Author: Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

FedEx to Raise Shipping Rates in January 2023

September 23, 2022September 23, 2022 Ina Steiner

FedEx will raise shipping rates in January and provided details on Thursday. FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Home Delivery rates will increase by an average of 6.9%. However, online sellers should look into details about fees, as rates for Read more

eBay Announces New Features at Day 2 of Seller Conference

September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay announced several new features for sellers during the first keynote address at day 2 of its eBay Open virtual conference related to shipping and marketing. Later in the day, it made an announcement about an initiative to reduce Unpaid Read more

Etsy Sellers Lose Their Collective Minds over Plaid Verification Error

September 21, 2022 Ina Steiner

Sellers who had just suffered waves of anxiety over a new verification requirement got a shock today when Etsy notified them their accounts were not verified and discovered they were unable to activate a button to re-verify their accounts, leaving Read more

eBay Launches Brand New International Shipping Program to Replace GSP

September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay is launching a brand new international shipping program. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone broke the news during a keynote address at day-one of the eBay Open seller conference on Wednesday. “Efficiency is a key concern,” Iannone said. “We value streamlining Read more

A 1099-K Notification from PayPal Alerts Seller to Unanticipated Problem

September 21, 2022 Ina Steiner

In what seemed like a routine email titled, “View updates to your PayPal account,” PayPal informed an online seller he had passed the threshold for reporting payments to the IRS, notifying him that according to its records, he had received Read more

Alert: eBay Announces Category and Item Specifics Changes

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay made a surprise announcement on Tuesday: it had began making updates to several categories, and, as far as we can determine, with no prior warning. Sellers have come to dread the consolidating changes eBay makes to categories and Item Read more

eBay Shipping Label System Crashed Tuesday Evening

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay sellers were unable to print shipping labels on Tuesday evening. The Technical Issues board was inundated with reports of problems beginning around 3:30 pm. eBay displayed the following message when sellers tried to print labels: “Something went wrong. Sorry, Read more

eBay Boasts New Lower USPS Rates While Warning of Higher UPS Rates

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay announced cheaper USPS Priority Mail rates for sellers who print shipping labels through its eBay Labels program. Beginning September 26, the new rates for select weights and zones will be “up to $1.02 lower than Commercial Pricing.” That indicates Read more

eBay’s Chief Technology Officer Discusses AI, Competition, and Uncertain Times

September 18, 2022September 18, 2022 Ina Steiner

eBay has 1.6 billion listings live on its marketplaces, the company’s Chief Technology Officer told the host of the Modern CTO podcast, Joel Beasley. Mazen Rawashdeh said that volume gives eBay massive data that helps serve the purpose of eBay: Read more

Do You Have Feedback for Etsy’s New Chief Product Officer?

September 18, 2022 Ina Steiner

Etsy shifted some top executives around over the summer, and its new Chief Product Officer Nick Daniel introduced himself to Etsy customers in a blog post on Wednesday. Nick Daniel took on the new chief product officer role in July Read more