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/.

Do Black Hat Tactics for Gaming Amazon Really Work?

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 Ina Steiner

BuzzFeed News reporter Leticia Miranda dug into the high-stakes world of Amazon “optimization” and found consultants offering black hat tactics to “cheat the marketplace and mislead customers.” It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that some sellers would try to Read more

PayPal Turns to Instagram and Others as eBay Volume Drops

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 Ina Steiner

PayPal grew revenue 12% in the first three months of 2019 (Q1) to $4.13 billion, it announced on Wednesday, and it grew total payment volume (TPV) by 22%, or 25% on an FX-neutral basis, to $161 billion. PayPal CEO Dan Read more

eBay to Expand Managed Payments to Germany

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay announced it will expand Managed Payments to Germany. According to the terms of its operating agreement with PayPal following the 2015 separation, eBay is allowed to expand its own payments processing to a second market in July. eBay said Read more

eBay Marketplace Sales Drop 1 Percent in First 3 Months of 2019

April 23, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay Marketplace GMV – the value of sales of its sellers – was down 4% in the first three months of 2019, a decline of 1% taking into account the impact of foreign exchange. Nevertheless, eBay grew its own revenue Read more

eBay Adds Authentication of Asian Antiques

April 23, 2019April 24, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay has added an authentication service in the Asian Antiques category thanks to a partnership with a service called Bidamount, operated by Peter Combs, a dealer and appraiser based in Massachusetts and owner of Plcombs. Items listed in eBay’s Asian Read more

Amazon Customers Can Return Items to All Kohl’s Stores

April 23, 2019 Ina Steiner

Beginning this summer, Amazon customers will be able to return their purchases to all Kohl’s stores. The companies began a returns pilot program in 2017 which is currently available at 100 Kohl’s stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Milwaukee markets. Read more

Not Home? Amazon Will Garage Your Packages

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 Ina Steiner

A new service from Amazon puts a different spin on the term “garage sale.” The marketplace will now offer in-garage delivery to Prime members. The Key for Garage service is made possible through an integration with Chamberlain Group’s proprietary myQ-connected Read more

eBay Shines Light on Solar-Lamp Store for Earth Month

April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay promoted a new store set up by Little Sun featuring sustainable solar-lamps in honor of Earth Month. eBay announcement follows: Today, eBay and social business Little Sun are announcing a new partnership to bring accessible, ethical and sustainable solar Read more

eBay Adds Russian City to Its Retail Revival Program

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay expanded its Retail Revival program to Yaroslavl, Russia, it announced on Friday. eBay is helping small businesses in the city learn to export through a program called Export Revival. eBay, PayPal, and the Russian Export Center are coaching participating Read more

eBay Cites Federal Move on Sales Tax Issue

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Ina Steiner

eBay said Friday it was working to comply with new sales tax laws popping up around the country. Although it said Congress was working on a bill, eBay was not hopeful of passage of federal legislation. eBay cited one Congessional Read more