eBay's Valeri Yee Rumored To Take On Seller Advocacy & Community Engagement Role

The scuttlebutt amongst sellers is eBay may have a new Senior Manager of Seller Advocacy and Community Engagement, with Valeri Yee rumored to be moving into the role left by Brian Burke earlier this year.

A Value Added Resource reader reached out with the tip after seeing the information shared by a reliable source in an online eBay seller group.

While her LinkedIn profile has not yet been updated to indicate a promotion or title change, it does show her 20 year history at eBay with extensive experience that would absolutely be an asset in this position.

Previous Seller Advocacy and Community Engagement leader, Brian Burke, announcement his retirement earlier this year after almost 25 years at eBay at a time when many longtime community members feel seller engagement from the company has increasingly gone downhill.

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Longtime eBay seller experience and community engagement manager Brian Burke is leaving after almost 25 years at the company.

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Since Burke's departure, that perception has only grown with regular community chats with staff discontinued and replaced by occasional "Ask Me About" topics that are anything but "engaging."

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And more recently, the eBay for Business Podcast, which used to be co-hosted by Burke and Jim "Griff" Griffith was also abruptly discontinued with Griff saying he isn't retiring (yet) but that eBay's seller engagement efforts were "evolving."

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Valeri Yee had appeared on an episode of the podcast back in August 2023 to give insights into how eBay handles new feature rollouts and glitches - but glossed over a Memorial Day Weekend technical meltdown that had caused major disruptions for both buyers and sellers.

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If Yee is tapped to fill this crucial Seller Advocacy role, I hope she takes to heart the many lessons that can be learned from longtime eBay community forum members - starting with having an actual, real time, open topic chat session and establishing new ways to transparently and authentically engage with a wide range of sellers on the platform.

eBay has not responded to requests for comment to confirm Yee's promotion, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any announcements in the community forum or at the upcoming Winter Seller Check-In event on November 14 - stay tuned for updates!

What questions and suggestions would you have for eBay's next Senior Manager of Seller Advocacy and Community Engagement? Let us know in the comments below!