Amazon Reacts to Federal Indictment of Seller Consultants

September 19, 2020 12:04 am

Any marketplace seller who has had their account suspended understands the feeling of desperation and sense of urgency to get reinstated. But some Amazon merchants were driven to use consultants …
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Amazon Aggregates Seller Policy Violations in New Dashboard

September 18, 2020 11:27 am

Amazon launched a new policy compliance dashboard called Account Health Rating (AHR) for professional sellers. It is designed to act as a warning signal to sellers whose accounts may be …
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Etsy Adds New Search Ranking Practices

September 16, 2020 3:36 pm

Etsy added provisions to its Search & Advertisement Ranking Disclosures policy on September 15th: Frequency Capping: to limit the number of times the same listing or shop appears at the …
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Amazon Sellers Dismayed by Longer Holiday Returns Policy

September 16, 2020 2:20 pm

Each holiday season, Amazon extends its returns policy to give shoppers confidence that gifts bought early may still be returned after Christmas. This year, it’s making the policy even more …
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PayPal Finds the COVID Waist-Up Fashion Trend Is Real

September 15, 2020 2:49 pm

PayPal says the waist-up fashion trend is real as people do remote videos while working from home due to Covid-19. PayPal surveyed 1,000 fashion retailers and found they were seeing …
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Source Inventory Early as Consumers Reallocate Spending, Advises PingPong

September 15, 2020 11:37 am

Merchants should prepare for an onslaught of sales this holiday season as consumers reallocate spending, according to PingPong Payments. “As the holiday season begins, shoppers more familiar with navigating digital …
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Amazon Continues Race to Boost Capacity Ahead of Peak

September 14, 2020 9:53 pm

Amazon opened over 75 new fulfillment, sortation centers, regional air hubs, and delivery stations in the US and Canada in 2020, and this month alone it is opening 100 new …
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FedEx Announces 2021 Rate Hike and Deadbeat Penalty

September 14, 2020 7:39 pm

FedEx will raise rates in January for ground and air shipments, as well as freight, it announced Monday. The carrier said rates will rise an average of 4.9%, but the …
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eBay Rolls Out Hundreds of Software Releases a Month

September 14, 2020 1:41 pm

An eBay software engineer said the company rolls out hundreds of releases a month. Lakshimi Duraivenkatesh, Vice President of Buyer Experience Engineering at eBay, made the revelation in a blog …
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PayPal Customers See Delay in Getting Funds

September 13, 2020 10:04 pm

PayPal customers turned to Twitter Sunday afternoon to ask where their funds were, and the tweets show just how upset people get when their money fails to show up in …
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Amazon Opens New Fulfillment Center in California in Time for Peak Shopping Season

September 13, 2020 8:41 pm

Amazon opened another fulfillment center in California, this one in Beaumont. The additional capacity comes as the online marketplace deals with the increase in shopping due to the pandemic and …
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Amazon Changes Order Cancellation Policy for Late Shipments

September 13, 2020 8:21 pm

Amazon is changing its cancellation policy for orders shipped late. Initially well received by those commenting about the change, sellers then began parsing how exactly the policy would play out …
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From the Editor – September 13, 2020

September 12, 2020 9:05 pm

eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is stepping down from the Board of Directors 25 years after founding the company. Many people got their first experience selling online on eBay, and it’s …
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Online Sales Tax in 2020: Fear, Anxiety, and Noncompliance

September 12, 2020 9:04 pm

Two years after Wayfair, where are we now with online sales tax? Fear, anxiety, and noncompliance. Immediately following the Supreme Court ruling in the landmark Wayfair ruling, dozens of states …
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Online Sellers Guide to eBay Fall Seller Update 2020 Part 1

September 12, 2020 9:03 pm

eBay announced the Fall Seller Update on September 9th, and some eBay sellers were surprised to receive a call from eBay about it. Reps were calling to ask whether sellers …
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Online Sellers Guide to eBay Fall Seller Update 2020 Part 2

