Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since we last chatted, and it has been a busy last few months, so I wanted to update you on what’s been going on in the Art category since we last spoke.

This past summer was one of the strongest ones for the category. While we traditionally experience a lull during the summer months because of holidays and vacations, this summer, we were able to see less of a drop-off than in summers past. August especially was a good month, and we saw it continue into September as well. I know most of the folks here list primarily in Paintings and Self-Representing Artists, and in those two categories in particular, we definitely saw less of a drop-off than we normally see during the summer. The sell-through rates for both of those categories were among the highest we have seen in the last 13 months, which was encouraging to see.

As we look to the holiday season, where the category is historically at its busiest, we look to be in good shape. We have good momentum from the tail-end of the summer, and our marketing teams are gearing up to promote the various categories in different ways. One of the things we have pushed for in the past is to get more recognition for Art, and I was really excited to see an Art-specific graphic on the homepage a few weeks ago to coincide with the launch of the new “It” campaign. I hope you got to see the “Hang It” graphic that was created especially to promote Art. I will try and locate the URL for it so you can see it for yourselves in case you missed it. Like you, I would like to see more inclusion for Art in marketing, so I continue to push for it. The ideas and suggestions you have given me over the many months have been great in helping me develop the “pitch” to our marketing team, so please know that your thoughts are being heard.

Lastly, I wanted to let you know how very proud I am of the Art community for showing such compassion during the tragedies we have seen in the last few months. You already showed what a caring community this is with the “Hole in the Wall Gang” charity drive that many of you organized a few months ago, and it was so heartening to see you follow that up with additional charity drives to benefit causes such as helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asia earthquakes. Thank you for showing the world what the Art community is all about.

I know you probably have plenty of questions for me, so I encourage you to post them in this thread. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get to every question, but I will do my best to pick up general themes and address those questions/concerns that bubble up to the top. As I have said before, I wish I had more time to visit the board more frequently, but please know that even when I am not posting, I do try my best to read as many of your posts as I can.

As always, I am committed to working with you to keep improving this category. While we may not always agree on the “how’s,” I want you to know that I do listen to your thoughts and do my best to come up with solutions to address the needs. My job is to make sure Art is a thriving business on eBay—my success as a category manager is measured by your success. We are on the same side, and I hope you will remember this, even if we are sometimes engaged in healthy debate . I do like hearing your thoughts and really appreciate the constructive feedback you have. We know we have many things we need to improve on, so I want to make sure we keep the dialogue open and flowing both directions. You have my personal promise that I will remain constructive in my posts, and I only ask that of you in return. We are tackling many tough issues, and knowing that I have your support as you have mine really helps me on my end to do my job to the best of my ability.

Thanks,

Jennifer

jmi@ebay.com

P.S. I will check back later today before I leave for the day--if I am not able to answer questions, I will do so tomorrow, but I'll read through your posts.