It is my great pleasure to announce the newest addition to the official eBay blogging family. Authored by Joe MacFarland, the eBay stories Blog‘s charter is to inform eBay Marketplace members of eBay.com product and features, surface “remarkable listings,” and to highlight weekly search trends. You can read more in his eBay stories Welcome post.

I have been following the development of the blog closely and have met regularly with Joe as he ramps up towards today’s launch. I am looking forward to collaborating with him on posts where appropriate and having another resource for eBay users to get information… this time with a link directly from ebay.com! (Don’t worry… I’m trying to find out what I have to do to make that happen for Ink). ;)

I sat down with Joe earlier this week to chat about the blog, his vision for the editorial content, and how he sees this will differ from our focus here on Ink…

Full Name: Joe MacFarland
Nickname: Joe
Official Title: I don’t have one, I am a “non-employee: ☺
What you really do: Write a blog
Education: BA in Sociology from Dartmouth College
Interests: Travelling, reading, cycling, playing with my kids, soccer
Favorite Quote: We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. – Vonegut
Most Memorable eBay experience: Selling my 2006 World Cup tickets (soccer) to someone once my team (Brazil) was eliminated…
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: A set of six Pokemon Black and White Figures with Light (for my son’s 6th birthday in August… shhhhhhh)
Favorite Album(s): Too many to mention, who listens to albums anymore – bring me Pandora or Spotify! But anything from the Café del Mar series would work in a pinch.
Favorite Movie(s): Again, to many to mention, but I was intrigued by Before Sunrise
What you wanted to be growing up: A paperback writer (like the Beatles song)

Fill in the blanks:
I should have gone to the beach yesterday
I wish that I could visit my family in Brazil.
The first thing I do when I get to work is check to see what the most popular items are being sold on eBay.

RBH: What is your vision of eBay stories?
Joe: 1. To be the place folks come to learn about the amazing product features the entire team at eBay works on every day to make the life of the eBay shopper better. 2. To be the reference point for people interested in finding out more about the amazing products that are being sold via eBay; 3. To keep a casual “history through commerce” view of any given week.

RBH: How does this differ from existing official eBay blogs? Like eBay Ink for example?
Joe: The blog focuses specifically on ebay.com, not on eBay, the company, as a whole. And within this focus on ebay.com, the blog further focuses on eBay product features, the stories behind the remarkable listings that are not surfaced anywhere else on eBay itself, and what people are searching for when they come to the site.

RBH: Who is your target audience?
Joe: eBay shoppers who are interested in, and want to learn more about our products and features, and are interested in the stories behind the remarkable items being sold on the site.

RBH: What do you consider success to be with eBay stories?
Joe: If people enjoy what they are reading.

RBH: What are you most looking forward to with the blog?
Joe: Finally launching it and having a conversation with our readers about the things written on the blog.

RBH: What does it take to get some link love on the ebay.com homepage?
Joe: I don’t know what this question means, and if I did, I wouldn’t answer it. ;)

So with that, please join me in welcoming Joe and the eBay stories blog to the blogging family. Looking forward to reading future posts!

Cheers,
RBH