Sneakers are an important part of eBay's focus category strategy, but an April Fool's Tweet has sneaker aficionados wondering what's going on and has even generated speculation about a possible change in eBay's strategy.
The tweet from @eBaySneakers read: "Still officially here for the sneakerheads, just not here specifically. Catch the hottest drops, cops, and more over on @ebay starting 4/1/24. Got questions about the move? Hit us up with a DM."
The main eBay @eBay account has not tweeted anything about sneakers that might reassure followers that the tweet wasn't an April Fools joke, as some followers had wondered in their replies to the tweet. (The @eBaySneakers account hasn't tweeted anything since then either.)
While the General Manager of eBay Sneakers and Streetwear Garry Thaniel changed roles last year, becoming GM of eBay Canada, eBay promptly filled the role by promoting Jonathan Gunawan to head the sneakers and streetwear category.
The apparent deprecation of the eBay Sneakers Twitter (X) account may have more to do with a change in eBay's social media strategy than any move away from
the vertical focus it first began talking about in 2020, which includes luxury goods, fashion, and collectibles - and of course it's biggest category, eBay Parts & Accessories.
The tweet could also indicate a consolidation effort - for example, Nina Skol went from Director of "Luxury Handbags, Jewelry, and Accessories" to Director and General Manager of "Luxury" at eBay. Consolidating management of its focus categories may make sense in light of eBay's decision to layoff 9% of its fulltime employees in January. At the time, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said he was working to better organize teams for speed, "allowing us to be more nimble, bring like-work together, and help us make decisions more quickly."
Buyers are less concerned about eBay management changes than about deals; comments on the April 1st eBay Sneakers tweet included requests from buyers to extend offers:
- "You need to extend those 10% off for longer than 5 days. Sometimes we negotiate with sellers and more time is needed. Thanks."
- "THIS!!! Cuz every time I get an offer responded to by a seller; the code ends up expiring & im back to square one."
What to Make of eBay Sneakers April Fools Tweet