at eBay and I think she’s terrific and super smart. Lori’s previous roles at eBay include running merchandising, buyer marketing and category management. Lori will be reporting to eBay Senior Vice President, Mike Linton, who was the former chief marketing officer of Best Buy. Together, Mike and Lori’s strong marketing and retail backgrounds will provide a fresh perspective to eBay Stores that I know will serve all of you well.

Same Great Team

Luckily, the dedicated team of people who run eBay Stores day to day is remaining. Darlene, Arty and Rilla will continue to focus on Stores marketing and planning, and Jake Jake and Evan will continue to run Stores product management. Lori will work with them closely to continue to improve eBay Stores.

Continued Investment in eBay Stores in 2007

Lori and I share the same perspective on eBay Stores. We want to continue to see the eBay Stores business grow by helping the passionate group of eBay Store sellers be successful. I’m happy to let you know that we have some new and exciting features and marketing programs in store – no pun intended – for you in 2007. A few you can expect before April of this year include the following:

• Stores Markdown Manager: This new feature will allow you to offer reduced pricing on all or a subset of your Fixed Price and Store Inventory listings quickly and easily. Think of it as an easy way to put your eBay Store on sale.

• Stores Merchandising Tools: These improvements will make it easier than ever to create powerful merchandising through added functionality for Stores Promotion Boxes.

• Stores Marketing Promotion to Buyers: As we did last June, we will be creating a promotion that educates buyers on the benefits of shopping with eBay Stores sellers and rewards them for buying from an eBay Store.

Stay tuned for more details on the above. I know that you will see more great things from the eBay Stores team in 2007.

Thank You

In closing, I want to thank you, first and foremost, for having an eBay Store. I also want to thank you for making my experience with eBay Stores so special. It has been a great honor serving you. I have learned a lot from what you have told me on the discussion boards and via email. I really appreciate all of your comments, even the critical ones, because your feedback is what pushes us to be better. Please continue to post on this discussion board with your thoughts on eBay Stores.

Last, but not least, please welcome Lori into the eBay Stores Community. I know she will be a great advocate for you.

All the best for a very successful 2007.

Chris Tsakalakis
Vice President, Advanced Solutions

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?t...1000423329&tstart=0

Message from the new head of eBay Stores:

Dear eBay Stores Sellers,

As Chris Tsakalakis moves on to his new role at eBay, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and to thank Chris for his commitment and dedication to eBay Stores and our vibrant community of Stores sellers. Under Chris’ leadership, the eBay Stores business has grown and thrived as Chris and the very dedicated team of people who run the eBay Stores business have improved the functionality of eBay Stores over the years based on the feedback they’ve received from you. Please join me in wishing Chris well in his new endeavors.

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to serve eBay Stores and, most importantly, our passionate and dedicated eBay Stores sellers. I’m particularly interested in seeing the business grow by helping Store sellers achieve success. To that end, we’re really excited to introduce some exciting new features that you’ll hear about in the coming weeks and months.

I am also very excited and privileged to be working more closely with the same committed and passionate team that has been running the eBay Stores business. Darlene, Arty, Rilla, Jake Jake and Evan will remain in their current roles. Together, we will continue to invest in and improve eBay Stores.

We will be hosting our monthly eBay Stores BBL on Tuesday, January 30 at 12noon PT. I invite you to join the team and me to review any questions you might have about the eBay Stores product, recent feature announcements or any other Stores topics you’d like to discuss.

I look forward to hearing from you all as we continue the eBay Stores tradition of working in partnership with eBay Stores sellers to improve eBay Stores and grow eBay Store sellers’ businesses.

Sincerely, Lori

eBay Stores and ProStores

[DecorativeDishes]

• Stores Markdown Manager: This new feature will allow you to offer reduced pricing on all or a subset of your Fixed Price and Store Inventory listings quickly and easily. Think of it as an easy way to put your eBay Store on sale.

Does anyone else find it ironic that this is the first new feature he mentioned... Kim

[BellisimaJ.]

Based on the two speeches I have read, written by Lori, I have to conclude that she was not an English major.

To that end, we’re really excited to introduce some exciting new features that you’ll hear about in the coming weeks and months.

and here:

http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...l#msg40771

We look forward to your participation and will attempt to answer all of your eBay Stores questions as quickly as possible. Based on your questions, we'll also offer tips to ensure that you're using Stores to maximize your business. We are committed to answering your questions as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this equitably, we ask for your cooperation -- please limit your questions to two (2) per user.

Redundancy really annoys me! 

[thentavius]

It's also darned annoying that she probably makes a lot more money than the company's professional copywriters and editors.

[sneakymagenta]

same committed and passionate team that has been running the eBay Stores business. Darlene, Arty, Rilla, Jake Jake and Evan will remain in their current roles

Stores team done shrunk! :blinkie:  It used to have at least 10 members.

Chris (kneeling) with part of his team.
(From L to R): Greg, Julian, Jen, Cathy, Ryan,
Vivian, Curtis, Carole, and Angela (foreground)

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=cet%40ebay.com

Did Nalani Carole get FIRED from her new Director of Stores job? 
http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...,4014.html

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=sneakymagenta link=topic=6748.msg40830#msg40830 date=1169349615]

same committed and passionate team that has been running the eBay Stores business. Darlene, Arty, Rilla, Jake Jake and Evan will remain in their current roles

Stores team done shrunk! :blinkie:  It used to have at least 10 members.

Chris (kneeling) with part of his team.
(From L to R): Greg, Julian, Jen, Cathy, Ryan,
Vivian, Curtis, Carole, and Angela (foreground)

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=cet%40ebay.com

Did Nalani Carole get FIRED from her new Director of Stores job? 
http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...,4014.html
[/quote]

It did shrink. :blinkie:

I hope the incompetent witch, Nalani-Carole, was fired or demoted!

 


Edited to add:

Great title, Mandy!!