eBay Kills eBay Open Event in Germany – What About the U.S.?

eBay kills eBay Open in Germany, with seven in-person local events to be held around the country. In its announcement to German sellers, the company said these local events will replace the eBay Open format and are designed to not only attract business sellers, but private sellers as well.

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The good news is that the local one-day events will be completely free of charge.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with eBay staff, who will be presenting topics to guide sellers in enhancing their sales on the platform as well as feature informative workshops covering various topics.

eBay Germany has shared the lineup of topics that will be explored during the initial two local conferences, which feature identical topics. The morning sessions will be tailored specifically for business sellers and will dive into subjects like SEO, marketing tools, and expanding into international sales.

In the afternoon, the agenda includes topics specific to private sellers, such as best practices for creating listings and covering taxation issues.

There is also one agenda item for business sellers discussing new features and what they may mean for their business.

Attendees must register as either a business or private seller and the agenda times seem to suggest that business sellers will be done by the end of the business day, while private sellers will be able to join during the late afternoon and evening.

These new local German eBay events seem to be similar to eBay UK’s Business Roadshow events which feature a similar approach, except that in Germany the company is also focusing on attracting private sellers.

What Does This Mean for eBay Open in the U.S.?

About two weeks ago, eBay teased that it will provide an “update on the biggest seller event of the year (Wait, did someone say eBay Open?!)” during the Summer Seller Check-In scheduled for Thursday, May 25 at 3 pm EST (Noon PST).

While last year’s eBay Open also had a local tie-in, it was very short and only in a couple of locations. Through the years, eBay has toured the U.S. with mini one-day conferences, but it seems eBay is better served to reach more sellers by staying with an online webinar-style conference.

We will learn more on Thursday, but it doesn’t appear that eBay will kill eBay Open in the U.S. as it has done in Germany and replace it with one-day seminar-style events. Last year’s eBay Open was held in September.

Sellers who cannot attend the Summer Seller Check-In can always check at ebayopen.com for the latest updates on national webinars, conferences, and local meetups.