September 12, 2020 9:02 pm

eBay announced the Fall Seller Update on September 9th. In Part 1 of the Online Sellers Guide to eBay Fall Seller Update 2020, we covered 5 of the changes eBay …
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Collectors Corner: Collectible Vinyl – LPs

September 12, 2020 9:01 pm

Chances are that you long ago abandoned any LPs you may have owned for compact discs or streaming services. Perhaps you donated your albums to a library book sale or …
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EcommerceBytes Soundoff: Letters to the Editor – September 13, 2020

September 12, 2020 9:00 pm

In every issue, readers soundoff about issues important to them. From shipping issues to payment processing, from fees to online marketplace policies, EcommerceBytes Soundoff gives you a chance to air …
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eBay Expands Managed Payments Mandate in Europe

September 9, 2020 2:44 pm

eBay is expanding its Managed Payments mandate in Europe, it announced on Wednesday. eBay will begin enrolling sellers in France, Italy, and Spain into the program in early 2021. eBay …
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Walmart Is Testing Delivery Drones

September 9, 2020 2:34 pm

Walmart is testing delivery drones in a new pilot with Flytrex, which is an “end-to-end drone delivery company.” The program is focused on delivering select grocery and household essential items …
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UPS Preps for a Record Peak Holiday Season

September 9, 2020 11:44 am

UPS expects to hire over 100,000 seasonal employees to support the anticipated annual increase in package volume that will begin in October 2020 and continue through January 2021. “We’re preparing …
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eBay Will Remove Feedback Resulting from Carrier Delays

September 8, 2020 11:50 pm

eBay announced on August 31st it was extending its seller protections for performance issues related to shipping carrier delays through the end of September. On September 8th, it clarified the …
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Amazon Expands Research on Delivery Robot

September 8, 2020 10:02 am

Amazon is expanding research and development efforts into “autonomous delivery technology,” it revealed today. It created a new team in its Cambridge, England, facility to focus on Amazon Scout. What …
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eBay Rolls out Authentication, Escrow, and Fee Breaks for Luxury Watches

September 8, 2020 9:34 am

eBay announced changes to the luxury watch category to appeal to buyers, announcing authentication and escrow services for high-priced watches. eBay pays for authentication on eligible items, while buyers who …
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CEO Aspires to Make eBay the Partner of Choice for Sellers

September 7, 2020 12:14 pm

eBay CEO Jamie Iannone celebrated Pierre Omidyar’s founding of the company 25 years ago with a post on the eBay Blog. Iannone reviewed some of eBay’s highlights, writing, “Our marketplace …
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eBay Loses Chief Marketer Going into the Holiday Season

September 6, 2020 11:05 am

eBay Chief Marketing Officer Suzy Deering announced on Friday she is leaving the company. The news comes as eBay celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding – and, even more …
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Walmart to Holiday Shoppers: Test Toys at Home

September 5, 2020 11:57 pm

Walmart unveiled its list of top toys for the holiday shopping season featuring what it called the 36 hottest toys, “tested and selected by the real experts, kids.” New this …
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Labor Day Shopping Looks Different This Year

September 5, 2020 11:24 pm

Labor Day shopping looks different this year, according to research firm Numerator. It surveyed 2,000 people who had verified Labor Day holiday purchases in 2019 and found that half of …
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FedEx Is Ready for Holiday Peak, Offers Advice to Sellers

September 4, 2020 10:17 am

FedEx wants to be seen as a viable solution for online merchants this holiday shopping season. The shipping carrier issued a press release on Thursday touting services sellers look for, …
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Shoplet Executive Funneled Funds from PayPal Account

September 4, 2020 9:27 am

Online sellers have one more thing to worry about: employees stealing from their PayPal accounts. An executive for online merchant Shoplet pleaded guilty on Thursday for embezzling nearly $6 million …
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