eBay honored 16 sellers this week as part of the eBay Japan Seller Awards. The event was broadcast on YouTube in Japanese, and eBay CEO Jamie Iannone prepared a message to kick off the video.
In his introductory remarks, he said eBay’s Japanese “cross-border trade” sellers grew their businesses more than 40% in 2021 compared to the prior year. Iannone promised to visit Japan after the pandemic to meet eBay sellers in person.
In a post on LinkedIn on Thursday, the eBay CEO explained:
“We recently held our 2021 eBay Japan Seller Awards, where 16 fantastic sellers were celebrated for what they’ve achieved on our marketplace. Our Japanese sellers grew their businesses through cross-border trade more than 40% over the previous year, exporting everything from pre-owned handbags and golf clubs to the latest Pokémon cards. I’m really impressed by the ways they’ve reached out to buyers around the world — and want to congratulate all the winners!”
eBay seller awards included:
- Seller of the Year
- New Seller of the Year
- Traffic Award
- Consultant Award
eBay also recognized sellers in growth categories, including Auto Parts & Accessories, Clothing and Accessories, Sporting Goods, Cameras & Photo, Watches, Animation Art and Merchandise, and Collectible Card Games.
eBay’s Bob Means also gave a presentation on Trading Cards during the event. Searches for Topps Japan grew almost 100% – and that was by no means the highest growth category he mentioned. He encouraged Japanese sellers to open an eBay Store, which gives them a powerful suite of tools to help them grow, he said – and encouraged them to advertise and use the eBay global shipping program. “Selling across the world is as easy as selling across town,” he said.
Interestingly eBay lost the Japanese market to Yahoo in the early 2000s and later the two companies partnered. eBay has been promoting the cross-border trading opportunity to Japanese retailers, entrepreneurs and small businesses since 2009.
