eBay For Business Podcast Abruptly Discontinued - Is Host Jim "Griff" Griffith Retiring?

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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UPDATE 9-25-24

Griff has confirmed the eBay For Business Podcast Facebook Group is not going away, but will "evolve" and he's not retiring...yet.


Today's episode of the eBay for Business Podcast will surprisingly be the last, with host Jim "Griff" Griffith making the announcement the show will not go on with parting words at the end of this week's Fall Q&A roundup.

After answering a slew of seller questions, Griff and co-host Kayomi Kayoshi dropped the bombshell news that the podcast has been discontinued, effective immediately.

Ep 312 || Our Fall Q & A Episode
The week, Kayomi and Griff answer your questions; What to do if a return is shipped by the buyer but never received; eBay Standard Envelope and tracking; Item delayed in transit; Buyer requests to split up a lot; and auction winner requests to hold off shipping in order to combine shipping. Plus a s…

Griff:...and now a special announcement. Now as of this episode, the eBay for business podcast is discontinuing production.

We want to thank the many sellers and eBay employees who've been guests on our podcast since its launch in August of 2018. And we would also be remiss without recognizing our past co hosts, Alan Aizbitt, Doug Smith, Audrey Tracy, Liz Austin, Brian Burke, and of course, Kayomi Kayoshi.

Kayomi: That's me.

Griff: Yes. Our library of past episodes will remain available throughout two thousand twenty five, but I do encourage you to download those that are a special interest. We also encourage you to check out many of the wonderful eBay and selling related podcasts online. There are so many. Just search on the terms eBay selling, ecommerce. Tons of sellers out there are offering really good podcasts. So, check them out.

Kayomi: And you can still post your questions about selling on eBay to our eBay community forums at community.ebay.com.

Griff: Well, of course, the eBay community is always a great place to find answers and support.

Kayomi: Oh, yeah.

Griff: And finally, we want to thank all of you who have supported our podcast over the last six years. Your questions have helped make this podcast so interesting and often really entertaining. Sometimes I just I get your emails and I just, you know, laugh at some of the things that you guys say.

So thank you for sending them in. And they've certainly kept us on our toes. They've been proof that I don't know everything. I had to research almost every question that comes in. We hope we were always able to provide you with answers that helped you manage your eBay business.

Kayomi: And I cannot express my gratitude enough, but I'm so happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone a little to join you as a cohost, Griff. I've enjoyed every minute of it, and I now have a treasure trove of information, fun stories like you were just talking about, and fond memories from both you and also the listeners.

While Griff didn't give specifics about if he is retiring completely or just moving on to other projects at eBay, he did leave the door open for an eBay For Business Podcast reunion tour in the future.

Kayomi: Thank you all so much for tuning in, supporting us, and welcoming me with open arms as the new cohost earlier this year. And Griff, thank you so much for having me.

Griff: Kayomi, it was a pleasure. It's been such a joy watching you grow so much in just a few months. It hasn't even been a year yet. So thank you. Yeah. Well, I've enjoyed working with you and, who knows? We may work together again, so fingers crossed.

Kayomi: Yeah. You're gonna boomerang. Yeah. When you're ninety, we're gonna do twenty years from now, we'll do a reunion episode.

Griff: Okay. It's you're on. I'll put it on my calendar. And now for the last time, we roll the credits. Georgea Mpampanis has been our monthly co host and guest coordinator. Thank you, Georgea.

The timing of the announcement is interesting as tomorrow is the big annual eBay Open virtual seller conference, with kickoff parties across the country tonight.

It's also interesting that Griff specifically encouraged listeners to seek out other podcasts hosted by eBay sellers - eBay has recently stepped up their support and sponsorship for content creators with exclusive events at YouTube HQ in the UK offering expert tips for reselling influencers and direct sponsorship of  the Seller Club Podcast, hosted by Anna Packer, Ken Gaitano and Glen Zubia Jr., all of whom have been previously involved in past eBay events.

eBay Courts UK Content Creators With Exclusive London YouTube Playbook Event
eBay UK teams up with YouTube to host exclusive London event offering expert tips & networking for reselling content creators on June 4th, 2024.

Skeptics have wondered if eBay is increasingly using seller partners as a buffer between the larger seller base and eBay staff, especially higher up executives, as events are increasingly hosted by sellers and the eBay Community has been left in limbo with a sharp decline in official engagement from eBay employees, most notably with the departure of community manager Brian Burke and discontinuation of the monthly community chat earlier this year.

eBay Discontinues Monthly Community Chat, Cutting Off Critical Opportunity For Seller Engagement
eBay has discontinued monthly community chat, calling into question their commitment to seller engagement & discussion.

Sellers are discussing the news in the community, with some saying they were previously unaware of the podcast - which could point to one reason why it is being discontinued - and others wondering if the community forums days might be numbered as well.

The End of the ebay for Business Podcast
All good things must come to an end. On today’s podcast, it was announced that this was the last “ebay for business” podcast. There was no indication that ebay plans to replace it with a new in house production of any kind. ”...Our library of past episodes will remain available throughout two tho…

Huh, didn't even know it exists. Sorry to anyone that enjoyed it, though.

Probably one of the reasons it is being discontinued. In typical ebay fashion, they've never really done much to promote it. It was one of the very few resources where sellers had a decent chance of getting official answers to ebay related questions.

I would not be surprised if the community boards are next on the chopping block.

Were you a loyal listener of the eBay for Business podcast and if so, what are your suggestions for replacements? Let us know in the comments below!

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.


Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderConcerned13 hours ago
It is Slowwwwwww and is more expensive to the buyer. In the past items I have ordered will sit at the hub for around 2 weeks. I avoid ebay unless I cannot get it elsewhere.
Avatar Placeholdermarks304717 hours ago
Hi, I have a friend who had an interesting experience recently that fell under this issue. They sold an item, packed and dispatched to the UK Ebay hub, this was midway through the period as the pause occurred. They then received a message from the buyer that they had checked tracking and discovered that the item had disappeared on ebay, no advice. It then turned out that the tracking had been fudged and the package was with them but not forwarded on to the USA. A few hours of to and fro to get the answer that it was due to the tariff dilemma. NO fault of the buyer(who had paid) or the seller ((who had been paid) and a strange response that the item could not be delivered. The buyer would be refunded in full, the seller would keep payment and the item would not be returned. Strange, Ebay must be hurting paying our both sides of the deal+
Avatar PlaceholdercwiYesterday
  1. Start building out the brand and promoting the heck out of Canadian sellers to our domestic market. Work with Federal/Provincial level governments in the push to build a strong presence here in Canada.

  2. Add other calculated shipping options than Canada Post UPS/FedEx for domestic shipping - partner with couriers nationwide, leverage agreements and software integrations with courier reseller platforms such as Stallion Express. Build out a crowd sourced network using national/regional retail locations as drop points for rural regions, leveraging transport networks to move packages to courier pickup points, akin to the UK courier model but adapted to the Canadian realities.

  3. Create a centralized international shipping clearing house to aide micro businesses with affordable shipping rates and customs clearance to avoid pitfalls and complexities (akin to US eIS).

  4. Bring features forward to the platform from other localizations, such as prepaid best offer acceptance, etc.