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/.

eBay UK Names Business Award Winners

January 26, 2018 Ina Steiner

eBay announced the winners of its first UK eBay for Business Awards. The two grand prize winners, Joe Waggot of Metal Polishing Supplies and Henry Bishop and James Grear of The Coin Supplier will each receive a cash prize along Read more

Etsy Adds Feature to Help Attract International Sales

January 25, 2018 Ina Steiner

Etsy has added a tool to help sellers grow international sales. While marketplaces may offer automatic (“machine”) translations, Etsy is making it easier for multilingual sellers to add their own translations to their listings. “Translations you add yourself tend to Read more

Amazon Runs One-Day Sale for UK Shoppers

January 25, 2018 Ina Steiner

Amazon is running a one-day sale on its UK marketplace as a “thank you” for ranking it number one in the 2018 UK Customer Satisfaction Index. However, items for sale by third-party sellers are excluded from the promotion. Shoppers must Read more

Stripe Payments Ends Support for Bitcoin

January 25, 2018 Ina Steiner

Stripe announced it is ending support for Bitcoin payments. In a blog post this week, Product Manager Tom Karlo said Bitcoin’s evolution has made it less useful for payments and better suited to being an asset rather than a means Read more

Over 4.4 Million Searches for Legos on eBay UK Last Year

January 24, 2018 Ina Steiner

eBay UK issued a press release on Wednesday to celebrate the Lego toy brand, saying it was the third most searched for item on eBay UK last year (over 4.4 million total searches), coming in behind behind iPhones and Fidget Read more

ToysRUs to Close 180 Stores in US

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 Ina Steiner

ToysRUs launched a financial restructuring last fall, and this week announced it would be closing about 180 stores in the US. The bad news may offer a silver lining for online sellers looking for discounted inventory – store-closing sales will Read more

Amazon Opens New Logistics Center in Germany

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 Ina Steiner

Amazon announced it is opening a new logistics center in Mönchengladbach, Germany, creating 1,000 full-time jobs. The company said it is opening the center due to increasing customer demand and to expand product choice and support a growing number of Read more

eBay Says Ecommerce Can Help Fight Inequality

January 23, 2018 Ina Steiner

eBay’s Director of Global Public Policy Hanne Melin Olbe published an essay about inequalities between citizens of the same country, which she said are becoming a greater political concern. However, “Technology is empowering entrepreneurs in more disadvantaged areas, in ways Read more

eBay Is Working to Fix Shipping Meltdown

January 22, 2018January 23, 2018 Ina Steiner

UPDATE 1/23/18: eBay reports the problems impacting international shipping described below have now been resolved. After eBay’s shipping system broke down on Sunday leaving sellers unable to print shipping labels for international orders, eBay acknowledged the problem Monday evening. That’s Read more

Etsy Surveys Sellers on Public Policy Issues

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 Ina Steiner

Etsy is conducting a survey about “public policy” issues to help it in its lobbying efforts on behalf of the company and its sellers. And like its rivals eBay and Amazon, it encourages users to reach out to lawmakers and Read more