On Jan. 15, eBay Canada is launching a Valentine’s Day jewelry collection in collaboration with three hot Canadian designers, each of whom is contributing five limited-edition pieces.

“On the heels of the highly successful Holiday Collective in 2012, we wanted to continue to build momentum for eBay Fashion in Canada,” said Andrea Stairs, country manager of eBay Canada. “We chose three Canadian designers who would resonate with consumers, each bringing their own personal style into their designs to create stunning, proudly Canadian pieces.”

The designers include Dean Davidson, who initially drew his inspiration from the local adornments he observed on a trip to Africa. His pieces incorporate sterling silver, 19-karat gold and semi-precious gemstones, and are known for their luxurious brushed finish.

Rebekah Price launched her jewelry line after studying at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and interning at Elie Tahari. Originally inspired by a cache of antique Swarovski crystals, Price uses Swarovski crystals in her designs with brass-plated metal in oxidized antique silver, antique gold, and rose gold.

Jennifer Ger and Suzie Chemel of Foxy Originals met at college and got started selling their jewelry on campus. The two believe that high-style fashion jewelry should be accessible to all young women. They take a playful attitude toward accessorizing, with pieces that feature colorful enamel designs, innovative shapes and clean lines.

Shipping is free in Canada, and the items also are available for purchase by shoppers in the United States and elsewhere. Check out the Valentine’s Collective!

Image courtesy of eBay Inc.

From what I can tell, the closure of the Vancouver facility by September of this year will result in the elimination of approx 700 customer service agent positions. Conversely, it appears that it is eBay’s intent to add jobs at both the Salt Lake City CS center and at other CS facilities around the globe.

“We are working aggressively to deliver a better customer experience for eBay buyers and sellers,” said Chad O’Meara, vice president, Customer Service, eBay Marketplaces. “While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations.”

The press release goes on to stress that eBay expects to “maintain current support levels and does not anticipate any disruption to service as a result of this change.”

From a business perspective, I totally get it. Streamlining any operation typically makes good business sense in the long run and it must be understood, even to the most hardened cynic, that these decisions are not made in a vacuum, nor are they made lightly. Customer Service has already been a key point of focus in meetings I’ve been a part of in recent months so consolidating and streamlining further demonstrates that effort. The belief is that this will enable eBay to improve first-contact resolution for all U.S. customer service needs, strengthen top seller account management and expand the recently introduced phone support.

From a personal standpoint though, it’s extremely difficult to write this post. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’ve been part of a “consolidation” process on both sides of the coin. If you’re on the short end of the stick in that scenario there’s no way around it; no phrase or word will make it feel anything other than bad. Even though eBay seems to be making every effort to assist employees in the process (the facility isn’t due to close until September), it doesn’t make it any easier. My heart goes out to those folks in Vancouver and I wish them the best of luck.

-RBH