eBay Opens Payments to Third-Party Developers

June 26, 2019 1:24 pm

In a significant move, eBay has opened its Managed Payments platform to third-party developers. eBay shared the news with developers at its annual eBay Connect developers conference, which kicked off …
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Online Marketplace Bonanza Creates Some Surprising New Tools

Bonanza Offers Sale on Membership Plans to Celebrate 11-Year Anniversary

June 26, 2019 11:03 am

Online marketplace Bonanza is running a sale this week with deals for both buyers and sellers. One of the specials: a contest for all Bonanza buyers and sellers for the …
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eBay Announces July 15 Crash Sale

June 26, 2019 9:54 am

eBay is among the ecommerce sites countering Amazon’s Prime Day shopping event, announcing a sale on July 15th. But eBay gave the sale an unusual name – Crash Sale – …
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Target Meets Amazon Prime Day Head On

June 25, 2019 8:47 pm

Target is meeting Amazon Prime Day head on with Target Deal Days. Amazon officially announced the date of this year’s Prime Day shopping event – July 15 and 16 (that’s …
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Amazon Officially Announces Dates of Prime Day 2019

June 25, 2019 9:37 am

Amazon will hold Prime Day on July 15 and 16, but kicked it off today with a deal on a 43-inch TV and thousands of “Prime Day Launches available on …
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USPS DIM Weight May Change the Way You Buy Supplies

June 23, 2019 7:59 pm

You might say the USPS rate change that went into effect on Sunday is double jeopardy for online sellers. The cost of shipping online orders to customers goes up for …
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Is Google Sign-In Causing Havoc for eBay Mobile Users?

June 21, 2019 11:17 pm

eBay promised to investigate reports from some users who received notices that their accounts had been suspended after signing into eBay with Google. The topic arose on a thread on …
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UK Tells eBay and Facebook to Crackdown on Sale of Fake Reviews

June 21, 2019 10:49 am

A UK regulator said it found evidence of a “thriving marketplace for fake and misleading online reviews” and said it wants Facebook and eBay to conduct an urgent review of …
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Shopify Launches Fulfillment Service for Online Sellers

June 20, 2019 11:22 pm

Shopify launched a fulfillment service for online sellers who host their ecommerce sites on its platform. Shopify broke the news during its Investor Day this week where it made a …
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PayPal to Lose a Steady Hand with Year-end Departure

June 20, 2019 8:37 pm

The word innovation gets thrown around a lot by tech companies, and sometimes it seems decisions are made just for the sake of innovation rather than to pursue realistic opportunities …
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Amazon Lets Sellers Offer Prime-Exclusive Discounts

June 20, 2019 5:11 pm

Amazon is letting sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offer Prime Exclusive Discounts. In addition to being able to use the feature year-round, sellers can take advantage of the …
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Amazon Launches Store for College Students

June 20, 2019 10:02 am

Amazon launched an “Off-to-College” store on Thursday, calling it a one-stop shop for college students. “The store allows students to browse millions of college must-haves, from Amazon devices and textbooks …
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Mercari Appeals to Musicians with Zero-Fees Selling Promotion

June 19, 2019 10:42 am

Mercari is kicking off a promotion offering zero-commission selling for guitars, basses, amps and related gear. The Zero Strings Attached promotion applies to new listings created between June 20 and …
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eBay Collects Sales Tax for More States on July 1st

June 18, 2019 9:47 pm

eBay announced on Tuesday it is collecting sales tax for more states beginning July 1, 2019. eBay announcement follows: There are a number of new states where eBay will be …
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Amazon Adds 15 Cargo Planes to Its Fleet

June 18, 2019 4:13 pm

Amazon boasted that it is adding 15 additional cargo planes to its logistics network as it continues to invest in ways to provide fast, free shipping for customers. The news …
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eBay Says It’s Joining Cryptocurrency Initiative

June 18, 2019 3:33 pm

Last month, eBay said it was not launching a cryptocurrency (“Cryptocurrency is not accepted as a form of payment on the eBay platform, nor is it part of our payments …
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Pinterest Relies on Partners to Bring Shopping to Its Platform

June 18, 2019 2:38 pm

Pinterest is looking to third-parties to bring shopping experiences to its platform and rebranded its Pinterest Marketing Partners program the “Pinterest Partner” program. The goal is to make Pinterest more …
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Facebook, PayPal, eBay Among Those behind New Crypto Currency

June 18, 2019 12:50 pm

The value of currency is its wide acceptance, and the same is true of virtual currency. That helps explain why so many prominent technology and financial services firms are joining …
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Would a $3 eBay Coupon Get First-Time Buyers to Bite?

June 17, 2019 11:39 pm

If you haven’t bought on eBay before now, would a $3 coupon induce you to do so? eBay ran a promotion for first-time buyers (expiring at midnight, June 17 Pacific …
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Mercari App Gets Schooled on Making Selling Easier

June 17, 2019 11:25 pm

Mobile shopping app Mercari wants to make selling online even easier than buying, and it’s turning to two MIT professors for help. Mercari opened an engineering office in Cambridge, Massachusetts …
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FedEx Leverages Dollar General Stores in Its Push into Ecommerce

June 17, 2019 9:47 am

FedEx is leveraging Dollar General store locations as it pushes more aggressively into ecommerce. The shipping carrier announced on Monday it will add over 8,000 Dollar General stores to its …
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From the Editor – June 16, 2019

June 15, 2019 4:41 pm

On January 31, 2018, eBay announced its plans to take over payments and explained: “Most sellers can expect their costs of payments processing to be reduced after they transition to …
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Understanding Next Week’s Postal Rate Hike

June 15, 2019 4:40 pm

New US postal rates took effect on January 27, 2019, but there was a “Part Two” that kicks in on June 23, 2019, having to do with DIM Weight. That …
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From eBay to Neiman Marcus: Seller Shows the Power of Branding

June 15, 2019 4:39 pm

Sarah Davis started selling clothing on eBay in 1999 and, after bringing on business partner Ben Hemminger in 2006, built up a business selling pre-owned luxury goods. The success of …
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Six Tips to Cut Shipping Costs and Boost Efficiency

June 15, 2019 4:38 pm

Closeup of a worker hands packing a box Online selling costs keep rising, making it imperative to periodically review your operations to find ways to save money and boost efficiency …
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Collectors Corner: Yard-Sale Hand-Tool Finds (Mechanic’s)

June 15, 2019 4:37 pm

Across the nation, yard-sale season is in full swing. Led by the Boomer generation (and inspired by Marie Kondo, who has been applying her organizational skills to helping the less …
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EcommerceBytes Soundoff: Letters to the Editor – June 16, 2019

June 15, 2019 4:36 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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Retailers Tell President Trump They Pay Tariffs, Not the Chinese

June 14, 2019 11:45 am

Retailers and manufacturers sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday asking him to end what they called the escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs. “Broadly applied tariffs are not an effective …
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eBay UK Runs Sitewide Flash Sale Post-Outage, Pre-Prime Day

June 14, 2019 10:52 am

eBay UK is running a sitewide flash sale today through Saturday, according to members of its affiliate program, though we are unable to see any ads for the promotion on …
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Target Puts a Price on Same-Day Delivery

June 14, 2019 10:23 am

Sellers might have cringed when they heard the news that retail chain Target is now offering same-day delivery of online orders, since it puts pressure on them to offer quicker …
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