Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Walmart snagged a 12-year veteran of eBay as it revealed plans to open its Marketplace to thousands of sellers. Jordan Sweetnam was most recently Vice President of Seller Experience for eBay, where he oversaw the development, strategy and delivery of tools and experiences to sellers. He joined Walmart this month as Vice President of Global Product at Walmart eCommerce.

 

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y16/m04/i26/s01

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

I wonder.... given the opportunity, how many Canadians here would love to sell their products through Walmart, the largest retailer in the world?

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Maybe Walmart should just buy Ebay, fix it and run it under their name as a subsidiary

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

I read that this morning too and, frankly, I'm surprised that an ebay executive at that level isn't held to some kind of non-competition clause upon leaving the workplace. 

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience


@dutchman48 wrote:

Maybe Walmart should just buy eBay, fix it and run it under their name as a subsidiary


If Walmart was to run eBay, I can just see the fee increases to squeeze every last dime out of sellers and force sellers to list at the lowest possible price at the same time.

 

On tyrannical controlling owner for a worse one.

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Isn't that what Ebay is doing now?

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

eBay forces you to list at the lowest possible price?

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

When I look in Walmart.com for some of the stuff I sell, there is one approved Marketplace seller that I've seen. (He is also a well-known ebay seller with his/her own website sales.) His prices are not the lowest possible on Walmart.com but, all the same, I would be challenged to meet them as a Canadian seller if I were to try to compete at some point in the future. There is a wide Retail Price disparity between goods found in the USA vs. Canada in the Toys category (even factoring exchange) due to economies of scale. 

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience


@pocomocomputing wrote:

@dutchman48 wrote:

Maybe Walmart should just buy eBay, fix it and run it under their name as a subsidiary


If Walmart was to run eBay, I can just see the fee increases to squeeze every last dime out of sellers and force sellers to list at the lowest possible price at the same time.

 

On tyrannical controlling owner for a worse one.


I can see it now, a virtual warehousing fee/price decay function. Your listings haven't turned in 90 days and are now subject to a 10% per month mandatory price reduction.

Message 9 of 14
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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience


@pocomocomputing wrote:

@dutchman48 wrote:

Maybe Walmart should just buy eBay, fix it and run it under their name as a subsidiary


If Walmart was to run eBay, I can just see the fee increases to squeeze every last dime out of sellers and force sellers to list at the lowest possible price at the same time.

 

On One tyrannical controlling owner for a worse one.


Sorry typo. I am such a poor proofreader even on 3 line posts!

Message 10 of 14
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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Reading Sam Walton's biography was very interesting.

For example, he was given $5000 to start his business by his father in law.

While that sounds like nothing much, that was my father's annual wage as a unionized electrician at the time.

 

And their pricing is not always the cheapest, but they subsidize the price on frequently purchased items like light bulbs and toilet paper to give that illusion.

 

And yes, they are known for squeezing their suppliers.

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience


@pocomocomputing wrote:

@pocomocomputing wrote:

@dutchman48 wrote:

Maybe Walmart should just buy eBay, fix it and run it under their name as a subsidiary


If Walmart was to run eBay, I can just see the fee increases to squeeze every last dime out of sellers and force sellers to list at the lowest possible price at the same time.

 

On One tyrannical controlling owner for a worse one.


Sorry typo. I am such a poor proofreader even on 3 line posts!


I never notice my own typos until I hit 'post'. Every time, I have to go back and 'edit' my post.

 

Was this this former VP guy well-regarded here? I really would have thought at that level of business, an executive would be unable to migrate to a competitor upon exit. Maybe ebay is sending him to Walmart Marketplaces with their 'blessings' like a blanket contaminated with smallpox. 

Message 12 of 14
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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Well this announcement has a certain har-money to it. The one-time level (long ago) playing field acting as a farm team for the world's most slanted gigantic playing field... 🙂

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Walmart hired the head of eBay Seller Experience

Doesn't surprise me one bit. Ebay is all about us selling for less so that profits are more. Isn't that Wal Mart's motto afterall. I hope Jordan sweetnam was able to get more than the minimum wage!Smiley LOL

 

    JORDAN

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