In the spring of 2019, TrueFacet, one of several start-up platforms for luxury watches that sprung up soon after Watchfinder was bought by Richemont for over $300 million, was facing difficult decisions.
A funding round hoping to raise $10 million fell short and the operation was running low on cash.
The business is still running, but co-founder Tirath Kamdar left around the same time and took a role with ’87, a venture capital and incubator firm headquartered in Chicago, but has left inside a year to take up a new roles as general manager of Luxury at eBay, he announced this week on social media.
“I’m excited to share that I’ve joined eBay as the new General Manager of Luxury. I’m grateful for all the experience that led to me being here and I’m thrilled to continue my career in the luxury and tech industry at one of the largest marketplaces in the world,” he announces.
“I’m looking forward to driving my passion for innovation and consumer experience to the eBay platform, propelling eBay’s luxury category in the coming months and beyond. Excited to be part of an amazing team that wants to make change,” he adds.
eBay has a mission to make its platform a trusted place to trade luxury goods like watches.
James Hendy, now general manager of eBay Authenticate, joined in 2017 with the mission to clean up the image of the company’s watch offering after a career in the auction world.
He told WatchPro in 2018: “We need to help customers come onto eBay and shop with confidence, even if they do not know the seller and that seller is not a huge dealer with an amazing track record.”
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