Who are the eBay Elite, why should you care, and what's going on with them at eBay Live?

They are a group of eBay sellers with some of the highest rankings in terms of revenue and/or volume. The idea behind the group is for big sellers to network, share infomation and solutions, and to support and mentor smaller sellers as well.

Joe Cortese of Meridian (http://www.noblespirit.com) founded the organization, which had its genesis as a private eBay group (in the eBay Groups area).

Here at eBay Live, the eBay Elite seem to be greeted enthusiastically by other sellers. "The booth is mobbed," said Cortese. "It's so important to be connected to one another."

I spoke with eBay Elite member Suzanne Hallam (pugster888), of Pugster, which sells and manufactures bracelets, such as Italian charm bracelets. She's one of the fastest-growing sellers on eBay, with over 567,000 feedbacks. She said she joined to network with other sellers who are doing the same kind of volume she is.

"We wanted to find out, what were they thinking?" she said.

The first physical (offline) eBay Elite event was held in early May, with a turnout of 100+ sellers, and was covered by AuctionBytes in an earlier issue.

Hallam said she's had problems with different things as a seller, and she'd never talked to eBay until they got involved with the ebay Elite. The big help is "just knowing who to call, and their number," she said.

Most people I spoke with at the convention seemed to like the name and idea behind the eBay Elite - the "Elite" part was not off-putting to them.

The crowning event of the eBay Elite at eBay Live so far was the evening charity auction they sponsored with BuySafe and the DOUA at the Aquarium of the Americas here in New Orleans (which, by the way, is an extremely cool venue, filled with winding paths and undulating sea creatures). Some of the silent auction items I saw were accompanied by the chirping of frogs.

eBay Community celebrities were auctioned off - the chance to have a meal with them, that is. Our own Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes garnered a winning bid of $550, and eBay top sellers Jay and Marie Senese gleaned a whopping $6,000.

So how do you become a member of the eBay Elite? According to their handout at eBay Live, the primary critera to join now are: titanium or platinum level powerseller; minimum one year active selling on eBay platform, and a 98% positive feedback rating.

I expect we'll be hearing more about this new seller group in the future.